The Leadership Fellows Program at Harvard Business School is based on University Professor Michael Porter’s vision of developing a network of HBS graduates with cross-sector experience who are committed to addressing societal issues throughout their careers. The Fellowship is a two-way commitment in which graduating students are offered once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to experience high-impact management positions in nonprofit and public sector organizations for one year at a competitive salary. At the same time, the hiring organizations leverage the experience, energy, and strategic and analytical skills of MBAs in roles that produce immediate results and build long-term capacity.
Since its inception in 2001, the Leadership Fellows Program has placed 223 Fellows at organizations such as the City of Boston Mayor’s Office, Harlem Children’s Zone, Mercy Corps, Whitney Museum of Art, World Wildlife Fund, and the U.S. Department of Education.
“The HBS Leadership Fellows Program offers our graduating MBAs an unparalleled opportunity to partner with exceptional CEOs and senior executives in the public and social sectors,” notes Matt Segneri (MBA 2010), Director of the HBS Social Enterprise Initiative. “The program empowers our young alumni to make a meaningful and measurable impact on organizations’ top priorities and tackle some of society’s toughest challenges early in their career—in ways that we find deeply influence their personal and professional pursuits in the long-term.” Segneri spent his own Leadership Fellows year in the City of Boston Mayor’s Office and continued his career in social enterprise at Bloomberg Philanthropies before returning to HBS.
Whether Fellows stay on with their sponsoring organizations, move to another social enterprise, enter the private sector, or launch their own new venture, past participants agree that the Leadership Fellows Program is critical to their ongoing development as leaders who make a difference in the world.
The 2019-20 HBS Leadership Fellows will work at a wide range of organizations across fields like education, healthcare, impact investing, and the public sector. They are as follows:
JOJO BANGA, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
CHRISTINA CHEW, MassHealth
JORGE ECHARTE, City of Boston Mayor's Office
INÉS FILA, Nonprofit Finance Fund
KATHARINE GALLOGLY, Teach For America
JONATHAN HANSON, The Boston Foundation
DOUG LAROSE, MBTA
APOORVA PASRICHA, City of San Jose Mayor's Office
NIKHIL PATEL, City of Detroit Mayor's Office
TANVI JAIN PATYAL, Points of Light
MEGAN WILLIAMS ROHRER, Boston Planning and Development Agency
SARAH SCALIA, Boston Children's Hospital
NICK SERNA, MBTA
MICHAEL SILVESTRI, Social Finance
Harvard Business School is grateful for the generosity of donors who have been vital to the HBS Leadership Fellows Program: James A. Attwood Jr. (MBA 1984) Fellowship, David J. Dunn (MBA 1961) Fellowship, Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation/Richard L. Menschel (MBA 1959) Endowment, Richard Lumpkin (MBA 1963) Dean’s Discretionary Fund, Margaret T. Morris Foundation Endowment, Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation Fellowship, Michael E. Porter (MBA 1971) Service Leadership Fellowship, and John C. Whitehead Fellowship for Not-for-Profit Management.
