HBSWANY 2020 Rising Stars Finalist
ENTREPRENEUR CATEGORY
Barbara Iyayi, MBA 2008, Section B
Company: Unicorn Capital Growth
As an entrepreneur, I’ve built an investments platform focused on financial services in Africa (Atlas Mara) and recently pioneered the first fintech-focused investments platform for Africa led by an African female fund manager (Unicorn Growth Capital).
Atlas Mara – In 2014, I was part of the founding team of Atlas Mara, a London stock exchange listed company, co-founded by Bob Diamond, ex-CEO of Barclays Bank, which was the first ever entity to raise over $1bn to invest in, operate and manage financial institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa. As the Regional Lead for M&A and Investments, I led investments into banks and developed the banking platform’s entry into 7 countries in Africa with currently up to 2.6bn of assets. Notably, I led the acquisition and first ever merger of 2 banks in Rwanda, to be the leading innovative retail bank - Banque Populaire du Rwanda and led a $250mm equity investment in Union Bank of Nigeria (Nigeria’s top tier bank).
Unicorn Growth Capital – an investments platform that invests in a synergistic and diversified portfolio of high-growth fintech-enabled companies with the aim of mobilizing over $1bn of capital to transform financial services in Africa’s digital economy.
Tiffany Pham, MBA 2012
Company: Mogul
Mogul is the world's largest platform for women, reaching 146 Million across 196 countries and 30,470 cities.
Disrupting the $200 Billion HR Technology Market, Mogul provides over 480 Fortune 1000 clients –– including Amazon, IBM, Nike, Intel, and McKinsey –– with the software and services to attract, retain, and advance diverse talent, from rising-level to senior-level, ensuring women continue to reach the top. Mogul enables clients to distribute top opportunities through Talent Acquisition software, access online compliance trainings on Unconscious Bias and Inclusive Leadership, and provide employees with tools to accelerate their personal and professional lives, including Mogul Books, such as the Wall Street Journal bestselling book YOU ARE A MOGUL and GIRL MOGUL, and Mogul X, one of the largest conferences for women worldwide.
For every $1 that Mogul earns, Mogul provides free educational resources to women in need through international partners such as the United Nations, based on a historic agreement signed in 2017.
Mogul was named one of the 100 Most Exciting Startups by Business Insider, Best Website for Finding Top Talent by Inc. Magazine, Top Website for Marketing Your Company Online by Forbes, and Top Online Learning Platform by Entrepreneur.
Monica Saggioro, MBA 2018
Company: MAYA Capital
During her 2nd year at HBS, Monica co-founded MAYA Capital, an early-stage VC fund with the goal of promoting transformation by investing in teams solving Latin America’s most pressing problems.
Monica raised $25M for MAYA's inaugural fund by Nov-2018 and brought in experienced advisors, such as Bob White (HBS Faculty, Bain Capital) and Jorge Paulo Lemann (3G Capital). Since then, MAYA invested in 19 companies, quickly becoming a tier-1 VC fund and a reference for founders. By accessing 9 in 10 seed deals made in LATAM, MAYA selected transformative startups to invest, such as NotCo, an AI-driven plant-based FoodTech and Trybe, a technical bootcamp redefining education in Brazil.
To support such portfolio, MAYA developed a unique “on-demand-hands-on approach”, supporting founders when they need it most. Examples include introducing NotCo to Burger King, which led to a million-dollar contract, and supporting aspiring entrepreneurs in their first steps, such as Victor (HBS’19) and Isadora (GSB’18) who launched Nilo, a care-coordination platform for the elderly.
Finally, noting the lack of female founders, Monica launched Female Force to connect inspiring leaders and guide women on their entrepreneurial journey.
These are just the first steps of a long-term mission to transform Latin America through entrepreneurship!
NONPROFIT/GOVERNMENT
Tina Wu, MBA 2004
NYU Langone
While most were isolated, from the beginning, Dr. Tina Wu has been surrounded by COVID-19. Whether it is as a frontline physician or transforming the Emergency Department to a COVID respiratory zone, Dr. Wu ran towards the crisis. She serves as the Associate Chief of Service for the Perelman Emergency Department at NYU Langone Health and became the Medical Director of a 34-bed COVID-19 acute care unit.
Prior to the crisis, she was already recognized as a leader in Emergency Medicine and she was chosen to participate in the NYU Langone Academy as a rising leader across NYU. Nationally, Dr. Wu has given over 50 lectures and is the Director of the American College of Emergency Physician’s Directors Academy.
Even before the first COVID patient set foot in the hospital, Dr. Wu’s team set up a respiratory ward and she cared for NYU’s first COVID patient. As a resident wrote, “We see you sacrificing everything, working tirelessly day and night and putting yourselves in the front lines to give us confidence, fighting battles for our safety, patient safety, and the good of the city. We’re all scared, but we’d also follow you into metaphorical battle without question…Among all the frustrations, the consistent theme among the residency is that you are more impressive than we ever imagined. We have complete faith in you as our leaders.”
