BOSTON—Harvard Business School (HBS) has announced the 2022 recipients of its Horace W. Goldsmith Fellowships. Established in 1988 by the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation and Richard L. Menschel (MBA 1959), a former director of the foundation and a limited partner at Goldman Sachs, to encourage students from the nonprofit and public sector to attend HBS, these fellowships enable the School to award $10,000 to a select number of incoming MBA students.
Beginning with the Class of 1990, 247 incoming students have received the fellowship. Recipients of the award have served in leadership roles in nonprofit and public sector organizations and demonstrate a strong commitment to continued career paths in these areas. New recipients are invited to participate in events with current and former recipients as well as local social enterprise leaders in an effort to create a network of individuals committed to working in social enterprise.
The 2022 Goldsmith Fellows are:
Audrey Atencio.  Audrey’s career has been focused on the intersection of food systems and supply chains, first with the United Nations World Food Programme in Uganda and most recently with One Acre Fund in Zambia and Rwanda, where she led work to improve the financial and logistical services for smallholder farmers. In the future, she intends to create more efficient and resilient food and logistics systems in low resource areas to reduce food waste and increase profits for farmers. She said, “I value the opportunity to surround myself with people passionate about the potential for social enterprise, both during and after my MBA program.”
Colette Bishogo. Colette comes to HBS from GiveDirectly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As interim country director and head of operations, she oversaw cross-country operations and ensured delivery of $25 million in unconditional mobile cash transfers to 70,000 recipients, and also delivered emergency COVID transfer payments with six-fold oversubscription. The Goldsmith Fellowship, she said, “Will enable me to conduct research and lay the foundation to streamline and democratize access to capital for underprivileged budding entrepreneurs.”
Jean Guo. Jean is a joint degree student at HBS and HKS and the founder and executive director of Konexio, a social enterprise that provides tech upskilling programs and bridges the digital divide for the most vulnerable. Since its founding, she has built and grown operations in four countries, 15 cities and 40-plus training sites, with more than 3,000 students trained and 10,000 students projected to be trained in the next three years. She said, “I am at the beginning of my social entrepreneur pathway and would benefit greatly from exchanges that can develop my capabilities to as a social enterprise leader.”
Khishigsuren (Hishgee) Jargalsaikhan. Hishgee spent two years developing and teaching courses through the International Monetary Fund’s online learning team within the Institute for Capacity Development. She then joined the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco as an economic analyst focusing on climate risk and economic forecasting. When asked about her plans after HBS, she said, “My long-term dream has been the same: to go back to Mongolia and help our country with its financial and economic development.”
David Messenger. David spent more than 10 years as a foreign service officer with the US Department of State, including postings at the US Embassy in Tokyo and the US Mission to the United Nations in New York. While in Japan, David served as a political officer responsible for advancing elements of the Indo-Pacific Strategy. At the UN, David advocated for US positions on economic, sustainable development, and UN reform proposals. David said, “Being part of the Goldsmith community will enable me to better promote public-private partnerships to tackle the most challenging issues facing governments and to advocate for responsible and fair international development programs.”
Rishi Razdan. After three years at Bain & Company, Rishi spent a year as a fellow with the University of Chicago, building capacity of high-impact social enterprises, followed by serving as co-founder and CEO of X Billion Skills Lab in Mumbai, providing affordable training and job placement services to college students. He then joined Acumen, leading the organization’s work in India on education, employment, and entrepreneurship. He said, “My goal for the future is to improve the quality of higher education in India. The Goldsmith Fellowship provides me with access to an exceptional network of peers that I hope can become a community of action.”
Shashwat Shivam. Shashwat comes to HBS from Clinton Health Access Initiative, where he worked with India’s Covid-19 National Task Force to set up the country’s testing systems and roll out the world’s largest Covid-19 vaccination program. He has also helped shape India’s long-term digital health strategy. Prior to this, Shashwat helped build UrbanCompany, a technology-first startup that creates livelihood opportunities and improves access to healthcare services for gig workers. Post HBS, Shashwat said he hopes to “accelerate the adoption of innovative and sustainable solutions that can make quality healthcare more accessible and affordable and optimize provider workload in low-income settings.”
Vishnu Sridhar. Vishnu has been a leader in both the nonprofit and public sectors and is pursuing an MS/MBA in engineering sciences. In his professional career, he served as a lead engineer for successful NASA missions including the Europa Clipper, Mars 2020 Rover, and Mars Exploration Rover. He also manages the Navagraha Temple in New York, uniting and supporting people worldwide based on the principles of ancient Indian tradition. He said, “In the future, I am excited to focus my attention on new satellite technologies that will monitor the effects of climate change across the globe and will aid in carrying out government policies.”
Mackenzie Welch. A joint degree student at HBS and HKS, Mackenzie brings six years of international development experience, including roles at Global Partnerships; Dalberg Advisors; and most recently the Millennium Challenge Corporation, with projects focused on smallholder agriculture in Malawi, renewable energy in Kosovo, and MSME access to finance in Indonesia. She said, “Through the support of the Goldsmith Fellowship, I hope to develop my ability to inspire groups to work together, overcome obstacles, and drive lasting impact in emerging economies.”
Matthew Wood. Matt began his career supporting the Department of State with their international diplomacy programs within the Fulbright Commission. After a year consulting for Deloitte’s government and public sector practice, he joined Social Finance Inc. where he modeled HIV programs for USAID clients and led partnership efforts for workforce development initiatives in tech. When asked about his plans after HBS, he said, “I’m excited to help scale tech-enabled enterprises that are decreasing barriers to education and workforce mobility for individuals of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds in the US and Latin America.”
Mark Cautela
mcautela+hbs.edu
617-495-5143
The HBS Social Enterprise Initiative applies innovative business practices and managerial disciplines to drive sustained, high-impact social change. It is grounded in the mission of Harvard Business School and aims to educate, support, and inspire leaders across all sectors to tackle society’s toughest challenges and make a difference in the world.
Founded in 1908 as part of Harvard University, Harvard Business School is located on a 40-acre campus in Boston. Its faculty of more than 200 offers full-time programs leading to the MBA and doctoral degrees, as well as more than 70 open enrollment Executive Education programs and 55 custom programs, and Harvard Business School Online, the School’s digital learning platform. For more than a century, HBS faculty have drawn on their research, their experience in working with organizations worldwide, and their passion for teaching to educate leaders who make a difference in the world, shaping the practice of business and entrepreneurship around the globe.
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