Humanitarian Affairs Officer exudes a title of authority, but in reality, I was managing a chaotic geo-political dance. A dance that involved a slow bureaucracy, leading without power, and an endless fight against misinformation.
Frustrated with the pace of change, I joined Facebook ..
During a break from analyzing the $2bn consumer goods businesses, I sat in the front seat of the coffee chain, <z>. 180 seconds passed before the cup reached the customer. A 60-second delay masks the unique bitterness for which customers pay 400% more than their homemade coffee. 5% of the customers will never return. At that moment, I knew my future lied in helping ‘coffee reach the right customer’.
The $2bn consumer business I was analyzing before the coffee break, prioritized a product according to my recommendations..
I have a gift for finding insights from complex data. By correlating expenses to market trends, I helped <x> - a media-savvy CEO, acquire a high-value brand. Later, working for <y> - another CEO, a low-profile leader who was obsessed with asset valuation - I found a new framework for valuing assets, including algorithmic staying power, a metric that is often ignored in digital-first businesses. Despite my contributions, <x> declared bankruptcy with a risky acquisition while <y> diversified and became the #1 telecom operator in <country_z>
One time, my interruption on retaining certain costs triggered a PE manager to say, “Why is he in the meeting after the due diligence?”
2014 was catastrophic for farmers. Years following the crop failure, the tension between herders and farmers escalated from disputes over water and grazing rights. The impact of climate change required enforcing sustainability standards through capital infusion. In 2018, I helped the largest pension fund diversify into the Agri industry, which requires a long-term investment horizon. With small farms operating with outdated processes, our acquisition of large farms introduced sustainable water, energy, and soil management practices to the region.
Last year, we witnessed positive returns on our investments, but small farms continue to struggle. With a Stanford MBA, I want to pivot from Investment Banking to a Venture Capital role and start a fund investing in the Small Farm Agri market in Africa.
By joining the Stanford IMPACT fund in the Food and Agriculture niche, I will expand the fund’s portfolio into ..
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When I began my career in Consumer Product Goods (CPG) Marketing, influencer marketing was in its infancy. The ‘concepts’ that I finalized were founded on mapping the values of the brand to customer needs. In 2020, influencers filled a void for our cooped-up home/office life. Suddenly, brand identity was devalued. Views and likes became King.
Recognizing the need to set the right tone for our brand, I moved to a General Management role and managed the brand identity of five Fortune 500 companies. Getting buy-in from the executives, who often valued automation over customer loyalty, was a frustrating process.
With the economic slowdown in 2024...
Living through the M-Pesa era, I saw agents facilitating a banking ecosystem in the remotest parts of Kenya. The customers didn’t even know that the agents used M-Pesa. Joining UCLA Anderson in a city where such resistance to technology adoption doesn’t exist revealed two contrasting worldviews. One driven by faith in the institutions that ushered in growth. And second, from the abuse of power that has kept Africa poor.
When marketers ..
After the rocket launch, my mind lingered on the beach. As a coastal resident, I have been following erosion science since college..
My nerves were flaky. We were minutes away from the launch. I went to my happy place - the walk with my father as a child through Cartagena beach. The mind transportation calmed me down. By immersing in the learning curve, I contributed to helping us find planets with life-sustaining molecules – a tiny contribution to the collective consciousness at NASA.
After the rocket launch, my mind lingered on the beach. As a coastal resident, I have been following erosion science since college..
My parents masked the tragic memories of the Cambodian civil war with a rainbow of sweet, sour, salty, and bitter flavors – a palette preference that matched perfectly with American tastes. The unique flavors never reached most American homes. While the curiosity often lingered on the lack of Cambodian cuisines in popular restaurants..
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While the promotion from Operations Engineer to Team Lead to Delivery Manager has been at an unprecedented pace, I recognize the privilege of managing on-ground staff from 85 countries. Recognizing the water degradation caused by each rig operation, I proactively integrated green infrastructure with gray infrastructure to meet the requirements of the Clean Water Act.
The growing demand for ..
Earning the Consultant of the Year for 5 consecutive years in the Latin America region encouraged me to take on the most challenging transformation projects. MBA was not in my immediate plan until I met <y> - Stanford 2023 MBA, who encouraged me to gain global exposure. That advice motivated me to pursue projects in North America.
