Alumni Q&A in Recognition of International Women’s Day
Alumni in Canada, Chile, China, France, Israel, Nigeria, Switzerland, and the United States reflect on leadership.
The United Nations call to action for International Women’s Day 2025 is focused on “action that can unlock equal rights, power and opportunities for all with a focus on empowering the next generation of youth as catalysts for lasting change.”
In honor of International Women’s Day, we asked these SOM alumni to share perspectives on leaders they admire and how their SOM experience informed the way that they build and lead their teams.
Bukky (Olowude) Akomolafe ’14, Lagos, Nigeria
Bukky (Olowude) Akomolafe is country manager for Travelstart, a market leader in online travel in Africa. Previously she held a range of leadership roles in financial services and was the head of marketing for the Flytime Promotions, the owners of Rhythm Unplugged and Flytime Fest in Nigeria. Bukky holds an MBA from Yale SOM and a BBA from George Washington University and serves on the Yale SOM Alumni Advisory Board as a director-at-large. She has been recognized as One of Nigeria’s 100 Most Inspiring Women by Leading Ladies Africa, and as a Rising Star in Tourism by the Pyne Awards.
Q1: Who is a leader, who happens to be a woman, you admire and why?
A leader I admire is Thasunda Duckett. I had the pleasure of working with her while I was at JPMorgan Chase & Co. I was amazed by her career and how she managed to be CEO of the Chase Auto Business while on maternity leave. Then when I met her in person, she was so brilliant, firm, gentle, kind, and clearly understood the business and how to drive it forward. She always eloquently communicated what we were doing, why we were doing it, and how we would achieve our goals. She comfortably owned the room while being just herself. I aspired to have all these character traits and more while being self-confident and powerful in my own unique traits.
Q2: What’s an example of a bold move or a small step you took with your teams that unlocked the value of collaboration?
I was able to unlock the value of collaboration through the power of asking questions. I tell my team that when they hear something they don’t understand, to speak up and ask for clarity. When in a team meeting, group approval isn’t allowed; rather, I ask each person to affirm (or not) individually that they understand the plan. This small step really helps everyone understand the assignment quicker, collaborate better, and execute faster.
We had a serious recruiting hiccup where the talent hired was not fitting the culture of success. Together with my HR manager, I overhauled the entire recruiting system by asking each line manager to write down the skills they wanted, ranking those skills into job levels, and asking each line manager to write an accompanying skillset test that would help us match the skills before the candidate has a physical interview. We found that those who scored 90% or above who had a growth mindset were more likely to pass the probation period and end up staying with the company longer.
Q3: How did your SOM experience inform the way you lead?
My SOM experience reinforced that when pushing for profitability, we should do it in a way that helps raise the community up. Raising the community up isn’t solely a social responsibility exercise, but it can be done through salary increases as a reward for high-performing employees. This in turn allows them to send their children to better schools. Another way is to give new opportunities or challenges that allow staff members to grow. I push my teams to delegate because even though we (think we) can do the task better than someone else, it doesn’t mean that it is a good use of your time. Though proficient is sufficient, SOM reinforced for me that the enemy of good is great and that delegation will help the company achieve its goals faster.
Q4: What are the qualities of mentors who have helped you in your personal or professional advancement that are most relevant in the current era? (Feel free to name names.)
My Aunty Osayi Alile, CEO of the ACT Foundation, continues to teach me that you can be fun, kind, and firm while leading. I don’t need to delete my personality because I am a woman. Through examples, she shows me how to make more objective and less sentimental decisions in my daily life. She also taught me to not procrastinate on tough decisions; once you have made a decision, move on it.
My other mentor, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika, has shown me that I can have it all but not all at the same time. I can be a great mother to my kids, a wonderful lover to my husband, an empathetic leader to my staff, a great daughter to my family.
Fun Fact: I used to be a child actress.
Favorite Book, Series or Trip: Best trip going to Monaco with my mum and two sisters. It was nothing short of laughter, giggles, shopping, and nights to remember. (Don’t tell my brother, please!)
How to Reach Me: LinkedIn
Inbar Blum ’18, Jerusalem, Israel
Inbar Blum is a technology and innovation leader at the Israel Innovation Authority, currently heading the healthcare sector. Previously, she managed and funded the Pilot Fund, overseeing $12 million in annual investments in high-tech companies while collaborating with governmental entities. She brings expertise in agricultural engineering from the Technion, along with a range of policy and strategic partnership experience focused on driving impactful solutions and fostering growth within Israel’s innovation ecosystem. She holds an MBA in innovation and entrepreneurship from the Technion, received her Master of Advanced Management at Yale SOM, and earned a master’s degree with honors from the Faculty of Natural Resources and Environmental Management at Haifa University, where she specialized in policy and energy.
Q1: Who is a leader, who happens to be a woman, you admire and why?
