Dear CMC Community,

We would like to share very sad news that our board member Meredith Brenalvirez ’80 passed away on December 24th.  We feel so fortunate to have had Meredith with us this past year at our Kravis-de Roulet conference on Women’s Leadership Journeys Revealed and at a Kravis Board/Fellows event in August.  At both events, she shared her lifetime of insights on leadership and leading non-profit boards.  She was a remarkable individual who made landmark contributions to women veterans in the military.  As a board member of the Kravis Leadership Institute and the CMCAA Board, she was also a model of generosity in sharing her experiences and time with our students.

Meredith was a member of the first class of women at Claremont McKenna College and served as the college’s first woman Senior Class President.  After graduation, she worked in advertising on Madison Avenue in New York City for five years.  She then returned to California to pursue a career in commercial real estate with a focus on shopping centers.  Eventually she transitioned to non-profit work and community leadership.

Since 2011, she served as Military Women in Need’s (MWIN) Board President.  In her role as President and as a member of the board for more than 20 years, Meredith played a pivotal role in helping grow the organization from a small housing facility to a nationally-recognized non-profit.  Raised with a father and brother who served in the U.S. Army, she developed a deep interest in the lives of military families.  Under her leadership, MWIN grew to offer a breadth of services to the increasing number of female veterans and survivors of veterans.  Her inspiration for leading MWIN came from the veterans she had known over her lifetime, who Meredith would say truly embodied the ideals of self-sacrifice, resilience, dignity, and duty to our country.

We are blessed to have had Meredith in our lives and to have had the opportunity to learn from her as our board member.  A celebration of her life will take place on January 21st at 11:00am at the Pinnacle Presbyterian Church located at 25136 Pima Road in Scottsdale, AZ.  Meredith’s immediate family includes her husband Rodolfo “Rudy” Brenalvirez, her daughter Laura, and her sons John and Theodore. Two of her brothers were also members of the CMC alumni family.  Her brother Charles “Chuck” Uhlmann graduated with the Class of ’81 .  James Uhlmann ’84, completed his freshman year at CMC and then joined the U.S. Navy Seals.

It is with great pleasure that we introduce to you our new academic director of the Kravis Leadership Institute, David V. Day.  David brings to us a rich background in the application and study of leadership development.  In addition to his leadership role at KLI, David will hold the Steven L. Eggert ’82 P’15 Chaired Professorship of Leadership and a George R. Roberts Fellow.  He joins us from the University of Western Australia Business School where he held the Woodside Chair in Leadership and Management.  He arrives at an important juncture in the history of KLI as we expand significantly our programming in leadership development and introduce new initiatives focusing on social innovation and leadership.

In 2010, David was awarded the Walter F. Ulmer Research Award from the Center for Creative Leadership (USA) for outstanding, career-long contributions to applied leadership.  He was the lead author of An Integrative Approach to Leader Development (Routledge, 2009) and the editor of The Oxford Handbook of Leadership and Organizations (Oxford University Press, 2014).  He has served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Applied Psychology (2008-2014) and is presently as a consulting editor for several other scholarly journals.  David is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Association for Psychological Science, International Association of Applied Psychology, and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. He is a skilled teacher and brings passion and deep expertise to helping others realize their leadership potential.

 

By Linnea Uyeno ’20

It has been a busy semester at the Kravis Leadership Institute. From research to workshops, trainings to retreats, our programs have been working to empower CMC students. At KLI, we believe that leaders are made and developed. Our programs focus on building individuals and communities that encourage and develop leadership from the inside-out.

Programs:

We believe that a sense of belonging helps students to express themselves as leaders. Our programs help to create this type of community. Over the summer, our Programs Team ran comprehensive leadership training for First Year Guide to help them gain the tools to lead Welcome Outdoor Adventure (WOA) group expeditions for the incoming freshman class. After the WOA trips, we extended our reach to the sophomore class through the Sophomore Leadership Experience, an overnight outdoor retreat for sophomores to connect with their classmates and engage in a dialogue surrounding leadership. In addition to class-wide events, KLI worked with CMS winter and fall sports teams to improve team culture and accountability through conflict resolution and communication training.

Once the school year began, KLI hosted multiple workshops during ImpactCMC weekend. These panels and workshops gave students the opportunity to connect and learn from KLI Board Members and Kravis Fellows about how to find a meaningful career, as well as learning about how they can be involved in social innovation and entrepreneurship.

Our work with social innovation and entrepreneurship extends past dialogue, focusing on taking action. The impACT group brought the Hult Prize, a case competition that challenges student teams to devise pragmatic solutions for the world refugee crisis, to the CMC campus. In addition to the Hult prize, KLI sent six students to the Net Impact Conference in Philadelphia, PA.

“I had the opportunity to learn about Community Development Financial Institutions that provide more secure alternatives to low-income communities instead of payday loans. By the end of the conference, I was truly inspired. I realized that even in a capitalist driven economy, you can run a company that makes a positive impact on the community while still making a profit,” said Biniyam Asnake ‘20.

