Topic: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Dr. Victor Santiago Pineda, BS 02 – Enacting World-Wide Social Change
Humans of Haas: Eliot Hwang
How to maneuver through a many-faceted MBA transition
Humans of Haas: Dionne Daniels
Wayfinders
The Haas connections that help alumni reimagine business.
Members of the Haas community have been reimagining business for 125 years. But how do fresh ideas and strong determination turn into novel business practices? Well, for one thing, no one breaks new ground in a vacuum. Here, we celebrate some recent graduates aiming to change the world for the better and the members of the Haas community who helped them take their problem-solving to the next level. Their assistance runs the gamut: from a simple introduction or piece of advice to help securing crucial funding. Whatever the support, it was the connection these alumni needed to begin reimagining business.
Bringing Artistry to Venture Capital
Asha Culhane-Husain, BS 18
“I believe that entrepreneurs are artists,” says Asha Culhane-Husain. It’s not surprising she emphasizes the artistic side of entrepreneurship: As a business student, Culhane-Husain also double-majored in theater, dance, and performance studies. Now she’s using her diverse talents to infuse artistry into venture capital.
While at Haas, Culhane-Husain interned at a VC firm and thought she might work there after graduation. But being awarded Haas’ Thomas Tusher Scholarship for Study Abroad her junior year changed her life. The scholarship, sponsored by Thomas Tusher, BA 63 (political science), the retired president and COO of Levi Strauss & Co., was created after Tusher’s own “life-altering” study-abroad experience led him to a career in international business. “Not only has Asha turned her time abroad into a unique career trajectory,” says Tusher, “but she’s taken that experience to a new level.”
Culhane-Husain attended Ireland’s National Theater School. After graduating from Haas, she spent three years at France’s national drama academy, the Conservatoire National Supérieur d’Art Dramatique, where she gained extensive conservatory training. She now works as a writer, producer, filmmaker, and actor, yet she remained interested in VC and began to explore how she might apply her artistic talents in the business world.
“In venture capital, the early rounds of funding are largely based on stories—on the team and the idea—because they don’t yet have data,” Culhane-Husain says. And while CEOs are the experts of their field and product, they don’t always have the tools to tell their company’s story effectively—which can mean the difference between securing early-stage funding or not. What if she could help them deliver a pitch that would seal the deal?
Culhane-Husain teaches speakers to…communicate effectively and captivate a boardroom or audience.
Her former Haas instructor Stephen Etter, BS 83, MBA 89 (shown right), had never heard of anyone doing what she was proposing. “I’ve been teaching for 27 years, and no day has there been such a talented individual in arts and business,” he says of Culhane-Husain.
This past year, Culhane-Husain worked with the same VC firm where she once interned, helping management teams use their natural strengths to deliver an effective pitch. Much like a director would bring out the abilities of an actor, Culhane-Husain teaches speakers to control the timbre of their voice, rhythm of speech, and body position to communicate effectively and captivate a boardroom or audience.
Culhane-Husain is forging her path as she goes. The Tusher Scholarship supported her in pursuing her artistic passion, and now, consulting for the VC firm, she gets to combine her skills in business and the arts. “It’s all coming full circle,” she says
Making Four-Year Colleges Accessible
Manny Smith, MBA 21
Community colleges were intended to be an on-ramp to a bachelor’s degree for millions of American students. But as Manny Smith (shown left) discovered, the transfer process from a community college to a four-year institution is broken. So he founded EdVisorly to fix it.
Smith didn’t attend community college himself, but he was a first-generation student, and college was never a given. He was offered an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy, which included a scholarship and a career path as an Air Force officer. He jumped at the opportunity.
After Smith graduated, his commission included developing technology for the Air Force and Space Force. In 2018, he accompanied a friend to a conference focused on services to support community college students. There he learned how hard it is for talented and motivated students to eventually complete a bachelor’s degree. Across 5 million U.S. community college students who want to obtain a bachelor’s, Smith says, only 2.4% will transfer to a four-year university within two years of beginning their education.
