Kellogg Youn Impact Scholars

Sruti Bharat is a two-time founder in the impact space, former interim CEO at All Raise, and has led social impact and DEI initiatives across both private and nonprofit sectors post-Kellogg. She is the CEO of a SaaS company, Campground Systems, and a workforce development organization, FutureMap. Campground is the CRM and operating system for program leaders running programs, communities, and human services; it's the product she wishes she had as an operator of impact-oriented organizations. As CEO of Campground, she recently closed her initial fundraising round; early customers including State of California's College Corps program, Elemental Excelerator's EDICT climate workforce program, BLCK VC, and more. She founded FutureMap while at Kellogg in 2018 and has served over 3000 first-generation college students since then in partnership with prominent college access and success orgs like Minds Matter, KIPP, Students Rising Above, and more. In 2021, Sruti was nominated by the board to be the Interim CEO at All Raise, a gender equity non-profit promoting women & non-binary founders and VC's in tech. Prior to the Interim CEO role, she led All Raise's portfolio of Venture Programs supporting professional development and retention of women and non-binary VC's, where she built a team and doubled the number of women served. Before her intentional pivot into social impact full-time, she was always involved in equity and inclusion, whether it was supporting recruiting at her time at Bain, being on the Kellogg KSA's D&I committee, or creating the first women's group at OSIsoft, an enterprise software company.

Susan Edwards is an Operating Director of DEI & Impact at The Vistria Group, a Chicago-based private equity firm committed to driving high-value social change. Prior to Vistria, Susan made transformative contributions as a Director at Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT), where she led the Private Equity Accelerator program. This groundbreaking initiative aimed to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in the alternative investments space. Before her role at MLT, Susan was the Interim Executive Director at the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Presidential Center in Liberia. Under her leadership, the Center successfully launched its flagship program on International Women’s Day in 2020, solidifying its commitment to empowering African women in public service. She had the distinct honor of collaborating directly with Africa’s first democratically elected female president on these efforts. In her earlier career, Susan was an investment professional with the Pan African Capital Group in Liberia and the Abraaj Group in Kenya. At Abraaj, she invested out of the Africa Health Fund, a $105 million fund backed by partners such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Gates Foundation. This fund made targeted investments in healthcare companies that provided quality, affordable products and services to the base of the economic pyramid. Prior to Abraaj, Susan managed the nextONE Business Accelerator for Black-owned businesses at the Chicago Urban League, thereby strengthening community enterprise and creating avenues for economic growth. Susan began her professional career at Abbott Laboratories, where she excelled in various engineering and program management roles. Susan currently serves on the Advisory Board of Facing History Chicago, an organization that brings teachers and students together to address difficult questions around race, membership, and identity. Susan received a B.S in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Liz Livingston Howard is a co-founder and current Executive Director of the Kellogg School Center for Nonprofit Management and a Clinical Professor of Management at the Kellogg School of Northwestern University. She develops curriculum and teaches MBA students and nonprofit executives. Ms. Howard serves as the Academic Director for a variety of nonprofit executive education courses and designs custom executive education programs for local, national and global clients. Previously, she served in a variety of senior development roles including as Assistant Dean for the Kellogg School of Management and a fundraising consultant with the Charles R. Feldstein Company. Throughout her career, she has been committed to empowering social impact leaders to maximize their individual and organizational success. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and has an MBA from the Kellogg School. Outside of her professional responsibilities, Ms. Howard has been involved with a number of philanthropic organizations in Chicago. She was selected as a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow to participate in a unique, year-long venture to deepen the understanding of greater Chicago, thereby enhancing the future quality of civic and community leadership. She served as the founding chairman of the Chicago Community Trust Young Leaders Fund, an endowment fund established by young professionals in Chicago to educate about grant-making and the value of philanthropy. Currently, Ms. Howard serves as Secretary of the 100 Club of Illinois, providing financial assistance to the families of first responders lost in the line of duty; the Advisory Board for the Office of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese of Chicago; Secretary of the Irish Fellowship Club of Chicago and a member of the Northwestern University Women’s Board. She has provided consulting services for local nonprofits in the areas of fundraising, marketing, strategic planning, and board governance.