Biniyam Asnake ’20 is also part of a newly trained Social Innovation Consulting Team that has partnered with CMC’s economics department working on a social innovation consulting project. Next semester, the group will further develop its consulting program, and pioneer more social innovation challenges on campus.

As we reached mid-semester, KLI offered students a new and unique opportunity: the Passion and Purpose Retreat. Occurring over fall break, the retreat offered an alternative enriching break experience for students to broaden their thinking, explore their passions, and dream up creative solutions to create impact.

When fall break came to an end, the Programs Team put together Team Retreat -an overnight program designed to improve the effectiveness of a student organization and tailored to individual team needs.

“Team Retreat gave me the opportunity to express myself freely to my softball teammates, and helped to create a community of trust and understanding. I feel more confident asserting myself as a leader both on and off the field,” said Hayley Giffin ‘20.

Research:

In addition to our programs, KLI gave students the opportunity to engage in unique research opportunities on and off campus.  KLI sent five student researchers to Atlanta for the International Leadership Association Conference to present their recent KLI research. Students used their KLI training to compete in a student case competition. While back home at KLI, our dedicated team of researchers continues to work on a variety of studies.

“I am currently working on the Fullerton Longitudinal Study (FLS) which is a study that has followed over 100 participants since they were born. Thanks to funding from the Kellogg Foundation, the FLS study is able to re-assess the participants who are now 38 years old. I reach out to participants, and gather surveys,” said Juana Granados ‘18.

Other students, work on separate research projects directed by Professor Riggio. Tierra Patmavanu ‘17, Research Manager for Professor Riggio’s team, analyzed data about entrepreneurial leadership for Professor Julie Christian at the University of Birmingham, England.

“I have continued to work for Professor Christian in her studies about heroes vs. villains. We are analyzing Robert Lord’s theory of implicit leadership in the context of the Brexit referendum and the recent 2016 U.S. presidential election,” said Tierra Patmavanu ‘17.

During the semester, another team of researchers helped to edit Professor Ronald Riggio’s new psychology textbook on leadership research. The students collaborated with Professor Riggio to develop relatable models and current examples to include in his book.

Meanwhile, our largest team is working on an ongoing longitudinal study called the Undergraduate Leadership Education (ULE) study. This study tracks the leadership development of applicants to CMC at multiple time points in their college and future careers, such as in their applicant, freshman, senior, and alumni years. From this study, a number of projects have arisen to further analyze specific leadership constructs as they relate to the CMC student body.

KLI Research Assistant Courtney Chan ‘17 is currently working on one such project. “My project examines the relationship between CMC students’ sense of belonging to their college environment and their leadership capacity. In addition, it explores the role of ethnicity and other demographic variables as they relate to these constructs.

“Currently, I’m working on co-writing up a paper about the findings of the study that we hope to publish next year,” said research assistant Courtney Chan.

SOURCE Non-Profit Consulting

Outside of research and programming, KLI continues to support SOURCE, KLI’s non-profit consulting group. This semester they consulted with seven non-profit organizations in the community. Here is a client success story from Lili Muskal ‘19, Lead Consultant for Ophelia’s Jump, a local theatre company.

“We advised them on content to compile: including intern testimonials, audience member testimonials, quantitative values of what each donation could provide. Two months later, [they did what] we suggested, and they have begun sending out solicitations to potential donors during the holiday season. They also posted the content online as a Facebook campaign yesterday morning. Just from the Facebook content (without in-person asks or donor gift boxes), they have raised $3,500 of the $15,000 goal in 24 hours,” said Lili Muskal ‘19.

In addition to client work, SOURCE has hosted two Nonprofit Brown Bags lunches, connecting local nonprofit representatives with keynote speakers.

Looking Forward:

Internally, KLI underwent a few logistical changes to foster a stronger sense of community within KLI. Student Coordinators have been replaced by Student Team Leads. These leaders are each in charge of a specific team. This specialization has organized management and communication within KLI student staff. The Team Leads have worked together to host student lunches, bringing together KLI student staff and SOURCE. Additionally, the KLI team bonded over the campfire stories and activities, during our first annual team overnight retreat.

“This year, I feel like I really have gotten to know my team better, as a result of the student lunches and camping retreat. It has made our work environment more productive and cohesive,” said Institute Team Lead, Mitch Gaiser ‘18.  

We are looking forward to doing big things in the spring. We will continue to spread leadership through experiential and academic learning. To accomplish this, we have added new leadership course offerings for the leadership studies sequence in the spring semester. Dr. Sherylle Tan, Director of Internships and KLI Research will teach “Women and Leadership”. Dr. Scott Sherman, Senior Director of Social Innovation and Co-Curricular Programming, will teach “Making a Difference: Strategies for Solving Social Problems” and “Science of Making Life Better”.  To extend leadership education outside of the classroom, KLI will host the 25th annual Kravis de-Roulet Conference focused on Inclusive Leadership. Additionally, we have a lot of experiential learning based programs on the calendar for next semester.  

