Wakana Tanaka (MBA 2003)

Wakana Tanaka (MBA 2003)

Wakana Tanaka (MBA 2003) made HBS history in August when she became the first woman to be elected president of the HBS Club of Japan. Tanaka, who is head of Google Partner Plex, is also the youngest-ever president of the club, with a mandate to inspire a new generation of diverse business leaders in Japan.

“I feel honored, humbled, and thrilled to take on this role as the first female president,” says Tanaka. “I look forward to collaborating with members to continue making the HBS Club of Japan a source of inspiration and connection for alumni.”

According to Tanaka, Japan ranks the lowest among developed countries in the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index. “Female representation in leadership in both business and politics is surprisingly low,” she says, adding that since the majority of HBS alumni in Japan are male, “the club has always had male presidents.”

The club’s immediate past president, Seiji Yasubuchi (MBA 1990), is a “strong promoter of diversity and inclusion in Japanese society,” and encouraged the selection of a more diverse, “new generation” leader for the club.

Tanaka is likewise focused on the club’s efforts to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in business and society.

“I am most excited about accelerating DEI initiatives in the community,” she says. “We would like to increase diversity and inclusion in the HBS community, both in Boston and in Tokyo. We hold several events every year to encourage young people from diverse backgrounds to apply to the MBA and executive programs at HBS. Also, we hold events in Japan to send positive messages to the community about the successful leadership of people with diverse backgrounds.”

With more than 2,000 HBS alumni in Japan, Tanaka says the HBS Club of Japan is a critical core organization providing “inspiring, impactful, and vibrant activities as well as strengthening the alumni network.” Those activities include continued connection to HBS for education and networking, efforts to support innovation in Japanese business as well as community service and charitable works.

“HBS has a great brand and reputation in Japan, and I hope we can make a difference with our initiatives around DEI,” says Tanaka. “We are always looking for great ideas and speakers from around the world, too, and I would love to collaborate with other clubs.”

More than 30 alumni from the HBS Club of Atlanta joined Professor Linda Hill, on November 23 for an interactive case study discussion on the 2017 launch of The Farm, Comcast’s acclaimed startup accelerator.

Burunda Prince (MBA 1987)

Tim Dodson (MBA 1994)

Burunda Prince (MBA 1987)

Tim Dodson (MBA 1994)

Professor Hill, who wrote the case, “Bill Connors and The Farm, a Comcast NBCUniversal Innovation Hub (Powered by Boomtown),” was joined in the discussion by protagonists Bill Connors, the president of Comcast’s Central Division, and Burunda Prince (MBA 1987), who served as the first managing director of The Farm.

“Our goal was to explore the decision-making that went into the launching of The Farm, how participating startups were selected, and the leadership challenges that emerged,” says Tim Dodson (MBA 1994), vice president of the club’s Leadership Breakfast Series. “Attendees were very interested in how an accelerator works and many said they were inspired by the presentation.”

While Professor Hill did not cold-call audience members, Dodson says she taught the case as she would in class, giving a complete picture of the challenges and victories of launching and leading The Farm, which was envisioned by Connors as a means to infuse Comcast’s central division with innovative energy. Prince and Connors each shared their perspectives as well.

“We talked about how to bridge the distinctly different cultures. Comcast was a corporate, suit-and-ties culture, while The Farm was a startup, jeans-and-T-shirts culture,” says Prince, who was hired as the director of Boomtown, the management company running The Farm for Comcast. Prince was the protagonist for Hill’s follow-up case, which focused on the operational challenges she faced in launching The Farm.

“It was the first startup accelerator for Comcast. We faced lots of new challenges, such as how to measure success. For a corporation, you have quarterly reports, but a startup can take four or five years to show success. We needed other metrics,” says Prince. “Dynamics were different. Corporations change slowly, whereas startups often pivot quickly. The case is about exploring what kind of leadership was needed to bridge the two cultures, with no blueprint.”

Ultimately, Prince says her role came down to a focus on communication, transparency, and a confidence in her ability to adapt and recover.

“This case was an opportunity to document something unique,” says Prince, whose successful leadership yielded The Farm an extended contract. She has moved on to help launch the Russell Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, an Atlanta-based startup accelerator for Black-owned companies. “This was not a traditional business model, and we found an innovative way to lead.”

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