Harvard College Alumni
Koma Gandy Fischbein has been named Chief Marshal
Chief Marshal 2020
Serving as chief marshal of alumni during Commencement is a special honor, and each year the Harvard Alumni Association follows tradition by asking the 25th Reunion Class to elect one of its members to this position. The chief marshal represents all of the alumni of the University, presides at a spread honoring the assembled dignitaries and guests, and leads the afternoon alumni procession.
In August, your class officers were contacted and asked to select a class nominating committee. The committee invited suggestions from the Class and screened candidates based on the following criteria: success in one’s career(s), vocation(s), and/or avocation(s); contribution to one’s community and the larger society; and service to the College. The following persons were recommended by the committee and approved by the Harvard Alumni Association Board of Directors as candidates for chief marshal. Each has consented to serve if elected.
| Tamara Butler Battaglino | Eryn Ament Bingle | Amy Nadya Finkelstein |
| Koma Gandy Fischbein | Kareem "Monty" Montague | Henry B. Nguyen |
| Bo Shao | Adam Szubin | Ahmed A. Yearwood |
See past winners of the role of chief marshal of the alumni for Commencement.
Senior Partner, Parthenon-EY, Co-Founder and Head of Global Education Practice (retired 2018)
House Affiliation: Mather
Freshman Dorm: Matthews Hall
Harvard Degree(s): AB ’95 cum laude, Economics; MBA ’00; EdM ’00
Harvard-Related Activities: In college: Class marshal; varsity basketball (4-year starter, captain); Mather Athletes Cambridge Kids, founder; Mather HAND big sister; Mather HAND volunteer tutor; Harvard University Mail Service Post-college: Basketball Friends Group (active supporter and former Chair), Harvard Varsity Club, Harvard College alumni interviewer, annual giving (member of 1636 Society)
Achievements and Honors: Class marshal, Harvard Basketball captain, Mary G. Paget Prize, Harvard-Radcliffe Foundation for Women’s Excellence Prize, NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, National Academic All-America, District One Academic All-America, Academic All-Ivy, Harvard Varsity Club Hall of Fame, Legend of Ivy League Basketball, Ivy League Silver Anniversary, Ivy League Player of the Year, All-Ivy Selection (3 times)
Major Charitable or Other Activities: Harvard Varsity Club, Harvard Basketball Friends Group, Internationals Network for Public Schools board member, Boston Plan for Excellence board member, Wellesley Public Schools Superintendent’s Advisory Committee, PTO Hunnewell Elementary School former board member, Wellesley Youth Basketball board member, Wellesley Youth Basketball coach, Wellesley Youth Lacrosse coach, Wellesley Youth Soccer former coach
Greatest Personal Rewards/Reflections on Harvard: I grew up in a small town in western Massachusetts and headed to Harvard knowing that it would expand my horizons. Harvard provided me with truly transformative life experiences both in and outside of the classroom. My volunteer work at Harvard helped me to discover my life’s passion and career path. Through Mather HAND, I partnered closely with Cambridge Public Schools. As I tutored, mentored, and coached local youth, I was struck by their talents and passion, but disheartened to observe how their life outcomes were so divergent from my own. This inspired me to channel my energies to help highlight and address the inequities of our public education system. After receiving my MBA and EdM from HBS and HGSE, I cofounded the Global Education Practice at Parthenon (now Parthenon-EY). My teams partnered closely with global foundations, government officials, CEOs and investors. I was privileged to have the opportunity to support federal, state, and local officials; nonprofit organizations; and foundations as they sought to better focus on, understand, and ultimately serve historically underserved populations in many of the large urban districts across the country and around the world. I now continue my work on the boards of leading educational organizations.
While at Harvard, being elected class marshal was one of my proudest accomplishments. I am again honored, and touched, to be considered for chief marshal for our Class.
Lawyer/Political staff
House Affiliation: Eliot
Freshman Dorm: Massachusetts Hall
Harvard Degree(s): AB ’95 magna cum laude, Government
Harvard-Related Activities: In college: Institute of Politics, Student Advisory Committee; Crimson Key Society, tour guide and Freshman Week co-chair; Philips Brooks House Association, Prison Tutoring Program; Freshman Prefect Program; Model Congress; Varsity Sailing Team; Hasty Pudding Club; and Senior Gift Committee Post-college: Co-chair, Harvard College Fund (2018–present); Harvard College Fund Executive Committee (2005–present); co-chair, Class of 1995 Reunion (10th, 15th, 20th, 25th); Harvard Alumni Association Board of Directors (2018–present); PBHA National Advisory Board for Public Service at Harvard College (2014–present); Harvard alumni interviewer (15 years); Harvard Varsity Club.