“We are hosting another Passion and Purpose Retreat on January 27-29. Then, on February 11th, we are having a half-day workshop called “Storytelling for Fun and Profit”. This workshop is designed to empower students’ skills in communication and storytelling. During this program, students will reflect on their personal story, and understand what drives them. On February 24th, in partnership with the Women and Leadership Alliance, we are holding the Women and Leadership Workshop. The WLA workshop will give students the opportunity to network and receive practical advice from women leaders in a variety of industries,” said Programs Team Lead Jessica Azerad ‘17.

KLI thanks you for being a part of our community and mission to make CMC the place where changemaking leaders are cultivated. We wouldn’t have been able to accomplish all we have done this semester without you. Your support enables us to pass the torch of leadership on to the next generation.

The feeling of awe was instantaneous as soon as I entered this special home, enjoyed an assortment of memorable hors d’oeuvres and the world’s greatest cheese (literally), downed a glass of champagne, and looked over the city of Los Angeles from Bel Air. The true wonder of the night though was the personal art collection of our much appreciated CMC Board of Trustees member, Christopher Walker ’69. As you walked inside, you noticed ancient Japanese guardian sculptures, a Chinese ceramic horse from the Han dynasty standing proudly.  As you continued to wander and peruse, you would see an impressionistic painting of an Australian sea ide, a Picasso-like indoor sculpture of a paint-splattered flamingo, and a variety of contemporary paintings spanning across every wall. The vibrancy and contrast undoubtedly portrayed Mr. Walker’s fine yet eclectic taste, but the true magnificence behind it all were the stories of his experiences at the Sotheby’s auction houses, his career work across Asia that led him to buy certain pieces, and his friendships with the artists themselves.

Undoubtedly, art is a reflection of society and an extension of an artist, but this holds true for a passionate art collector as well. These weren’t investments, rather, they were works of creativity that still spark Mr. Walker’s memories, curiosity, and deep thoughts, altogether creating a place of errant and pure emotions. For all of us fortunate enough attend this KLI sponsored event, I think we can acknowledge that the experience truly captured our imagination, inspired us to appreciate the creative arts, and above all else, recognize that art can create an environment and mindset of healthy escapism.

Although this experience was one of a kind, all of us can still partake in these joys of civilization by exploring our backyard more frequently: Los Angeles. The Getty, Broad, LACMA, and MOCA are all museums less than an hour away hosting treasures that are just waiting for us to view. It was Mr. Walker’s challenge to us to not only visit these museums, but to take them in – not by merely walking through, but by standing in front of every piece for two minutes, internally noting every detail, feeling the mood and emotions presented, andto simultaneously think critically and subjectively about the pieces. It is through this process that we can begin to appreciate genius, innovation, and mankind’s creations. Better yet, we should all try to make our own art, whether for fun, practice, or even to be a goof, but nonetheless we will see the challenges an artist masterfully undertakes.

So, it is my challenge now to you to get involved with the art community in some way now, whether by taking a weekend to explore L.A., actually checking your emails from CREATE Club to try out painting for an hour or two, or even submit a request to the CMC Student Art Council to get funding for materials and trips. We all know that our CMC community is full of energy and creativity, and we are a liberal arts college. So let’s actually represent the ideas of this through art and design, reshape our community by starting with ourselves, and undertake new endeavors, because who knows, you might just find your next passion or hobby, or at least become more cultured through the process of it all. If nothing else, I think we can start to think in a more convoluted and interdisciplinary manner, and that will surely bring a little more color and vibrancy into our lives and onto our campus.

By Linnea Uyeno ’20

From Joan of Arc, to Cleopatra and Queen Elizabeth, the concept of a female head of society is not a new one. On November 8, America failed to elect our first female president. Secretary Clinton’s loss raises many questions. What is holding women in America back? Have our heels not been high enough to reach the podium, or is the media too distracted by our hair to consider the content beneath it?

Do women make better leaders? According to some research, yes, and under certain circumstances. Contrary to popular belief, the benefits of female leadership extend past matters traditionally thought of as “women’s issues”. A study published in Columbia’s Journal of International Affairs, concluded that women do lead differently (Perkins, Phillips, and Pearce, 2016). The study looked at GDP growth of 188 countries from 1950 to 2004, and compared it against the ethnic fractionalization index (EF) of each country. They used EF as a variable to measure the amount of inequality and conflict within each country. The study concluded that in extremely ethnically diverse countries a female leader increased GDP by an average of 6.6 percent. For example, take Liberia, one of the most ethnically diverse and difficult to lead countries. Researchers found that under female leadership, the predicted GDP growth was 14.55 percent, versus -1.89 percent under male leadership. In countries with higher conflict rates (EF), a female president proved to be a more effective leader. Evolutionary psychologists say this study reflects women’s leadership ability in tense situations, especially those that demand more cooperative and inclusionary practices (Perkins, Phillips, and Pearce, 2016).