Sheryl Sandberg’s leadership and advocacy for women are truly inspiring. I have implemented Lean In Circles in my workplace to support and empower women, drawing inspiration from her work. I deeply respect her for speaking out against the use of sexual violence by terrorists as a war tactic in my region and worldwide, emphasizing that “silence is complicity.” Her courage in addressing these atrocities and calling on the world to take action is commendable. The documentary Screams Before Silence further highlights the urgent need to confront these crimes and amplify the voices of survivors.
Q2: What’s an example of a bold move or a small step you took with your teams that unlocked the value of collaboration?
One bold move I took to unlock collaboration was establishing a governmental innovation forum at the Israel Innovation Authority. I created an active WhatsApp group and organized quarterly meetings with 50 government executives, each focusing on a different innovation challenge. This initiative fostered cross-sector partnerships, enabled knowledge sharing, and drove actionable solutions.
Q3: How did your SOM experience inform the way you lead?
My experience at Yale SOM shaped my leadership by reinforcing a strategic, cross-disciplinary approach to problem-solving and collaboration. Courses like Innovation in Government & Society and Corporate Responsibility Metrics deepened my ability to integrate public and private sector strategies. Leading Israel Trek for 50 graduate students and co-mentoring Women in Management Circles strengthened my ability to build diverse, high-impact networks. These experiences have directly influenced how I cultivate partnerships and create frameworks for innovation.
Q4: What are the qualities of mentors who have helped you in your personal or professional advancement that are most relevant in the current era? (Feel free to name names.)
One of the mentors who has significantly influenced my professional growth is Kerem Nevo, head of the growth division at the Israel Innovation Authority. Her strategic mindset, ability to navigate complex challenges, and commitment to fostering collaboration have been invaluable. Kerem leads with a balance of vision and pragmatism, always pushing for innovative solutions while ensuring tangible impact.
Fun Fact: I was selected as one of 150 council members for “Voice of the People: The Presidents of Israel Initiative for a Shared Jewish Future,” where diverse global Jewish leaders collaborate to develop solutions for our community’s future.
Favorite Book, Series or Trip: Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari
How to Reach Me: LinkedIn
Fay Chen ’08, New York City, United States
Fay Chen is an executive director at Morgan Stanley. During her 18-year tenure at the company, she has held a range of leadership roles across the investment management (private credit & equity investing) and investment banking divisions. She has an MBA from Yale SOM and a B.A. in economics and international relations from Johns Hopkins University. She serves on the Yale SOM Alumni Advisory Board as a director-at-large and chair of the Nominating Committee, is a member of the Yale SOM Campaign Committee, and served as the Class of 2008’s 15th reunion co-chair.
Q1: Who is a leader, who happens to be a woman, you admire and why?
Dean Sharon Oster, who was a professor when I was a student and later became dean of SOM, immediately comes to mind when I think of a leader I admire. As a student, I had the honor and privilege of taking several of her classes. I was always impressed by her ability to bring a unique perspective to economics, command a room, and teach with such a unique combination of boldness, authority, grace, kindness, and humor. She was one of the original professors in the early days of SOM – and I believe SOM’s first woman professor – and her impact in helping to shape the mission of our school to educate leaders in business and society has had an immeasurable impact on decades of SOM graduates.
My last direct interaction with Dean Oster is a memory I treasure: shortly after graduation, I had the chance to serve as a panelist on a recent graduates panel led by Dean Oster at an admissions event for newly admitted students. Later that same evening, I was surprised to receive a lovely thank you note penned by Dean Oster herself with references to our conversation from earlier that day; it was a seemingly small gesture, but it meant so much to me to know that the Dean cared enough to spend time out of her extremely busy schedule at the end of a long day to write a personal note to a former student – just one example of how a small gesture of kindness can have a big impact.
Q2: What’s an example of a bold move or a small step you took with your teams that unlocked the value of collaboration?
Not necessarily a bold move, but a small step: I try to make sure that the most junior person in each meeting has a chance to speak. It’s a practice that I’ve observed in leaders I admire and a practice which I appreciated when I was younger and perhaps the most junior person in the room at the time. Great ideas can come from any level of an organization, and giving junior team members a chance to present in a formal setting or speak up and express their opinions even in a more informal setting is a small thing to do which can have significant positive ripple effects throughout the culture of an organization.
Q3: How did your SOM experience inform the way you lead?
Every aspect of the SOM experience is about understanding multiple perspectives, which is central to the mission of business & society, the school’s roots in both public and private management, the integrated curriculum which is designed not to have separate siloed subjects, and the way classes operate with Socratic method discussion. The multiple perspectives are also central to the way SOM alumni lead – and live. When you look at the career paths and lives of SOM alumni, they similarly embody multiple perspectives and multiple facets: they are not only single-faceted with career accomplishments, but also are mission-driven with causes they care about and also do really interesting and inspiring things in their personal lives.