Achievements and Honors: Member, Phi Beta Kappa; MA, Higher Education and Organizational Change (UCLA); JD, NYU School of Law; associate editor, NYU Law Review; Harvard College Fund Roger Flather ’54 Award (2008); member, Connecticut Bar Association and District of Columbia Bar Association; juvenile mediator, serving clients in Stamford and Norwalk Juvenile Courts through a Connecticut nonprofit mediation agency; campaign staff (Richard Blumenthal for Senate, 2010; Chris Murphy for Senate, 2012); Special Counsel for Economic Development and Special Projects, U.S. Representative Jim Himes (2013–2018); pro bono lawyer at domestic abuse services civil legal clinic
Major Charitable or Other Activities: U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Foundation, trustee (2017–2019); Greenwich Academy, trustee (2019–present); Sandy Hook Promise, Ambassador Program (2018–present); Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, Board of Directors (2017–present); Waterside School, trustee (2016–present); Citizen Schools, Board of Directors (2016–2019); Putnam Indian Field School, trustee (2007–2012) and Board Chair (2010–2012); and Greenwich Scholarship Association, vice president (2005–2012).
Greatest Personal Rewards/Reflections on Harvard: Mark Twain said our most important days are the day we’re born and the day we find out why we were born. I grew up in a small town, and my undergrad years were deeply formative. Much of what I have learned about myself I learned in College. A former U.S. House of Representatives Page, I came to Harvard passionate about government. In our classrooms and dining halls, I learned to debate, but to stay friends; I learned to research and advocate; and I learned the power of public purpose. From Freshman Week to Senior Week, I loved it all. Today, my role with the College Fund and Alumni Association seeks to strengthen opportunities for all alumni to reengage with Harvard in ways that are meaningful to them.
I often think of Dexter Gate’s inscription, near Pennypacker: “Enter to Grow in Wisdom. Depart to Serve Better Thy Country and Thy Kind.” I try to live by these words, although they should have continued, “But Keep in Touch. Come Back for Reunions.” I feel so grateful for this nomination and thank you for the honor. I love working on behalf of ‘95 and look forward to celebrating our Reunion with you!
John & Jennie S. MacDonald Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
House Affiliation: Dunster
Freshman Dorm: Wigglesworth Hall
Harvard Degree(s): AB ’95 summa cum laude, Government
Harvard-Related Activities: In college: News editor, Harvard Independent Post-college: Junior Fellow, Harvard Society of Fellows (2002–05)
Achievements and Honors: MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (2018); elected member, National Academy of Sciences (2018); John Bates Clark Medal (2012), awarded annually to the American economist under age 40 who is judged to have made a significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge; elected fellow, Econometrics Society (2012); elected member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2012); Young Global Leader, World Economic Forum (2011); Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2009); elected member, Institute of Medicine (2009); Elaine Bennett Research Prize (2008), awarded for outstanding economics research by a woman within seven years of her PhD; Marshall Scholar (1995); Harry S. Truman Scholar (1994); Phi Beta Kappa (1994)
Major Charitable or Other Activities: Cofounder and co-director (2013–present) of J-PAL North America, a research center based at MIT devoted to generating and disseminating rigorous evidence about which antipoverty social policies work and why
Greatest Personal Rewards/Reflections on Harvard: I grew up in a family of scientists (biologists), with parents emphasizing the importance of rigorous and careful scholarship. My Harvard education opened my eyes to the possibility that this same sort of intellectual rigor could be usefully applied to my own passions, which lay more in the social and political world than the natural one that occupied my parents. In particular, a course I took from Harvard Professor Larry Katz—“Social Problems in the American Economy”—was transformative. I learned that the types of political hot-button issues my friends and I would sit around and argue about late at night in those typical college bull sessions (Did generous welfare programs create dependency and discourage self-sufficiency? Would the North American Free Trade Agreement hurt American workers? Would the proposed Clinton healthcare reform greatly increase U.S. healthcare spending?) weren’t just matters to be settled by whomever could muster the greatest rhetorical flourishes. That course—and my subsequent economics training—taught me that we can use dispassionate, careful, and rigorous statistical and economic research to bring data and evidence to bear on these and other pressing social policy issues. It is my great honor and fortune, 25 years later, to be co-directing J-PAL North America with Professor Katz and trying to further that mission more broadly.