Operationally-focused serial entrepreneur professional with over 25 years of experience creating and executing strategies to maximize enterprise value in both the private and social impact sectors. Currently founder and President of LiftUp Enterprises, a for-profit holding company that focuses on both economic and social outcomes of low-income individuals as well as Founder of LiftUp Communities 501C3 that further accelerates stability and mobility to the social fabric of employees. Prior he was COO of The Resurrection Project where he focused on the core operations including Marketing, Community Ownership, IT, and Property Management. He was also the first Hispanic to serve as President and CEO of the Chicago Fire Soccer Club where he was responsible for the day-to-day operations while serving as the top Fire business executive leading the strategic planning and overall management of the club. He has worked in media with senior level roles at both The Tribune Company at Hoy Newspaper, as well as The Chicago Sun Times and the Reader, and his own start-up in Café Media. In all these roles he held P&L, management and marketing responsibilities. Posada has served on numerous non-profit boards over his career. Currently he sits on the boards of the Chicago Public Media (Chicago SunTimes/WBEZ), Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC), HOPE Chicago, and The Otho S. A. Sprague Memorial Institute. In addition he serves on multiple advisory and committees with the Chicago Community Trust and Crains Chicago Business to name a few. Posada has received several awards and recognitions for his business achievements and community service including being a McCormick Tribune Media Fellow, winner of Presstime's 20 under 40, and Streewise’s 20 Most Inspiring Chicagoans.

Josh Williams is the Director of Strategy and Operations at Chicago Beyond, a philanthropic organization that works to ensure every individual, regardless of zip code, has equitable access to opportunities. In his early career, Josh’s experiences as a teacher in the South Bronx transformed his life and began his journey toward advancing love and justice in the world. At Chicago Beyond, Josh directs organizational strategy, guides national partnerships, and supports the buildout of thought leadership to advance systems change in philanthropy, criminal justice, and health. His recent work has included developing a Fellowship for Black Maternal Health in support of birth justice in America, promoting healing-centered educational practices in partnership with Chicago Public Schools, and increasing philanthropic funding toward proximate-led nonprofit work. Josh holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management with a triple major in Finance, Strategy, and Economics. He also holds a Master of Science in Teaching from Fordham University with a double major in Secondary English and Special Education, and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to this work at Chicago Beyond, Josh served public and social sector clients as an Associate at McKinsey & Company in Chicago, led fundraising efforts as the Director of Development and Communications at Hyde Leadership Charter School in the South Bronx, and guided students’ learning as an English and Special Education teacher.

Fernando Carranza is fueled by a mission to level the playing field for diverse entrepreneurs. As a venture capital investor, he supports tech-driven businesses led by founders from under-resourced communities, focusing on the future of work and human enablement sectors. Currently an investor with Cleveland Avenue’s CAST US Fund, Fernando believes that equitable access to capital can transform communities and catalyze systemic change. Before joining Cleveland Avenue, Fernando was a Director of Venture at Digital Currency Group in New York City, helping to shape the future of decentralized finance with a lens towards financial inclusion. His career began in investment banking at Société Générale where he built expertise in advising companies on financing strategies, mergers, and acquisitions, across the US and EMEA regions. Fernando pivoted towards social impact after realizing how access to capital (or lack thereof) prevented many businesses led by diverse entrepreneurs to grow and scale. Fernando left Société Générale to lead the first Latinx-focused incubator in the US at 1871 Chicago, and later joined Agora Partnerships in Mexico City as an impact investor. Both roles solidified his passion for and mission to amplify early-stage companies in marginalized communities across the globe. Outside work, Fernando's dedication to endurance sports—Ironman triathlons, mountaineering expeditions, and backcountry skiing—mirrors the tenacity he seeks in the entrepreneurs he supports. A Chicago native with deep Mexican roots, he grew up in a mixed-status family and looks to support founders with the lived experience of resilience and “never give up” mentality. Fernando received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management (2Y ‘21) as a Robert Toigo, MLT, and ICM Mosaic Fellow and graduated with a BS in Finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Shalom’s life mission is to leave the world safer and more empowering for women and girls. Originally from Kano, Nigeria, Shalom Ikhena moved to the US for college in 2013, where she triple-majored triple-majored in Economics, Finance, and Business Analytics. She later delved into a career spanning Technology Consulting and Strategic Pricing & Profitability at PwC. Shalom founded the Sawubona Foundation in 2018, leading a team in grassroots initiatives to combat sexual violence in Nigeria. Their work includes launching Sexual Assault Awareness clubs in elementary schools, providing education and support. Additionally, a program offering free Cognitive Behavioral Therapy aids identified survivors. Furthermore, during the #EndSARS movement in 2020, Shalom initiated a diaspora fund, raising $8.8k to support nonprofits providing essential supplies, medical care, and advocacy for protesters. Shalom's overarching mission revolves around empowering African women and bridging gaps through a diaspora fund. She envisions creating a cultural shift sustained by meaningful male allyship and connecting global resources with grassroots initiatives.

