From Dreaming to Doing

An aspiring marketing and sales leader, challenged by the precipitous tumble of her home country’s currency … A daughter of humble origins, seeking her own path in the public and private sector … An ambitious technologist, financially responsible for extended family … A promising MBA candidate, seeking a vote of confidence in his vision … 183 students in the MBA'21J&D classes received awards through the INSEAD Fund. Their dreams might have been deferred or denied without scholarships made possible by donors in 2020/2021.

Consider Barkha Bansal MBA'21D. Driven by the desire for clean energy in India, her home country, Barkha had risen above circumstance to earn a degree in energy engineering. She developed her management, problem-solving and investing skills by working in consulting and venture capital. Then she helped start up a solar technology consultancy. But Barkha came to realise that her dream for India would take more than better access to solar power. And putting the pieces in place — including better energy storage and a more stable, efficient power grid — would require a new skillset. Today, Barkha is pursuing an MBA, which will enable her to work with multiple clean-energy start-ups. “Receiving an INSEAD Women’s Scholarship helped ease my financial burdens and has positioned me to achieve my long-term goals,” Barkha says.

Golnar Mozaffari MBA’21D, has her own story of gratitude. She wants to make a difference by establishing a business that will generate wealth from the “bottom of the pyramid,” contributing to a higher quality of life and greater freedom in her home country, Iran. For four years, Golnar dreamed of an INSEAD MBA. But when she was admitted to INSEAD, Iran was in its worst financial straits in decades. “The value of everything I had saved for my education was cut in half,” Golnar says. Receiving an INSEAD Women’s Scholarship gave her a glimmer of hope — and ambition for the future. “One day I would like to help other students achieve their goals,” she says. “It would be my pleasure to represent the INSEAD Women community, extending our culture of transparency, confidence and persistent learning to a broader audience.”

These stories, like the lessons of a difficult 2020, underscore something the INSEAD community already understands: We are all interconnected. Divisions and inequalities transcend geographic borders. So should opportunities. Thank you for partnering with INSEAD toward a better and more equitable global society.