A Legal Studies & Business Ethics course takes students into nature to test their leadership and teamwork skills.

From Penn Global Seminars to Global Modular Courses, experiential education options are numerous for Penn students. Hotels are usually booked, and buses take students between stops. In one class, however, students are expected to carry everything on their backs.

This past spring break, Professor Sarah Light led 22 students along the Chesapeake and Ohio canals on the Maryland side of the Potomac River in partnership with Wharton Leadership Ventures. Students camped, biked, and kayaked for the entire week.

Prof. Light teaches different approaches businesses take towards conservation in LGST 2600: Climate & Environmental Leadership in Action: Building a Sustainable Future. The course pairs traditional classroom learning with an immersive venture that puts class concepts into practice through team-based challenges. Between leadership theory, public policy, and climate ethics, the course tackles the highly interdisciplinary and complex field of environmental leadership.

A group of cyclists ride along a paved path beside a calm river on a clear, sunny day. The path curves gently along the water, with bare trees and rocky cliffs lining one side and the serene river reflecting the blue sky and surrounding landscape. — Courtesy of Wharton Leadership Ventures

Prof. Light describes how the course tries to intersect individual ethical behavior in the environment and businesses’ impact on the climate: “Individuals have an obligation to leave no trace. Do businesses have any such obligation as well?”

Yoonie Yang, W’25, C’25, took the inaugural course in 2022 and found discussions on environmental personhood especially compelling in guiding her interests.

“It inspired the research I did in the summer after my first year. Prof. Light was my mentor,” Yoonie explained. “I actually ended up spending two weeks living with an indigenous community in the Ecuadorian Amazon to learn about how the indigenous lifestyle aligned with environmental personhood.”

While the classroom portion was informative, many found the course especially impactful for putting ideas into practice in the novel experience of the venture.

“The class and the venture are really designed to engage anyone with any level of experience or expertise,” Prof. Light explained. “For many people, this was the first time that they’d ever camped in a tent or cooked on a stove. And I think that’s pretty cool, actually, that people decided to take the leap.”

The first two days, students learned basic outdoor skills while easing into the problem-solving they would do in small teams. Each person, with the help of their teams, was required to navigate situations outside of their comfort zones.

“Every day, I found myself in an incredibly unfamiliar situation where we were cooking for ourselves. We were biking 20 miles in the cold. We were having to navigate on the kayaks on our own,” Yoonie said.

A group of seven people sit around a picnic table enjoying snacks and drinks at sunset by a calm river. They are dressed in jackets and warm clothing, smiling at the camera, with bare trees and a scenic, golden sky reflected in the water behind them. — Courtesy of Wharton Leadership Ventures

She reflected on how the outdoors provided her with a changed outlook on her leadership.

“I had come into college with a lot of teachers having told me that I was a natural leader,” Yoonie explained. “But I realized how difficult it was to be a leader when I was so unfamiliar with my environment.”

While Yoonie did the venture in the debut course three years ago, students from this semester reported similar takeaways.

Each day, someone was chosen to be the Leader of the Day (LOD) and was responsible for guiding the class through the day and ensuring everyone felt comfortable throughout. Nancy Gutzwiler, W’26, was familiar with the rigors and challenges of being in the outdoors, and that added responsibility shifted her perspective towards planning for every circumstance.

She was a leader later in the week, when they kayaked for most of the day. She not only had to facilitate and encourage connection but also ensure that, for example, nobody tipped their kayak into the water.

“There were portions where I had to balance having fun, because at that point we were all super bonded,” Nancy said. “If something doesn’t go perfectly, it’ll be mega miserable. Really keeping on top of that was a challenge to balance.”

May Zhang, W’27, found that being LOD allowed her to tap into her reflective side, which contrasted with her team’s extroverted nature.

She was responsible for guiding people through kayaking. She paddled between different groups, talking to people across multiple teams. By being exposed to every team in a leadership capacity, she was able to understand each student’s needs and perspectives.

“I just held on to a kayak, floated, and learned about their first year and challenges that they went through,” May said. “It was just such a sense of peace and connection on the water; I felt like no one was around us.”

On a college campus, being surrounded by so many students with different classes and activities can get stressful.

May found this was a chance for contemplation: “In that moment, I wasn’t thinking about anything else. It’s just being there, hearing this story, and taking in the nature.”

View of Harpers Ferry with a train crossing a bridge over the river. — Harpers Ferry, WV, from the Maryland Heights Trail (Courtesy of Wharton Leadership Ventures)

—Alex Zhou, C’25, W’25

Posted: July 23, 2025

Undergraduate Program

LGST 2600 students on a hike in spring 2022 (Courtesy of Wharton Leadership Ventures)

About LGST 2600: Climate & Environmental Leadership in Action

Launched in spring 2022, this experiential half-credit course was created by Professor Sarah Light and Erica Montemayor, Senior Associate Director, Wharton Leadership Ventures. It focuses on sustainability and includes an outdoors element to give students a taste of what it’s like to be in the wilderness while synthesizing what has been learned in the classroom.

While Wharton Leadership Ventures has offered co-curricular expeditions all over the world to support what’s happening in the classroom, this was the first credit-bearing venture.

The course is offered every other spring.

About Wharton Leadership Ventures

Part of Wharton’s McNulty Leadership Program, Leadership Ventures offer hands-on, team-based experiences in a wilderness setting where students step out of their comfort zone and exceed personal limitations, and experience leadership firsthand. These experiences facilitate self-discovery, leadership, and character development. There are three types of undergraduate Leadership Ventures: Expeditions, Intensives, and Venture X.

Wharton Stories

Wharton Beauty Trek: Merging Fashion, Innovation, and Global Business

Image: Beauty Club group shot in Paris. Credit: Yutong Liu

“This trek reminded us that beauty is not just about products, it’s about people, passion, and purpose. It’s a space where creativity and commerce meet, where diverse perspectives can drive positive change, and where MBAs have a unique opportunity to lead with both intentionality and heart.” – Aarati Cohly WG25

The following is Aarati Cohly WG25 and Yutong Liu WG26’s firsthand experience organizing and executing a new European Trek with the Beauty Club.