One reason is that the transfer process is complicated: Admissions requirements vary from school to school, and there are few reliable resources for community college students. EdVisorly seeks to bridge the gaps students face through its innovative approach and partnerships with university enrollment teams.
There are few reliable transfer resources for community college students. EdVisorly seeks to bridge the gaps.
On EdVisorly, students can easily connect with admissions teams at universities, discover transfer requirements, create a transfer plan, and apply to schools.
Six months after he began building EdVisorly, Smith took an entrepreneurship class with Kurt Beyer (shown left), which was pivotal. “I knew Dr. Beyer’s class would be catalyzing and provide a foundation for our company to thrive,” Smith says. Beyer, a Navy veteran, emphasized a lot of the principles Smith gained from his military training as being invaluable in starting a company.
This year, EdVisorly received funding from the California Innovation Fund, which invests solely in UC alumni and which Beyer founded. Beyer says he recognized in Smith the makings of a successful founder. “As a former Air Force officer, Manny brought far more leadership acumen than many MBA students. That military background makes him an outstanding entrepreneur.”
With the latest round of funding, EdVisorly is expanding its partnerships across four-year universities nationwide to help more community college students earn their bachelor’s degrees and realize the many opportunities that come with them.
Helping Clean Technologies Break Through
Harshita Mira Venkatesh, MBA 21
In many industries, the climate crisis demands new ways of doing things. That’s why Harshita Mira Venkatesh has spent the last two years working to bring some of the most promising cleantech innovations to market as a business fellow at Breakthrough Energy, an umbrella organization founded by Bill Gates. This multi-arm organization is working to develop and accelerate climate solutions in sectors that are particularly hard to decarbonize: think steel, heating, transportation, and food. The focus, Venkatesh explains, “is on technologies that at scale can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by half a gigaton a year or 1% of greenhouse gas emissions annually.”
For Venkatesh, it all started with a simple introduction. She’s always cared deeply about the climate crisis, but before coming to Haas, she had no direct climate experience. That changed when she took Cleantech to Market, an experiential, interdisciplinary program that brings together graduate students from across campus to help entrepreneurs nationwide commercialize emerging cleantech solutions. Each year, C2M Co-director Brian Steel (shown right) invites speakers to talk to the class, and that year, he asked Ashley Grosh, the director of Breakthrough Energy’s Fellows Program, to discuss funding climate solutions.
Venkatesh was intrigued by Grosh’s presentation, and she asked Steel if he would introduce her. Steel was only too happy to oblige. “Harshita clearly realized that this was one of those moments that if left unappreciated for its potential significance would pass her by,” he says. “And she didn’t let that happen.”
Venkatesh and Grosh discussed the Fellows Program, which was just getting off the ground. Later, when Grosh sought input from Steel, he gave Venkatesh a ringing endorsement.
Breakthrough Energy’s Fellows Program pairs two groups of fellows: scientists and engineers who have a climate technology to commercialize and businesspeople like Venkatesh, who use their expertise to help innovators de-risk their technology so it’s marketable. “It’s like Cleantech to Market on steroids,” Venkatesh says. While at Breakthrough Energy, she worked with a pioneering green cement company to develop its go-to-market strategy and helped a climate-friendly ammonia company research beachhead markets and supply chains.
As part of the program’s inaugural cohort, Venkatesh’s two-year tenure ended in September. Now she’s looking forward to her next role and continuing to support climate tech innovations.
Reimagining Online Reviews
Michael Ebel, MBA 17
Working as a bartender while an undergraduate, Michael Ebel (shown left) saw the power of review sites like Trip Advisor and Yelp. Specifically, he noted the outsized impact a bad review can have on the bottom lines of small businesses. “The average person has a good experience and doesn’t do anything,” Ebel says. “But if they have a bad experience, they run online seeking retribution.”