Recent reports of anger, hate and division have spread contagiously around the nation in the last few days. A simple scroll down Facebook reveals a plethora of hate crimes. Based on the findings about ethnic fractionalization and female leadership (Perkins, Phillips, and Pearce, 2016), it doesn’t seem to be far-fetched to say that female leaders could help unite this nation.

Even on a corporate level, research suggests that women outperform their male counterparts as leaders. A study published in Harvard Business Review surveyed a total of 7,280 leaders, and had their associates and bosses rank in them in 16 qualities. The 16 categories measured overall leadership effectiveness. In 12 out of the 16 competencies, women vastly outranked their male counterparts (Zenger & Folkman, 2012). Yet, in 2016, women held only 4.2 percent of CEO positions within Fortune 500 companies (Zarya, 2016).

What is even more disconcerting is how far behind the U.S. ranks in comparison to other countries in terms of female leadership. According to the International Parliamentary Union (IPU), the U.S. ranks 99th when it comes to women in the national legislature (IPU, 2016). We are behind Cuba, China, Uganda, and Iraq. The list of countries that outrank us goes on and on. Why does America lag behind other less developed countries as far as political representation? The answer is a combination of things. The political structures of the U.S. including but not limited to the Electoral College (she did win the popular vote), the media’s portrayal of women, society’s perception of women as weaker leaders, and women’s reluctance to run for political office. Even Claremont McKenna College has an unequal representation of women in executive leadership positions in the Associated Students of Claremont McKenna College government (ASCMC). For example, the first year class had nine men run for first year class president and only two women. Furthermore, there are 15 men on ASCMC Executive Cabinet, compared to eight women.

Why are more women not running for elected positions? Maybe it’s because women feel like they are scrutinized under a different microscope. Remember the 2008 SNL skit about media portrayals of Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton? The media’s depiction of Palin as ditzy and hot and Clinton as bossy and ugly, is no laughing matter, it’s a reality for all women who enter into the world of politics and business. Hillary Clinton has had a long pathway to the top, that has not been without its bumps in the road. Along the way she has been questioned on her dress, demeanor, appearance, and laugh. A woman must walk along a fine tightrope between being sexy and boring. She must assert herself as being a boss without being bossy or demanding. A 2007 study found that when women display traditional leadership behaviors like assertiveness, they are viewed as capable, but are not well-liked or received. However, women, who take on a more stereotypical feminine approach to leadership, are seen as unfit to lead (Catalyst, 2007).

While it’s clear that Hillary Clinton made some mistakes along the way, it is also apparent that she has been held to a different standard on the way up. Would Donald Trump have beaten her if she was a man? His brash masculinity that enabled his rise, reflects our society’s perception on what it means to be a leader.

If Hillary Clinton had been elected, it may not have been a physical step forward for women’s rights, but I believe it would have been a huge symbolic one. Research shows that the effect of women elected into leadership positions can impact future generations. In India, researchers examined the effects of a female leadership quota that reserved a proportioned amount of local leadership positions for women. First, they found that the increase in female representation increased aspirations of young girls. They discovered that, compared to villages that were never given quotas, the gender gap in aspirations between girls and boys closed by 32% (Beaman et al., 2012). Additionally, girls in these villages were able to spend less time doing chores in the home, and they pursued higher degrees of education, compared to villages without the quota. Next the increased gender representation helped society to promote policies that made it easier for women to succeed in general. Therefore, women in these communities began to enter leadership roles at a higher rate even after the quota was removed. The biggest effect was on public perception surrounding female leadership. Society began to see women leaders as more qualified in comparison to their non-quota neighbors.

Hillary’s journey as the first female presidential candidate may inspire future generations of women. However, it is important to not draw away from the challenges that continue to face women who are competing for other levels of political office. If we ever want to achieve any sort of equal representation in politics, it is important to approach the matter from a bottom-up movement. We must make an ongoing effort to shatter the ceilings that prevent women from rising up at a local and state level. It’s fair to say that Secretary Clinton’s loss shocked us all. Even though women weren’t victorious in the oval office, we did elect the largest number of minority women into the senate. The battle doesn’t end here. It didn’t end when we took off our suffrage sashes, or when we put down our brooms and traded our dresses for colored pantsuits. We must keep fighting for equality. As Rosie the Riveter would say: we can do it!