Aarati Cohly: I joined the Wharton Beauty Club inspired by the previous year’s professional treks. Meeting industry leaders helped me see beauty not just as a passion but as a career path. Though I started as VP of Marketing, I quickly gravitated toward event planning; supporting NYC treks, organizing panels, and ultimately pitching a bold new idea: launching Wharton’s first-ever Beauty Trek to Paris and London.

With just six weeks to plan, it felt daunting. I sent hundreds of emails to C-suite leaders at brands I admired. The first breakthrough came when the Chairman and Executive Director of L’Occitane forwarded my email to Julien Schneider, Managing Director for EMEA, who agreed to host us. Then came a response from Philippe d’Ornano, CEO of Sisley Paris, my mother’s favorite brand. With those two “yeses,” the trek became real.

Momentum picked up when fellow club leader Yutong Liu agreed to co-lead. Together, we applied strategies from our Influence course to target top leaders. A week before departure, we had 12 participants, 11 confirmed visits, and a mix of emerging and established brands across two cities.

Yutong Liu: As a first-year MBA student, I joined the Beauty Club to connect with others passionate about the industry. Co-organizing two NYC treks introduced me to brands like Olaplex, Dossier, and Heyday, and deepened my interest in beauty’s evolving landscape.

I was immediately inspired by Aarati’s vision to take the club international. Paris and London, icons of luxury and innovation, felt like the perfect next step. I was eager to see how global brands navigate markets outside the U.S. and understand the nuances shaping consumer values.

Why Beauty, and Why Europe?

This trek signaled a shift: beauty is no longer a niche interest, it’s a viable path for MBAs. Monica Rastogi, Regional Director of Transformation at Estée Lauder Companies UK & Ireland, shared that when she received her MBA, beauty wasn’t seen as a “serious” option. Now, the Beauty Club and this trek offer space for leadership in a dynamic global industry.

Paris gave us access to heritage luxury brands, while London offered retail creativity and bold innovation.

Trek Highlights & Key Takeaways

We began at L’Occitane’s Champs-Élysées flagship, where Julien Schneider shared how partnerships with farmers shape product innovation. The space, a blend of beauty and gastronomy via pastry chef Pierre Hermé, captured the brand’s sensorial ethos. Over coffee and pastries, we learned how L’Occitane’s sustainability efforts reflect a forward-looking vision rooted in Provence.

A group of MBA students at L'Occitane headquarters with Managing Director Julien Schneider. — Beauty Trek group with L’Occitane Managing Director Julien Schneider (Center). Credit: Aarati Cohly

At La French Beauty, we met Shirley Billot, founder of Kadalys, an impact-driven brand tackling banana waste in Martinique. Her message was a powerful reminder that beauty can drive sustainability and innovation.

“The beauty of tomorrow is shaped at the intersection of agriculture and green chemistry,” Billot said. “At Kadalys, we believe agricultural waste holds immense potential to regenerate both skin and planet.”

Kadalys founder Shirley Billot giving a presentation to students. — Kadalys founder Shirley Billot. Credit: Aarati Cohly

To round out our first day in Paris, we visited Korres’ store, met Bastille’s Managing Director, toured Diptyque’s flagship, and explored fragrances at Printemps, where scent is treated as its own cultural and commercial category.

On our second day, we visited Sisley Paris. Their headquarters, featuring zebra print elevators and red-striped carpets, reflected the brand’s playful sophistication. CEO Philippe d’Ornano shared insights on their commitment to quality, philanthropy, and innovation, including their investment in Neuraé, a brand merging neuroscience and skincare.

“Two things are key: a product of exceptional quality and the good advice given to the customer,” d’Ornano shared. “Our business is about science and service.”

In London, we met Demetra Pinsent, CEO of Charlotte Tilbury. Her path from medicine to McKinsey to beauty was a masterclass in embracing nonlinear careers. She urged us to pursue brands we love and to value people over linear paths.

“The beauty industry benefits from diverse perspectives,” Pinsent said. “Be open-minded about your route. Consulting or banking can provide valuable experience. Some of our best ideas came from unexpected fields.”

Students listening to a presentation at Charlotte Tilbury headquarters. — Company visit at Charlotte Tilbury. Credit: Aarati Cohly

At Tom Ford Beauty, Ronald Naidoo, Regional Brand Marketing Director, discussed evolving the brand’s portfolio through innovative sub-brands like Balmain Beauty.

At Jo Malone London’s townhouse, we learned how fragrance creation, sometimes taking years, roots itself in personal stories, like the British seaside-inspired Wood Sage & Sea Salt. Their scents are designed for layering, encouraging individual expression.

Charles Beck, Head of Global Strategy at Aesop, spoke about balancing intuition with data, especially after L’Oréal’s acquisition. He emphasized the value of pairing strategy work with operating experience.

We concluded at Forest Essentials, India’s leading Ayurvedic beauty brand, visiting their first international store in London. Though Estée Lauder holds a stake, the brand remains independently operated, showcasing the rise of natural products globally.

Final Reflections

This trek gave us rare access to global leaders and deepened our understanding of how brands balance tradition, innovation, and evolving values. Storytelling, authenticity, and emotional connection are critical to building consumer trust.

A key takeaway: experiences around products, through education, purpose, and community, matter. Brands must balance sustainability and inclusion with transparency. And always, product quality must come first; consumers notice.

Ultimately, this trek reminded us that beauty is about more than products. It’s about people, passion, and purpose. It’s where creativity meets commerce, and where MBAs can lead with intention and heart.

– Aarati Cohly WG25 and Yutong Liu WG26

Posted: July 14, 2025

MBA Program

Yutong Liu (left) and Aarati Cohly (Right) outside of Jo Malone in London. Credit: Aarati Cohly

Aarati Cohly WG25

Major: Marketing & Management
Hometown: New York, NY
Pre-MBA Career: Public-private strategy (NYC Mayor’s Office)
Post-MBA Plans: Brand strategy & innovation in beauty or CPG

Yutong Liu WG26

Major: Operations & Marketing
Hometown: Shrewsbury, MA
Pre-MBA Career: Management consulting (Bain) & consumer tech (Peloton)
Post-MBA Plans: Management consulting with specialization in beauty & retail

Wharton Stories

Wharton EMBA Team Drives Cancer Innovation in Africa

Image: Dr. Bukhosi Dube, WG’24, Penn Medicine Prof. Bruce Levine, and Dr. Cynthia Obiozor, WG’24, at the World Cancer Congress in Geneva (Credit: Denis Migliorini, MD)

“I never imagined collaborating with Wharton and Penn faculty on something of this magnitude. Our research shows that CAR-T therapy can be within reach for countries that never considered it an option,” says Cynthia Obiozor, WG’24.