Ebel thought there had to be a better way, and several years later, while working at Meta, he realized video was it. That epiphany gave birth to Atmosfy, an app that allows users to share videos of their experiences at local businesses so people can see for themselves what an establishment is like.
Atmosfy launched at the height of the pandemic, a period that was brutal for small businesses. “We thought, if we could get people in San Francisco to take a video of a good experience and say, ‘Hey, this place is still open, come on down and support it,’ wouldn’t that be a difference maker?” says Ebel. “And that is the core mission that kicked us off.”
Atmosfy is a deeply Haas-centric startup. “In almost any helpful dimension you can imagine, we have leveraged that from Haas,” Ebel says. Professor Toby Stuart (shown right) has been a particularly valuable resource. Stuart offered advice and made crucial introductions that helped Ebel secure financing. “Toby was instrumental in helping us think about strategically raising our first round and how to avoid the various pitfalls of fundraising,” Ebel says. “He also provided sound advice on how to build a world-class team that would be critical to our success.”
By the time Ebel called Stuart to talk about Atmosfy, he’d already made enormous progress on an alpha version of the app. Stuart was impressed by how much he’d accomplished. “Usually someone wants to outsource thinking; they come by with a half-baked idea and before making much headway,” Stuart says. “But Michael had done a lot, and he did it on very little money. He demonstrated a ton of conviction and an incredible work ethic.” Stuart also noticed that Ebel never said “I,” he always used the pronoun “we” even though he was a solo founder working mostly on his own. “I thought that was a great sign for someone who’s going to build and lead a team,” Stuart says.
And that team has grown rapidly. Atmosfy is now in 150 countries, showcasing restaurants, bars, and hotels in 10,000 cities. And no doubt more are on the way. In August the company raised $14 million in seed funding, led by Redpoint Ventures.
Editor’s note: In February 2024, Atmosfy was named to Business Insider‘s list of 18 startups disrupting the social media scene with alternative ways to connect online.
Putting Homebuyers in the Driver’s Seat
Matt Parker, EMBA 23
If you’re looking to buy a home, the first order of business is hiring a real estate agent, right? Not necessarily. Matt Parker, the co-founder and CEO of Alokee, wants to transform the real estate landscape by enabling people to buy a home without the expense of an agent. Parker, who founded the company with five Haas classmates, has worked as a real estate agent, so he knows the industry’s downsides. “The way the system is structured, all the business models are based on selling as many homes as fast as possible,” he says. The buyer’s best interest isn’t necessarily a priority.
Alokee is a virtual real estate agent designed for DIYers who may not need an intermediary when shopping for a home.
Alokee wants to change that. Using AI, automation, and the founders’ expertise, Alokee is a virtual real estate agent designed for do-it-yourselfers who may not need an intermediary when shopping for a home. Everything you’d call an agent for, you can do yourself with Alokee, Parker says. “Instead of asking someone when you can view a home, you simply set up a tour. Instead of asking someone to make an offer for you, you just make an offer.” For some buyers, the whole process can be wrapped up in a day. For those who want more help, Alokee provides expert advice from a real estate attorney. The company, currently operating in California with plans to expand, charges a flat fee, which ends up saving buyers a lot of money.
With an all-Haas startup team, the community’s DNA is embedded in the company, and input from Haas advisors is also woven in. Parker and his co-founders were working on Alokee while they took two classes with professional faculty member Maura O’Neill, BCEMBA 04, who instantly knew they had a winning idea. “That part of real estate was just waiting to be disrupted,” O’Neill says. “And here was somebody who actually had the knowledge and had been smart about putting the team together with different kinds of expertise.”
Parker says O’Neill’s vast experience as a serial entrepreneur was indispensable. Yet he says what mattered most was her continual motivation. “She understands that being an entrepreneur is hard. You have these valleys, and Maura is right there telling you these valleys are part of the process.” She told Parker what they were doing well and where they needed to up their game.
Earlier this year, O’Neill and her son were in the market to buy a family house in Oakland, and they used Alokee. “I became the biggest fan imaginable,” she says.