So, the SOM experience has had a profound effect on me both professionally and personally. Professionally, the lessons I learned at SOM are lessons I apply regularly in my role as an investor and has informed my leadership and management style, including the way teams are run, and team members work together. And personally, some of my closest friends are from SOM, so the SOM experience is not just about the classroom and career but is just as much about the lifelong friendships made.
Q4: What are the qualities of mentors who have helped you in your personal or professional advancement that are most relevant in the current era? (Feel free to name names.)
I have been fortunate to have had several mentors who have been helpful on both a professional and personal level, and several of them have been SOM alumni. When I first joined my firm, Morgan Stanley, it was in large part due to the network of SOM alumni at the firm that did so much to recruit, guide, and mentor me, especially in those early days. The common qualities of the mentors whom I’ve admired the most are those who lead by actions rather than words, and who are not necessarily the loudest people in the room but have earned respect due to their accomplishments and expertise.
Fun Fact: I have travelled to over 40 countries. I started out with a 30 countries before 30 goal, which evolved to 40 countries before 40, and am now working towards the next logical progression of that goal.
Favorite Book, Series or Trip: It’s hard to pick one single favorite trip, but one aspect of my broader travel goal has been skiing mountains that have been Olympics or World Cup sites, so nearly every year my husband and I try to go to one new mountain that we haven’t skied before and ski (or attempt to ski) the Olympic, World Cup, or other famous runs there.
How to Reach Me: LinkedIn
Lee Ann Jackson ’93, Paris, France
Lee Ann Jackson is head of division, agro-food trade and markets for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Previously she held a range of leadership roles at the World Trade Organization during her 16-year tenure overseeing policy research, strategic partnerships and international engagement on global agriculture priorities. She has served as an executive board member for the International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium and as a faculty member at the World Trade Institute of the University of Bern in Switzerland. Lee Ann earned an MPPM at SOM and a Master of Environmental Studies at Yale School of the Environment in 1993 and holds a B.A. in biology from Princeton University , and a PhD.D. in aApplied eEconomics from University of Minnesota. She is a scholarship recipient of the MacArthur Interdisciplinary Program on Peace and International Cooperation.
Q1: Who is a leader, who happens to be a woman, you admire and why?
I admire Jo Puri as a leader, as she thoughtfully connects diverse knowledge communities, bridging science and policy, and creates communities of practice to tackle complex challenges related to agriculture, climate, gender, nutrition, and social inclusion.
Q2: What’s an example of a bold move or a small step you took with your teams that unlocked the value of collaboration?
At the OECD, we put a lot of effort into creating the conditions for countries to cooperate and learn from each other. We do this by producing data and analysis and by convening stakeholders and curating dialogues on current, sometimes controversial, issues. I manage a group of academic researchers who are typically very comfortable in the role of individual contributors; at the same time, most of the research we produce requires collaboration within my team and also with our policy maker community. In order to move towards more collaboration, I take many small daily steps to create a culture of listening. I do this by asking lots of open questions and by demonstrating my openness to opposing views. I also give feedback to the “talkers” to encourage them to give others space and invite the quieter ones to share their thoughts. As a team we make time to reflect together on both the content of our research and our processes for working together.
Q3: How did your SOM experience inform the way you lead?
In terms of specific course work, I took a class about group dynamics that gave me lots of tools for understanding and influencing team behaviors. I gained a deeper appreciation of how high functioning teams behave. The insights from that class around “soft” skills resonated with me at different stages of my career, and I believe it’s those skills that enabled me to navigate the complex dynamics in the international organizations where I’ve worked.
Q4: What are the qualities of mentors who have helped you in your personal or professional advancement that are most relevant in the current era? (Feel free to name names.)
I have been fortunate to have connected with some fantastic mentors. Ruth Meinzen-Dick was my first boss after SOM when I was working at the International Food Policy Research Institute. She is authentic, warm, connected, and bold in advocating for under-represented people and issues. She has a wry sense of humour and a lack of hubris. I went to her retirement celebration last year and was inspired by the number of people who spoke about how she had made a difference in their career and lives. I was so grateful when she reached out to me after we had been out of touch for many years to encourage me in a new phase of my career. I am reminded how much these relationships matter – more than ever in this world that is changing so rapidly.
Fun Fact: I met my husband while we were both students at SOM.
Favorite Book, Series or Trip: North Woods by Daniel Mason
How to Reach Me: LinkedIn
Ricky Li ’20, Geneva, Switzerland
Ricky Li is the data and insights lead at the World Economic Forum, where she authors the Future of Jobs Report and Global Gender Gap Report, leads global flagship surveys, and manages the partner institute community. Previously, she was a data consultant at Artefact Singapore, a visiting scholar at the British Management University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and advised the Armenian Ministry of Economy on SME ecosystem. Ricky earned a Master’s in Global Business and Society at Yale SOM and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technologies, and a bachelor’s in economics in Beijing Foreign Studies University in China.
Q1: Who is a leader, who happens to be a woman, you admire and why?