When Prof. Stephen Sammut, WG’84, asked his Healthcare Entrepreneurship students whether Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T) cancer therapy could be brought to the African continent, he expected a thoughtful discussion. What followed was far more impactful: an interdisciplinary research project that culminated in publication in Cytotherapy, a leading journal in cell and gene therapy.

Sammut had previously led a similar feasibility study on CAR-T therapy in Costa Rica, working closely with Penn Medicine’s Dr. Carl June, MD and Dr. Bruce Levine, PhD, pioneers of immunotherapy. That study explored how to implement this complex treatment—one that involves genetically engineering a patient’s immune cells to target cancer—outside the developed world.

“CAR-T is incredibly promising but also incredibly expensive,” Sammut explains. “Its application in low-resource settings is limited, but the need is great, especially in Africa where cancer is a leading cause of death alongside heart disease.”

A Student Team with Purpose and Expertise
Inspired by Sammut’s question in class about whether CAR-T cancer therapy could be brought to Africa, several EMBA students turned it into an Independent Research Project. Among them were Dr. Lukejohn Day, WG’24, a Chief Medical Officer with a passion for global health equity; Dr. Cynthia Obiozor, WG’24, a hematologist-oncologist and Medical Director at Amgen, leading global oncology trials; Dr. Bukhosi Dube. WG’24, a healthcare consultant and former Chief Medical and Health Integration Officer; and Isaac Edrah, WG’24, CEO of Paramean Solutions, specializing in healthcare actuarial consulting.

Prof. Stephen Sammut with Drs. Cynthia Obiozor and Lukejohn Day, WG’24 and other Wharton students during a Global Modular Course on healthcare in Ghana. (Credit: Labadi Beach Hotel)

Obiozor had first connected with Sammut during a Global Modular Course on healthcare in Ghana and was immediately intrigued by the possibility of making CAR-T therapy accessible in Africa.

“Given my background, I understood the therapy’s potential and wanted to explore its global scalability,” she says.

Day was drawn to this project because it combined his interests in global health equity, implementation science, and systems thinking.

“I saw an opportunity not just to analyze a complex challenge, but to help shape a real roadmap for change backed by rigorous research and collaborative innovation,” he says.

With Sammut’s guidance and connections to June and Levine, the team quickly gained momentum.

“One of Benjamin Franklin’s guiding principles was to be useful,” says Levine. “The students were not engaging in hypothetical exercise. They wanted to convert research into something practical, to expand access to this therapy beyond Penn and beyond the U.S. to all patients who could potentially benefit.”

Research Findings: Cost, Infrastructure, and Opportunity

The student team conducted extensive interviews with African healthcare providers and analyzed models from global studies. They concluded that while CAR-T therapy is not immediately scalable across all of Africa, targeted implementation is feasible, particularly in countries like South Africa, where infrastructure is more robust.

“We can’t just copy and paste the U.S. model,” Obiozor explains. “So we focused on developing tailored, cost-effective approaches and identifying opportunities to build capacity sustainably.”

Their study outlined financial and logistical barriers, proposed solutions, and emphasized the importance of localized strategies. The final paper, published in Cytotherapy, provided a framework for how this life-saving treatment could be introduced and maintained in select African settings.

Going Beyond the Classroom
For Day, the project embodies the essence of the Wharton MBA.

“It pushed me beyond the classroom to apply what I was learning—finance, strategy, policy, and leadership—in a high-stakes, real-world context,” he says. “I collaborated with classmates from diverse backgrounds, each bringing unique insight to the table. Together, we developed an actionable plan, grounded in both science and business, that could inform policy and investment decisions on the ground in Africa. It was one of the most intellectually and personally rewarding experiences of the program.”

“Wharton gives you the frameworks, mentorship, and peer collaboration to build solutions that matter.” He adds, “This wasn’t theoretical—we were creating a scalable, implementable plan with real partners, in real time. Wharton gave me the platform to do that—and to think bigger than I ever had before.”

Obiozor echoes the sentiment.

“I publish regularly in my professional role, but I never imagined collaborating with Wharton and Penn faculty on something of this magnitude. Our research shows that CAR-T therapy—a treatment for cancers that don’t respond to traditional interventions—can be within reach for countries that never considered it an option.”

“Our paper sets the stage for how truly transformative this can be if it goes into effect. Car-T therapy treats cancers that have failed traditional interventions and gives people hope,” she says. “To go into countries where people aren’t even thinking about this as an option and show that it is feasible is amazing.”

Read the article in Cytotherapy

By Meghan Laska

Posted:

EMBA Program

Wharton MBA Program for Executives

Prof. Stephen Sammut (Credit: The Wharton School)

Prof. Stephen Sammut

Cohorts: Philadelphia, San Francisco, Global

Current Role: Adjunct Associate Professor, Wharton Management Department; Senior Fellow Health Care Management; Coordinator, Wharton EMBA health care concentration; Visiting Professor, Indian School of Business; Visiting Professor, Strathmore University Business School in Nairobi, Kenya; Chair of Industry Advisory Board of Alta Semper Capital (a private equity impact fund focused on healthcare investing in Africa)

Education: Villanova University, BA Humanities; Villanova University, MA Philosophy/Literature; Wharton School, MBA; Temple University, PhD

Dr. Cynthia Obiozor WG’24 (Credit: Chidimma Christine Amagwula)

Dr. Cynthia Obiozor WG’24

Cohort: San Francisco

Location: Houston, TX

Current Role: Physician Executive Clinical Research Medical Director, Amgen

Previous Education: University of Texas at Arlington, B.S. Biology and Biochemistry; Ross University School of Medicine, MD; University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Internal Medicine Residency; University of Kansas Medical Center, Medical Oncology and Hematology Fellowship

