When you get to Wharton, there is so much thrown at you. You don’t really know where to start.

Social Impact at Wharton

There is a misperception that Wharton doesn’t care about social impact but that is rapidly evolving. By hosting the Net Impact conference and having 2,500 people from around the country see how passionate we are about it was a great first step to changing that.

I was on the planning committee mostly handling logistics and making sure the event ran smoothly. I met great, like-minded people who are very passionate about social impact, and I met a lot of second years whom I never would have met otherwise. It was a great start to my Wharton experience. I knew that there was the social impact community at Wharton, with a small, hard-core group, but I didn’t understand the level of support from the community overall. The conference helped me realize I chose the right school.

Jumping in

We started preparing for the conference in October, meaning I jumped into planning soon after I started school. When you get to Wharton, there is so much thrown at you. You don’t really know where to start. I wasn’t sure jumping in was the right strategy at first, but looking back, I’m really glad I did. For my 2nd year, I'll be the Co-President of Wharton's Social Impact Club.

I serve as VP for Admissions, helping gay prospective students who reach out to us.

The GLBT community

I’m very involved in Out for Business, the gay-straight alliance at Wharton. I serve as VP for Admissions, helping gay prospective students who reach out to us. We get a lot of questions about how accepting the school is because it’s important for people to have a supportive community. My goal is to let them know that Wharton is an open and very accepting community, and if they do choose to apply, to set them up for success.

Wharton has one of the biggest if not the biggest population of gay students at a business school . While your level of “outness” is a personal decision—if you do want to be out, it’s perfectly welcomed and nothing to fear. If anything it’s the opposite. Being out myself, I’ve never experienced a moment where I was being treated differently.

After four years in the non-profit sector I had reached a point in my career where the amount of impact I could have on an organization was limited by my work experience. I knew that the skills I would learn through an MBA could be great drivers of positive, sustainable change in a organization and would help me grow as a leader. What attracted me most to Wharton’s MBA Program is its strong emphasis on finding innovative ways to make a social impact on our world. Although I plan to explore the private sector for the next few years, I have a deep personal commitment to working in the non-profit sector in the long term.

I am certain that getting my MBA at Wharton will play a crucial role in achieving my goal of leaving an impact on our world that will survive beyond me.

Interests: Snowboarding, Independent Films, and Cooking

At Wharton

Extracurricular Activities/Clubs: Wharton Social Impact (Co-President), Out for Business (VP Admissions), Marketing Club

Internships/Career Treks: Procter & Gamble, Consumer & Market Knowledge (Global Hair Care)
Favorite Class(es): Marketing 621, OPIM 621

In Philadelphia

Current Residence: One bedrooom in a brownstone on 15th and Spruce

Favorite Philadelphia Activities/Places: Dining at BYO restaurants, MBA Pub, weekend trips to NY

Favorite Philadelphia Restaurants: Fontanna della Ctita, El Vez, Tampopo