Perkins, S. E., Phillips, K. W., & Pearce, N. A. (2013). Ethnic diversity, gender, and national leaders. Journal of International Affairs, 67(1), 85-104. Retrieved November 9, 2016, from https://jia.sipa.columbia.edu/ethnic-diversity-gender-national-leaders

Beaman, L., Duflo, E., Pande, R., & Topalova, P. (2012). Female Leadership Raises Aspirations and Educational Attainment for Girls: A Policy Experiment in India. Retrieved November 9, 2016, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3394179/
Zenger, J., & Folkman, J. (2012). Are Women Make Better Leaders than Men? Retrieved November 11, 2016, from https://hbr.org/2012/03/a-study-in-leadership-women-do
Zarya, V. (2016, June 06). The Percentage of Female CEOs in the Fortune 500 Drops to 4%. Retrieved November 11, 2016, from http://fortune.com/2016/06/06/women-ceos-fortune-500-2016/

International Parliamentary Union. (2016, November 1). Women in Parliaments: World Classification. Retrieved November 10, 2016, from http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm

Catalyst. (2007, July 17). Damned or Doomed–Catalyst Study on Gender Stereotyping at Work Uncovers Double-Bind Dilemmas for Women. Retrieved November 16, 2016, from http://www.catalyst.org/media/damned-or-doomed-catalyst-study-gender-stereotyping-work-uncovers-double-bind-dilemmas-women

By Brian Chmelik ’18

From November 1st to November 5th, students and administrators from KLI attended the annual International Leadership Association Global Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The conference’s theme was “The Dynamics of Inclusive Leadership”. With the support of KLI, staff and students presented research and competed in a leadership case competition. Attendees learned more about inclusive leadership from academics and practitioners from all over the world.

Students Courtney Chan ’17 and Pema Donyo ’17, with the support of John Dulay, Research manager at KLI, presented “Creating a Culture of Inclusive Leadership: Does Sense of Belonging Matter to Student’s Self Efficacy?” a study on the relationship between sense of belonging and leadership self-efficacy among non-white college students as compared to white students. They found that white students on average reported higher leadership self-efficacy and sense of belonging. Research showed that there was a positive correlation between sense of belonging and leadership self-efficacy. This contributes evidence that on inclusive college campuses where non-white students feel a sense of belonging, non-white students’ confidence in their own leadership increases (Dulay, Tan, and Chan, 2016). This research can inform inclusive programming on college campuses to increase the sense of belonging for students.

Dr. Sherylle Tan, Interim Director and Director of Internships and KLI Research, presented “Cultivating Global Leaders: The Lasting Impact of a Cross-Cultural Leadership Program” which displayed results for cultural intelligence trends and cross cultural interaction for students who attended the CMC-Yonsei Program, a summer academic program in Seoul, South Korea. Students who participate in the program live at Yonsei University and take classes with South Korean students from South Korean and CMC professors. Interviews found that exposure to other cultures related in greater cultural awareness and sensitivity for participating students (Tan and Duggan-Herd, 2016).

KLI was represented by Courtney Chan ’17, Brian Chmelik ’18, Pema Donyo ’17, Emily Wang ’19, and Suvena Yerneni ’18 at the ILA undergraduate Case Competition. The topic of the case was to identify a societal problem, identify its underlying causes, and recommend a solution applying leadership theory. Team KLI tackled the rise of in-group favoritism and the popularity of autocratic leaders in the United States and the United Kingdom in “The Leader, the Immigrant, and the In-group: Addressing Autocratic Leadership with Inclusivity.” Students identified fear of a changing economy and a diversifying society as underlying causes for increasing in-group favoritism, and recommended synergistic leadership theory and a more inclusive immigration model as possible solutions. While Team KLI did not win the case competition, they did receive high marks from judges and learned more about the importance of specificity.

The KLI students were also able to connect with some familiar faces from KLI’s past.  The ILA conference brought together Joanna Stanberry ’05, Dr. Joleen Archibald, and Dr. Tan, three women who have all been involved with the Kravis Leadership Institute either in the past or in the present. All three women serve as Chairs for three of ILA’s member communities this year. Stanberry, a CMC alumna was involved with KLI as an undergraduate; she is in charge of the Youth Leadership Member Interest Group, which serves as a forum for those interested in next generation leadership and support and builds connections and an overall community for individuals involved in this area. Dr. Joleen Archibald, a Claremont Graduate University graduate with a doctorate in Organizational Behavior and Leadership worked at KLI as a Program Logistics Coordinator, was recently elected as the chair of the Business Leadership Member Interest Group. Dr. Archibald also founded Leadership Archways, a blog resource to helps today’s professionals better understand leadership and its application in the business world. Dr. Tan, the current Interim Director and Director of Internships and KLI research, chaired the Women and Leadership Affinity Group, which focuses on the advancement of female leaders and fostering women in leadership. As chair, Dr. Tan hosted the Women and Leadership Networking Luncheon, an event to promote the discussion of the continually growing role of women in leadership positions.

Overall, KLI staff and students learned more about diverse perspectives on leadership. Students gained exposure to an academic conference setting and met other students from all over the country. Many at KLI look forward to heading to the next ILA Conference, hosted next year in Brussels, Belgium.

