Inclusive Growth Fellowship Spotlight: Hannah Hua ’26

Spending much of her youth in the Philippines, Hannah Hua ’26 witnessed the country’s stark income inequality firsthand. That lived experience influenced her career trajectory, which included work for an impact-oriented educational technology firm and consulting on DEI initiatives; her decision to apply to Yale SOM; and her participation in the Inclusive Growth Fellowship.

“Growing up surrounded by income inequality, and then being in New Haven where wealth disparity is very visible as well, made the economic development aspect of the fellowship really important to me,” Hua said.

Over the course of the spring semester, selected SOM students work closely with city officials, leveraging their unique skills to provide insights into specific areas of New Haven’s economic development. The fellowship culminates in a final presentation of students’ findings to city and university leaders.

For Hua, the fellowship helped contextualize her search for a meaningful career after SOM. “Before I did my first impact-oriented internship as an undergraduate, it was easy to romanticize social impact work,” Hua said. “The reality is that it’s more rewarding than you might think, but also way harder and much less glamorous than people expect. The IGF gives you a taste of that.”

With her consulting background, summer internship at Microsoft, and IGF public sector experience, Hua’s future is grounded in both professional intention and civic purpose.

Tell me about your background. Why MBA?

Before my MBA program, I worked in consulting for four years. I did a brief stint at a more impact-oriented edtech firm in the middle of that. I liked the problem-solving aspect of consulting, but what was missing was understanding why I was doing the problem solving.

I went back and forth a lot. The reason on paper—which is legit, just not the whole thing—is that in professional services, people say, “[This work] is so great for [future private sector opportunities].” And it is, but you don’t have any time to think about what you want. I was honestly just so tired, especially starting work during COVID, and I didn’t want to pick a career out of resentment. I didn’t hate consulting, but I knew it wasn’t forever. The MBA felt like a space where I could figure out what I wanted long-term.

And how is that going?

One thing I’ve been thinking about a lot during the MBA, especially since I took business ethics, is how to think about my career not just as something that serves me, but that can actually serve other people.

For my summer internship, I specifically applied to a role at Xbox. It’s definitely not social impact, but I have a genuine interest in media, entertainment, gaming…and it’s something that makes people happy. For me, it was a chance to explore an industry I care about without moving to Los Angeles.

Why did you apply to IGF?

Going into the MBA, I wanted to be intentional about actually making steps toward a career that linked my work experience with tangible impact. IGF felt like a way to get to know New Haven and actually feel like I had a stake in the improvements that would come out of the project. I also knew long-term residents, especially through my church, who would benefit from this type of work.

Tell us about your project.

My project was Entrepreneurship through Acquisition (ETA). Our scope was a feasibility study on whether an ETA cohort model would work in New Haven. The idea was to support entrepreneurs, especially underrepresented ones, who want to own small or medium businesses, keep businesses local, and pass down that legacy instead of closing or selling to a conglomerate.

At first, we were asked to make a database of potential acquisition targets and look at whether the business landscape was a good fit for ETA—but we quickly found out that the data wasn’t really there. So we pivoted and ended up interviewing a lot of people—business owners, city government, accelerators. That turned into a series of case studies.

My favorite part was definitely talking to the business owners. It’s one thing to do a project and see how ETA can help business owners. It’s another to hear from actual owners in New Haven about the true day-to-day aspects of running a business here.

Any insight for this year’s applicants?

The skills you’ll use in the fellowship are very transferable. The skills you use to run an analysis about ETA or mass timber or a new conference center? That’s a lot of what you would do as a consultant or project manager in more traditional paths. IGF shows you that you could go work at JPMorgan, but you can also use those same skills in an impact-oriented way, both inside and outside a career track.

The Yale SOM Inclusive Growth Fellowship is made possible thanks to generous support provided by the Amman Community Impact Fund.