Class of 2004 Gives Fellowship
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| Shariff: Fellowship recipient committed to international development. Photo by Neal Hamberg |
When members of the Class of 2004 earned their MBAs and bid adieu to Soldiers Field, they left behind a gift for their successors. With 52 percent of the class participating (455 students), the class raised $19,130 to create a fellowship for a deserving member of the Class of 2006.
Working through alumni representatives from each section, classmates chose to support fellowship aid and decided to name their gift in memory of Anna Su, a member of the Class of 2004 who died in an accident after her first year at HBS. Su was dedicated to improving the lives of inner-city youth, and the class designated that the fellowship be used to support a student “with a particular focus on professional or volunteer work that has benefited underprivileged or deserving children.”
Aliya Shariff (HBS ’06) was a fitting choice for the fellowship this year. A native of Vancouver, British Columbia, and a graduate of Princeton, Shariff is committed to international development. Prior to HBS, she worked with CARE International in Rwanda, primarily on HIV prevention and microfinance targeted at households run by children. “Because of the genocide and AIDS, it isn’t unusual for a 15-year-old orphan to take care of sev-eral younger siblings,” says Shariff. “We worked to help them become more self-reliant.”
Shariff came to HBS to gain the general management and leadership skills that she thinks are especially needed in the nonprofit sector. She has found the Leadership and Organiza-tional Behavior course to be particularly relevant to the work that she plans to continue upon graduation.
“Raising money for a fellowship made sense,” says John Sanders (MBA ’04), an alumni rep for Section J. “It’s a way to give to the School that students can really appreciate.” With 92 percent participation, Section J raised the most money, an obvious illustration of respect for Su, their sectionmate.
For the third year in a row, the School’s graduating class has made a substantial gift to HBS. For her part, Shariff is grateful to the Class of 2004 for easing her financial burden. “It’s been great to share some of my experiences with my classmates,” says Shariff. “I like to think that I’ve brought Rwanda a little bit closer to them.”