The Haas School of Business: A Transfer Student’s Perspective
Michael Garrow, MBA 94 – Putting an MBA to Use on an Indian Reservation
Olaseni Bello, MBA 21
Associate General Counsel, Product, Intuit
Anchored by his North Stars—impact and access—Olaseni Bello has always sought to serve a larger purpose through his work and to elevate those around him.
After Bello left the U.S. Army, where he’d earned a Bronze Star and served as a judge advocate general, he worked on a foreign exchange trading floor. But he longed for the sense of purpose he’d felt in the military. He’d seen other veterans use business school to springboard to the next stage, so he began applying, and Haas stood out. “There was a level of authenticity combined with humility from the people I was meeting,” he says.
While at Haas, Bello co-launched CarpeMed, an app that leveraged supervised machine learning to offer telehealth services to people in Africa. The idea was sparked by his grandmother, who struggled to access health care in Nigeria. Although he couldn’t raise the capital he needed, the process of pitching, developing, and launching CarpeMed in the App Store helped Bello assimilate the lessons of business school—and to be an impactful product counsel.
Now, as Intuit’s associate general counsel for product, Bello continues to look to his North Stars while partnering closely with product, engineering, business development, marketing, operations, and compliance managers on matters ranging from generative AI product features to data privacy to regulatory and cross-border issues.
Bello credits his mother for shaping his philosophies. “I’ve had to pivot; I’ve had to reinvent myself. I know how to survive because I’ve seen my mom persevere.”
Jackson Block, BS 17
CEO and Co-founder, LGBT+ VC
Soon after the 2022 Club Q massacre in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Jackson Block took action to advance LGBTQ+ investment and support.
He joined forces with Tiana Tukes, both of whom are members of the LGBTQ+ and venture capital communities, and launched LGBT+ VC, a nonprofit providing opportunities to underrepresented communities in venture capital. It’s work that’s greatly needed, Block says.
“In this past year alone, there have been 650 anti-LGBTQ bills in 46 states, yet there’s been nothing said from the VC community.”
Block notes that while a large percentage of the country’s GDP comes from venture-backed businesses, less than 1% of VC funding goes to LGBTQ+ founders. “Our goal is to make more investors,” he says. “We’re not going to break the patterns until we focus on the supply side of the issue.” To do that, LGBT+ VC is providing access to networks, information, and capital and helping LGBTQ individuals become angels, investors, scouts, and limited partners.
Block says his Berkeley and Haas connections have helped him launch his business. He’s a board member of the Haas Alumni Network’s NYC Chapter and says the group has been consistently supportive. Last June, LGBT+ VC held its inaugural summit in New York, convening more than 500 VC and tech leaders to discuss the future of finance. It was one giant step toward reimagining business that benefits the global LGBTQ+ community.
Women do ask for more money — but get turned down more often, study shows
New study debunks gender pay gap myth that ‘women don’t ask for more’
Joseph Choi, MBA ‘21 – From Navy Seals to Amazon Ads
Humans of Haas: Hari Parthasarathy
‘You can tell universal stories’: Collector Komal Shah unveils her massive women-led collection to the public
Men dominate Q&A sessions at academic conferences — here’s why it matters
Komal Shah fulfills a mission to elevate women artists through a breathtaking exhibition
The U.S. b-schools with the most Indian and Chinese students
Berkeley Haas sets new school records for international enrollment, GMAT average
Sins of the machine: Fighting AI bias
In a new working paper, Haas post-doc scholar Merrick Osborne examines how bias occurs in AI, and what can be done about it.
While artificial intelligence can be a powerful tool to help people work more productively and cheaply, it comes with a dark side: Trained on vast repositories of data on the internet, it tends to reflect the racist, sexist, and homophobic biases embedded in its source material. To protect against those biases, creators of AI models must be highly vigilant, says Merrick Osborne, a postdoctoral scholar in racial equity at Haas School of Business.