Simisola Nwogugu, MBA 2004
Company: ED, Junior Achievement
Simi runs HOD Consulting, an executive coaching firm based in New York, however it is her non-profit work in her home country Nigeria that qualifies her for this award. Simi was a volunteer for Junior Achievement (JA) New York when she decided to take JA to Nigeria in 1999. Since then, Simi has led the organization to reach and improve the lives of over one million Nigerian students with JA's financial literacy, entrepreneurship and work readiness programs. Most recently, Simi and a few friends founded the Project Ark Initiative to deliver food and sanitary items to vulnerable citizens during the COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria. With support from donors, they were able to donate bags of dry foods and sanitary items to over 10,000 families and serve cooked food to over 5,000 individuals during the lockdown. Simi is now working on an initiative to reduce poverty in Nigeria, which now has the highest number of poor people in the world.
Kikka Hanazawa, MBA 2002
Company: Fashion Girls for Humanity
In 2011 after the Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami Disaster in Japan, I started a non profit organization, Fashion Girls for Humanity with my friends who are fellow fashion industry veterans. After learning that clothing donations for disaster relief ends up in the landfill, we decided to host a designer sample sale to raise funds and give money directly to the community in need. Since then we have funded several projects such as the building of a community center in Japan, the restoration of 6 firehouses after Hurricane Sandy, water filters after the Philippines typhoon, and restoration after Nepal earthquake. Currently, in response to Covid-19, Fashion Girls for Humanity has provided my Youtube tutorial and reverse engineered patterns of medical gowns and masks to over 100,000 people from 150 countries in just two months. We have also produced 1000 PPE gowns in NYC and donated to hospitals in need in NYC. Through the sale of fashion masks to those who need (and want to look great at the same time), we have been able to donate proceeds to produce PPE and plan to scale beyond NYC. I was selected as one of Forbes 48 heroes of philanthropy, and we received Asia Society’s Game Changer Award in 2014.
CORPORATE
Cauvrey Patel, MBA 2016
Company: Cot'n Wash dba Dropps
I have been at Dropps since March 2018. During this time, I have led efforts to make our direct-to-consumer shipping 100% carbon neutral by introducing a carbon offset program which we successfully implemented in November 2019. I am currently working on formulating a science-based carbon reduction program to make the company carbon negative.
Sustainability projects cannot be achieved without buy in from the broader team. I am proud to have helped create a culture at our company where environmental sustainability is a part of the daily conversation; whether it relates to choosing ground shipments over air, removing unnecessary waste from our packaging, reusing containers to move materials between our suppliers, using cloud computing providers fueled by renewable energy, and so on.
I often think about the legacy I want to leave behind, at Dropps and in this world. What is the point of growth if you cannot do so in sync with our natural world? What is the point of putting a product out on the shelf which cannot be produced without large scale harm? Commerce is an invaluable tool that we must use to make a positive impact, and I am excited to be leading the charge in my own way.
I
nna Khidekel, MBA 2014
Company: Bridge Investment Group
Inna Khidekel became the youngest Partner (and one of only two women) in Bridge Investment Group’s thirty-year history, recognized for becoming a leading voice in the affordable housing crisis and the face of the firm’s private sector solution. She championed a dedicated affordable housing strategy that became the largest fund raised globally dedicated to the space and is a regular contributor in the media and at conferences on generating a “double bottom line” for investors, driving both social and economic mobility and financial returns. Inna has been the top capital raiser for new client business in her firm and has raised nearly $3 billion, helping drive her firm into the top 20 global real estate private equity firms and hit over $20 billion AUM. Inna has also spearheaded the firm’s commitment to diversity, ESG principles and charitable contributions, as the Chairman of the Bridge Charitable Gift Fund and a founding member of the Bridge ESG Steering Committee and Bridge Women’s Network. During the COVID crisis, she helped launch the Bridge CARES: COVID-19 Relief Fund. Inna is also one of three women on the firm’s investment committees, including Bridge Workforce & Affordable Housing and Bridge Office Funds.
Janelle James, MBA 2008
Company: Kantar
Janelle James is multidisciplinary consumer strategist who’s created a unique marketing services career integrating advertising, consulting, PR, and market research. She is a true client partner leading initiatives to pilot new products, develop global campaigns, and illuminate category dynamics or consumer segments. Her wok has touched over a billion people. Her 3 expatriate assignments; Afro-Caribbean heritage; and living in the US, France, Italy, and the UK have honed her cross-cultural understanding and have fueled her ability to connect with all types of consumers. Here are 2 examples that demonstrate her rising star potential and show she is only scratching the surface in market research.
Janelle piloted a unique engagement model where she served as a “voice of the consumer” consultant to a brand team for 9 months which included creating a 2-year marketing plan for a new product. This was an unprecedented role for a researcher and her efforts led to one of the most successful launches ever for a 100 yr brand.
She is a member of the Advertising Research Federation’s Cultural Effectiveness Council. Through this partnership, Janelle has established herself as a thought leader by expertly moderating key events and designing a top-rated workshop for industry young pros.