Dr. Lukejohn Day, WG’24 (Credit:UCSF Health)

Dr. Lukejohn Day, WG’24 (Credit:UCSF Health)

Cohort: San Francisco

Location: San Francisco, CA

Current Role: System Chief Medical Officer at UCSF Health; Physician, UCSF; President, Association of American Indian Physicians

Previous Education: Yale University, B.S. Chemistry; Stanford University School of Medicine, MD; University of California, San Francisco, Internal Medicine Residency Program; University of California, San Francisco, Gastroenterology Fellowship

Dr. Bukhosi Dube. WG’24 (Credit:The Wharton School)

Dr. Bukhosi Dube. WG’24

Cohort: San Francisco

Location: Portland, OR

Current Role: Consultant, Graybeard Healthcare Consulting

Prior Role: Chief Medical and Health Integration Officer, Cascadia Health

Previous Education: St. Mary’s College, B.S. Chemistry; University of Utah School Of Medicine, MD; University Of California at Los Angeles Olive View Medical Center, Internal Medicine Residency.

Isaac Edrah, WG’24 (Credit: Nick Stoianof – Studio Redleaf)

Isaac Edrah, WG’24

Cohort: Philadelphia

Location: Charlotte, NC

Current Role: CEO and Founder, Paramean Solution

Previous Education: George Washington University, BA Math; George Washington University, Master’s Statistics

Wharton Stories

MBA Success: Transforming Her Health and Career

Image: Priyanka Vergadia, WG’25 (Credit: Rohita Kotagiri)

“It became clear that physical activity and nutrition were lifting my mood in ways I had never experienced before,” says Priyanka Vergadia, WG’25, about her focus on health during the Wharton EMBA program.

As a first-year student in Wharton’s MBA Program for Executives, Priyanka Vergadia, WG’25, was excelling professionally and academically but she realized that she was neglecting something important: her health. Her “aha” moment came unexpectedly during a routine doctor’s visit.

“My doctor showed me a chart with my numbers going in the wrong direction,” Priyanka recalls. “It was a trend I had to reverse. That fear pushed me to make real changes.”

Building a Healthier Routine, One Habit at a Time

Priyanka’s first step towards better health was joining a small-group fitness program. She committed to attending a morning class five days a week, determined to create a lasting habit.

Priyanka Vergadia with her husband on a daily morning walk (Credit: Shashank Thakur)

“Within two months, I felt more energized and excited about life,” she says. “I wasn’t seeing physical changes yet, but emotionally, I was in a much better place.”

Adding a nutrition coach to her routine accelerated her progress. She lost 15 pounds and began to feel significantly healthier and more balanced. “It became clear that physical activity and nutrition were lifting my mood in ways I had never experienced before.”

She also restructured her mornings. Priyanka set aside a dedicated, phone-free hour each morning just for exercise. Afterward, she and her husband began taking 20-minute walks with their dog, a new daily ritual that gave them quality time together and helped her feel more in control of her day.

That simple shift sparked a larger change. The couple also made a weekly date night, a non-negotiable part of their schedule. “If we didn’t plan it, it wouldn’t happen. Intentional time together became essential,” she says.

A Journey from India to Wharton and Google

Growing up in a small town in India, Priyanka learned the value of setting goals early. After earning her undergraduate degree in India, she set her sights on graduate education in the U.S., enrolling at Penn for her master’s degree in computer & information technology.

Watch Priyanka’s journey from India to Penn to Google

Her career path led her to customer-facing technical roles, and ultimately to Google, where she became Head of North America Developer Relations and helped build the Google Cloud Tech YouTube channel leading a team of developer relations engineers.

Throughout that time, she thought about getting an MBA.

“The seed was planted when I was in the master’s program at Penn and took Negotiations and Entrepreneurship classes,” She explains, “I realized how those classes would be even more valuable if I could apply them in real-time to a job and decided to come back to Wharton after I gained more work experience.”

When she had 10 years of experience, she applied to Wharton. “I didn’t apply anywhere else because I had seen the value of the Penn Engineering brand and network and wanted to join that same type of community at Wharton,” she says. “And with Wharton’s West Coast campus in San Francisco, travelling for class weekends only required a one-hour train ride from San Jose.

Health First, Then a Career Leap

Priyanka Vergadia with her dog on the beach (Credit: Shashank Thakur)

As Priyanka prioritized her health at Wharton, a surprising side effect emerged: renewed confidence and energy to make a career shift.

“I had been approached by Microsoft when I started the program, but I wasn’t interested in making that kind of change,” she says. “By the second year, I had the clarity and headspace to revisit the opportunity.”

The more she explored the role at Microsoft—focused on developer go-to-market strategy and global training—the more it felt like the next leap in her career with an undefined space to define and chart a new direction in developer space for Microsoft.

Serendipitously, she was also taking Negotiations with Professor Mary-Hunter (Mae) McDonnell. “It was perfect timing,” she says. “The class helped me understand my market value and negotiate a fantastic offer applying the negotiation frameworks.”

Soon after, she began applying lessons from another course, Scaling Strategy with Professor Gad Allon, to her new role. “I was immediately using what I learned to shape how I grew my team and influence at Microsoft.”

A Lifelong Network

Now a proud Wharton graduate, Priyanka reflects on the broader impact of her MBA experience.

“Working in tech, my network was mostly tech,” she says. “Wharton changed that. Now I have a network of astronauts, doctors, lawyers, and professionals in just about every industry. They’re more than classmates. They’re lifelong friends.”

By Meghan Laska

Posted: July 1, 2025

EMBA Program

Wharton MBA Program for Executives

Priyanka Vergadia, WG’25 (Credit: Shashank Thakur)

Priyanka Vergadia, WG’25

Cohort: San Francisco

Location: San Jose, CA

Originally From: Ujjain, India

Current Position: Senior Director Developer Engagement Strategy, Microsoft; Member of Board of Advisors, Penn Board for Online Engineering Education

Prior Position: Head of North America Developer Relations, Google

Previous Education Shri. G. S. Institute of Technology and Science, B.E. Electronics and Telecommunication; master’s degree, Computer & Information Technology, University of Pennsylvania

Learn more about Priyanka

Wharton Stories

Stopping to Smell the Roses

Image: Rose Garden at Morris Arboretum / UPenn's Widen Collective

One student’s quest to help classmates see that the Wharton undergraduate experience is about more than grades and job offers.

