*Includes our core initiatives: McNulty Leadership Program, The Lipman Family Prize, and the Center for Leadership and Change Management
Dear Board Members, School Partners, and Friends,
We hope this message finds you well.
In an effort to increase our engagement and knowledge sharing with our stakeholders, we are transitioning from a traditional end-of-year academic report to a newsletter each semester. This updated format will provide more frequent touchpoints and offer interactive content that allows you to explore program highlights in greater depth.
Over the past year, the McNulty Leadership Program (MLP) and the Wharton School—like many institutions worldwide—have navigated a complex landscape marked by both external challenges and internal milestones. We celebrated the 20th anniversary and renaming of the Nonprofit Board Fellows Program to the Golub Capital Board Fellows Program, and are also preparing to mark the 25th anniversary of Wharton Leadership Ventures and the 15th anniversary of the Lipman Family Prize.
At the same time, we continue to be shaped by a dynamic geopolitical environment and increased scrutiny of higher education institutions. Through it all, our students have demonstrated resilience, thoughtfulness, and a commitment to developing the leadership skills they came to Wharton to cultivate—whether in the classroom, during coaching sessions, or as part of a fellowship. They have done so with humility, ethical grounding, and a clear desire to grow as principled leaders.
Guided by the McNulty ethos of continuous action, reflection, experimentation, and application, we remain focused on nurturing the personal leadership capacities of our students. It is a constant reminder that our work has purpose—and that none of it would be possible without the support of our dedicated partners, advisors, and friends.
We invite you to explore this first edition of our newsletter and share your feedback as we refine the format. As stated, our goal is to align our updates with the academic calendar—Spring, Summer, and Fall—to keep you informed of our latest initiatives, progress, and impact. Thank you for walking alongside us as we invest in the next generation of compassionate, capable leaders. With gratitude, The MLP Senior Leadership Team Anne Greenhalgh, Umi Howard, Jeff Klein, Gwendolyn McDay, Euria Min, Jess Segal, Mike Useem
This past April, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Nonprofit Board Fellows Program. Earlier in the academic year, MLP announced a new Board Fellows partnership with Golub Capital. Partnering with six other academic institutions, the newly named Golub Capital Board Fellows Network enables MLP to enhance its existing fellowship with new resources and opportunities, thereby better preparing MBA students and alumni for nonprofit board positions that drive positive social impact.
At the annual transition dinner celebrating both our board partner organizations as well as our outgoing and incoming board fellows, MLP’s Associate Director of Community Engagement, Garlen Capita, spoke about the milestone of the 20th anniversary and outlined how the newly named Golub Capital Board Fellows Program will be growing the program under these three themes:
Growing Program Reach & Impact
Expanding from 40 fellows in the Class of 2025 to 80 fellows within five years
Strengthening and deepening engagement with 40+ nonprofit partners spanning diverse service areas, organizational sizes, and life cycles
Enhancing Training & Capacity Building
Developing new curricula focused on effective board governance in collaboration with faculty and local experts
Piloting new leadership development programs to support fellows and to help nonprofit leaders build capacity
Building a Stronger Community & Alumni Network
Fostering knowledge-sharing across the Golub Capital Board Fellows programs at other top business schools
Last summer, the WLV staff led reconnaissance missions in Ecuador, Patagonia, and France to expand the WLV suite of expedition opportunities available to students. New ventures were established in Ecuador and Patagonia (with long-time partner Vertical) and France (with new partner Mountain Path). Jaein Kim, W'25, reflects on her week-long Wharton Leadership Ventures Expedition in Ecuador. This venture actively challenged students to navigate the traverse between two iconic volcanoes, Cotopaxi to Antisana. Activities on this venture included high-altitude backpacking, tent camping, and route finding. Read the full article here. (All photos courtesy of Cory Shin, W'25, C'25)
In April, we convened at the Penn Museum for the 14th Annual Lipman Family Prize Award Ceremony. Over 120 partners, current and alumni fellows, and program ambassadors attended this signature event, where we celebrated the winners and learned more about their work. This year’s Grand Prize Winner, receiving $250,000 in unrestricted funding, was Barbershop Books. The two additional winners were BleagLee and Technovation, each winning $150,000 in unrestricted funding. Read the press release here.
Leading Across Differences
New programming on sponsorship and identity in the workplace.
This spring, MLP delivered workshops for the undergraduate, MBA, and Executive MBA audiences serving roughly 40 students with tailored advice on their career growth and network development. These workshops, funded through our initiative with Deloitte, experimented with small group formats to enable deeper conversation and more individual attention for students. We also linked students to tools offered through Wharton’s Office of Career Management. Feedback consistently points to participants’ appreciation for increasing their awareness of the impact of sponsorship in the workplace and our structured guide to securing it. A relevant insight from this year is the dual challenge that some international students face in first bridging workplace culture in Western and multi-national organizations while simultaneously seeking advocative relationships with senior-level executives. There are upcoming workshops this summer for our WEMBA students in Philadelphia and San Francisco – brief sessions followed by office hours for individual and small-group coaching. Next academic year, we will continue to deliver to all full-time Wharton audiences, offering more sessions to increase the number of students served. We are also working with colleagues to make some of this core content available to all Wharton alumni through their protected web portal. In the video below, Umi Howard, Senior Director of Advancements & Faculty Partnerships, explains key terminology to participants in the Enhancing Your Career through Sponsorship workshop.
