Berkeley Haas student will travel to Europe for Auschwitz professional ethics fellowship

Patrick Drown, MBA 24

Patrick Drown, MBA 24, is heading to Germany and Poland this summer as one of 14 business fellows participating in Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE). 

The fellowship is an intensive ethics program for up to 90 students and early-career professionals studying business, journalism, design and technology, law, medicine, or religion. 

Through the two-week curriculum, fellows will examine the role that their fields played in Nazi Germany during the Holocaust, and explore some of the ethical concerns that apply today. Business fellows will travel alongside the law & design and technology fellows, who will consider how ethical constructs and norms in their professions align and differ.

Drown, who will work at McKinsey & Co. in the San Francisco office after graduation, discussed the program with Haas News.

What inspired you to apply to FASPE? 

I’ve always been interested in how companies can be more ethical and sustainable and their decision-making processes. FASPE provides an opportunity to think about some of the modern ethical issues that companies are grappling with. After Haas, I’m entering consulting and having some ethical decision-making tools in my back pocket will be helpful when I’m working with companies on ethical challenges.   

How has your experience at Haas helped shape your interest in the program? 

Haas has been a great place to think about ethics in business and is present in every class I take. I had an interest in ethics and business before coming to Haas, and Haas has only ignited that interest more. The opportunity to participate in FASPE is a continuation in exploring some of the ethical questions and dilemmas that I’ve encountered while at Haas. 

What do you hope to take away from the trip? 

I hope to take away some examples and tools for ethical decision-making in business. I’m particularly interested in how this program will relate modern ethical challenges to the context of the Holocaust. I’ve never traveled to Auschwitz or any of the sites that we’re planning to visit and I want to come away with a better understanding of the role of different stakeholders (in business, law, journalism, etc.)  in permitting or even accelerating atrocities of  the Holocaust. 

These two weeks will be an opportunity to think about the business community’s role in the Holocaust especially. Beyond that, this is an opportunity to be with like-minded business leaders who care about ushering in more ethical decision-making in business. 

How does the fellowship align with your career goals? 

The fellowship emphasizes how to integrate ethical decision-making across every department and every section of a business’s operations.

This fellowship follows my motivation to find ways to make the business case for investments in sustainable initiatives. Before coming to Haas, I worked on the sustainability team at Gap, Inc. and as much as I enjoyed the role, I lacked tools in understanding language, communication, and business models necessary to convince companies to make investments in sustainable initiatives. This motivation is what drew me both to business school at Haas and to the FASPE program.