How did you meet?

Reggie Smith: "We first met before classes started RC year at a big social event in Nantucket. We both volunteered to be 'ship captains' to help over 200 of our classmates make it onto the Nantucket Ferry and arrive on the island. We knew each other from that point on, but we didn't become close friends until a year later, when we visited West Virginia as part of a leadership initiative sponsored by the HKS Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government.

Christine Keung: "The trek exposed us to the challenges of rural Appalachia: declining life expectancy, a shrinking population, an economy that has stagnated and contracted, the lowest workforce participation in the US, and a relentless opioid epidemic. We decided to write a case study to bring the conversation into the classroom and to business leaders who would be able to direct capital, economic opportunities, and social services to an often-overlooked region of the country."

Please talk about your work on behalf of depressed regions within the United States, specifically West Virginia?

Reggie: "Over the last three years, we've made five trips to the state, visited over 10 counties, and met with folks from all walks of life. We talked to big and small businesses, investors, state and local politicians, nonprofits, academic institutions, and everyday workers and families.

Christine: "We've been able to contribute to the state in the following ways:

• "We presented an economic development policy proposal to the state's Speaker of the House and legislature in May 2022
• "We coauthored the HBS case study on West Virginia with Professor Matthew Weinzierl, published in November 2021
• "We worked with the state's Small Business Administration to help small-businesses access to Paycheck Protection Program loans in 2020."

What drew you to this work?

Reggie: "We grew up on opposite sides of the country, but are both first-generation college graduates from working-class families. I helped my parents deliver packages and clean college dorms in Philadelphia. Christine helped her immigrant parents run a Chinese restaurant in Los Angeles. It was impossible for us to experience the resiliency of the people of West Virginia and not see our own families in their story. Their connection to community, service to others, and faith resonated with us."

Christine: "We also noticed that students are rarely taught how to lead during a period of decline. West Virginia experienced economic stagnation over the last 10 years, yet we saw so many inspiring examples of leadership through hard times, from a recovering opioid addict building his own sobriety program to the public-private initiative that brought the Virgin Hyperloop to the state. We also thought that the story of Appalachia was mostly uncovered at business schools. We wanted business leaders to not only learn about the challenges unique to Appalachia, but also learn from the innovative initiatives happening across the states in economic development, education, public infrastructure, and the energy transition happening as a result of declining coal industries."

Why is this work important?

Christine: "We believe business plays a fundamentally noble role in society. From rural to left-behind urban communities, business leaders play a vital role in creating an economy that works for everyone. We want to motivate business and policy leaders to develop solutions to the issues facing the US through social enterprises and public-private partnerships. Our case serves as a platform for civic engagement – helping business leaders understand how to bring new opportunity and development in rural regions."

What are your short- and long-term goals for this work?

Christine: "Our immediate goal was to encourage MBA students to leverage their education to confront the most pressing challenges facing society. This spring, we helped teach our case study, West Virginia: Finding the Right Path Forward, in Professor Matt Weinzierl's course, Role of Government in Market Economies. We had a blast discussing the role government and public policy play in not only administering social programs, but also in creating an ecosystem where social enterprises, small businesses, and corporations can thrive and drive social change.

Reggie: "In the mid-term, we continue to advance the state's relationship with Harvard. HBS launched a Mid-US Research Office in 2021 to spur research into business challenges and innovations in the region. Alicia Dadlani (MBA 2003), who leads the office, joined us on our trip to West Virginia when we presented to the state legislature.

"Long-term, we aspire to drive capital to businesses that are creating jobs and economic opportunities in West Virginia and other underserved areas of the country."

What is the best part of this work? What do you find most challenging?

Christine: "The best part is the incredible people we've met along the way that we now call friends. We can't overstate how welcoming West Virginians have been in showing us their home. The hardest part was working on the case while being full-time students at HBS and with our full-time jobs after graduation. It took us three years to complete the case because we wanted to capture the impact of the presidential election, gubernatorial election, and COVID-19 pandemic on the state."

How do you use what you learned at HBS in this work?

Reggie: "One of the most important lessons that HBS taught us is how to lead and collaborate across differences. We aren't from West Virginia, and don't share the same perspectives on everything, but we found a lot of common ground through listening and sharing a common goal of making things better for the next generation."

What are your full-times jobs?

Reggie: "I work as a research analyst in energy, with a focus on clean energy and clean technology, at Eventide Asset Management in Boston. I'm always looking for companies developing new energy technologies and industries across America, including in West Virginia."

Christine: "I was a 2020-21 HBS Leadership Fellow and served the City of San Jose as its chief data officer. I now lead care operations at a venture-backed telemedicine startup that treats chronic conditions like diabetes and obesity and makes care accessible to patients in all 50 states, including West Virginia.

What did you enjoy most about your HBS experience?

Reggie: "All the meaningful connections I made with my classmates, alumni, professors, and business leaders. It's the only place in the world where I could spend time with investors, former US senators, CEOs of global companies, and classmates from every walk of life–all in one day! It's a totally immersive experience: nonstop learning, nonstop growing, nonstop fun."

Christine: "I loved learning from professors and peers who exposed me to different kinds of thinking, who challenged my assumptions, and helped clarify my values. I've also been mentored and supported by amazing alumni, and continue to stay in touch with current students."

Did you have a favorite HBS class?

Christine: "My favorite class was TOM, which helps you understand operating systems and processes behind how people and organizations work. One of my favorite memories was when Professor Christina Wing took us on a tour to see the complex, backend operations of Fenway Park—I'll never watch a baseball game the same way! My favorite cases were in Professor Ryan Buell's Managing Service Operations class, and informed my work improving government service delivery during the pandemic."

Reggie: "My favorite class was BGIE. It examines how countries and regions build their political, social, and economic institutions. Ultimately, it puts you in the seat of a global leader and invites you to develop solutions to complex problems. I enjoyed getting a broad view of the world, having my assumptions challenged, and gaining a better understanding of why the world has the shape it does today."

Which HBS professor, or professors, had the greatest impact on you and why?

Reggie: "It's hard to only say a few because I've had the pleasure of building relationships with so many professors and they've each supported me in many different ways. Professor Weinzierl supported our case study and without him none of it happens. He's taught me incredible ways of thinking about markets and is a friend and mentor. Professors Sophus Reinert and Tom Nicholas created some of the most enriching classroom environments possible on planet Earth. Professor Karen Mills has mentored and supported me with post-HBS decisions."

Christine: "Professors Mitch Weiss, Joshua Margolis, Karen Mills, and Ashish Nanda nurtured my interest in working across the private, public, and social sectors, and encouraged me to explore leadership roles in government. I'm also grateful to Professors Erik Stafford, Jim Matheson, Charles Wang, and Sara Fleiss, who helped hone my FIN and FRC skills, and develop new ways of thinking."

What did you like to do when you were not studying?

Christine: "I once hosted a dumpling-making party for my entire section, where I taught 100+ classmates how to make dumplings from scratch. I built a TOM workflow that incorporated continuous flow and batch processing that enabled us to cook over 1,000 dumplings on one stovetop."

Reggie: "I loved to go to speaker events on campus, club events, and events at the Harvard Kennedy School. Playing basketball in Shad and flag football were also highlights. Breakfast in Spangler on Saturday morning with a friend was also a good way to end the week."

Can you finish this statement? "My HBS experience was..."

Reggie: "One of the most positive, life-changing experiences of my life."

Christine: "Transformative in the impact it had on me, and has inspired me to seek ways to have an equally transformative impact on others."

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