Anushka Bogdanov is a leader I admire for her efficiency, sharp insights, and bold approach to risk analysis. I had the opportunity to work with her on shaping a session on global risks at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions, where she brought provocative diagnosis on global risks and wasn’t afraid to ask or answer tough questions. Her ability to blend data science with risk foresight makes her a standout voice in the field.
Q2: What’s an example of a bold move or a small step you took with your teams that unlocked the value of collaboration?
An impactful initiative I took was to curate partnership in bridging first-hand survey data and big -data trends to enhance the Future of Jobs Report, a flagship publication at the World Economic Forum. Recognizing the limitations of perception-based data, I facilitated the integration of real-world employment insights from ADP, Coursera, Indeed and LinkedIn. I helped enrich the insights of the publication and contextualize the future outlook with past trends, enabling business leaders and policymakers to make informed workforce decisions.
Q3: How did your SOM experience inform the way you lead?
My experience at SOM has shaped my leadership by reinforcing the importance of global perspectives and combination of business and social missions. The program design and studying alongside peers from different backgrounds expanded my ability to navigate diverse markets and lead across cultures, equipping me with a global mindset essential for today’s interconnected economy. At the same time, it was at SOM that I pivoted my career paths from a management consultant to someone focused on broader socio-economic impact. SOM’s mission strengthened my belief that economic success and social impact must go hand in hand. I gained practical insights into leveraging data and analytics for more equitable growth.
Q4: What are the qualities of mentors who have helped you in your personal or professional advancement that are most relevant in the current era? (Feel free to name names.)
I admire my fellow Yale alumna, Kate Persons, as a mentor who has helped me build confidence in traditionally male-dominated fields. She has reinforced the importance of taking initiative beyond my role, identifying overlooked opportunities, and positioning myself for leadership by recognizing revenue drivers and solving cross-functional challenges. Kate helps me explore the idea of being a generalist, engaging beyond one’s scope, and using data to drive impact. Her mentorship has shaped my approach to leadership as proactive, collaborative, and strategic.
Fun Fact: I flew over 50,000+ kilometers flown in 2024, covering 13% of the distance to the moon just by flying around in one year.
Favorite Book, Series or Trip: A (extended) weekend in Kyrgyzstan exploring mountains, deserts, cities, and markets with friends flying from all over the world. Shout out to Wendy and Dom, my fellow Yalies getting crazy with me!
How to Reach Me: LinkedIn
Vivian Lee ’13, Beijing, China
Yuan (Vivian) Li is co-founder of Beijing DRGs Tech Co., Ltd., an internationally recognized innovation in hospital budgeting and payments management leveraging technology to streamline costs and efficiency. She also serves on the executive leadership team of the Yale SOM Alumni Advisory Board as secretary and was a founding member and director of the Yale Healthcare Club of China.
Q1: Who is a leader, who happens to be a woman, you admire and why?
I admire Sally Shan ’97 for her relentless dedication to inspiring growth across multiple communities. With over 20 years of executive leadership experience in the global financial sector, she has shared her life lessons to empower others. What I find particularly admirable is her commitment to advancing women in leadership roles whenever possible, as well as her ability to navigate complexity through diverse political landscapes.
Q2: What’s an example of a bold move or a small step you took with your teams that unlocked the value of collaboration?
One example of a bold move I took with my team was stepping up to take full responsibility when things went wrong. By confronting mistakes openly and shouldering the accountability myself, I noticed a remarkable shift in the team’s motivation and alignment toward our shared goals. This approach allowed them to learn from the experience without feeling discouraged, fostering a culture of trust and collaboration.
Q3: How did your SOM experience inform the way you lead?
The SOM experience has informed the way I lead in so many ways. One thing I’m particularly proud of is to encourage personal growth inside and outside the company. Nourishing long-term growth not only for the company but also for employees as well, it pays off to the shareholder benefit eventually. It made me feel great to lead a purposeful endeavor like this every day.
Q4: What are the qualities of mentors who have helped you in your personal or professional advancement that are most relevant in the current era? (Feel free to name names.)
The qualities I value most in mentors are humility and open-mindedness. While I can’t name a specific individual, I’m particularly drawn to high-achieving leaders who inspire others through their humility and commitment to continuous learning. Their ability to evolve by actively embracing new frameworks and theories of knowledge is very meaningful in today’s rapidly changing dynamic.
Fun Fact: I feel so alive interacting with kids of different age groups, seeing adults’ behavior as reflections in many ways.
Favorite Book, Series or Trip: A recent favorite read is Babel by R.F. Kuang, a thought-provoking novel based on real world history; it provides a rare perspective to view colonialism.
How to Reach Me: vivianolee@hotmail.com
Dorothy Liu ’92, Seattle, WA, United States
Dorothy is the founder and principal of Resonant Strategies, LLC. After a 15 + year career in product marketing and business development for technology companies, she pivoted to leading her own business and marketing consultancy for 18 years. She is now in her “third chapter” as a coach and consultant to established and emerging business leaders and as a coach supporting parents of kids with ADHD and other complexities.
