Rakiya Cunningham

Rakiya Cunningham, who left her role in strategic finance at Shell to attend Stanford Graduate School of Business, has always had a “radical belief in myself and my ideas,” and has never been shy about expressing herself.

But she also wants to use her assertive personality to her best advantage as she embarks on the next phase of her career, whether that’s with a large corporation or a fledgling startup.

“Being outspoken is natural for me,” Cunningham says. “It has been 100% a net positive. But I’m learning how to be more intentional about it. Now it’s more about how to speak effectively and understanding what’s needed in the moment to get the best results from and motivate people.”

What made you decide to step away from your career to pursue an MBA?

I’ve always wanted to get my MBA. Prior to COVID, I was supposed to move to Poland in a rotational program for Shell. But literally, you make plans, and God laughs. I was just waiting for my visa. Because of COVID restrictions, my rotation plan was postponed. I had to switch gears. I wanted to make an impact and decided that getting an MBA would be a good way to achieve those goals.

What were your specific goals when you came to Stanford?

I was focused on building more intentional leadership skills. How do I want to show up? What type of leader do I want to be? I was also focused on the climate space and experimenting with possibilities. I had three hypotheses: Did I want to stay in finance and continue in that function? Did I want to move out of finance and do something more to do with strategy? Or did I want to explore entrepreneurship in some way focused on climate?

Have those goals evolved since you applied?

I took a class called Hacking for Climate and Sustainability. There are many startup classes where you can think about how products are created and do it in a lean startup model. We were following that approach specifically for climate-based businesses. This class opened my eyes to my potential outside of corporate America.

What shifted?

I’m a doer — roll up your sleeves, create a strategy, and bring people together. That brings me energy. Being in that class made me realize being a founder is removed from the things I’m good at and enjoy. But I started doubling down on finance actually being my thing. And I do like the startup ecosystem. So now I’m considering a role in finance in a smaller organization where I can have more autonomy and more responsibility, helping grow something from zero to one. All of these are very slight pivots. The core of what I wanted to do hasn’t changed, but the realm in which I want to do that has changed significantly.

Why do you feel that leading with purpose and understanding is just as important as achieving results?

Results are important, and that’s the easiest way people can gauge success. For me, I’m conscious about how I show up. How do I want to lead, and what does that look like? In order to achieve results, there is a certain way that you have to show up if you want to get the best out of people.

You address your “juxtaposed identities” by gravitating to or creating communities where you feel like you belong. What sort of community have you found at GSB?

I have many different communities at the GSB. The Black community has always been home base for me. I’m super into sports, so I’m a part of the sports community. I also participated in Comedy Night and met people who shared my interests. I’m now a peer mentor and have found a community with that group. I feel connected and recognized. I build community through commonalities, not only through identity.

What did you learn at Rivian after a long career at a fossil fuel company?

People always ask me that, especially when I was at Rivian. “Ooh, you were on the dark side and now you’re on the green side.” I want to make it very clear there’s a place in this world for fossil fuels. My view is that it’s more about expanding our options. Yes, there’s a problem, but the solution is not all or nothing. Working toward a solution doesn’t negate the significance or importance of the traditional oil and gas role in the world. Oil prices are connected to things we do every day, but we must also work on solutions.

Would you drive a Rivian?

I drive an EV now. My next car will 100% be a Rivian. I learned a lot at Rivian, and the company makes beautiful vehicles.

Have you had any invaluable mentors along the way?

One of my first managers at Shell influenced how I show up today. I’d just started in oil and gas, and I was on a team with staff who were very different from me. I was young and Black, and very much an anomaly. I felt myself shrink. When you’re so different and new in your career, you’re just not sure what’s appropriate. My manager was a loud, proud Latina woman. She wore colorful and patterned clothes and was successful. She was a great example of someone who showed up as themselves and was fearless about bringing her true self into the workplace. She gave me the confidence to be myself. What makes me good at what I do is because of my personality, and I fully bring that to every space.

Photos by Elena Zhukova