It’s new student orientation in the fall of 2022, and I’m standing in Steiny-D across from the Stock Exchange post. As a senior shows me around and shares his nostalgia, it hits me for the first time that I’m at the Wharton School. He speaks of pressures to choose safe career paths, and I nod along, though my mind is wandering. At Wharton, one student comes from Wisconsin and another from Kazakhstan; one plays the flute and the other, squash. Yet most of them want to be bankers or consultants. That senior’s advice about taking the road most traveled echoes in my head. Is that the kind of leadership we’re taught in class? I spend days pondering: What is a business education for?

Catapulted from a lethargic Sicily to the bustling hallways of Huntsman Hall, I came to the United States in search of the intellectual stimulation promised by the liberal arts system. Growing up in Palermo, where many people don’t attend college and work to live, I fantasized about exploring worlds and careers that would allow me to express my values and perhaps even self-transcend. Here at Penn, I was quickly humbled by the 5 a.m.-to-9 p.m. live-to-work mentality. I still smell Sicilian flowers too much to fully adopt the Whartonized performance culture, but I am too American for the communal coffee breaks in my hometown. Tension to reconcile this dichotomy has shaped much of my undergraduate experience.

In the race for prestige and financial security, the principle that we ironically hope to master as financiers — risk-taking — is precisely what we avoid at all costs as students. We acquire safety nets with easy-A classes, join the “right” clubs that will get us the “right” jobs, and thus downsize risk. Yet taking chances is what a liberal arts education demands by its own definition. As William Deresiewicz, author of Excellent Sheep, puts it, the liberal arts “make you question everything you thought you knew about yourself . . . The process isn’t comfortable, but it is exhilarating . . . If it happens right, it feels like being broken open — like giving birth to yourself.”

Read the full story at Wharton Magazine.

—Francesco Salamone, W’26

Posted: June 27, 2025

Undergraduate Program

Francesco Salamone, W’26

Photo by Vanessa Liew, W’23

Hometown: Palermo, Italy

Concentration: Operations, Information & Decisions (Decision Processes Track)

Activities: Head Teaching Assistant for WH1010, opinion columnist for The Daily Pennsylvanian, and SNF Paideia Fellow

Wharton Stories

Student Journeys: Exploring Wharton’s Global Cohort Experience

Image: Global cohort students in Bangkok. Credit: Bee Xuto

“I really appreciate the global diversity within the cohort. Class discussions bring in unique perspectives from various industries, markets, and countries around the world, which enriches the learning experience,” says Sona Sundaramurthy, WG’25.

The Global Cohort of Wharton’s MBA Program for Executives is opening up a lot of doors for ambitious students around the world who otherwise would be unable to attend had it not been for this new hybrid format. But how exactly does this work? Do students in this cohort have the same learning and bonding experiences as the San Francisco and Philadelphia cohorts?

We asked two second-year students in the Global Cohort to tell us about their Wharton journeys. Here is what they said:

Sona Sundaramurthy, WG’25

On Choosing the Global Cohort:
“I live in a rural town in Indiana, and traveling to Philadelphia would take an entire day. On top of that, I manage a global team and frequently travel for work. With family commitments, commuting to the East Coast every other weekend just wasn’t feasible. The Global Cohort offered the flexibility I needed to pursue my MBA at Wharton.”

On a Typical Class Weekend:
“Classes are held on Thursday evenings and Friday and Saturday mornings. The virtual classroom is highly interactive, and the professors are genuinely engaged with us. You can raise your hand, ask questions, and receive real-time feedback. What I really appreciate is the global diversity within the cohort. Class discussions bring in unique perspectives from various industries, markets, and countries around the world, which enriches the learning experience. We stay connected through online discussions and chats—it’s truly engaging.”

On Student Bonding:
“Outside of class, our community thrives through Slack and WhatsApp groups where we celebrate birthdays, family milestones, and even festivals. The sense of community is so strong. For example, when we had an in-person class in Panama, a classmate organized a one-day sailing trip. Though I’m afraid of water, my classmates’ support encouraged me to join in, and it turned into an unforgettable experience. There’s no shortage of bonding opportunities.”

Yemi Ahouanmenou, WG’25

On Choosing the Global Cohort:
I had been considering an MBA for a long time, but taking two years off became less feasible as I progressed in my career. I looked into Wharton’s EMBA program, but the requirement to fly to San Francisco or Philadelphia every other weekend wasn’t compatible with living in Benin. When the opportunity arose for the Global Cohort, it was a perfect fit.”

On Student Bonding:
“We are so thankful for opportunities to spend time together and make the most out of it. We are really intentional about making dinners and non-virtual coffee chats happen when possible.”

On Academic Rigor:
“It is very rigorous and there are no days off from juggling work and school. The time difference to the East Coast can also be challenging because classes are sometimes in the middle of the night for me. But the classes are highly engaging, as the professors don’t just teach, they encourage us to engage in thought-provoking discussions. It’s not just about learning from the professors but also learning from our peers.”

By Meghan Laska

Posted: June 16, 2025

EMBA Program

Wharton MBA Program for Executives

Sona Sundaramurthy, WG’25
Credit: Anantha Puthucode

Sona Sundaramurthy, WG’25

Currently: Senior Director, Global Platform Services, Zimmer Biomet

Based In: Warsaw, Indiana

EMBA Cohort: Global

Previous Education: University of Madras, Chemical Engineering; University of Illinois Chicago, Bioengineering & Biomedical Engineering

Yemi Ahouanmenou, WG’25
Credit: Tricia Assogba Studio, Benin

Yemi Ahouanmenou, WG’25

Currently: Deputy CEO at Bénin Textile SA

Based In: Cotonou, Benin

EMBA Cohort: Global

Previous Education: Concordia University, Finance; EDHEC Business School, Risk & Asset Management

Wharton Stories

It Takes a Village

Image: Narmin Aydamirova WG25 (left) and husband Fardi Rahimli WG25 graduated with son Aras in tow on May 18. (Images courtesy of Narmin Aydamirova)

An international couple completed the MBA program together while raising a son.