Q1: Who is a leader, who happens to be a woman, you admire and why?
I’ve always been inspired by people who are fundamentally curious and have a penchant for rocking the boat. My friend Suzi Levine is one of those people. We met when we were product managers for Microsoft—babies, really. What sets her apart is her deep commitment to forward-thinking endeavors and supporting them wholeheartedly. Whether it is advancing the Institute of Learning Sciences for kids from birth to age five, or rethinking the way we work in America based on her time as ambassador to Switzerland, no question or challenge is ever too big for her to step up and in. While not always on the winning side, the possibility of failure has never been a reason for her to say no.
My favorite people are optimists. They have a passion for social transformation and actively pursue it—whether systemic or one-on-one. And most of all, possibility excites them. Suzi is one of those people.
Q2: What’s an example of a bold move or a small step you took with your teams that unlocked the value of collaboration?
I have always led by my philosophy of “Everyday Extraordinary.” I challenge people, teams, and organizations to look beyond the obvious and use their curiosity to unearth hidden talent or perspective that can advance thinking or incite innovation in unexpected ways. The American business norm rewards the boldest and oftentimes the loudest voice in the room; but what if we knew that the quietest voice, the most modest step, or the most junior person in the room had the key to unlocking the answer we sought?
In the tech industry, it wasn’t uncommon to find the junior marketing manager in the office next door had been an astronaut or an Olympic athlete in past life. My own boss stepped down from the CIO role at Microsoft to take a product marketing director role simply because he wanted to see what it was like. That emboldened me to invite the youngest member of my team to present her work. He didn’t understand who she was—her project seemed small and low on the radar, but 30 minutes later, he walked into my office and said, “I get it. I could throw anything at her, even Bill G and she would find a way to step up.” And what she did fundamentally changed how we shared information with our biggest customers. You can’t always teach that kind of grit and creativity but if we commit to looking for it, it’s a leadership edge that most will miss. A lot of people from teams I’ve led have gone on to do some really big resume-making things—run global businesses, become CMOs or founders of their own companies—bigger than anything I’ve created myself. My hope is that they have also embraced the idea of “everyday extraordinary” and see the talent that others won’t.
When we talk about diversity, we often refer to appearance or ancestral history. What we don’t use as much is a psychographic point of view to creating high-performing teams. There will always be people who are objectively extraordinary, but any great team needs both—the ones who relish the spotlight and the ones who shine the spotlight on things around them. And each is a leader in their own right. I’ve been told by an SOM Alumni Advisory Board colleague that it shifted her whole perspective on ways to drive impacts in a way that creates a greater sense of collective accomplishment for the whole team. Creating a culture that centers on the appreciation of the “everyday extraordinary” not only makes great teams, but great leaders. I see it in my clients and collaborators who pay it forward by becoming leaders who others want to follow. And that is a great reward.
Q3: How did your SOM experience inform the way you lead?
GRO (Group Relations and Organizations) with David Berg is still the most impactful class I’ve ever taken.
That class was where I first articulated how my lived experience as an American-Born Chinese (ABC) was completely different from my classmates who looked like me but were from their native countries. There were three or four of us who identified as Asian-American/Canadian. We struggled to explain the difference and the cross-cultural understanding by everyone was limited. It wasn’t until nearly 30 years later that I learned there was a word for it: Asian Diaspora, being of two cultures, living with one foot in each and always reconciling the two.
I remember writing my final paper for that class asking questions about race, power, privilege and what it meant to be a minority. For many of those with whom I now work, cross-cultural reconciliation is core to who they are as individuals, as leaders, as parents. How we weave that complexity into a superpower is one of the best parts of what I do.
Q4: What are the qualities of mentors who have helped you in your personal or professional advancement that are most relevant in the current era? (Feel free to name names.)
A good mentor helps you get out of your own way. After a few years post SOM, I longed to return to California and every year, my skip level director Craig from my summer internship at Apple, would forward me the same email from the year before: “Ships aren’t meant to stay in the harbor.”. Finally, after he sent that same email for the fifth time, for the fifth year in a row, I quit—with no plan. All I knew was I couldn’t do “this” anymore. As I figured out what I would do during my personal sabbatical, he helped me design a life structure that allowed me security and freedom. He reminded me of what I loved about my work and what I hated and ultimately, he taught me how to create my own safety net and bet on myself.
I was always better at breaking a few rules or making up some new ones. If you had told me at any point in my earlier career that I would spend most of it working for myself and creating my own opportunities, I would never have believed it. But having someone challenge me with honesty (and humor) kept me forging my own path.
Fun Fact: I have 19 first cousins spread across the U.S. and four other countries, and not one is a doctor.
Favorite Book, Series or Trip: Favorite trip is probably the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.