I am currently an MD/MBA student at Northwestern University with a background in social impact through the experience I have cultivated since I began my medical school journey. Since starting medical school, I joined organizations that attempted to advocate for underserved populations. As part of the LGBTQ+ Alliance, I started a mentorship program that paired LGBTQ+ medical students with attending physicians and planned a Northwestern-wide panel to highlight LGBTQ+ medical faculty to share their challenges in the medical profession to students. Furthermore, I was president of the Climate Action Group and worked on policy initiatives to improve report of environmental impact parameters in a national survey and plan events to raise awareness of climate issues. I further cultivated my interest in social impact by providing medical care at student-run clinics in Devon, a largely uninsured, predominantly South Asian population. The crux of my social impact journey was when I joined the Jesse Brown for Black Lives (JB4BL) Clinical Committee, a multidisciplinary, multiracial task force created to combat racism that negatively impacts veterans and staff at the Jesse Brown VA. Through this committee, I was able to act as a leader on multiple subcommittees and worked on issues such as removing race from clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) and improving access to care for veterans with substance abuse issues. I personally developed and led a project to increase access to harm reduction kits for veterans with opioid use disorder (OUD) and started an educational campaign for providers to reduce stigma around these patients. During this time, I joined Kellogg in between my third and fourth year of medical school and was able to continue working on social impact in healthcare by joining the Associate Board of the NorthShore Health System as Secretary to benefit underserved systemic needs in the NorthShore system.

Shubham is a ‘24 Kellogg MBA candidate who is a passionate advocate for equity of access to healthcare. Shubham believes that businesses have an important part to play in achieving equity in society. As a consultant working at Clinton Health Access Initiative in India, Shubham achieved this goal by developing a last-mile supply chain to remove geographical access to essential drugs. He was a key member of the COVID-19 task force setup by the Indian government and helped set up the Oxygen supply chain during the 2nd COVID-19 wave. Moreover, he helped improve the COVID-19 vaccination rate by developing innovative products. Shubham is at heart a product manager and loves solving customers’ problems. Before becoming a product manager, Shubham worked as a consultant in the healthcare field. He started his career at IQVIA after graduating from IIT Delhi and then became a non-profit consultant at Clinton Health before coming to Kellogg for his MBA. He wants to marry his love for product management with his passion for improving healthcare access across the developing world. He is a fitness enthusiast and loves cooking new Indian dishes. He loves reading Russian fiction and is a big video games enthusiast.

Gabrielle is a globally minded thinker with experience in bridging public and private sector interests. Prior to her MBA, she managed multi-million dollar grant portfolios for various foundations with the goal of increasing homeownership opportunities in marginalized communities. Her data analytics skills allowed for the foundations she worked with to make concentrated investments to nonprofits that deepened impact.   Her work in philanthropy was enhanced by her service on the Mayor of Boston’s Millennial Council and her participation in the PLACES Fellowship where she was trained in equitable grantmaking. Her focus at Kellogg is on developing sustainable public-private partnerships and increasing opportunities for entrepreneurial growth in emerging markets. On campus, she participates in participates in the Business and Politics, Entrepreneurship & Venture Capital, Net Impact, and Impact Consulting Clubs. Outside of Kellogg, she serves on the board of UNICEF Next-Generation Chicago and manages her nonprofit organization focused on black women’s health.