What did you learn about your own capabilities through the rigor of your coursework? Were there any moments in particular that pushed you to grow?
What I learned most was the importance of intentional discomfort.
For me, this experience wasn’t about completing a degree, it was a deliberate career pivot. I stepped away from a path that was, by most definitions, successful, but increasingly felt disconnected from the kind of impact I wanted to have. That decision forced me to approach this program differently: not as a continuation of what I already knew, but as an opportunity to reshape how I think.
I chose coursework that challenged me, both intellectually and structurally. I learned to contribute in environments where I wasn’t leading, but instead learning from square one. There were moments that pushed that shift further, particularly in developing a research agenda from scratch and engaging deeply with questions I didn’t yet know how to answer.
I found real joy in recognizing how much I didn’t know — letting go of my assumptions and rediscovering learning through a process supported by instructors who were deeply invested in helping those “lightbulb” moments happen. These were some of the most humbling parts of my experience.
What I gained wasn’t just new knowledge, it was the ability to sit with uncertainty and sharpen the questions themselves. More than anything, that reshaped how I approach growth, risk, and reinvention — both personally and professionally.
Describe a moment when you realized HES had changed your career opportunities or career path?
It wasn’t a single moment for me, it was a progression that became undeniable over time.
What began as a faculty-aid research assignment with Professor Neil Hawkins evolved into an 18-month (and counting) collaboration that has led to multiple co-authored publications, including work in Harvard Business Review, additional research that we have in progress, and opportunities to share those insights more broadly. These have undeniably been rewarding outcomes, but the real shift wasn’t in the achievements — it was the process.
Through that work, I developed a new way of thinking, built a trusted partnership, expanded my network in entirely new directions, and — most importantly — established a voice in a space I had intentionally stepped into but had not yet defined for myself. That’s when it became clear that this experience wasn’t just adding to my previous career, it was reshaping it.
What are you doing today that you never could have imagined you’d achieve before your time at HES?
Coming into HES, I understood how to build and scale within existing systems. What I didn’t anticipate was how much of my work would shift toward questioning those very systems and our collective roles in them. Now I’m taking ideas that started as very challenging questions for the climate finance and technology landscape and actively working to bring the answers I developed at HES into the market.
The biggest shift isn’t just what I’m doing, it’s the foundation behind it. I now have the research, the relationships, and the credibility to not only explore those questions, but to begin answering them in ways that influence real-world outcomes. Now that’s something I couldn’t have imagined before starting this program.
Describe your Extension experience in one word.
Catalytic.