Director, Content Production at Codecademy
House Affiliation: Mather
Freshman Dorm: Matthews Hall
Harvard Degree(s): AB ’95, Government
Harvard-Related Activities: In college: Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps, Varsity Women’s Soccer, Radcliffe Rugby Football Club, Radcliffe Pitches, Harvard African Students Association. Post-college: Harvard College alumni interviewer, Reunion Committee member (20th, 25th), 1636 Society, Friends of Harvard Women’s Rugby chair
Achievements and Honors: I was commissioned into the U.S. Navy as an ensign (in a lovely ceremony at Mather House), went on to be part of the first groups of women assigned to combatant ships in the U.S. Navy, and arrived at my first ship as the first woman assigned to that ship in its history. I transitioned to the U.S. Navy Reserve component, and was recalled back to active duty and deployed during the early months of the Iraq War. I attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and my awards include: Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal (3 awards), Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (2 awards), Armed Forces Reserve Medal with “M” Device, National Defense Service Medal (2 awards), Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (2 awards), Navy Unit Commendation Medal, United States Coast Guard Unit Commendation Medal.
My athletic career includes 20 years playing rugby at the domestic and international elite level, including three years in the USA Rugby Women’s National Team Pool for seven-a-side rugby. I am currently the head coach of the USA Rugby Club All Star Program, which identifies athletes in the USA Club Rugby community with the potential to perform and compete at the elite level. In addition, I serve as the head coach of All Navy Men’s Rugby, the first female head coach of a men’s program in Armed Forces history, and the first female Armed Forces Rugby coach. I am part of the Women’s Advisory Committee for the Sierra Leone Rugby Union, providing advisory support to grow the game of rugby for women and girls in Sierra Leone as a means of empowerment, and I am part of the World Rugby’s High Performance Female Coach Database.
Major Charitable or Other Activities: Event Committee, Hedge Fund Rocktoberfest Concert benefiting A Leg To Stand On, a charity that raises funds to help children in the developing world living with limb disabilities and has helped over 18,000 children live a better life through mobility. Board member, Play Rugby USA, which uses the power of rugby to inspire youth in underserved communities. Board member, Bronx Arts Ensemble, which brings arts education to underserved communities in the Bronx. MBA Advisory Committee, Georgetown University McDonough School of Business. Founding member, EY Veterans Network. Fellow, Truman National Security Project.
Greatest Personal Rewards/Reflections on Harvard: Coming into our 25th Reunion, I never thought I would be considered for the honor of chief marshal among such a distinguished, talented, accomplished, and eclectic group of classmates. I am humbled. Arriving with two seabags and a guitar at Harvard Yard so long ago, I had no idea that I was in for a transformative experience that would lead to lifelong friendships, intellectual pursuits, and the ability to explore and understand the world and myself in a way I had never dreamed possible. I think of early mornings hustling to the bus for morning drills; afternoons spent in class or across the river in athletic pursuits; the evenings of activities, meetings, and spirited dining hall interactions; and late night conversations that ranged from the comic to the esoteric. We forged our relationships with effort, shared experiences and the delightful awkwardness that comes with coming of age as a community of 1,600 kids who opened a letter one day from Cambridge that said, “Congratulations!” I look forward to seeing all of you at our 25th to celebrate all of our journeys, and set the stage for 25 more.
Colonel, U.S. Army; Fires Division Chief, Headquarters, Department of the Army Staff, the Pentagon
House Affiliation: Lowell
Freshman Dorm: Grays Hall (Middle)
Harvard Degree(s): AB ’95 cum laude, English and American Literature
Harvard-Related Activities: In college: Army ROTC (1992–95), Crew (freshman heavyweight, 1991–92; lightweight, 92–94), Rugby (1994–95), Kuumba Singers, Black Students Association, Lowell House co-chair and intermural coordinator, Harvard University Band. Post-college: Harvard interviewer and college fair presenter (20+ years: Georgia, North Carolina, Washington, Kansas/Missouri, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, D.C./Northern Virginia), School Committee chair, Harvard Club of Kansas City (2006–08), Reunion Committee member (20th) and co-chair (25th).
