Leadership, Community and Opportunity

Social Enterprise Newsletter, Spring 2003

Consulting to child-care providers, studying the impact of business on developing countries, bringing business expertise to Nigerian youth. Increasingly, these experiences are on the pre-business school re´sume´s of Harvard Business School students. In fact, 8 percent of the Class of 2004 came directly from jobs in the nonprofit or public sector. While the HBS experience helps these students prepare for their future roles, their backgrounds also allow them to enrich their classmates' education. Social Enterprise talked to three such members of the class to hear about their experiences.

What was your background before coming to HBS?

Tracy Breslin: I was an AmeriCorps*VISTA member at ReadBoston and then served as a project associate at Parents United for Child Care, providing training and consultation to child-care practitioners.

Dan Gertsacov: After working with the Americas region of Business for Social Responsibility, I founded Forum EMPRESA, launching an alliance of business associations to promote corporate social responsibility in Latin America.

Simi Sanni: While working at Goldman Sachs, I volunteered at Junior Achievement New York, and then I convinced JA International and some multinational corporations to support the development of a JA program in Nigeria, which I ran for three years as executive director.

Why did you come to HBS?

Tracy: As I saw the importance of effectively managing organizations, building partnerships, and creating sustainable change, it became very clear to me why HBS was the right step. I wanted to develop these business and leadership skills to become an effective leader in the nonprofit sector, and I was impressed by Harvard's focus on social enterprise in both dedicated courses and the extensive opportunities outside the classroom. I also sought a sense of community, and after talking to many students and alumni, I felt HBS would be a good match.

Dan: Like Tracy, I looked at where I was in my career and realized that I was really passionate and focused, and I felt that business school would help me to develop important tools for my role in starting a mission-driven organization. HBS's focus on educating leaders who make a difference in the world was important to me. The possibility of turning the School's mission into action is exciting.

Simi: I started thinking about business school when I was at Goldman, but the idea left my mind when I went to JA. I thought business school would just bring me back to investment banking. I only considered it again when I attended an Executive Education program at HBS, Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management, and saw the application of business skills in my role. Talking to graduates doing incredible things confirmed my decision to come here-and that feeling has only gotten stronger.

How has the HBS experience compared with your expectations?

Dan: Community is important to me. Given the stereotypes I had, I expected a lot of competitiveness and that I would relate to about 20 percent of the class. But I have found quite the opposite, with many opportunities to connect with people inside and outside the classroom.

Tracy: I wasn't sure what to expect from the case method, but I love it. It has honed my analytical skills and ability to apply what I've learned from different scenarios to the situation at hand. Since the process elicits and builds upon diverse experiences and perspectives, the case method provides continual opportunities to contribute, learn, and challenge myself.

What are your career goals?

Simi: I'd like to eventually found my own organization in Africa focused on inspiring children to learn through entertainment, by stimulating their thinking about the world and themselves.

Dan: I'd like to launch a "solutions-oriented" cable channel, adopting a documentary approach to share stories of people making a difference. In a second stage, this could evolve into interactive television to help build and connect a global community.

Tracy: I see myself working in a community-based nonprofit focused on children and families. Eventually, I would like to open a consulting agency working with nonprofit leaders to address challenges and promote sustainability. I feel fortunate that I found my passion and remain committed to it.