School Notes: School of Management
March/April 2026

Exploring paths to purpose

In December, SOM students organized an event series highlighting impact-oriented work. Now in its fifth year, Social Impact Week brought alumni and leading practitioners to campus to discuss impact investing; technology’s role in solving pressing social challenges; and the many approaches to achieving impact across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. “The students and practitioners who met in Evans Hall over the course of the week were grounded, curious, and united by a shared belief that impact and business can and must strengthen one another,” wrote Ashutosh Tikmani ’27MBA on the school’s blog.

Going back to school

Students in The Broad Center at Yale SOM’s master’s in public education management program—all of whom are public-school system leaders—completed capstone projects generating actionable solutions to issues in their day-to-day work. The capstone projects addressed subjects including paraprofessional support, educational programs in juvenile detention facilities, and student concerns about school safety, and are meant to help students implement lessons learned at SOM in their home districts. “The capstone was a really great lab site for applying all the coursework I have learned,” said Jared Danker ’25MMS (public education management).

Taking SOM lessons to the competition stage

Two Yale SOM teams earned first and third place at this year’s NYU Stern Stock Pitch Competition, which asks master’s students to pitch and defend investment recommendations. Later in the semester, another SOM team won a similar challenge hosted by the University of North Carolina. The teams were assembled by the Investment Management Club, which organized training sessions and ran an internal stock competition to select team members. “We worked full nights in the library refining our pitch, and it was worth every bit,” said Advait Lath ’26MMS (asset management), one of the first-prize winners.