Timing was everything for this new family.

Narmin Aydamirova WG25 and Fardi Rahimli WG25 met as undergraduates in their home country, Azerbaijan. After they got married in 2019, they knew MBAs or PhDs were on the horizon.

“I got in first, before he did.” Aydamirova says of being accepted to Wharton. Rahimli was waitlisted, which presented a challenge. Then Aydamirova found out she was pregnant. After she deferred her admission for a year, Rahimli made the Wharton cut on the first round, and the two were able to start the program together, with then-15-month-old Aras in tow.

“We brought him, our cats, and five suitcases across the ocean,” says Aydamirova.

Already in the strategic mindset of an MBA student, Rahimli thought the best way to optimize his and his wife’s schedules so they could spend as much time as possible with their son was to request to be put in different cohorts.

“If we were in the same cohort, we would have overlapping schedules, especially in the pre-term and with the core classes,” he explains. “And I’m glad we did that, because in the first couple of weeks after he started daycare, he got sick quite often, and we had to skip classes so we could stay with him.”

Before Aras started daycare, both of his grandmas took turns traveling to the U.S. to help out, with each staying one semester. This sparked a bit of a culture shock with American classmates.

Wharton Magazine

All three family members were involved on campus, from the Wharton Sports Business Club (Rahimli, left) to the Wharton Kids Club (Aras, middle) to Wharton Women in Business (Aydamirova, right).

Narmin Aydamirova WG25 (left) and husband Fardi Rahimli WG25 graduated with son Aras in tow on May 18. (Images courtesy of Narmin Aydamirova)

Wharton Stories

Leadership Evolution: From Dance to Design Thinking

“Don’t wait to be chosen—lead where you are. Wharton is full of stages. Sometimes you choreograph the routine. Sometimes you run the show. Either way, the spotlight’s big enough for all of us.” – Kelsey Spencer WG25

If you had told me two years ago that I’d end my Wharton journey as Co-President of the Innovation & Design Club and Co-Chair of Operations for the Whitney M. Young Conference, I would’ve laughed—probably mid-choreographing an eight-count in my kitchen. But here I am, closing out this chapter not only with new skills and stories but with a new sense of self as a leader.

Let me rewind a bit.

The Audacity to Step Up

My leadership journey at Wharton started not in a boardroom or a classroom, but in a rehearsal room. It was the Talent Show for incoming first years, and Cluster 4 needed a choreographer. I had dance experience, and—let’s be honest—I also had opinions. So I stepped up. What began as a “sure, why not?” turned into my first real lesson in collaborative leadership.

I vividly remember one night in rehearsal my cohort mate and a U.S. veteran looked me square in the eye and said, “You’re leading this—own it.” No pressure, right?

But he was right. I was holding back, trying to make everyone happy, when what the group needed was someone to lead with clarity, energy, and just enough Beyoncé to keep it fun. That moment was a shift: I learned that leadership isn’t about knowing everything—it’s about showing up, setting the tone, and sometimes yelling “One more time from the top!”

That dance performance didn’t just win us applause—it unlocked something in me.

A group of MBA students on the Cluster 4 leadership team. — Kelsey and her Cluster 4 leadership team. Credit: Kelsey Spencer

Leading Where You Are

After the talent show, I leaned in. I became the VP of Student Life for Cluster 4, making sure our group not only had a social calendar, but also a sense of community. I joined AAMBAA, where I found space to lead and serve alongside Black peers who inspired me daily. I got involved in the Innovation & Design Club, where the visionaries felt like home.

Over the next two years, I was a Teaching Assistant, Admissions Fellow, Teaching Fellow, RISE Fellow, and even the Choreographer for Follies, our annual comedy show. Balancing all these roles taught me the less glamorous (but very real) side of leadership: time management, setting boundaries, and asking for help when your calendar looks like a Sudoku puzzle gone wrong.

I learned that leadership isn’t always loud. Sometimes, it’s quietly editing someone’s pitch deck at midnight. It’s holding space for a classmate to vent after a tough interview. It’s knowing when to say “yes,” but also when to say, “Not this time—I need rest.”

Stretching Myself

While Wharton gave me opportunities to lead inside the classroom and on campus, some of the biggest growth came when I pushed myself beyond my comfort zone. I traveled to Peru—not only for vacation, but also to test my endurance and resilience. I expanded my global footprint and cultural awareness in places like Turkey and Japan, gaining a fresh perspective on collaboration, creativity, and humility.

I also completed the Leadership Intensive with the Fire Department of New York City. Yes, I ran drills with actual firefighters. It was exhausting, humbling, and unforgettable. There’s nothing quite like pulling a hose in full gear to teach you about grit, trust, and leading when your tank feels empty.

A group of Wharton students in fire suits during the FNDY Leadership Intensive. — Kelsey during the FDNY Leadership Intensive. Credit: Kelsey Spencer

From Creative Chaos to Strategic Calm

My second year brought bigger leadership roles—and bigger growth. I became Co-President of the Innovation & Design Club, one of the few clubs that bridges the MBA world with graduate students from engineering and design. Leading this club meant thinking beyond our own echo chamber. How do you bring business students and design thinkers into the same room—and actually get them to listen to each other?

Spoiler: Snacks help. But more importantly, so does curiosity and creative event planning.

I also had the honor of serving as Co-Chair of Operations for Whitney M. Young Jr. Memorial Conference, Wharton’s premier conference celebrating Black excellence in business. Coordinating logistics, managing teams, and seeing the vision come to life—it was a full-circle moment. The girl who started as a choreographer now had a seat at the table, and I didn’t take it lightly.

Being a leader here didn’t mean always being the loudest in the room. It meant asking the right questions, empowering others to shine, and building systems that would last beyond me.

Director of MBA Student Life and Kelsey Spencer at a black tie event during the Whitney M. Young Conference. — Kelsey and Eddie Banks-Crosson, Director of MBA Student Life, at the Whitney M. Young Conference. Credit: Kelsey Spencer

Lessons from the Dance Floor

So, what did I learn about leadership at Wharton?

