Alumni
Flying a National Airline Through Bankruptcy
Gilbert Santa Maria ’91 took over the struggling Philippine Airlines months before the COVID pandemic. He talks about finding creative ways to keep the airline flying and steering it toward a more sustainable future.
When Essential Infrastructure Projects Involve Exceptional Risk, No Sector Can Go It Alone
At the World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, Laura Alonzo ’96 mobilizes private investment in the developing and conflict-wracked economies that need it most.
Leadership Lessons from a Lifetime Investing in Tech
Anne Glover ’78 traces her journey from shop-floor foreman to deep-tech investor and discusses the challenges facing the UK and Europe in building homegrown tech giants.
Inside the 25-Year Mission to Give India’s City Dwellers a Voice in Government
Drawing on his experience at Yale SOM, his career in finance, and his first encounter with a New England town meeting, Ramesh Ramanathan ’91 returned to India with his wife, Swati, to help citizens shape the future of their communities.
Mobilizing a System to Treat People with Sickle Cell Disease
Cece Calhoun ’21, medical director of Yale’s Sickle Cell Program, reflects on the challenges of building teams and structures to support patients facing both chronic illness and systemic inequities.
How Dr. Bronner’s Turned a Soap Company into a Blueprint for Regenerative Business
Darcy Shiber-Knowles ’13 has helped grow Dr. Bronner’s from a cult favorite to a force reshaping how industries think about sustainability.
Solving Operational Problems Is the Real Engine of CarMax’s Success
CarMax revolutionized the used car market by implementing a fixed-price retail model. But co-founder Austin Ligon ’80 says the company’s financial success came from developing efficient back-end operations through a long-term focus on process improvement.
Rebuilding Local News, One Town at a Time
Bob Rifkin ’89, president of the board of the Belmont Voice, says the nonprofit model for local news has had a palpable impact on his community—and can do the same for your town.
How Do Impact Investors Know If They Are Having an Impact?
We talked with Jake Harris ’19, a principal at the impact investing firm DBL Partners, about the challenges of measuring the social and environmental returns on a financial investment.
How a New Approach to Store Brands Helped Natural and Organic Foods Go Mainstream
As Whole Foods expanded in the 1990s, Denis Ring ’84 took on the challenge of developing the grocery chain’s 365 brand. Wooing shoppers with joyful design and affordable prices, he harnessed the power of private labels to expand the scale of organic and all-natural foods.
Most Startups Fail. These Founders Thought Making an Impact Was Worth the Risk.
We talked with Nick Callegari ’25, Dianna Liu ’18, and Ariana Yuen ’19 about the unique challenges faced by founders trying to make a difference and the moments that make their work worthwhile.
