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

I believe that all K-12 students should be given equal opportunities to succeed in life. I grew up attending an inner city middle school where few extracurricular activities were offered due to minimal public funding. Given this shortage of options and my single mother’s limited income, I did not participate in many after-school activities. It was not until the last year of middle school when I became heavily involved in chess that I discovered how thinking critically, making premeditated decisions and learning from mistakes can bolster success both in a chess tournament and in the classroom. These life lessons have been the cornerstones that have propelled my personal and professional development. I believe that playing and winning in chess can empower students with a sense of accomplishment and confidence similar to those that could be attained through playing sports or debating in decathlons. Now that I am in a fortunate position to help others, I am passionate about sharing my experience with those around me and providing public school students with extracurricular opportunities that I never had.

To achieve this, I co-founded a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Columbus, Ohio, that leverages the game of chess to improve academic performance and build self-esteem among elementary and middle school students. The idea for my nonprofit organization emerged when I attended several scholastic chess tournaments around the city and recognized a deficiency in existing public school chess programs. In the years since my graduation, many local scholastic chess programs had ceased operation or become much smaller in scale. Reflecting back on my own experience, I saw an opportunity to provide students better access to chess activities. To fill the gap, I created a new third party nonprofit organization to provide these schools with the financial resources and expertise to develop their own programs. Through grant funding and donations, my co-founders and I have liaised with three schools and their local communities to pool financial support for our cause. At the same time, I regularly met with parents and faculty to obtain their voluntary support to host new chess tournaments and transport students during chess events. While each school may have trouble organizing chess tournaments due to limited flexibility in funding, I created a consortium where schools could lend each other financial and equipment resources that generate economies of scale to disperse the costs. Furthermore, my organization is the first of its kind to set a standard to help other schools start their own chess programs by following our established process that has already gained momentum around the city.

Both at MIT Sloan and after my MBA, I intend to continue to share my experience with those around me and proactively seek opportunities to help others succeed. I am confident that my fervor for community service will inspire my peers to recognize that corporate social responsibility is not only an ethical requirement for all businesses but a rewarding experience when the service leads to development and growth in others.