Voices of Stanford GSB

Explore our growing collection of personal stories reflecting the diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and pursuits of the Stanford GSB community. Hear first-hand from students, alumni, fellows, and faculty, across all of our programs.

MBA Students

Voices

Nick Tobin

Finding more diverse ways of human connection has been a big growth point for me.

Nick Tobin

Gabriela Diaz

I love creating value within an organization and making employees feel great about being part of something bigger.

Gabriela Diaz

Kurt Chirbas

The GSB welcomes people with big dreams and willing to take big swings.

Kurt Chirbas

Devika Chatwani

The main thing I took away was knowing what kind of leader I wanted to be.

Devika Chatwani

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MSx Students

Voices

Juliana Ávila Vélez

Is there a market? And can you make any money? That may sound obvious, but it’s surprisingly not.

Juliana Ávila Vélez

MSx Class of 2025

Joseph Kao

I went into e-waste… and I see my core values, technical expertise, and passion coming together.

Joseph Kao

MSx Class of 2024

Cayla Marvil

I saw an opportunity to build a company with a safe and supportive space for everybody.

Cayla Marvil

MSx Class of 2024

Abraham Ogoudou

It’s important to create value for the people you work with and for them to understand that value.

Abraham Ogoudou

MSx Class of 2024

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PhD Students

Voices

Benjamin Tremblay-Auger

I’m very interested in analyzing how institutional and cultural changes work together.

Benjamin Tremblay-Auger

Pauline Liang

None of my family or friends had ever done a PhD and I wasn’t sure if I should do it.

Pauline Liang

Mohamed Hussein

I feel it’s a moral obligation. We need to protect this democratic system.

Mohamed Hussein

Lina Lukyantseva

We can develop solutions that are not perfect, but practical, and offer guarantees for those solutions.

Lina Lukyantseva

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MBA Alumni

Voices

Erica Williamson Phillips

I wanted to do something that more directly impacted my family’s communities.

Erica Williamson Phillips

Olaolu Aganga

I didn’t come from much, so I take my responsibility as a steward of capital incredibly seriously.

Olaolu Aganga

Mary Barra

I strongly believe behaviors set your culture — and that’s not something you can fake.

Mary Barra

Rosa Li

I wanted to do something to honor my grandma and bring more representation to retail shelves.

Rosa Li

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MSx/Sloan Alumni

Voices

Thomas Higgenbotham

If you don’t have something that you’re optimizing for, you’ll get distracted by every shiny object.

Thomas Higgenbotham

Raph Lee

I hope a lot of [AI’s] potential is used to bring people together in the real world.

Raph Lee

Nand Mulchandani

We do everything from shoe phones to internet-scale software.

Nand Mulchandani

Cristina Moon

The GSB opened so many doors for me. It opened my perspective on what was possible and who I could be.

Cristina Moon

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Executive Education

Voices

Olena Vovk

If you take the worst-case scenario seriously, you are always better prepared.

Olena Vovk

Hélio Mosquim

Our company can play a major role in the trajectories of people’s lives.

Hélio Mosquim

Stanford LEAD ’17

Cyril Delattre

Ultimately we want the marketplace to be user-owned.

Cyril Delattre

R.C. Buford

The foundation of our ethos is the story about the stonecutter pounding a rock. Get better every day.

R.C. Buford

Stanford LEAD ’20

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Faculty

Voices

Mohsen Bayati

The idea that you could make an impact with mathematics became fascinating to me.

Mohsen Bayati

The Carl and Marilynn Thoma Professor of Operations, Information & Technology

Jeffrey Pfeffer

If power is to be used for good, more good people need power.

Jeffrey Pfeffer

The Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior

Susan Athey

I like building things that demonstrate how a class of problems can be solved.

Susan Athey

The Economics of Technology Professor

Andy Hall

I’m a lot more confident in the stubbornness of the American voter than other people are.

Andy Hall

The Davies Family Professor of Political Economy

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Seed Transformation Program

Voices

Wandia Gichuru

I’m excited about the opportunity to create employment, not only in Kenya but in other parts of Africa as well.

Wandia Gichuru

Seed Transformation Program ’18

Patrick Mbonye

Learning is a leveler. It leads to discovery, and that is how we make life better.

Patrick Mbonye

Seed Transformation Program ’18

Myriam Sidibé

Having access to these very basic systems such as safe sanitation and toilets are the foundation of social justice.

Myriam Sidibé

Seed Transformation Program ’18

See Seed Transformation Program Voices