A reflection by Elsa Joy, Darden MBA 2025
I am just another curious SY Darden student, motivated by ideas and inspirational people. As an engineer, management consultant and social entrepreneur, I have had opportunities to work with some governments, businesses and non-profits in India. So, when the Institute for Business in Society (IBIS) at Darden sent out an email asking for students with experience working across sectors to serve as reviewers for one of its programs, the 2024 P3 Impact Award, I was interested. I discovered the P3 Impact Award was created by IBIS in partnership with Concordia, and the U.S. Department of State to recognize and honor leading public-private partnerships (P3s) that improve communities and the world. I applied in the hopes of learning about some recent successful P3 projects and the rubric these entities follow to index and compare such global projects. Note to current FYs: strongly recommend this; and the evaluation work will just take a couple of days at the beginning of your summer break.
Come fall, the kind team at IBIS asked me if I would like to attend the annual Concordia Summit in New York City where the award would be announced. A token of appreciation, they called it; for volunteering work! I said, “OF COURSE, THANK YOU!!!” Ever since my then-employer KPMG launched the “Higher Purpose” campaign in 2016, I’ve been nurturing a long term of dream of becoming a wise public policy advisor (combining education, technology access + inclusion and entrepreneurship).
I checked the Summit agenda and couldn’t have been any more grateful! Darden is a gift that just keeps on giving. My only concern was that I would have to choose between attending classes and the Summit. Darden’s Socratic learning experience is invaluable, it was really hard for me to bunk classes so I finally decided to attend just the final day of the 3-day conference. And then the Summit had two streams of amazing parallel sessions! I hate having to choose between awesomeness! The United Nations General Assembly and Climate Week were also happening in NYC that week – I wish I could have been at multiple places at once!
As a first-time tourist in NYC, the Sheraton Times Square venue felt magical but also intimidating with TSA-level security checks (because the guest list for the day included who’s who of the public and private sectors, including the President of Panama, Prime Minister of Iraq and CEO of Pfizer)! But when I walked in and saw Darden Professor Ed Freeman’s latest book (Defeating Dengue) in the conference lounge shelves, I realized I didn’t have to be! As my friend Matt Rafferty says, there’s nothing better than being a student at events like these – you have the right to insights just by being present (so much so that we wish we could just be ‘professional student conference-goers’).
How cool is it to get to be a wallflower and still walk away with wisdom from experts and leaders from around the world? The panels covered a range of topics from sustainability to AI war to women’s health. It was humbling and inspiring, and a reality-check and hope-instilling all at once! I won’t be able to do justice in transcribing the awesomeness of the experience. Plus, I’m so bought into Darden’s “ask, don’t tell” principle. Hence just sharing the top 3 questions I left with:
1. There was an interview with the Prime Minister of Iraq; all attendees were given a live translation device so language wasn’t a barrier at all. In the session that followed, the Mayor of London was talking about a recent incident when a deepfake audio of him led to semi-riots (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68146053). What can we do to ensure technology disruptions are safe for individuals and maintain trust at the society level?
2. There definitely should be public-private partnerships to address complex issues like the refugee crisis. However, is decentralization the best way forward for social transformation? (Ref: https://communitysponsorshiphub.org/our-work/welcome-corps/)
3. The idea that each person being unapologetically authentic eventually makes room for everyone seems simple enough and doable. Is this the best strategy for inclusion long-term? (Ref: The future of workforce development)
Even if your career path is very different and you don’t ever see yourself in a public policy space, the Concordia Summit experience is very much like attending a Darden Worldwide Course where you get live curated case studies combining all the core MBA subjects – strategy, ops, accounting, finance, marketing, DA, LO, LC…. And you get to experience NYC at its peak (great weather for a long Central Park stroll and so much extra security that you can walk around the city center late at night with some confidence)!
Below are some benefits of attending the Concordia Annual Summit as an MBA student:
1. See stakeholder theory in action.
2. Learn about the current priorities, concerns and long-term strategies of global leaders; while networking with whoever you’d like (make good use of the All-Access Pass).
3. Gain unparallelled perspectives about lives very different from your own; as awesome as B-school is, it still is a bubble of high privilege too. See what Darden stands for and how it is perceived by others.
I am grateful to Maggie Morse (IBIS Director) and team at IBIS for this wonderful opportunity!
Watch the Concordia Annual Summit 2024 sessions at: https://www.concordia.net/annualsummit/2024-concordia-annual-summit-watch-on-demand/
