Address label: Born outside Cleveland, Ohio, Chen grew up in California and Texas before attending Emory University in Georgia, where she majored in business. “My three siblings live in New York now, and I’ll be working there this summer, so that feels closest to home.”

Blue sky: “My parents emigrated from China during the Cultural Revolution and started a restaurant business. Moving across the globe or the country for new opportunities wasn’t a big deal for them, so I never look at anything in the past and see it as the status quo. The future is a blank canvas.”

More than skin deep: Chen placed first in 2015’s Miss Chinese Beauty Pageant in New York and was first runner-up at the international pageant in Hong Kong. “My mom recommended I participate. Meeting other Chinese women from the US and around the world helped me understand and embrace my culture.”

Pathfinder: “After college I worked at Bain as a generalist across industries and functions, but what I really liked was the private equity group and a utility case I worked on. That led me to a role in impact investing at Bain Capital where I focused on climate and sustainability.”

Why HBS: “I see it as an opportunity to really pressure-test some hypotheses of what I want to do and build confidence around it. I want to follow my intellectual curiosity instead of sticking to a set path.”

Campus getaway: “One of the top-floor rooms in Spangler has large windows up in the trees that let in a ton of natural light and look out on Aldrich. It’s a place to hunker down and get some inspiration.”

Summer internship: Late-stage climate investing at Lime Rock New Energy in New York City. “They’re an energy transition fund focusing on utilities and grid tech, so it ties back to sustainability and what I really enjoyed at Bain and Bain Capital.”

Game on: “I think immigrant parents sometimes miss what sports can offer; I never played anything when I was growing up, so I decided to take lessons through the HBS Tennis Club. It connects the intellectual and the physical in a challenging way.”

Year of the Snake: “In January I hosted a Chinese New Year dinner for friends. We ate dumplings for wealth, because they look like old Chinese money, and rice cakes, or nian gao, which translates to ‘year’ and ‘tall’ or ‘high.’ The general idea is continuous self-improvement.”

MBAs unite: Chen, classmate Gaby CoSeteng, and 14 other MBA students from across the country are 2025 ClimateCAP fellows, a program culminating in a self-directed climate-action project: “I’ve made so many connections with people interested in tackling the ‘missing middle’ gap in climate financing. It’s been super energizing.”

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