Management in Practice

We recently convened a group of Yale SOM alumni, leaders of organizations in a variety of industries, for a conversation about the evolving challenges they have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We’ve been talking with Yale SOM alumni about their professional and personal experiences during COVID-19. Here are a few key ideas that have emerged from these conversations.

Dr. Charles Powell ’19 offers a firsthand account of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan.

Demi Knight Clark, founder of She Built This City, describes how she remade a nonprofit that teaches hands-on buildings skills for a world forced to go virtual.

Deloitte’s Jeff Schwartz ’87 sees agile, empowered teams as the way to move organizations through COVID uncertainty.

John Wang SOM/YLS ’09, founder of the Queens Night Market, describes transforming the community camaraderie and diverse food that made the market a draw into a project to feed first responders.

Crises require creative solutions born of rational and imaginative tools. Amy Whitaker ’01 sees the artist’s capacity to navigate uncertainty as a valuable model.

The childcare provider Bright Horizons, founded by Linda Mason ’80, has pivoted to open centers for the children of first responders. Mason says that however devastating the impacts of the pandemic, there are reasons for hope and pride in this crucible moment.

Seán O’Dowd ’03 of Silvercrest Asset Management, who works with family firms, says that while conservatively managed businesses are well positioned to handle an ordinary crisis, even well-run small-and medium-sized firms need help from the government right now.

Seth Goldman ’95, the co-founder of Honest Tea and chair of Beyond Meat, was opening PLNT Burger, a new chain of plant-based restaurants, as the global pandemic struck.