02 Oct 2020

Harvard Business School Announces Inaugural Cohort of Executive Fellows

New program engages practitioners to enhance teaching and learning
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BOSTON—Harvard Business School has announced the inaugural cohort of Executive Fellows for the 2020-21 academic year. The Executive Fellows program will leverage the expertise of outstanding practitioners, including alumni, each of whom will partner with an HBS faculty member to bring their experience in business into the MBA program and the School.

The Fellows will contribute to the School by working with faculty and MBA students on curricular and co-curricular activities—including co-teaching course sessions in the elective curriculum, offering career counseling and development coaching, co-leading Short Intensive Programs, and delivering workshop sessions. They will also collaborate with faculty on work in HBS Online and Executive Education as well as case development and other research projects. Fellow appointments range from a few months to one year and may be extended.

“We were eager to create an alternative to our traditional faculty path for leaders in business to engage at the School," says Len Schlesinger, chair of the Executive Fellows program. "All of the Fellows are excited to build stronger relationships with HBS and to contribute to our mission of educating leaders who make a difference in the world. And we are equally excited by the ways we know they will enhance our community.”

The 2020 Executive Fellows:

Julia Austin
Austin has extensive experience scaling and managing highly productive teams in both mature and start-up organizations. After five years at HBS teaching a product management course to second year MBA students, she is now focused on her executive coaching practice and running a non-profit organization, Good for Her, a collection of peer cohorts for women entrepreneurs.

Paul Clancy

Clancy is a seasoned executive with a broad range of experiences across the corporate life cycle. He has expertise in developing strategic plans, new product launches, R&D program management, capital allocation, resource allocation, financial management, and investor communication.

Tom Clay (MBA 1997)

Clay is CEO of Xtalic Corporation, which specializes in the commercialization of advanced technology in design, manufacturing, and materials.

Anne Dwane (MBA 1998)

Dwane is co-founder and partner at Village Global, an early stage venture fund backed by entrepreneurs including Jeff Bezos, Sara Blakely, Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman, Magic Johnson, and Anne Wojcicki. Village operates as a network, engaging successful entrepreneurs and angel investors to select and support the next wave of game-changing startups across sectors and around the world.

Peter Flaherty

Flaherty is cofounder and principal of Esplanade Strategies, a public affairs and political strategy consulting firm. He has advised on policy, strategy, and debate preparation for campaigns on the state, federal and national level, including races for governor, Congress, Senate, and president. Flaherty is a distinguished visiting lecturer at the College of The Holy Cross, where he has taught courses on presidential debates, midterm elections, and the primary and caucus nominating process in presidential elections.

Rachel Greenwald (MBA 1993)

Greenwald is one of the most successful matchmakers in the United States, responsible for over 850 marriages in the past 20 years. She uses the tactics she honed in the love business to help business leaders improve their professional relationships and impact in the workplace.

Christine Heenan

Heenan is the founder and president of Clarendon Group, a consulting firm focused on social impact, communications, advocacy, and leadership voice. She advises clients including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Broad Institute, the Whitehead Institute, the Social Science Research Council, CARE USA, University of Miami, the Rockefeller Family Office, philanthropist Donald Sussman, and other notable organizations, leaders, and philanthropists.

Matt Higgins

Higgins is an entrepreneur, investor, and operator. In 2012, he co-founded RSE Ventures, a private investment firm that focuses on companies across sports and entertainment, food and lifestyle, media and marketing, and technology. He holds dual roles as CEO of RSE and vice chairman of the Miami Dolphins, overseeing the business of the team.

Thomas Jones (MBA 1968)

Jones is the founder/CEO of multiple technology businesses including Epsilon, where he served as CEO from its early stage through seven years as a publicly-held company until its acquisition by American Express. He also founded and led Elm Square Interactive and EXIT41; ventures focused on the digital commerce space. He was a founding principal in HuddleUp, an NPS platform venture acquired by Medallia and at Streamline.com, a major DTC entrant in the home grocery delivery market.

Ann Le Cam

Le Cam’s long career with the Walt Disney Company spanned two continents and included a broad range of high-level leadership positions in human resources, operations, production and studio planning. As part of the General Management team of the Walt Disney Animation Studio, she contributed to the renewal and digital transformation of this highly creative environment.

Hiro Mizuno

Mizuno is a Japanese executive whose career has been in finance and investment, spanning Tokyo, New York, London, Hong Kong, and Silicon Valley. Most recently, Mizuno served as executive managing director and chief investment officer of Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund.

Beth Myers

Myers is principal of Buckminster Strategies, a firm providing media and political consulting. She has also served as a senior advisor to Mitt Romney on his 2008 and 2012 campaigns for president and was chief of staff during all four years of Governor Romney’s term in Massachusetts.

Arijit Sengupta (MBA 2004)

Sengupta is the founder and CEO of Aible, an award-winning enterprise AI solution that transforms how companies make strategic decisions, act optimally, react to changes, and aligns across the organization using AI as an enabler for collaboration at scale.

Satish Tadikonda

Tadikonda is an entrepreneur in the life sciences and healthcare sectors. His current venture, Avigo Solutions, focuses on using healthcare data to optimize clinical trials.

Jonathan Wray

Wray is the co-founder of Aible. Prior to founding Aible, Wray led customer success and product management for Einstein Discovery, a market-leading automated analytics solution at Salesforce.com.

Contacts

Cullen Schmitt
cschmitt+hbs.edu
617-495-6155

About Harvard Business School

Founded in 1908 as part of Harvard University, Harvard Business School is located on a 40-acre campus in Boston. Its faculty of more than 250 offers full-time programs leading to the MBA and PhD degrees, as well as more than 175 Executive Education programs, and Harvard Business School Online, the School’s digital learning platform. For more than a century, faculty have drawn on their research, their experience in working with organizations worldwide, and their passion for teaching, to educate leaders who make a difference in the world. The School and its curriculum attract the boldest thinkers and the most collaborative learners who will go on to shape the practice of business and entrepreneurship around the globe.