How to Reach Me: LinkedIn
Paige MacLean ’98, New Haven, CT, United States
Paige MacLean is a philanthropic advisor to high-net wealth individuals and families, a lecturer at the Yale School of Management and a Fellow at the Yale Center for Social Enterprise, Impact, Innovation. She serves on the Yale SOM Alumni Advisory Board as a director-at-large and on the Advisory Board of the Fund for Women and Girls at the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. Paige is a past -chair of All Our Kin, an organization that has scaled nationally to train and support high-quality, sustainable, family childcare businesses, and was a member of the evaluation panel for the 2023 Yield Giving (Mackenzie Scott) Open Call managed by Lever for Change. Paige earned an MBA from Yale SOM in 1998.
Q1: Who is a leader, who happens to be a woman, you admire and why?
I admire MacKenzie Scott for the way she has transformed philanthropy by challenging traditional models of giving. Rather than imposing strict reporting requirements or directing how funds should be used, she places deep trust in nonprofit organizations, providing them with significant, unrestricted grants. This approach allows organizations to focus on their mission rather than navigating bureaucratic hurdles, ultimately making philanthropy more efficient, equitable, and impactful. By prioritizing speed and flexibility in her philanthropy, she has set a new standard—one that shifts power to those doing the work rather than those funding it.
Q2: What’s an example of a bold move or a small step you took with your teams that unlocked the value of collaboration?
One of the most important leadership lessons I’ve learned is the power of leading from behind —creating the conditions for my team to take ownership and bring their best ideas forward. Rather than positioning myself as the central source of expertise, I am intentional about recognizing and elevating the deep knowledge and creativity within the team. I see my role not just as a leader but as a thought partner, resource, and connector—someone who removes obstacles, provides strategic guidance, and helps amplify the strengths of the team. This approach motivated people to take real ownership of their work and to lean on each other’s strengths, unlocking both individual potential and collective impact.
Q3: How did your SOM experience inform the way you lead?
My experience at SOM influenced the way I lead by reinforcing the value of bringing together people with varied backgrounds to tackle complex challenges. A memorable aspect of my time there was working on case studies in teams where each person had a different path—someone from the Peace Corps, another from investment banking, and someone like me with experience in nonprofit social services—all collaborating to figure out how to market a toothbrush.
That experience showed me that perspectives that might initially seem unrelated to a problem can often provide exactly the fresh angle needed for an innovative solution. Some of the most effective ideas came from people whose expertise was in a completely different field but who saw something the rest of us didn’t. Today, I make a point to seek out differing viewpoints on my teams, knowing that unexpected insights often come from those who approach a challenge from a different lens.
Q4: What are the qualities of mentors who have helped you in your personal or professional advancement that are most relevant in the current era? (Feel free to name names.)
One of the most important qualities I value in mentors is their ability to provide immediate, actionable, and constructive feedback—guidance that challenges me while reinforcing my potential to grow. The best mentors don’t just point out what isn’t working; they offer real-time input that helps me develop new skills and become more effective. I was lucky enough to work at Wellspring Consulting shortly after graduating from SOM, and because I joined in the early years, I had the opportunity to work directly with the firm’s founder, Chris Keevil. He was a master at providing feedback that both challenged me and made me believe I could elevate my craft to the next level. His approach showed me how powerful feedback can be when it pushes you beyond your comfort zone while reinforcing confidence in your ability to grow.
Fun Fact: I have lived in New Haven since graduating from SOM in 1998.
Favorite Book, Series or Trip: Our annual family vacation on Lake Michigan.
How to Reach Me: LinkedIn
Ines Rodriguez ’18, Santiago, Chile
Ines is a financial planning and analysis manager at PepsiCo responsible for managing company forecasts, analysis, and support strategies for the company’s performance in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Previously, she worked in corporate banking and foreign trade, where she gained valuable experience in financial analysis and cross-border trade operations. Ines earned a Master of Advanced Management at Yale SOM, an MBA at INCAE Business School in Costa Rica, and a bachelor’s in business administration with advanced studies in management. She also has an International Specialization in Strategic Management of CSR and Inclusive Business Models and is a strong advocate for corporate sustainability and social impact.
Q1: Who is a leader, who happens to be a woman, you admire and why?
One leader I greatly admire is Indra Nooyi, former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo. As the first woman of color and immigrant to lead a Fortune 50 company, she spearheaded a remarkable transformation at PepsiCo, driven by a visionary commitment to excellence and a profound sense of purpose that continues to shape the company today. Additionally, she is a proud graduate of Yale University, just like me!
Q2: What’s an example of a bold move or a small step you took with your teams that unlocked the value of collaboration?
One key approach I’ve taken to unlock the value of collaboration is to be humble and practice active listening within my teams. By encouraging open dialogue and inviting diverse perspectives, I create an environment where team members feel heard and valued. This not only enriches the solutions we develop but also strengthens the team’s engagement with the overall objective. When individuals see their ideas contribute to the solution, they become more motivated to work together toward shared success.