Citations

Dulay, J. P., Tan, S. J., & *Chan, C. (2016, November). Creating a Culture of Inclusive Leadership: Does Sense of Belonging Matter to Student’s Leader Self-Efficacy? Presentation at the Annual Global Conference of the International Leadership Association. Atlanta, GA.

Tan, S. J. & †Duggan-Herd, T. (2016, November). Cultivating Global Leaders: The Lasting Impact of a Cross-Cultural Leadership Program. Paper presentation at the Annual Global Conference of the International Leadership Association. Atlanta, GA.

Posted December 1, 2016 in News

By Connor Bloom ’19

Vanessa Liu ’17, Sarah Sanbar ’17, Umar Farooq ’17, and Khadija Hassanali ’17 broke into grins of disbelief and joy as Scott Sherman, Senior Director of Social Innovation and Co-Curricular Programming at the Kravis Leadership Institute, revealed that they had just won the third annual Hult Prize Competition at Claremont McKenna College. The judges had deemed their team and their idea, IllumiNation, to have the potential to be the most disruptive, feasible, scalable, and impactful social venture of the 10 teams that presented on Saturday November 12th, 2016.

The Hult Prize is a global case competition which was first held in the spring of 2010 as the Hult Global Case Challenge. Hosted by the Hult International Business School, and since 2013 in partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative, the competition seeks to crowd source sustainable, social entrepreneurial ventures from the brightest young minds around the world in order to solve some of the world’s most pressing issues. Each year, President Bill Clinton proposes a topic, a challenge in the world that needs fixing. Examples from the last few years have been early childhood education and crowded urban spaces.

The Hult Prize first came to Claremont McKenna three years ago in 2014. Because the on-campus competition is able to attract at least ten teams, the winner automatically advances to regionals in San Francisco. From there, they will compete with other teams to move onto the Hult Prize Accelerator, a six-week intensive entrepreneurial program focused on developing the team’s ideas into full-fledged business ventures. At the end of the six-week camp, in September, the teams will present their finalized social business ventures to a panel including President Clinton. The prize? —one million dollars to turn their pitch into reality, one million dollars to try to change the world. The 2017 Hult Prize Challenge is “Refugees—Reawakening Human Potential,” and focuses on, “…restoring the rights and dignity of people and societies who may be, or are forced into motion due to social injustices, politics, economic pressures, climate change, and war.” (Hult Prize Foundation)

This year’s on-campus competition was cohosted by impACT and the Kravis Leadership Institute. Jessie Capper ’17 and a co-lead of impACT described the planning of the competition as “intense” but ultimately “extremely rewarding”. In her words, “Seeing so many students at CMC who are passionate about their ventures, passionate about reaching out and putting themselves out there in an effort to change the world for the better is truly humbling and gives me great hope for the future.” The KLI and impACT teams begun planning in late summer and spent the last several months designing everything from t-shirts, to judges’ gift bags, to Snapchat filters for the event. In addition, in the lead-up to the event, the organizers brought in three special guests that each led a separate workshop to help prepare the teams for the competition. The guests included Jay Conger, Institute Chair and Henry R. Kravis Research Professor of Leadership Studies at the Kravis Leadership Institute, Heather Ferguson, Assistant Professor of History at Claremont McKenna College, and Neela Rajendra, Director of Entrepreneurial Initiatives at the Kravis Leadership Institute. Alina Rainsford ’20 found the workshops to be, “…extremely helpful…honestly the workshops were fantastic, especially Neela’s workshop on how to give a better pitch. I definitely learned a lot much of which is skills that can be applied to other competitions and presentations that I do in the future.”

On Saturday November 12th, 2016, students began to fill Bauer Forum at Claremont McKenna College. They arrived in teams of two, three, or four, laptops in hand, blazers and dresses color-coordinated with their teammates. The energy in the room was palpable as the teams chatted, met judges, and finalized some last minute details about their presentations. Everyone in the room knew the stakes: present a solid pitch, gain automatic admission to the San Francisco Regionals, and perhaps compete for one million dollars, and maybe even change the world. As one looked around the room at the assemblage of students, it was hard not to notice that they varied widely in terms of major and class year. Some teams were seniors majoring in Economics and IR, others were sophomores majoring in PPE and Econ-Engineering, still others were freshmen perhaps unsure of their future track through CMC. The range of experience also varied, from teams that had competed numerous times, to students who had never heard of the Hult Prize or participated in a case competition before this year. However, they were all united by one thing: their dream to launch a social venture and change the world.

