Roshni Walia ’23

Before SOM, I worked as chief of staff at a healthcare tech company in Kenya. I’m passionate about helping individuals and organizations unblock, unlock, and reach their potential. But to be really effective, I needed to become more intentional about my leadership. Yale SOM was the right place to do this. The dual focus on business and society lets me learn at the intersection of these spaces. I also love the intentionality of my classmates. I remember looking around at my cohort in the early days and feeling like I had stumbled upon the exact kind of community I needed.

The key to SOM’s curriculum is that it’s integrated. I had so many experiences in core classes that made me reflect back on work I’ve done and wonder what the different stakeholders may have been thinking. This multi-perspective lens is empowering and definitely one that I’m taking back to the workforce. Right now, I’m taking a class taught by an amazing Kenyan leader called Catalyzing Private Sector Investment in Africa. It’s super relevant to my interests, and it’s amazing to be able to interact with all the different guest speakers who visit.

I took Global Social Entrepreneurship Kenya as an elective last spring. It was really cool consulting for a social enterprise back home and working on issues that affect Kenyans. I built expertise and knowledge about social entrepreneurship and healthcare and loved being able to do it through a Yale lens. The cherry on top was visiting Kenya with my classmates and experiencing my country anew through their eyes. We spent a week working with our respective social enterprises, then topped off the experience with a lovely safari.