Stanford Impact Leader Prizes Highlight Support for Impact Careers

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Student Impact Leaders Recipients, clockwise from upper left: Brooke Istvan, Julia Marisa Sekula, Nishant Tiwary, Jared Fenton, Robert Chun | Photos by Courtesy

Five graduating students at the Stanford Graduate School of Business have been awarded Stanford Impact Leader prizes, which recognize and support graduates’ work with high-impact organizations. The prizes are one part of the GSB’s multilayered support for students pursuing impact careers.

Winners of the Stanford Impact Leader award receive a $20,000 prize. They also get the opportunity to participate in a community of Stanford GSB social innovators, as well as loan forgiveness through the Stanford GSB Social Impact Loan Forgiveness Program (for those eligible).

“This year’s Stanford Impact Leader prize winners exemplify a deep commitment to positive social and environmental change, whether it’s improving healthcare access, advancing climate and housing justice, leveraging nature’s intelligence for carbon removal, or enhancing human well-being,” says Matthew T. A. Nash, director of the Center for Social Innovation. “These students are a testament to GSB’s dedication to producing leaders who will change lives, change organizations, and change the world.”

Deep support for impact careers

The SIL prizes are just one way the GSB helps students explore impact careers.

The Social Impact Loan Forgiveness Program pays a percentage of GSB loan obligations for participants who work in nonprofits, in public service or in high-impact businesses. The program, available to all GSB alumni, is intended to lower the financial risk for students who want to make meaningful contributions in areas such as education, health, social justice, sustainability, and financial inclusion. In the past year, $200,000 has been forgiven through the program — an average of $9,000 per student. Among members of the class of 2023, 23 students participated.

GSB students can also receive financial support for summer internships with nonprofits, government agencies, and social-purpose businesses via the Social Management Immersion Fund fellowships. The program has hosted over 800 interns with 450 organizations since its inception in 1982. Three of this year’s SIL winners previously received SMIF fellowships for work with organizations that included state and federal governments. Support for internships with government agencies at all levels is an important part of promoting impact careers, since even students who pursue jobs outside of government will benefit from a deep understanding of the government sector.

Beyond financial support

The GSB also promotes impact careers through its curriculum and student activities. More than 170 of the GSB’s 2024 graduates in the MBA and MSx programs will earn the Certificate in Public Management and Social Innovation, which recognizes students who dedicate a significant portion of their GSB academic experience exploring cross-sector approaches to social and environmental impact. To receive the certificate, students fulfill distribution requirements in the following areas: understanding problems; designing and assessing impact; and building, managing and scaling impact organizations.

The Stanford GSB Impact Fund, which invests in early-stage for-profit ventures seeking both financial and social and environmental returns, offers students a window into impact investing. The fund is managed by students — 70 of whom participated in it this year — with oversight from faculty members and guidance from the Center for Social Innovation. Students also learn from alumni, additional faculty and expert practitioners.

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Miller Social Change Leaders Award recipients | Misha Bruk

SIL winners focus on climate, healthcare and mental health

The interests and ventures of the 2024 SIL winners illustrate the breadth of impact careers that GSB graduates pursue. Focus areas include fighting climate change and improving both physical and mental healthcare. Some of the winners plan to make use of their backgrounds in public service to promote policy solutions. The five winners:

• Robert Chun, MBA ’24 / JD ’24, plans to work in public service to advance climate and housing justice.
• Jared Fenton, MBA ’24, seeks to enhance human well-being by focusing on the mental health of college students.
• Brooke Istvan, MBA ’24, aims to increase access to quality, affordable and preventive healthcare in the U.S. through innovative government policy and private-sector care delivery.
• Julia Marisa Sekula, MBA ’23 / E-IPER ’24, is building a career harnessing nature’s intelligence for carbon removal and human prosperity, with a focus on her home, Brazil.
• Nishant Tiwary, MBA ’24, aims to decarbonize capital through sustainable private capital investment and ensuring funds flow to initiatives intent on reducing climate change.

Miller awards honor contributions to GSB

Students submitted over 140 nominations for the Miller Social Change Leadership Award, which recognizes students’ outstanding contributions to the GSB social innovation community. Nominations from other students are a key part of the selection process.

“We saw a record number of peer nominations for the Miller Social Change Leadership Award this year, signifying the energy and enthusiasm of this year’s graduating class to engage with the impact community here at the GSB and beyond,” Nash says. “These students, both nominees and winners, represent the leadership we hope to see to tackle the world’s most pressing social and environmental challenges.”

2024 Miller Social Change Leadership Award Winners

• Ainee Athar, MBA
• Dawn Androphy, MBA
• Weston Ballard, MBA
• Danielle Bayer, MSx
• Matthew Champion, MSx
• Jeff Cott, MBA
• Katie Dickinson, MBA
• Anna Filochowska, MBA
• Brooke Istvan, MBA
• Julia Jacobson, MBA
• Joseph Kao, MSx
• Alex Lacey, MBA
• Grace Lincenberg, MBA
• Camy Pearson, MBA
• Liam Rahman, MBA
• Jigyasa Sharma, MBA
• Bharti Singhla, MBA
• Charlotte Weiner, MBA
• Jelani Williamson, MBA