By Na'ama Yehezkel '19, MBA SLEB Chair
As the MBA Chair of the Student Leadership and Ethics Board, I’m thrilled to be working with my friends on the board to promote the focus on ethical leadership practices as they pertain to the various industries and functions that CBS students will be starting at, or returning to, when they graduate. Last year our board accomplished great things. Through the Montrone Dinner Series, we brought in guest speakers like Luis Miguel Castillo and Peter Lighte to speak about their experiences with corporate governance and leading ethically across different geographies. In the fall, we launched the first Leadership and Business Ethics Case Competition, which we are planning to continue as an annual tradition this year. We also partnered with Columbia professors to advance the Individual, Business, and Society Curriculum to further challenge ourselves with what it means to be a decision-maker making a positive impact in the business world of today and the years to come. We celebrated Leadership and Ethics Week in the Spring, with a wide range of lectures, panels, and workshops from fintech to impact investing, artificial intelligence, the food industry, and the future of work, illustrating the wide range of interests that the CBS community shares.
Our board, too, is diverse. We come to CBS from various parts of the world, professional, government and military experiences, and cultural backgrounds. My personal vision for the year is to increase awareness of diversity and inclusion and the key role they play in driving ethical leadership. For the first time this year, we decided to welcome to our board meetings the Student Government’s VPs of Community to further the discussion around these topics and make sure that they echo far and wide within our community.
Finally, we spent the summer months carefully listening to feedback from our fellow students and plan to continue the tradition of exploring challenging topics and inviting inspiring, if sometimes contentious, speakers to join us in our quest to further our learning of ethics and governance in the 21st century. We look forward to a great year ahead!
For more information, please visit our Student Leadership and Ethics Board homepage.