As the day progressed, teams pitched ideas ranging from vertical farms to an app billed as “the Craig’s List of refugee camps”. The ideas were varied and inspired with many revolving around the notion that most refugees have access to a cellular device. Each team was given 6 minutes to present before a 4-minute Q&A session with the judging panel which comprised of Mietek Boduszynski, a Professor of U.S. Foreign Policy at Pomona College and former diplomat with the U.S. Department of State, Carolina Sheinfold, a Project Coordinator at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, and Scott Sherman, Senior Director of Social Innovation and Co-Curricular Programming at the Kravis Leadership Institute. At times the judges seemed pleasantly surprised with the level of preparation that teams had done and the depth to which they understood the topic and true issues at hand. At other points the judges asked questions related to the teams’ business plans that they couldn’t answer definitively but nonetheless expressed the willingness to learn and modify their strategy. At the end of the competition day, each team and individual participating had hopefully taken something meaningful away from the experience. As Vanessa Liu ’17 said, “The Hult Prize experience has shown me how HARD it is to start your own social enterprise…it’s hard to sustain the level of dedication and passion needed to turn an idea into reality, but I’ve found that it’s much easier to do when you’re doing it with a team of people you love spending time with.”

Vanessa Liu ’17 and her team would later go on to be declared the winners of CMC’s competition in what turned out to be a very close race for first place. Her team will spend the next several weeks refining their idea with mentorship from KLI and other professors as they prepare for Regionals in San Francisco. Liu ’17 made note that the competition isn’t always easy, but, “…the process is a blast because you’re rallying behind an idea you truly believe can change the world.” Perhaps this quote best sums up the philosophy of the Hult Prize itself. One can only hope that as Claremont McKenna, a school which prides itself on the leaders it produces, continues to move forward, it places a stronger priority on challenging those future leaders to change the world, to make it a better place.

By Connor Bloom ’19

Every four years Americans elect someone to the highest office in the land to lead the United States into the future. Over time, the set of skills and qualifications that a candidate must have to be considered a viable option for President have changed drastically. In electing a President, voters have a big responsibility. Besides assessing whether or not a candidate has the technical skills needed, voters have a long history of assessing what government professors have deemed a candidate’s presidential character. Within this vague domain fall things such as gender, age, family background, where they grew up, and how they come across to the everyday citizen—how they present themselves as leaders. Clearly some facets of presidential character can be learned over time; the Kravis Leadership Institute similarly agrees that leaders are made, not born. Keeping this in mind, how do today’s two major party candidates display their leadership qualifications and presidential character to the voters of tomorrow?

On October 19th the Athenaeum at Claremont McKenna College hosted a screening of the Third Presidential Debate with a student and faculty panel held immediately afterward. In looking at the students’ critiques and comments of the debate one can glean a greater understanding of how the candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, currently come across to the next generation that will soon be leading the country, the Millennials. Coincidentally, both candidates are very much struggling with this demographic of the U.S. Electorate.

A majority of Americans would agree that this has been a very unusual election. That being said, Millenials have been shown to break with former generations on a variety of issues, so what do they think about the candidates? Tyler Finn ’17 noted, “This is a disappointing year to be introduced to American Politics.” After bringing up the fact that the current nominees are the most heavily disliked candidates in modern political history he questioned, “How will Millenials respond in the future? To what extent do people associate the politics and opinions of candidates with the rest of their parties?” From a leadership perspective this parallels a similar question, that being, does a group or party have to follow its leader? And once a leader has chosen a specific path, to what extent must the group follow? As Daniel Ludlam ’18 said, “The Democratic Party, for all intents and purposes, pulled out all the stops to get Clinton elected as their nominee whereas the Republicans did everything they could to make sure that Donald did not become the nominee.” This further begs the question of how much support does a political leader need from within his or her own party anymore?

First impressions are a big deal, and often Americans’ first exposure to a candidate comes through a clip of them speaking or another quote of theirs; clearly this means that the way in which a candidate speaks, their rhetoric, is very important. The Kravis Leadership Institute’s competency model recognizes this, emphasizing communication as a core attribute of being a successful leader of others. As the media has pointed out during this campaign, neither candidate is rhetorically perfect. Professor Thomas noted that at rallies, Trump himself has talked about, “locking crooked Hillary up” and encourages his supporters to, “gleefully chant: lock her up, lock her up, lock her up”. He brought up that in the history of presidential elections this is unprecedented. Conversely, Professor Helland in speaking about Hillary said he wanted to, “…elect the Hillary of Wikileaks” and is extremely hopeful that she is, “telling the American Public what they want to hear to get her elected and making real deals behind the scenes.” In a further knock on Clinton, her speeches have often been characterized as “uninspiring”. What is clear about this election is that when it comes to rhetoric proficiency, neither candidate is perfect.

In discussing leadership and presidential character, many have noted that Hillary is in a unique position as a woman. Fiona Bare ’17 is well aware of this saying, “Characterizing Hillary as uninspiring is troubling for many reasons. Yes, she’s made mistakes, but she’s also had an incredibly long career and the possibility of saying “Madame President” for the first time gives me and a lot of other young women hope for our own career prospects.” Regardless of the outcome of this election, Hillary Clinton will go down as an incredible leader if nothing else other than for blazing a new trail in American politics for women.