Clarity beats charisma. Sure, a well-timed joke or Beyoncé reference goes a long way—but nothing beats clearly communicating a vision and next steps.
Collaboration isn’t always clean. People bring different styles, skills, and energy levels. Leadership means finding rhythm in the chaos—and not being afraid to switch the tempo.
You don’t have to do it alone. Some of my best ideas came from people who saw things I didn’t. Leading with vulnerability and openness made all the difference.
Your voice matters. Whether in a meeting, a rehearsal, or a casual chat over Pret, I found that people remember how you made them feel—and how you made them feel seen.
Joy is a strategy. Leading with joy isn’t frivolous—it’s powerful. It builds trust, encourages participation, and makes the hard days a little lighter.

A Final Bow

As I reflect on this whirlwind of an MBA experience, I’m still surprised by how much I’ve grown. Wharton didn’t hand me a leadership manual—it handed me opportunities, challenges, late-night emails, last-minute pivots, and brilliant peers who made me better. And through it all, I found my voice—not just as someone who can lead a dance number, but as someone who can lead people.

One of the most meaningful honors I received during my time here was being awarded the Whitney M. Young Fellowship—a recognition that affirmed the impact of my leadership and the values I strive to carry with me. It reminded me that leadership isn’t just about titles or tasks; it’s about legacy, intention, and lifting as you climb.

If you’re reading this as a prospective or incoming student, here’s my advice: raise your hand. Say yes (then figure it out). Don’t wait to be chosen—lead where you are. Wharton is full of stages. Sometimes you choreograph the routine. Sometimes you run the show. Either way, the spotlight’s big enough for all of us.

–Kelsey Spencer, WG25

Posted: June 3, 2025

MBA Program

The MBA Office of Student Life is here to assist you in making an impact in the Wharton community. Whether you are interested in leading a club, being a mentor, or getting involved in the Wharton Graduate Association, our Student Life Advisors are here to help.

Read more about the abundant leadership opportunities in the Wharton community.

Kelsey Spencer WG25

Wharton Major: Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Previous Career: Technology

Wharton Stories

How a Wharton MBA is Adding Value for the Mavericks General Counsel

Image: Sekou Lewis, WG’25, at the Mavericks practice facility in Dallas. (Photo by Vernon Bryant/Dallas Mavericks)

“I wanted to put myself in the best position to grow and learn from the best. At the end of the day, I’d be a better lawyer for having a business education,” says Sekou Lewis, WG’25.

Sekou Lewis, WG’25, a former international professional basketball player and the current General Counsel and Chief Ethics Officer for the Dallas Mavericks, credits his family and basketball legend Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson for inspiring his decision to pursue an MBA at Wharton.

A pivotal moment in Sekou’s career trajectory occurred during his time in law school in Philadelphia when his sister, Deja Lewis Chamberlain, WG’10, and Arthur Chamberlain, WG’10, invited him to a Wharton Social Impact Club conference featuring K. Bobby Turner, W’84, and Magic Johnson as the guest speakers.

“I remember Magic talking about how many people who looked like him played basketball, but not many had reached the executive and ownership level,” Sekou recalls. “Magic said that he wanted to see that change, and that really stuck with me. It planted the idea to someday get an MBA.”

A Growing Interest in Business

After graduating from law school, Sekou focused on corporate law in private practice where he discovered an interest in business and strategy while working on merger and acquisition deals. Several years later, he landed the job at the Dallas Mavericks and began thinking about pursuing an MBA.

Man presenting information to a group of people — Sekou Lewis, WG’25, presenting at a Business of Basketball meeting at the Dallas Mavericks headquarters in Dallas. (Photo by Vernon Bryant/Dallas Mavericks)

“I realized I could learn about business on the job, but I also could go back to school and learn from top professors and smart students to accelerate that process,” he explains. “I learned about basketball through full immersion in the sport, always seeking to compete against or play with the best, and I wanted to use that same approach to learn about business.”

Sekou also wanted to build a network of classmates who would serve as a sounding board for business issues, similar to the network he built as a young associate in private practice.

“I wanted to put myself in the best position to grow and learn from the best. At the end of the day, I’d be a better lawyer for having a business education. I saw it as a win-win opportunity,” he says.

A Full Circle Moment

When Sekou decided to pursue his MBA, coming to Wharton felt like a “full circle moment,” as the original idea for business school began on the Wharton campus at Johnson’s talk. And the EMBA program was a great fit because he could continue working for the Dallas Mavericks while in school.

Having gone to law school in Philadelphia, he wanted to experience a different part of the country, so he started the EMBA program commuting from Dallas to Wharton’s West Coast campus in San Francisco and later took advantage of the ability to take classes on both campuses by enrolling in electives in Philadelphia and online with the Global cohort in his second year.

As a recent graduate, Sekou reflects on how his Wharton MBA is currently shaping his work as General Counsel for the Mavericks.

His Management Communication course with Seth Barad, for instance, has proven invaluable. “It’s paid for itself many times over,” Sekou says, explaining how the class gave him the tools to navigate challenging media situations with confidence.

He also points to frameworks from Professor Zeke Hernandez’s (Max and Bernice Garchik Family Presidential Associate Professor) Global Strategy class as a key resource when thinking about potential deals in international markets and navigating negotiations where parties may have significant differences in culture, business practices, and underlying beliefs.

People cheering on sidelines with a mascot for a game — Sekou Lewis, WG’25, at the Dallas Mavericks court dedication in Madrid. Credit: Dallas Mavericks

Another highlight of the EMBA program has been the community of classmates that Sekou has encountered. From diverse industries to varied backgrounds, his peers have proven to be an invaluable resource.

“They’re brilliant, and I now have a trusted network of friends I can turn to for advice or help with business deals across a range of industries,” Sekou shares. “That’s something you can’t put a price on.”

In addition to meeting fellow professionals from the sports world, such as a Super Bowl MVP from the Seattle Seahawks, former Olympians, and the head of marketing for the Golden State Warriors, Sekou found camaraderie with students who, like him, had children during the program. The shared experiences of balancing family, work, and academics helped foster deep bonds.

“It was fun to swap parenting stories with classmates, offer advice, and build deep friendships over our experiences,” he says.

As Sekou reflects on his journey, he believes the value of his Wharton MBA will continue to grow and evolve along with his career. “The value of my Wharton MBA will continue to show up in ways that I can’t predict, and I know it will pay itself back ten-fold.”

