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
Hiroaki Minoo
Rather than becoming a craftsman, I decided to spread the story of Japanese craftsmanship to the world.

Hiroaki Minoo

MBA ’25
Marcos Diehl
I want to inspire other generations who live in rural Latin America to have a sense of possibility.

Marcos Diehl

MBA ’25
Rakiya Cunningham
I’m a doer — roll up your sleeves, create a strategy, and bring people together. That brings me energy.

Rakiya Cunningham

MBA ’25
Ana Laginha,
HR goes beyond hiring and training; we have the power to be a force for the development of our country.

Ana Laginha,

MBA ’25
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MSx Students

Voices
Jing Lin
Someone has to do the work, and I’m happy to be one of the few that invests in women’s health.

Jing Lin

MSx Class of 2025
Agata Braja
I know the difference inclusive solutions make, so I’m making inclusivity a huge part of my work.

Agata Braja

MSx Class of 2025
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
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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

PhD ’25
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

PhD ’26
Mohamed Hussein
I feel it’s a moral obligation. We need to protect this democratic system.

Mohamed Hussein

PhD ’24
Lina Lukyantseva
We can develop solutions that are not perfect, but practical, and offer guarantees for those solutions.

Lina Lukyantseva

PhD ’23
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MBA Alumni

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

Olaolu Aganga

MBA ’11
Erica Williamson Phillips
I wanted to do something that more directly impacted my family’s communities.

Erica Williamson Phillips

MBA ’09
Mary Barra
I strongly believe behaviors set your culture — and that’s not something you can fake.

Mary Barra

MBA ’90
Rosa Li
I wanted to do something to honor my grandma and bring more representation to retail shelves.

Rosa Li

MBA ’14
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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

MS ’20
Raph Lee
I hope a lot of [AI’s] potential is used to bring people together in the real world.

Raph Lee

MS ’24
Nand Mulchandani
We do everything from shoe phones to internet-scale software.

Nand Mulchandani

MS ’18
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

MS ’16
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Executive Education

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

Olena Vovk

SEP ’23
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

SEP ’18
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
Rebecca Lester
I love accounting and I also love politics. Tax is the intersection of the two.

Rebecca Lester

Associate Professor of Accounting
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
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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