In looking ahead, how will America’s leaders of tomorrow (and today) be chosen? What qualities do we look for in a leader and how has our definition of presidential character changed? Perhaps Tyler Finn ’17 summed this up best when he said, “I have to wonder if character matters at all? I mean, that’s something I held for a long time, that there’s a sort of baseline character that leaders, elected officials have to hold. But the take away from this election seems to be that Americans are willing to look beyond deep personal flaws, and lack of virtue, to see a new America in the future.” And perhaps that is just it, perhaps Americans are no longer judging a candidate’s worthiness for office by traditional metrics of presidential character and ability to lead. Perhaps as Daniel Ludlam ’18 suggested, “Maybe we think it’s time that the parties undergo significant changes in leadership?”

By Linnea Uyeno ’20

Every question is one Google search away from being solved. Tina Daniels ’93 found the answer to her career search not on Google, but at the Google Corporation. She serves as an advisory board member for the Kravis Leadership Institute and as Google’s Director of Agency Business Development. KLI had the opportunity to talk with Daniels about her own personal career tips.

What do you do at Google?
Google makes most of its money selling advertising solutions. We have teams of people that sell ads directly to clients and teams that work directly with agencies. Media for large marketers is primarily bought through advertising agencies. I manage a lead that manages the agency channel.

What mistakes do CMC students make when it comes to finding a career?
CMC students are smart. A student who loves writing could probably make a great investment banker or doctor, if they put their mind to it. [CMC students] frequently make choices about their careers’ based upon what they think that they should do. In my era many CMC grads felt compelled to pursue careers in accounting, banking, or consulting. The problem is that smart [CMC students] are good at a lot of things, and they need to be careful at what they become expert at. I think that sometimes people make the mistake of taking a job that they sort of enjoy.

What did you go into after graduation? 
In my case, I went into public accounting after CMC, and I wasn’t particularly good at it. Then I went into investment banking. I was a better banker, but not passionate enough to work 90 hours a week at it forever. I opted to go to business school at Harvard and after graduation transitioned into digital marketing.

How did CMC prepare you?
CMC helped me to write and to think critically. I believe that learning how to synthesize information and communicate ideas is an important skill to develop. We can’t predict what is going to happen in the world, but I guarantee that an ability to think critically will always be valued.

What does Google look for?
Of course at Google we look for people who are smart. But we also look for people who have excelled at whatever they have done. A collaborative approach is important as Google is a matrixed organization and you need to be able to work with people in different business groups. Qualities of proactive cooperation and friendliness are paramount to our corporate culture.
Agility and general analytical capabilities are as important as specific role related knowledge. Google is a company that is constantly evolving and because the job you are hired for is likely to change, cognitive flexibility is essential.

What tips do you have about finding a career you love?
Industries are changing all the time. Your perfect career in 5 years may not even exist now. What is important is to be do work where you in flow— that your skill set is being put to highest and best use and you are making an impact. Know what about your work generates energy versus what saps energy. I think that later in your career [it’s important to] optimize three things: satisfaction, income, and time. When you are in a career you really love, you worry less about the time you are spending on it. Hopefully, if you love your career you are also good at it. And typically, if you good at something, you tend to make more money doing it.

Any other last career tips for students?
It’s important to build up a network early on in your career and to keep that network thriving. I like it when students take first jobs where they have opportunities to meet lots of people. The more people you know, the easier it is to get the next job. The friends you make early in your career may come back later on in ways you can’t expect.

It’s also helpful to have a personal board of advisors. I have a personal advisory board made up of five women whom I consult with regularly. We work in the same industry and meet to catch up and talk about our careers. We have been doing this for nearly 10 years, and during that time I have worked directly for two of those women.

Passion and Purpose Retreat is an overnight program using the lens of social innovation to help students determine how to lead a life of meaning. So much of being an agent of change, be it as a social entrepreneur, or as an innovator in whatever field you choose, is figuring out exactly what drives you. And of course, while college is supposed to be about taking the time to figure out what you want to do with your life, we often don’t really get an opportunity to take the time to do just that. That’s why courses at Stanford like “design your life” and Harvard’s class on positive psychology about how to be happy are so popular – we don’t have nearly enough guidance exploring our passion and purpose. This program aims to provide that guidance, by teaching skills in creativity, design thinking, and using social innovation as a means of considering the questions that help us determine how to live a life filled with purpose.

Over fall break, 28 students joined the KLI social innovation team to embark on an overnight retreat at the Alpine Castle. During the Passion and Purpose Retreat (P2R), students explored their passions, learned skills in creativity and design thinking, broadened their thinking on what it takes to live with purpose, and explored skills in social innovation to create impact. They also practiced these skills through improv exercises and team activities. P2R provided these students the opportunity to take the time out of their busy lives to think about their visions for their future, and taught them the skills to work through the obstacles so they can achieve whatever path they choose to lead a life of meaning.