Osborne investigates the origins of the phenomenon—and how to combat it—in a new paper, “The Sins of the Parents Are to Be Laid Upon the Children: Biased Humans, Biased Data, Biased Models,” published in the journal Perspectives in Psychological Science.
“People have flaws and very natural biases that impact how these models are created,” says Osborne, who wrote the paper along with computer scientists Ali Omrani and Morteza Dehghani of the University of Southern California. “We need to think about how their behaviors and psychologies impact the way these really useful tools are constructed.”
Osborne joined Haas earlier this year as the first scholar in a post-doc program supporting academic work focused on racial inequities in business. Before coming to Haas, he earned a PhD in business administration at University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business last year. In their new paper, he and his co-authors apply lessons from social psychology to examine how bias occurs, and what can be done to combat it.
Representation bias
Bias starts with the data that programmers use to train AI systems, says Osborne. While oftentimes it reflects stereotypes of marginalized groups, it can just as often leave them out entirely, creating “representation bias” that privileges a white, male, heterosexual worldview by default. “One of the most pernicious biases for computer scientists in terms of the dataset is just how well-represented—or under-represented—different groups of people are,” Osborne says.
Adding to problems with the data, AI engineers often use annotators—humans who go through data and label them for a desired set of categories. “That’s not a dispassionate process,” Osborne says. “Maybe even without knowing, they are applying subjective values to the process.” Without explicitly recognizing the need for fairer representation, for example, they may inadvertently leave out certain groups, leading to skewed outputs in the AI model. “It’s really important for organizations to invest in a way to help annotators identify the bias that they and their colleagues are putting in.”
Privileged programmers
Programmers themselves are not immune to their own implicit bias, he continues. By virtue of their position, computer engineers constructing AI models are more likely to be inherently privileged. The high status they are granted within their organizations can increase their sense of psychological power. “That higher sense of societal and psychological power can reduce their inhibitions and mean they’re less likely to stop and really concentrate on what could be going wrong.”
Osborne believes we’re at a critical fork in the road: We can continue to use these models without examining and addressing their flaws and rely on computer scientists to try to mitigate them on their own. Or we can turn to those with expertise in biases to work collaboratively with programmers on fighting racism, sexism, and all other biases in AI models.
First off, says Osborne, it’s important for programmers and those managing them to go through training that can make them aware of their biases and can take measures to account for gaps or stereotypes in the data when designing models. “Programmers may not know how to look for it, or to look for it at all,” Osborne says. “There’s a lot that could be done just from simply having discussions within a company or team on how our model could end up hurting people—or helping people.”
AI Fairness
Moreover, computer scientists have recently taken measures to combat bias within machine learning systems, implementing a new field of research known as AI fairness. As Osborne and his colleague describe in their paper, fairness uses complex mathematical formulas to train machine learning systems on certain variables including gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and disability, to make sure that the algorithm behind the model is treating different groups equally. Other processes are aimed at ensuring individuals are being treated fairly within groups, and that all groups are being fairly represented.
Organizations can help improve their models by making sure that programmers are aware of this latest research and sponsoring them to take courses to introduce them to these algorithmic models—tools such as IBM’s AI Fairness 360 Toolkit, Google’s What-If Tool, Microsoft’s Fairlearn.py, or Aequitas. Because each model is different, organizations should work with organizational experts in implementing algorithmic fairness to understand how bias can manifest for their specific programs. “We aren’t born knowing how to create a fair machine-learning model,” Osborne says. “It’s knowledge that we must acquire.”
More broadly, he says, companies can encourage a culture of awareness around bias in AI, such that individual employees who notice biased outcomes can feel supported in reporting them to their supervisors. Managers, in turn, can go back to programmers to give them feedback to tweak their models or design different queries that can root out biased outcomes.
“Models aren’t perfect, and until the programming catches up and creates better ones, this is something we are all going to be dealing with as AI becomes more prevalent,” Osborne says. “Organizational leaders play a really important role in improving the fairness of model’s output.”