Q3: How did your SOM experience inform the way you lead?
My experience at Yale SOM has profoundly shaped my leadership approach, particularly through its mission: “educating leaders for business and society.” This principle has guided me throughout my career, reminding me to always seek ways to generate value not only through financial success but also by balancing that with social and environmental responsibility. I strive to lead with a holistic perspective, ensuring that business decisions contribute positively to both the bottom line, our consumers, and the community.
Q4: What are the qualities of mentors who have helped you in your personal or professional advancement that are most relevant in the current era? (Feel free to name names.)
I admire Pablo Mansilla (my former boss) for his ability to integrate both financial expertise and a strong commitment to fostering a feedback-driven culture. He emphasized the importance of maintaning open, professional communication, which not only builds trust but also supports continuous professional development. His leadership style is a valuable reminder of the importance of constructive feedback in driving both personal and organizational growth.
Fun Fact: I am a French baking enthusiast.
Favorite Book, Series or Trip: Favorite series: Gilmore Girls, yes Rory also went to Yale!
How to Reach Me: LinkedIn
Preeti Sinha ’97, New York, NY, United States
Preeti Sinha is a seasoned global investment banker and development financier, with over 30 years of experience across international financial institutions, multilateral development banks, and the United Nations. As the former executive director of the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), she secured and oversaw over $3 billion in impact investments. Prior to her tenure at the UN, Preeti held a range of executive leadership roles at the African Development Bank and the World Economic Forum. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Yale SOM and has completed executive education at Harvard Kennedy School. She serves on the Yale SOM Alumni Advisory Board and was one of the first Global Leadership Fellows at the World Economic Forum.
Q1: Who is a leader, who happens to be a woman, you admire and why?
A leader I deeply admire is Elinor Ostrom, the first and only woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. Her groundbreaking work on governing the commons challenged traditional economic thinking by proving that communities can sustainably manage shared resources without top-down control or privatization. She demonstrated that cooperation, trust, and local knowledge are powerful forces in decision-making, shaping how we think about economic systems, sustainability, and collective action.
Her work inspires my leadership approach at Perfect Capita, where I focus on democratizing access to finance and capital markets, ensuring that sustainable finance is not just a high-level policy discussion but a real tool for communities to invest in their futures. Like Ostrom, I believe that breaking barriers in finance means creating shared governance models, equitable access, and long-term resilience—principles that drive how I lead and build my teams.
Q2: What’s an example of a bold move or a small step you took with your teams that unlocked the value of collaboration?
One bold move I took was creating Perfect Nations as a storytelling platform, where people from all 195 nations can share their stories—about their culture, innovations, traditions, and aspirations. The goal is simple yet powerful: increased interactions lead to increased understanding, which fosters global peace and prosperity.
Rather than just curating information about nations, I designed Perfect Nations as an interactive, community-driven space where individuals can tell their own narratives—whether it’s a young entrepreneur in Kenya, an artist in Argentina, or a historian in Japan. By empowering people to share their country’s beauty, challenges, and visions for the future, we are breaking stereotypes and building bridges of empathy and knowledge.
This initiative reflects my belief that storytelling is a powerful force for change. When people have the opportunity to tell their own stories rather than having them told by others, they reclaim agency, foster understanding, and lay the groundwork for a more peaceful and prosperous world. Perfect Nations is not just a platform—it is a movement toward a future where narratives unite us, rather than divide us.
Q3: How did your SOM experience inform the way you lead?
My time at Yale SOM in 1995 was deeply shaped by its emphasis on social responsibility in business and management—a defining ethos that was ahead of its time then and remains just as relevant today. This was the primary reason I chose SOM. I believed then, as I do now, that business, corporations, and organizations must be forces for good—profit and purpose are not mutually exclusive but mutually reinforcing.
After a 30-year career as an investment banker and development financier, working across global institutions to mobilize capital for impact, I carried this SOM philosophy forward when launching my two businesses—Perfect Nations and Perfect Capita.
In both ventures, I have embedded the values of socially responsible leadership and management that I first embraced at SOM that business must serve society—not just shareholders, but communities, nations, and future generations. Yale SOM gave me the foundation to see capital and business not just as economic tools, but as instruments of transformation. That lesson has guided every decision I make as a leader.
Q4: What are the qualities of mentors who have helped you in your personal or professional advancement that are most relevant in the current era? (Feel free to name names.)
I have been mentored and inspired by women leaders who have shaped finance, policy, and sustainability with bold vision and resilience—mentors who continue to influence my approach to leadership and impact.
- Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been a mentor and a guiding force in demonstrating how bold financial reforms, strategic diplomacy, and integrity can drive economic transformation. From securing Nigeria’s debt relief to leading the WTO, she has shown that finance must work for development.
