Student Profile: Access to Yale

Diana Francis '11
World Fellows Associate
Post-SOM: Bain & Company, South Africa

In the Careers course with Professor Amy Wrzesniewski, one of our assignments was to interview someone. So I chose one of the Yale World Fellows. The Yale World Fellows Program draws inspiring leaders to campus and they are so eager to talk to students. I spoke with Vusi Gumede, the former chief economic advisor to the South African president, Thabo Mbeki. Having access to a business leader who comes from a very different background than me in South Africa was amazing. Vusi was involved in the struggle to end apartheid in South Africa and then became incredibly successful in his career as an economist. As a result of that interview, we've kept in touch and he's helped me along the way, connecting me with people in South Africa.

In my second year, I was a Yale World Fellows Affiliate. I was assigned to the Tunisian World Fellow, Fares Mabrouk, and helped him integrate into the University. This is just one example of the mind-blowing access to amazing people and incredible talks here at the University. Walking around the Yale campus I get excited that I've come here, that I've been given the opportunity to study here.

For my summer internship, I worked for a green tech startup company in South Africa that looked at bringing smart-appliance technologies into the residential market to bring the demand of electricity down in houses. South Africa is facing a huge power crisis, and it's a technology that is a for-profit solution with the potential to help address some of the power crisis issues. After I graduate, I am headed back to South Africa to start work at Bain & Company in Johannesburg. I am looking forward to the intense learning experience of being a consultant for Bain & Company, and I am excited to be based at home and making a valuable contribution to a range of South African organizations.

Before I came to business school, I was considerably more naïve about solutions to problems. I've become more pragmatic about how to make an impact and where to make an impact, as opposed to just having a big idea and wanting to change things. In addition to Yale SOM courses, I took a range of electives in Africa Studies, International Relations, and the School of Forestry. My classmates had diverse perspectives and convincing arguments. It was these rich discussions that allowed me to re-evaluate my own perspectives and to work through different approaches to solving problems.

Interviewed on January 24, 2011.