Over the last decade in impact investing, it has been my observation and belief that emerging markets continue to face significant problems: inequality, hunger, environmental issues, and resource scarcity. Traditionally, these problems are addressed via government initiatives, sovereign funds, and philanthropy. However, these sources are not enough to address all of the capital needs of developing markets, so many have now turned to the dynamism and innovation of the private markets to tackle these complex global issues. [...]

While Mizuho Kanai (MBA 2018) was fulfilling her summer internship at NPR, her manager recommended that she read an HBS case study about how the Sesame Workshop CEO, Jeff Dunn (MBA 1981), was changing the institution. “I was blown away,” she says, “by how Jeff and his team were bringing business rigor to the institution.” [...]

Business is the most powerful force humans have ever created. It’s been the source of both enormous peace and prosperity, as well as massive social and environmental disruption. The challenges facing humanity and our biosphere today require that we step away from outdated ways of thinking about the true role of business in society. These challenges call us to raise our game as business leaders so we can harness the enormous power of business and wield it for a better world. [...]

Five weeks ago on May 24, we graduated from Harvard Business School with the Class of 2018. We moved out of our apartments and headed to Jackson, Mississippi for a weeklong training with Freedom Summer Collegiate. After training we drove to Meridian, Mississippi to teach a month-long summer class on Business and Entrepreneurship to high school students at the Meridian Freedom Project. [...]

In 1987, I completed my studies at HBS and headed west for San Francisco, inspired by every class I took on the topic of entrepreneurship and seeking to make my own mark creating and advancing companies, which has been my career’s work, both as a principal and advisor. [...]