Alumni Perspectives

Xiaoli Jin and Alice Chen are members of the Junior Deferral Program (JDP) Class of 2024 and co-authors of the pilot Alumni Conversations series. In this post, Xiaoli and Alice chat about their own experiences applying to JDP, navigating the deferral period, and talking with HLS alumni.

Marty Linsky ’64 was a politician, journalist, co-founder of Cambridge Leadership Associates, and for 40 years taught at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, among many other roles spanning a wide range of fields. He reflected on his life stories in a Zoom chat with Xiaoli and Alice and was hopeful that the three would eventually catch up in person at the end of the pandemic.

As a General Partner at Founders Fund, Keith tags himself as an entrepreneur, investor, and contrarian on social media. In a Zoom call with Keith and his Chief of Staff Matt Lanter, Xiaoli and Alice sought to trace Keith’s entrepreneurial roots back to his time at HLS.

Amaka is the head of Eurasia Group’s Africa practice, where she helps clients understand the interaction of politics, policy, and markets across sub-Saharan Africa. Amaka had a joyful conversation with Xiaoli and Alice via Google Hangout on a Thursday afternoon. They talked about everything from HLS, to geopolitical consulting, to Amaka’s beloved homeland, Nigeria.

Sitting in his home office with a couple of basses and three Joel Daniel Phillips pencil drawings in the background, David looks no different than he did in videos from other interviews. In this Zoom call with Xiaoli and Alice, David reflects on his career path, from being a Computer Music undergrad to a venture capitalist.

As a Partner at Gunderson Dettmer, Randall Clark works closely with entrepreneurs and investors in various fields. He had a delightful conversation with Xiaoli and Alice over Zoom, chatting about how he transitioned from a film major in college to a HLS student, then to a law firm partner. It all started with a $2,000 scholarship...

Reggie Chambers ’01 is a Managing Director and Chief Administrative Officer of the Consumer Bank of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Previously, he worked in Big Law, investment banking, private equity, the White House, and management consulting. Outside of work, he teaches the development of economic policies at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs.

As Chief of Strategy and Capital Development of Sightway Capital, Two Sigma’s private equity unit, Susan normally sits a few floors above Alice in Two Sigma’s Manhattan office, which is three minutes’ walk from Xiaoli’s office. But since everyone is working from home nowadays, the three didn’t grab coffee in SoHo and instead chatted on Zoom.

This week's installment of "Alumni Conversations" features Jeff Litvack '95, who spoke with Alice and Xiaoli  from his office in Massachusetts.

Daniel Gorlin '07 took time out of his busy schedule as a Partner and Managing Director at The Boston Consulting Group to chat over Zoom on a Tuesday afternoon earlier this spring.