Agents of Change: MBA and MSx Students Earn Impact Awards

Stanford Graduate School of Business has awarded impact career prizes to 12 students for their leadership in addressing social and environmental challenges.

“By offering these prizes, we hope to send a strong signal that both human well-being and planetary health are critical areas for business leaders to focus on,” says Bernadette Clavier, director of the Center for Social Innovation at the GSB.

The prizes also illustrate the many paths graduates can take to leadership on social and environmental issues, including impact funding, nonprofit leadership, government work and social entrepreneurship.

“In the entrepreneurial hot spot that is the Bay Area, it’s important to remember that social and environmental issues are often complex, system-level issues and can rarely be solely addressed through innovation and technology,” Clavier says. “Building on their unique perspectives and competencies, these students will forge a path to impact across all sectors.”

Stanford Impact Leader Prizes

Stanford Impact Leader prizes are awarded to graduating students who are committed to joining an existing high-impact organization.

SIL Prize in Climate Solutions

• Mason Gunter, MBA ’22/MS E-IPER, plans to address global temperature rise by pursuing a career in impact investing.

SIL Prize in Social Impact

• Kelsey Aijala, MBA ’22/MA Education, is pursuing a career in school and district transformation design to address inequities and inadequacies in the K-12 public education system.
• Archana Srivatsan, MS ’22, plans a career as a purpose-driven venture capital investor, supporting aspiring entrepreneurs and innovative companies to improve the healthcare, financial services, and livelihoods of underserved people.

SIL Prize in Public Service

• Tyler Brandon, MBA ’22, wants to build a more equitable economy, with a focus on reducing the racial wealth gap.

Stanford Impact Founder Fellowships and Prizes

Stanford Impact Founder prize winners are launching high-impact ventures to address societal issues. These winners are also moving on to a second phase of competition, in which up to four of them will win yearlong fellowships.

SIF Prize for Social Ventures

• Sarah Alexander, MBA ’22: Patch Caregiving is an employer-sponsored back-up childcare service for hourly working parents whose childcare plans fall through.
• Hillary Do, MBA ’22: Build Our Lives Together empowers marginalized communities to build the change they want to see for their neighborhoods.
• Mika Eddy, MS ’22: Malama Health optimizes health through pregnancy and beyond, beginning with data-driven solutions for women with gestational diabetes.
• Madhu Shetti, MS ’21: Balmere Skin makes skin care products formulated for patients undergoing therapy for cancer or autoimmune disorders.
• Jonathan Siktberg, MBA ’22/MA Education: Health U is a mobile platform that combines persuasive micro-learning with a clinically validated diabetes prevention program to deliver self-directed chronic disease prevention at scale.

SIF Prize in Climate Solutions

• John Foye, MBA ’22/MS E-IPER: Working Trees is developing a technology platform that democratizes access to carbon markets for landowners of all sizes.
• Leia de Guzman, MBA ’22: Cambio is software that empowers commercial real estate managers with the data and insights they need to achieve net zero carbon emissions and invest in climate resilience for cities and generations to come.
• Greg Zegas, MBA ’22/MS E-IPER: Holocene is a direct air capture company harnessing the power of organic chemistry to reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations.

Winners receive a $20,000 cash prize, as well as advising and networking support for their work after graduation.

“We owe these graduates a debt of gratitude as they dare to step off the beaten paths to dedicate the next chapter of their careers to solving our climate crisis and to improving the human condition,” Clavier says. “I know that they have the courage, expertise, and grit necessary to meet the complexity and plurality of the environments in which they are called to operate and to sustain their commitments for the long haul. I look forward to following their work.”