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MBA Voices
MBA Voices
In the year since the Plan for Racial Equity was established, the MBA Admissions and Financial Aid teams have continued and extended efforts toward increasing opportunities for Black applicants. Alongside reinforcing and expanding current outreach efforts, the Plan outlined three clear commitments aimed at reducing financial barriers that often prevent students from underrepresented minority groups from applying to and attending HBS. [...]
As the youngest of five siblings, Joshua Mbanusi (MBA 2021) grew up watching his single mother juggle two—and sometimes three—jobs while getting the undergraduate degree required to resume the nursing career she left behind when she immigrated from Nigeria. Her efforts to lift her family out of poverty instilled in Mbanusi both an understanding of the difficulty of doing so and a desire to help others do the same. [...]
At HBS, we set out to turn The Equity Network from a minimum viable product (MVP) into a tech-enabled social enterprise. Little did I know just how valuable the HBS network would be — not only for my startup, but for my personal and professional growth. [...]
Growing up in Pittsburgh, PA, Alexis Jackson (MBA 2021) was drawn to challenges and motivated to get a degree in an industry that would bring financial and job security. An aptitude for math and science led to an engineering scholarship to Penn State, a major in electrical engineering, and a position at a multinational oil and gas corporation after graduation. She moved to Louisiana with her mother and dug into her engineering role. At the back of her mind, though, was a nagging sense that engineering might not be right for her. Was she good at it? Yes. Did it offer a path for advancement, challenges, and secure income? All a resounding yes. But she wasn’t happy, despite achieving the markers of success for which she had worked so diligently. “Even though I enjoyed the company and people, I began to realize that it wasn’t a good fit for me. I had ambitions to explore a variety of industries and technologies. I also wanted to approach innovative challenges that created another layer of problem-solving depth,” said Jackson. [...]
Growing up as a Black male from South Los Angeles, I was raised in a vibrant community surrounded by a diverse group of individuals who gave me guidance and taught me core values –such as curiosity, community, and persistence. My childhood experiences and the values that were instilled in me from being brought up in South LA are the foundation of my being, and I am proud to call South Central home. Yet, it was not often that I interacted with entrepreneurs or individuals who climbed up the ranks in the corporate world. Advanced degree holders were not always visible, and I thought that admission to a school like Harvard was a pursuit far above my head, something I had seen on television but not so much in my neighborhood. [...]
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The views and opinions expressed in the MBA Voices blog are those of the authors.
Any political views shared by students are their own; HBS does not endorse a
particular party or candidate.