Achievements and Honors: Commanded U.S. Army forces at the Battery, Battalion, and Brigade levels, in peacetime and in combat. Army Service, Deployment, and Achievement Awards: Bronze Star Medal (3 awards), Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (4 awards), Presidential Unit Citation, Meritorious Unit Citation, Army Superior Unit Award, Ranger Tab, Master Parachutist Badge, Combat Action Badge, British, German, and Chilean Airborne Wings. Deployments to Iraq (2003, 2008/09), Afghanistan (2011/12, 2015/16), Kosovo (2001), South Korea (1996/97). Distinguished Graduate of the following professional schools: the Command and General Staff College, the School of Advanced Military Studies (Master of Military Operational Art, Science, and Strategy), and the U.S. Army War College (Master of Strategic Studies). Officer in Charge for U.S. Forces supporting the British for the Normandy 70th Anniversary Commemoration.
Major Charitable or Other Activities: Fifteen-year youth sports coach, ages 4 to middle school (girls, boys, co-ed), multiple sports (basketball, soccer, baseball, flag football, volleyball, track, softball), 500 and 1,000 volunteer hour recognition; elected school board member (2013–16), Fort Bragg (Department of Defense Education Activity) Schools, the largest DoD District with nine pre-K through 8 schools.
Greatest Personal Rewards/Reflections on Harvard: I love our Class and our University. These two sentiments were true when we walked together for graduation and they remain true today, only stronger. Harvard has left an indelible mark on me and shaped so much of my path these 25 years. A passion for service was instilled in me by my parents, but it was on the walls of Memorial Church where I learned about Harvard’s strong history of military service. It is so fulfilling to tell students across the country about that history, about our 19 Medal of Honor winners (trailing only West Point and Annapolis); and to return almost every year, partnering with the Office of Career Services, to talk to Harvard students about opportunities for service. Lastly, I love sharing our Class and Harvard with my family. Reunion photos tell the story of all of our growing families. Maybe mine is not that different from yours: newly married at the 5th, toddler and a pregnant wife at the 10th (remember how hot it was?), two kids and one born three weeks later at the 15th, and our full family of six at the 20th. The story of our Class continues to be written as we and our families continue to grow. I love connecting with ’95 alums across the globe and making new friends from our Class. I am truly humbled to be nominated for chief marshal, and I am even more excited to reconnect at our 25th. Thank you.
Chairman, Phoenix Holdings
House Affiliation: Lowell
Freshman Dorm: Grays Hall (West)
Harvard Degree(s): AB ’95 magna cum laude, Classics
Harvard-Related Activities: In college: Phillips Brooks House Association (BRYE, Boston Refugee Youth Enrichment Program); Harvard Classical Club; Established Persephone, the undergraduate classics journal; WHRB 95.3 FM; Let’s Go travel guide writer; JV Lacrosse; the Harvard Independent, sportswriter and editor. Post-college: established the Harvard Alumni Club of Vietnam and served as first president; alumni interviewer in Vietnam
Achievements and Honors: Asia Game Changer Award for leadership in bridging cultures through policy, business, arts, and education by the Asia Society; Young Global Leader, World Economic Forum; John Connor Humanitarian Award by Operation Smile; founding trustee of Fulbright University Vietnam, the country’s first private, nonprofit institute of higher learning; founder, Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC), Major League Soccer team
Major Charitable or Other Activities: Operation Smile has been a major part of my life from the time I returned to Vietnam over 18 years ago to live and work. We provide free medical care and surgery to over 3,000 children a year who are born with cleft lip, cleft palate, and other craniofacial abnormalities. I have had the privilege of serving as the chairman of the organization for over a decade, and it has blessed me with opportunity to put my medical training to work. In addition to Operation Smile, my wife and I established the Phoenix Foundation, which builds bridges and other infrastructure in the neediest parts of the Mekong Delta region.
Greatest Personal Rewards/Reflections on Harvard: When I reflect upon my Harvard experience, I think about all of the wonderful friendships and bonds that I enjoyed in my time at the College and how meaningful they continue to be. Harvard is an incredible institution because of the diversity and talent it brings together. It was a joy and blessing to be around people from all over the country and the world, and to get to learn about the experiences and talent of our fellow students. Even after graduating, I have enjoyed being a part of the greater Harvard community and continuing to be enriched by the experience of meeting other alumni.
I have so much in my life and career to be grateful for thanks to my education and time at Harvard. First and foremost, I would have never returned to my native country of Vietnam if not for working at Let’s Go travel guides. That summer adventure as the guide’s first Vietnam writer sparked a deep curiosity about my heritage and family past that eventually led to my life and career here, something I would have never imagined without it. I am deeply proud to be a Harvard graduate because of all the important things I learned in my time there and all the wonderful people I met. The education and experience has so fundamentally shaped my life.