By Meghan Laska

Posted: June 2, 2025

EMBA Program

Wharton MBA Program for Executives

Sekou Lewis, WG’25, at the Mavericks practice facility in Dallas. (Photo by Vernon Bryant/Dallas Mavericks)

Sekou Lewis, WG’25

Currently: General Counsel & Chief Ethics Officer, Dallas Mavericks

Based In: Dallas, TX

EMBA Cohort: San Francisco

Previous Education: American University, BA Criminal Justice; Drexel University, JD

Wharton Stories

The Economy of Words

Image: Working in Koo Plaza (Courtesy of Alex Zhou)

Alex Zhou, C’25, W’25, explains how he merged his interdisciplinary education to become a more creative business thinker.

In roaring cataracts down Andes’ channelled steeps
Mark how enormous Orellana sweeps!
—Joseph Wharton, “The Amazon”

When I read this poem, during my first year at Penn, that Joseph Wharton wrote after a business trip to the Amazon, I thought nothing of it. Oh nice, I thought, he had a creative escape from all those financial statements and memos.

It took me until my second fall semester to really understand it. Around that time, I declared my creative writing minor and took my first class for it: a course on translating and writing poetry. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but due to the sheer numbers and objectivity of my finance and accounting classes, I sought a creative outlet.

At a school as interdisciplinary as Penn, it can feel impossible to connect the different parts of my education into one coherent thing. I put up a mental wall between these two parts of my education — I wanted my left brain for Wharton classes and right brain for Kelly Writer’s House. I only realized how hindering that mindset was once I took Wharton’s business communication course.

“My issue wasn’t that business was an uncreative profession—it was that I wasn’t thinking about business creatively.”

I remember one of the most agonizing parts of that course being a business email. Over the course of three weeks, I kept on making mistakes that I thought were tiny. The feedback felt tedious: commas were misplaced, my paragraphs had too many sentences, my sentences were too long.

I started synthesizing and thinking of my email as a really odd poem. I began to think about these things as enjambment and rhythm, of my email as a set of poetic techniques that could coalesce into very precise meaning and intention. I had to think about language spatially, and in the same ways I wanted to write stories, I thought about everything from interview answers to PowerPoint slides as things that required mastery of narrative.

My issue wasn’t that business was an uncreative profession — it was that I wasn’t thinking about business creatively.

I realized that writing, like business, is an exercise of form and resulting function. “I don’t care if you did it on accident,” one of my creative writing professors said during every class. “You have to tell me why you did it.”

Misplaced language can move global markets

Take, for example, the concept of “Fed speak.” In 2023, J.P. Morgan created an A.I. tool that analyzed 25 years of speeches and memos to see how simple changes in sentence structure and language could signal changes in interest rates. Precise language isn’t just useful, but consequential; misplaced language can move global markets.

A group of nine students standing closely together and smiling in front of the Huntsman Program building, surrounded by greenery on a sunny day. — With friends on the last day of class (Courtesy of Alex Zhou)

As part of the Huntsman Program in International Studies & Business, I was required to take advanced courses in my target language, Spanish. I took a Spanish literature course that counted for my creative writing minor and courses related to business. While I was relatively proficient in Spanish, it was difficult. Easy sentences in English felt impossible to articulate in Spanish without explicitly thinking about translations for every word.

When I took Business Spanish, I read about business issues, wrote management analyses, and presented marketing strategies in Spanish. These would have been relatively uncomplicated in English, but in Spanish, I was forced to slow down significantly. I thought about every single word, its meaning, and effect. I had to become intentional about everything I was saying because I couldn’t say it on autopilot. I had to do it word by word.

I came back to my Wharton courses thinking more slowly about the next word before speaking. In my business classes prior, I spoke without thinking, sometimes saying things without knowing what they meant. I never stopped to think how business impacted me and the world around me.

It made my business education more human and meaningful to have reflected so intentionally; the challenge at Wharton isn’t just figuring out what story to tell but also knowing the right way to say it.

When I speak in Spanish and do creative writing exercises (and occasionally both at the same time), I feel myself interrogating every meaning. Is this what I actually want to say? And will somebody understand it that way? It’s a really tedious way to think about business, so granular that sometimes I’m worried that I’ll lose the forest for the trees. In my weird way, though, it’s all poetry, and all poetry might just be a memo.

—Alex Zhou, C’25, W’25

Posted: May 27, 2025

Undergraduate Program

Alex Zhou, C’25, W’25

Photo by Weining Ding, W’27

Dual-degree program: Huntsman Program in International Studies & Business

Concentration: Finance

Minor: Creative Writing

Activities: Wharton Ambassadors, Kite & Key Society Tour Guide, Huntsman Student Advisory Board, Finance 2250/7250 Teaching Assistant, Wharton Undergraduate Communications Writer

With family at graduation (Photo by Shira Yudkoff)

After Penn: Markets Analyst at J.P. Morgan

Wharton Stories

Wharton in the Wild

Wharton Stories

Wharton Beauty Trek: Merging Fashion, Innovation, and Global Business

Why Beauty, and Why Europe?

Trek Highlights & Key Takeaways

Final Reflections

Aarati Cohly WG25

Yutong Liu WG26

Wharton Stories

Wharton EMBA Team Drives Cancer Innovation in Africa

Wharton Stories

MBA Success: Transforming Her Health and Career

Wharton Stories

Stopping to Smell the Roses

Francesco Salamone, W’26

Wharton Stories

Student Journeys: Exploring Wharton’s Global Cohort Experience

Wharton Stories

It Takes a Village

Wharton Stories

Leadership Evolution: From Dance to Design Thinking

The Audacity to Step Up

Leading Where You Are

Stretching Myself

From Creative Chaos to Strategic Calm

Lessons from the Dance Floor

A Final Bow

Kelsey Spencer WG25

Wharton Stories

How a Wharton MBA is Adding Value for the Mavericks General Counsel

Wharton Stories

The Economy of Words

“My issue wasn’t that business was an uncreative profession—it was that I wasn’t thinking about business creatively.”

Misplaced language can move global markets

Alex Zhou, C’25, W’25