I was welcomed to America with my first project – a sustainable solution to prevent fires similar to the Palisades fire in 2025. I scoured ...
When my friend put his arms around his father, I would glance at mine. There was an expression of disgust on his face that only family insiders could recognize.
My father is a 3rd generation military veteran. Growing up, I had all the cliches of a military family – timekeeping to the last second, spick and span shoes, and no shirts/trousers with wrinkles.
"Sir." No, Sir." The strange practice ...
When a nation is impoverished, the route to relief is an endless maze with frequent sorrow and desperation.
Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation reached a record 500 billion percent. Our family had exhausted our credits, reputation, and connection to finance my engineering studies at MIT. The scholarship helped, but for other expenses, there was no dollar in sight.
Accompanying my Father to Fifth Street – a mile-long private exchange that offered better terms than nationalized banks, I watched him haggle for $200. As the sweat of Harare’s summer heat settled, I wondered ..
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My mother worked three jobs to support my Father’s ambition of building a technology product from our garage. As immigrants from Hong Kong, they recognized the immense opportunity the United States offered for our future. The dedication and complete devotion to their jobs without ever complaining were confusing for us kids.
When my brother and I set a record on bed-wetting, our therapist suggested ..
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When my teacher asked where I lived, I used to say near “x” – a cover not to let them know that I lived in a slum.
My parents migrated from the interior villages of Bihar in India and found the cost of living in Mumbai staggering for their daily wages. Worrying that the chores would take away from my valuable time in learning, my mother took on the brunt of the workload. This was after the eight-hour shift in a textile factory.
Hard work was a way of life, a way to survive ..
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I began my daily trivia talk on the mechanics of the engine, then switched to horsepower, and with dread, I asked, “Shall I take the car for a spin.” Confused and secretly proud of the question, my father sat with me. As a 11- year old, I barely reached the accelerator.
I was always restless. To avoid trouble in class, my parents found ways to drain my energy with sports, drama, and cars. As the son of an Engineer, I emulated my father’s disregard for the flashy new gadget and appreciated ..
"African American fathers are more likely to stop child support than any ethnicity in the world. I would recommend that the person be quoted a premium at 20% over $R."
<x> - our first AI-driven text generative tool for the insurance giant, Y, was in beta. As the Product Manager, my role was to spot biases and ensure data privacy in all our machine-learning algorithms.
When my friend looked at me for validation, I wondered, "There must be truth to that statement."
My father abandoned my family when I was 5, and my sister was 3. He had developed an addiction that ruined our finances and forced my mother to ...
Repeat after me, “I am nobody without education.”
My mother would force me to repeat these affirmations at least five times before letting me go outside to play. She was nervous. A week before, gang violence in the neighborhood of Montevideo had killed three teenagers. Many of my friends were couriers for the supply of drugs from Brazil. As a Single mother, juggling two jobs where the shifts run 12-14 hours, overseeing me and my younger sister ..
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10 years ago, Uncle Pete gave a passionate speech supporting my decision and reiterating why I should join as an Automobile engineer. He had a conservative ideology, but my father – a liberal believed that a woman shouldn't unnecessarily risk their safety in a men-only workspace.
The cliched American family with a mishmash of ideologies doesn't neatly translate ideologically on all issues. But when media companies assume ..
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I hid my family name for two years.
The 3rd transfer to a private school mandated that we include our father’s name, profession, and mother’s maiden name. The combination proved easy to detect our family’s elusive presence. My education and grades became a subject of interest in Tabloid newspapers and social media as the interest in my father’s Midas touch ..
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Born into a hamlet in India, I was inoculated with a conservative culture that valued tradition over discovery. Luckily, my father’s exposure to port cities for his trading business brought in the consciousness of exploring - a way of thinking that became standard in our household.
When I faced a life-threatening illness that left me with a high risk of an epileptic seizure, we moved to Mumbai.
Unlike the fixed conversations about the sowing season or the new gadget ..
In a world where violence and corruption are normal, it is easy to get cynical about the future. When the world becomes a large pool of cynics, they are blinded from the opportunities that lay ahead. Giving up is easy. Fighting on despite the injustice and the uncertainties is what has made us humans survive over 200,000 years. I take pride in our ancestor’s ability ..
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