Tell us how you will contribute toward advancing the mission based on examples of past work and activities.

I feel strongly connected to the Sloan program because there is a clear alignment between its mission and what I believe and aim to achieve. I consider strong principles to be the foundation of beneficial innovation and I chose activities where I can exercise this conviction. As a management consultant, an important part of my job was to deal with sensitive information and to derive unbiased conclusions and recommendations. More than once, I faced severe resistance of clients after discovering inefficient practices in their areas. They often questioned the validity of the data and methodology used, so I patiently engaged in several rounds of discussions with them, refined the findings and examined different situations. However, ethically I never hid the truth.

I constantly seek to take an innovative approach when facing management issues and I learned to test my hypothesis in real-world situations before proclaiming them as solutions. I had the opportunity to pursue a master’s in industrial engineering while working as a lean manufacturing consultant. This was a great setting because I could use the concepts learned in the classroom to solve real-world challenges and could bring back practical situations to be discussed with fellow students. This attitude is aligned with MIT’s motto, "Mens et Manus". During that time, I led a project aimed at redesigning the entire supply planning process of a medium sized apparel manufacturer. The engagement was a success, but it had a rough start. Some of my initial hypothesis didn't prove right; I faced severe resistance from the management team and the project was almost stopped. Since I was trying to change several practices used at the company, I realized sustainable results would only be achieved with the cooperation of the management team. I increased collaborative meetings with them and incorporated many of their suggestions into the proposed solutions. I redesigned the project schedule to start small, by changing warehousing practices first. The initial implementation after those modifications went very well and subsequent changes got traction. By the end of the first year, I had innovated several areas; I changed the whole manufacturing plant layout, redesigned their planning processes and created Excel models that were converted into a software. The manufacturer lowered obsolete inventory from 10% to 5% and improved on-time delivery by 20%. Finally, I brought the knowledge back to academia by incorporating this case study into my master’s thesis.

I also innovate outside of work by helping organizations achieve ambitious goals that will improve the community. I believe education is a key area to reduce inequality. Two years ago, I began to work with an NGO as an English teacher. I wanted to help more, and through meetings with the NGO’s management team I learned that their main current challenge is how to expand the organization into other cities. Therefore, I volunteered to lead a project aimed at standardizing their processes and implementing a technological solution that will enable their growth and continued success rates.