Founder and Chairman, Evolve Ventures and Foundation; Founding Managing Partner, Matrix Partners China
House Affiliation: Leverett
Freshman Dorm: Pennypacker Hall
Harvard Degree(s): AB ’95 summa cum laude, Physics and Electrical Engineering; MBA ’99
Harvard-Related Activities: Harvard College alumni interviewer; guest lecturer at Harvard Business School; keynote speaker at Harvard Asia Business Conference; financial supporter of student mental wellness at University Health Services
Achievements and Honors: Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum at Davos; Entrepreneur of the Year by the Asian Venture Capital Journal; #5 on Fortune China’s 40 Under 40 business leaders (2012)
Major Charitable or Other Activities: In 2018, I retired from the $4 billion venture capital firm I cofounded and committed the rest of my life to philanthropy, starting with a $100 million commitment to start Evolve Ventures and Foundation. To date, Evolve has dispersed more than $30 million to more than 20 nonprofit and for-profit organizations in the U.S. and abroad, working in the area of reducing inner suffering and increasing joy and freedom in the world. Prior to Evolve, I had served on the board of several significant philanthropic organizations, including Give2Asia. Since 2014, I have also given substantial support to Harvard University Health Services in the area of mental well-being of students.
Greatest Personal Rewards/Reflections on Harvard: Harvard changed my life. I grew up poor in China and came to Harvard on a full scholarship, one of the first such scholarships given to a student from mainland China. Before Harvard, I had never taken a class in English, flown in an airplane, or even used a payphone. Harvard opened the world to me. In addition, my classmates at Harvard helped me start my first company, which I sold to eBay in a landmark transaction when I was 29. I met my soulmate Jenny Pao (MPP ’98) when I was studying at the Business School. As I dedicate the second half of my life to service, I feel incredibly grateful for all that Harvard, and life, has given me.
Distinguished Practitioner-in-Residence, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies
Of Counsel, Sullivan & Cromwell
House Affiliation: Leverett
Freshman Dorm: Matthews Hall
Harvard Degree(s): AB ’95 magna cum laude, Social Studies; JD ’99 cum laude
Harvard-Related Activities: In college: Intramural crew; Lowell House opera (played a eunuch and a pirate); Harvard Hillel Post college: Alumni admissions interviewer (Washington, D.C.; Maryland; Virginia).
Achievements and Honors: Fulbright scholar, Israel, 1995–96. Building on my College thesis research spent interviewing the surviving Branch Davidians from Waco, TX, I did sociological field work among the Lubavitcher Hasidic Jews in Israel and published my findings in a book called Apocalyptic Time.
After law school and clerking in Memphis, TN, I began my career at the Department of Justice working on religion law cases. In the wake of 9/11, I was placed on a team litigating terrorism financing cases, which ultimately took me to the Deputy Attorney General’s office and then the Treasury Department. From 2006–15, under Presidents Bush and Obama, I led the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which implements U.S. sanctions against enemy states (Iran, North Korea, Syria), human rights abusers (Sudan, Burma, etc.), terrorists, narcotics cartels, and WMD proliferators. President Obama nominated me in 2015 to be the Under Secretary for Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. I was not confirmed, but was able to serve in that role for the last two years of the Obama administration. I stood in as the acting Secretary of the Treasury for three weeks during the presidential transition in early 2017.
Since early 2015, I have been teaching at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) as a Distinguished Practitioner-in-Residence, teaching classes on economic statecraft and illicit finance. I also work part-time at Sullivan & Cromwell, where I am of counsel. I am an advisor to Freedom House, working to develop an initiative to combat new forms of authoritarianism. I colead a task force on the future of economic statecraft at the Center for New American Security.
Major Charitable or Other Activities: I helped to found a new synagogue in 2003, the DC Minyan, and my wife and I have remained very active as the community has grown to include hundreds of passionate members in a traditional and egalitarian Jewish community in the heart of downtown D.C.
I serve on the board of the Financial Services Volunteer Corps, an impactful and largely unheralded nonprofit, which helps developing countries to build stronger, safer, and more effective economies and financial systems, from Albania to Tunisia and beyond.
Greatest Personal Rewards/Reflections on Harvard: The greatest rewards of my life have come from my relationships with family and friends, particularly my wife, Miriam, and our three wonderful children. I was extraordinarily fortunate to be raised by two loving and thoughtful parents, and to have the opportunity to go to Harvard and dive into the vibrant academic and social life there.
