Global conversations at Yale

On Thursday night, I enjoyed an extraordinarily international array of conversations without leaving New Haven. The main event was the Yale World Fellows Night, showcasing this year’s 16 World Fellows from Algeria, Argentina, Chile, France, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Mexico, Morocco, South Africa, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. As an Associate World Fellow, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to join these mid-career standouts since they arrived in August for the program’s leadership development program, liberal arts seminar, and distinguished speaker series. I was excited to introduce my Yale SOM classmates to these accomplished emerging leaders keen to engage in far-reaching conversations of direct relevance to “educating leaders for business and society.”On our way to the Yale World Fellows Night, I chatted with my Peruvian-American classmate Peter Platt, who helps run his family’s locally-sourced restaurant, andina, in Portland, Oregon. I learned he spent his summer internship helping an early stage farm incubator in Oregon to develop its economic empowerment strategy of helping migrant farm workers in the US transition from low-wage laborers to farm operators. I knew then that he had to meet Patrick Struebi, the World Fellow who started and runs Fairtrasa, the largest fair trade fruit supplier in Latin America, since their work on social development connects across borders. After the YWF Night, I joined the World Fellows and a couple Yale SOM Master of Advanced Management (MAM) students at Barcelona, New Haven’s finest tapas spot. In discussing the deepening links between the US and China’s economies with another World Fellow, Yuanhua Wen, a Vice President in the China Construction Bank, I drew heavily from insights learned during my Yale SOM International Experience trip earlier in the year to study China’s financial system with Stephen Roach and Jeffrey Garten. On my way out the door, Davinia Anderson, an MAM student from Ireland, shared her evening at the Yale SOM “MAM boardroom” session. At Dean Snyder’s home, she witnessed the intricacies and nuance in the international exchange between Steve Hickey, Partner and Chief Risk Officer of CVC Credit Partners, and Xie Ping, Executive Vice President of the China Investment Corporation (CIC), on world financial markets and China’s emergence. Such an amazing chance to hear the thought processes of senior managers responsible for a $482 billion sovereign wealth fund and a $7.2 billion asset management company. Experiencing these conversations throughout the night made me think of the many other international connections Yale SOM students will be able to experience with the continuing development of the Global Network for Advancement Management – the newest complement from Yale SOM to the established international initiatives of the broader Yale University. It’s an exciting time to be at Yale!