- Christine Lagarde inspires me by reshaping financial leadership to prove that monetary policy can be a force for inclusion and sustainability. Her tenure at the IMF and now at the ECB reinforces the idea that finance should serve people, not just markets.
- Amina J. Mohammed is a mentor with her unwavering advocacy for youth empowerment, multilateral collaboration, and sustainable development. As deputy secretary-general of the UN, she has been instrumental in advancing the SDGs as a framework for global equity.
- Kristalina Georgieva inspires me with her leadership that global finance must prioritize resilience, social equity, and climate action. Her leadership at the IMF has shifted focus toward ensuring economic policies address both systemic risks and social disparities.
Fun Fact: I play pickleball for two hours every day.
Favorite Book, Series or Trip: TV series "Bolívar" (2019) which follows Simón Bolívar’s relentless fight for freedom and independence, despite overwhelming odds, inspires me to transform capital for good.
How to Reach Me: LinkedIn
Jessica Strauss ’09, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Jessica Strauss is an expert in behavioral economics, trade policy, and economic and climate change resilience. She is a deputy director at Global Affairs Canada, leading interdepartmental teams to address the harmful effects of forced labour. Previously, she held leadership roles across the financial services sector including her tenure as principal economist at Bank of Canada. She has represented Canada at a wide range of international conferences including at the United Nations (Framework Convention on Climate Change and Cyber Experts Group), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the World Forum for Catastrophe Programs. Strauss serves on the Yale SOM Alumni Advisory Board as a director-at-large and was a Switzer Foundation Award recipient during her tenure at SOM. Strauss has served as Treasurer for both the Ingenium Foundation for Canada’s public museums and for a Family Services Agency. She also holds an undergraduate degree from Cornell University and a master's in finance from New York University. Strauss and her family live in Ottawa, Canada.
Q1: Who is a leader, who happens to be a woman, you admire and why?
Fiona Cousins, currently serving as the Americas regional chair at Arup, a global engineering firm, has taught me so much during my time under her leadership. I had the pleasure of working with Fiona to build the sustainability practice in Arup’s New York office and deliver consultancy services to large multinational clients to solve their most pressing environmental, social, and economic obstacles. Fiona is a deep listener. And then a creative thinker. And finally, a clear executor of fantastic plans. Fiona shared these qualities with me which continue to guide my own work. When I’m faced with a challenging and complex problem, I often think of Fiona’s approach to execution which brings me back to listening, thinking, and planning.
Q2: What’s an example of a bold move or a small step you took with your teams that unlocked the value of collaboration?
As a leader in the Government of Canada, I direct large, interdepartmental teams toward accomplishing a public good that can only be done by implementing policy across many organizations. This requires me to think about how the broad federal mandate may be considered across many, often disparate, departments and agencies. To launch my projects, and at various points throughout, I convene in-person retreats with the whole team. This seemingly small step allows me to set the tone toward meaningful collaboration and set regular check-ins beyond my own team. Outcomes from the retreat include vision statements, clear mandates, roles and responsibilities, and exercises based on behavioral insights such as backward induction reasoning and expanding the pie. The value of this collaboration is threefold. First, there is a clear direction set as we work toward a common vision. Next, channels for communication are opened as people know exactly whom to reach for information. Finally, there is a sense of pride as we come together to demonstrate that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
Q3: How did your SOM experience inform the way you lead?
From a class with another Fiona, Fiona Scott Morton, I developed a strong appreciation for understanding the environment within which I work. Professor Scott Morton taught me to look around and integrate information from the landscape: Who are the clients and what do they need? Where are the competitors now and where may they be going? What is the regulatory environment and what about it may change? How are stakeholders implicated, and which considerations may be incorporated? And, as important, who are the resources within my own organization that I rely on to make necessary changes toward a greater (public) good and what do they need to be as empowered as possible in their roles?
Q4: What are the qualities of mentors who have helped you in your personal or professional advancement that are most relevant in the current era? (Feel free to name names.)
Three qualities learned from key mentors stand out to me: First is accountability. When committing to taking on an initiative, delivery is extremely important. I learnt this quality from Kevin Page, the first parliamentary budget officer for Canada and a fantastic mentor to me shortly after I joined the Canadian federal public service. Next is curiosity. Asking questions is so important at all levels of a career. Not only does curiosity serve to enrich policy thinking, but it may also prevent unintended consequences or perverse incentives from arising. Rob Stewart, currently serving as Canada’s deputy minister of international trade, demonstrated this quality over the three successive roles I had under his leadership. Finally, the quality of empathy. Empathy enables a leader to best integrate the most important elements for stakeholders in bringing a policy to fruition. Chris Moran, currently serving as the assistant deputy minister for indigenous affairs at Public Safety Canada, has taught me how to consider a diversity of viewpoints in her work at Public Safety Canada.
Fun Fact: I love this quote by Hannah Arendt which remains as timely and meaningful today as it did in the late 1930s in Nazi Germany: “The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.”
How to Reach Me: LinkedIn
