Like many of my peers, I was caught in a dilemma when deciding what to do for my summer internship. Was I to work at a company with a well-known brand name that would help me ease the burdens of a student loan and set me up for success during full-time recruitment? Or was I to take risks and try something I had never done before but always wanted to? With the help of the Hoffmann Institute Impact Internship stipend, I was able to do the latter.

• Read more about Transforming Women’s Wellness in India

I joined INSEAD with 8+ years of corporate experience in the design, lifestyle, and fashion industries with a goal to pivot into consulting. I also had a long-standing commitment to an old friend to help her in at least one of her social impact endeavors. However, due to my professional obligations initially and later due to COVID, I couldn't devote time for nearly two years.So, I wanted to complete that before starting a fast-paced and hectic consulting life after INSEAD.

• Read more about Alternative View: Doing an "Impact Internship" During the Summer

It’s been a whole twelve months since I wrote about my first week at INSEAD. It turned out that a journal is a promise impossible to keep. :) I just landed in Stockholm, a city I had never visited before I decided to move here. The last twelve months were truly a whirlwind journey from Germany to France and then to Sweden.

• Read more about Three Months After My INSEAD MBA Journey — Reflections and Roads Ahead

This past summer, I had the unique experience of interning as an MBA Associate at Antler – a global early-stage VC focused on helping the earliest founders build new products and companies. While making the transition from a large corporate bank and into VC, here are the top five things I learned.  Finding common ground between new and past experiences is critical to any career pivot

• Read more about A Climate Enthusiast Venturing Into Venture Capital

A lot of times I get asked if doing an MBA is worth it or what the ROI of an INSEAD MBA is. I always say "it depends" on what you're looking for in the short term vs. long term. Admittedly, INSEAD was a HUGE financial investment for me as a 25-year old in India with no savings and no family funds to bank on.

• Read more about What Is the ROI of an INSEAD MBA?

Interning at Almouneer allowed me to learn how to scale up a business and how leadership, friendship, and persistence play the most crucial role when creating a company. ​

• Read more about Almouneer – Digitising Healthcare in Egypt

This year at INSEAD has been instrumental for me in discovering my path going forward. Climate change is now front and centre in everyone’s mind and I decided earlier this year to play my part in solving the problem.

• Read more about Discovering My Purpose

The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated consumer sustainability awareness, generated a sense of urgency and increased pressure for new governmental regulations. Companies are now pledging in turn to track and improve their sustainability metrics, often implemented by a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO).  However, there are overlooked opportunities to accelerate and deepen the change while making a profit – and that’s what I will try to show here.

• Read more about Why Chief Sustainability Officers As We Know Them Should Disappear

Since September 2020, I have been attending the Executive Master in Change at INSEAD, which is best described as a programme that connects psychology with business, applying and anchoring theories and concepts learned back into business and organisations.

• Read more about My Learning Journey at the Executive Master in Change

INSEAD is known as the business school for the world. What some may not know is that one of our core values is closeness to the international business community. This means that we partner with the international business community to explore and disseminate management knowledge as we believe in the role of business as a force for improving people's lives. This is also why INSEAD has multiple campuses beyond the original location in Fontainebleau, France.

• Read more about How INSEAD Produces Leaders Who Can Effect Change: Insights from Leaders in the GCC Region