Harvard Business School Alumni

Reunions are just around the corner! We can't wait to have everyone back on campus.

We’re excited to announce that this year’s AAA recipient the Honorable W. Mitt Romney (MBA 1974/JD 1975) will be the featured as the 2026 Alumni Class Day Speaker.

Romney’s career has spanned multiple leadership roles in the private and public sectors. The cofounder of Bain Capital and former Governor of Massachusetts, Romney led the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics, served as a US Senator from Utah, and was a US presidential candidate in 2008 and 2012.

Throughout his career, Romney has stressed the importance of focusing on the task at hand and developing excellence through ex*****on. “The key to being successful is not to think about the promotion or the next job, but to do your present job well,” he noted, advice that has guided his approach across sectors. He has also highlighted the importance of leadership grounded in listening and collaboration. “An effective leader is someone who surrounds himself or herself with brilliant people, listens to them, and then defines a course,” he remarked.

The best advice he’s received? “I told Tom Stemberg (MBA 1973), founder of Staples, that I was planning to help a colleague at Bain work on his weaknesses. He said, ‘Mitt, stop. Everyone has flat sides. Focus instead on how they can accelerate and expand their strengths.”

Dan Ross (MBA 2019) and Jake Sussman cofounded Marble Health to address a persistent gap in youth mental health care: limited access to affordable, timely services. The urgency of the problem has been widely recognized—in 2021, the US Surgeon General declared youth mental health a national emergency. Since then, it has shown only modest improvement.

Working with school counselors as a primary referral channel, Marble provides students in grades 3–12 with faster access to care through a model focused on early intervention. To expand capacity and reduce wait times from months to days, the company works with supervised early-career therapists who provide virtual care. Marble delivers these services directly and is reimbursed by insurance, with most care fully covered or requiring only standard in-network costs, while schools pay nothing.

Now operating in New York, New Jersey, and Ohio, Marble has plans to expand geographically. “We’re trying to build a behavioral health company that will benefit kids for generations to come,” Ross says. “… And we think that’s possible with better access to care.”

MBA 2025, thank you for joining us on campus last week for your One Year Reunion! It was so great seeing everyone back to reconnect.

We’re proud to announce the 2026 Alumni Achievement Award recipients—trailblazers who reflect the School’s highest ideals through their leadership, integrity, and lasting impact: the Honorable W. Mitt Romney; Jennifer Eplett Reilly; Paul J. Finnegan; and H. Lawrence Culp, Jr.

Throughout their careers, these distinguished graduates have contributed significantly to their companies and communities while upholding the highest standards and values in everything they do.

On the latest Skydeck, they share the defining moments and experiences that shaped their careers and lives. Listen today: https://bit.ly/4tMyyXv

Giving to HBS has a ripple effect that goes far beyond the School’s campus. Think of it as giving through HBS to make a difference in the world. The leaders we educate and the problem-solving ideas faculty members generate have a profound impact on business and society.

Please give today: https://bit.ly/4aNlnza

After spending the first half of his career in the private sector, Carlos Moedas (MBA 2000) is now in his second term as mayor of Lisbon, helping make the city a global startup hub through Unicorn Factory.

“The public sector gives you something unique, the fulfillment of changing someone’s life. You feel that in a way that’s very close as mayor, because you’re in contact with people every day,” he says.

Continue reading: https://bit.ly/3QYVghq