Giving

Report on Giving

2022

A Message from Dean Srikant Datar

As I reflect on the past year, I am grateful for the collective generosity of alumni and friends like you who have been instrumental to our progress during this unique moment in Harvard Business School’s history.

In some ways, the pandemic has served as the gateway to the School’s future, necessitating that we build skills and capabilities that otherwise might have taken years to develop. While we continue to invest in our core programs and activities, we also can now set an ambitious path for the years ahead.

This path, which you have helped enable, will ensure that the School can equip the next generation of leaders with the skills, knowledge, and mindset necessary to lead in an ever-changing and complex world. Efforts are underway to generate a deeper understanding of the rapidly accelerating digital transformation of business and to influence how companies operate within this new environment. In addition, our faculty members are conducting research aimed at identifying practical solutions to society’s most critical issues, including climate change and inequality.

I am also proud of our efforts to ensure that HBS is welcoming to students, faculty, and staff from diverse backgrounds. To make an HBS education more affordable, we have launched several initiatives to reduce financial barriers that often prevent students from applying to and attending the School. Our ability to deliver transformational learning experiences, generate actionable ideas, and leverage exciting new opportunities is made possible by your support. On behalf of all of us here at HBS, thank you.

Thank You.

This report recognizes and celebrates alumni and friends who made gifts in fiscal year 2022 (July 1, 2021–June 30, 2022). Every gift makes a difference.

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Fiscal Year Highlights

10,293

Total donors

172M

Total gifts & pledges

Average portion of HBS's total revenue provided by philanthropy (FY12-FY21)

646

First-time donors

6,754

Consistent donors
(gave in at least 4 of the last 5 years)

6,050

Gifts under $1K totaling $1.2 million

HBS Fund Gifts in Action

Annual gifts to the HBS Fund provide flexible funding that can be used immediately to advance core priorities as well as test ideas and launch new initiatives. The following are examples of recent efforts made possible by the HBS Fund.

Engaging in Hands-On Learning Across the United States

After two years of cancellations due to COVID-19, more than 1,000 first-year MBA students traveled to 15 mid-sized cities across the United States for FIELD (Field Immersion Experiences for Leadership Development), a required course that pairs students with local companies for an immersive learning experience. The course had previously sent students around the globe, but in less than a year and in light of international travel uncertainty, the MBA Program shifted its focus to domestic challenges and opportunities. Students traveled to cities including Milwaukee, Birmingham, and Chattanooga and considered issues such as inequality, shared prosperity, and the role of business in cross-sector collaboration. The new Mid-US Research Office—one of HBS’s 17 regional outposts in 15 countries—was instrumental in supporting this new effort.

Embracing a Digital-First Approach at HBS

Aligning with Dean Srikant Datar’s vision for HBS, the School is accelerating its application of digital technologies, data science, and design thinking. Professor Karim Lakhani, at left, is leading the development of a new interdisciplinary research model through the Digital, Data, and Design Institute at Harvard. By partnering closely with organizations and tapping into expertise across the University, the Institute will enable faculty to do scaled research and work with business leaders—many of them HBS alumni—to solve important problems and translate this work back into the MBA and Executive Education programs. The Institute’s work is running in parallel to HBS’s internal digital transformation efforts. Professor Marco Iansiti is spearheading the creation of a platform to optimize the School’s operations and data collection and extend its reach and impact through technology.

Watch Lakhani and Iansiti discuss these efforts

Student Writes Case to Prompt Conversations on Race

Haley Brown (MBA 2021) worked with Professor Debora Spar to write a case featuring Linda Oubré (MBA 1984), the first woman of color to serve as president of Whittier College, prompting discussions around diversity, equity, and inclusion. “The main reason that I wrote the case was to get HBS students comfortable—or frankly uncomfortable but involved in—having conversations about race in the classroom,” Brown said. Spar taught the case with Oubré present, and a lively debate ensued among students from different backgrounds. As the School celebrates the 100th anniversary of the case method, this pedagogy remains a powerful tool for addressing difficult topics and timely issues.

Watch Brown discuss writing the case

Answering the Call to Service

After serving in the United States Marine Corps for six years, Class Day and MBA Fellowship Celebration student speaker Peter James Kiernan (MBA 2022) worked as the deputy chief of staff to New York’s director of state operations, where he became the point person for the state’s COVID-19 response efforts. Through the experience fighting the pandemic, he learned that “government could not tackle tough challenges by itself; we need partners in the private sector.” At HBS and through the support of financial aid, Kiernan gained the tools to address future challenges and added a business education to his public-sector experience to increase the impact he can have. “As students, our capacity to make a difference in the world is drastically increased because of HBS and [donor] generosity,” he said.

New Institute Will Advance the Study of Key Societal Issues

As HBS focuses on business’s role in addressing societal challenges, cross-disciplinary efforts are underway to reimagine capitalism and align profits with purpose. The new Institute for the Study of Business in Global Society (BiGS) will connect faculty across the School, along with the HBS initiatives and global centers, to explore how capitalism is functioning and translate research into action around key areas, including climate change and social and economic inclusion. BiGS will amplify the work currently being conducted at HBS and will bring scholars from other schools to campus through the BiGS Visiting Fellows Program to help catalyze new streams of inquiry. These efforts coincide with booming enrollments in impact courses and clubs at HBS and a proliferation of profit-driven companies founded by students and alumni.

Student Entrepreneur Creates Opportunities in Africa

Pelkins Ajanoh (MS/MBA 2022), at left, and Nembu Emmanuel cofounded CassVita, an agritech-based venture that is creating jobs and expanding economic opportunities in their home country of Cameroon. An award recipient in the 2022 Harvard President’s Innovation Challenge, CassVita uses novel biotechnology to extend the shelf life of cassava, a dietary staple for millions across Africa. In running a business with a double bottom line while also pursuing a dual degree, Ajanoh found peer and faculty mentoring, classroom exercises, and access to guest experts in an MBA elective field course to be invaluable. He leveraged the support of entrepreneurship resources across the University, including the Harvard Innovation Labs, to work through early-stage challenges and plan for how to scale operations after graduation.

HBS Fund Highlights

44M

Total HBS Fund gifts & pledges

Portion of the School’s annual research budget that depends on HBS Fund gifts and other unrestricted revenue

3.6M

Amount of fellowships covered by the HBS Fund and other unrestricted revenue

HBS Fund Investors Society Challenge

510 alumni from the MBA classes of 2007–2021 participated in the first-ever HBS Fund Investors Society Challenge. This resulted in a 25 percent increase in leadership gifts from these classes over the previous year.

HBS Fund Volunteers & Leadership Donors

HBS is grateful for the generosity and dedication of HBS Fund volunteers and leadership donors, and we are pleased to recognize these individuals in the donor lists. Through their time and expertise, HBS Fund Council members, HBS Fund Investors Society class agents, and MBA class volunteers help raise the resources that enable HBS to deliver on its mission. Through their annual leadership gifts, HBS Fund Investors Society members fuel innovation and strengthen the School’s core activities.

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