I have been struck in the years since at how many of our classmates have become community leaders and innovators, whether in religious, civic, government, or nonprofit organizations. Some of that may be that Harvard is attracting go-getters. But I do think that there is something in the air that imbues students with a feeling that they don’t have to accept things as they are. In a time of tremendous challenges, at home and abroad, I am particularly grateful for that gift, as well as for the wonderful friends I made at Harvard.
Owner and Founder, Y INTERACT; Creative Lead, Custom Solutions, Princeton University
House Affiliation: Lowell
Freshman Dorm: Pennypacker Hall
Harvard Degree(s): AB ’95, Economics
Harvard-Related Activities: As an undergraduate, I spent all four years on campus working as an assistant program manager at the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID). I was part of a small yet nimble team at the Harvard Kennedy School that organized and ran one of Harvard’s Macroeconomic and Agricultural Policy programs for midcareer professionals. Since Harvard, my primary activities have always surrounded the Class of 1995. Whether I’ve got an official title as Reunion Committee member or Co-Chair, my primary role is quite simply as the Class of 1995 digital cheerleader. I love figuring out how to use the tools of my professional life (media) to connect our Class and provide a forum where we can all share our stories with each other.
Achievements and Honors: Next year, the design studio I founded in 2001 will be 20 years old. When I look back at the media landscape 20 years ago versus today, it has been both exciting and sometimes exhausting, but I love the challenge of always keeping one eye over the horizon. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to partner with global brands like the National Basketball Association (NBA) and WNBA, the Financial Times, and nonprofits who do the hardest work on this earth to transform lives, such as Covenant House. Most recently, I’ve been leading a team at Princeton University to oversee design for university-wide websites and digital applications. It’s an opportunity I had been loving so much, I moved there!
Major Charitable or Other Activities: One of my most important priorities is to use whatever voice I’ve got to empower others—especially young people—to speak up and use theirs. I’ve volunteered with Junior Achievement of New York since 2009 to teach courses at various public schools throughout New York City, as well as participate in career days, job fairs and other educational forums. I’ve also mentored the Young Entrepreneurs Club at Stuyvesant High School for the Annual Junior Achievement Business Plan Competition. Over the years, one of my groups placed second, and another team even came in first. Even when they don’t win, I absolutely love witnessing the evolution of these amazing kids who initially sketch out rough ideas, and grow into well-polished presenters, showcasing their big ideas in front of a distinguished panel of judges at Columbia Business School. In 2013, I became a New York Big Brother to a very bright 7-year-old who, at the time, hated to read and had very little confidence in his own intellect. Seven years, and many Saturday and Sunday afternoons later, we do word puzzles together on the subway, sketch art in museums and galleries, and he openly shares his fascination with the infinite possibilities of science. His personal goal is to attend MIT, and we actively discuss the work that must be done to get there, and he’s getting it done. Taking a less active role with other organizations, through board memberships at the Downey Side Adoption Agency and the Financial Communications Society, I’ve seen the love of an older kid finding a forever home after years in foster care, and the magic of a dream come true by working in support of Make-A-Wish in Vermont. On the board of Cool Culture, I get to play a small role in helping over 50,000 underserved NYC families get free, unlimited access to the city’s wealth of museums, zoos, gardens, and other cultural institutions. As a native New Yorker who grew up in these spaces, this is an organization, and a mission, that I hold quite close to my heart.
Greatest Personal Rewards/Reflections on Harvard: I remember when I first visited Harvard. It was a Tuesday in the fall of 1990. I was staying with a freshman in Canaday, and I remember following the sunset to the Charles River. I sat on a bench looking over the Charles, out beyond the Business School, and I knew, in my heart, that this was where I had to go. It was really that simple. In that moment, that night. Arriving at Harvard for freshman year was like stepping through the wardrobe of C.S. Lewis. You have this window of only four years—from freshman to senior—in this magical place, and when they’re done you can never go back. My experience at Harvard was all about making those four years count: of being present, in the moment, absorbing everything around me, especially the extraordinary people who surrounded me. What I know now, but I did not know then, is that the relationships and bonds and moments and experiences I made have become so much greater than four years, so much wider than the geographic limits of a Yard, or a campus. Looking back on the fall of ’91, who would have thought, 20-odd years later, we could still have those experiences together, to step back into the Wardrobe over a dinner, an event, a surprise encounter on a train, or a Reunion. In a world where we can all, at times, seem so disconnected, that is what I see in Harvard today. So much amazing talent and energy. Yet, at its core, the simplicity of friendship, of being present, in the moment. That is Harvard to me. That is our class.