Home Region
Los Angeles, CA
Undergrad Education
Williams College, 2017
Previous Experience
Oaktree Capital Management, ACA Compliance Group, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
“As a student with dreams far greater than the opportunities I was born into, HBS is a place of possibility.”
Coming to HBS is like...
Experiencing everything, everywhere, all at once. It can be overwhelming, challenging, fast-paced, but deeply inspirational and rewarding. Most importantly, as a student with dreams far greater than the opportunities I was born into, HBS is a place of possibility.
What is your most memorable classroom moment?
HBS has a section tradition called Flag Day in which we deliver small presentations on each country represented our classroom. I am a dual citizen of Mexico and the U.S. I proudly represent two countries in the classroom, two peoples, and one transnational Mexican-American community to which I am deeply indebted. I owe my seat in the HBS classroom to their support and proudly represented them during Flag Day.
What is your favorite childhood memory?
Growing up, we would take trips to visit family in the San Joaquin Valley – the breadbasket of California. I would run through the grape fields, ride the tractors, and eat strawberries from the fields in which they were grown. Having grown up in a city, I developed a fond love for the countryside, for the beauty of farming communities, and for the resilient people who inhabit them.
What is the best thing about your hometown?
I grew up in Santa Ana, CA. It is an immigrant gateway city for many families including my own. The leadership in Santa Ana deeply represented the communities it served. From all levels of life, I was surrounded by leaders who looked like me. For someone who has always struggled to navigate an academic and professional environment where representative leadership does not always exist, I have used this as my guiding light.
What has changed about your understanding of leadership?
A leader is not only an architect but a coach for the team they are leading. This is a page in leadership theory I have taken from the HBS classroom. While the sentiment of this statement is true – an effective leader often does so much more. They take responsibility and accountability for the people they lead; they are keenly aware of group differences that exist and bridge barriers present in the workplace; and they center structured self-reflection about failure, risk, and opportunity.