From the Editor’s Desk

Harvard Business School in Boston. September Campus Shoot
Noelia Lombardo Gava, Deputy Editor-in-Chief

Diversity Is a Source of Strength

The process of wrapping up the edition of this issue transported me to the words I wrote for the October issue of 2020 to introduce myself as the then-new Women Leadership Editor: The stories we read, we listen to, we tell, inevitably shape our understanding of the world. Storytelling, thus, has the power to transform that view; to expand it to unimagined horizons. In the words of the great female leader Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “When we reject the single-story, when we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise.”

It is through storytelling that our team of editors at the Harbus builds a more inclusive perspective on the HBS community. Editors in our team push themselves to reject the single-story, month after month. I am always proud of the effort put in the development of a diverse view of our HBS community, but this month, this is more true than ever. We celebrate the 50th anniversary of the WSA with articles by Colleen Ammerman, Boris Groysberg, Silvia Adam Reig, and Kristian Tran, and Black History Month with stories by Ziana Kotadia, Ibe Imo, and Tracey Thompson. We also denounce events of discrimination, honoring the Holocaust Memorial with Samara Sone and controlling the “Comfort Women” narrative with a group of Korean HBS students. In a magical month, the Harbus comes packed with stories of diversity while challenging you, our reader, to question your own beliefs and actions—what are you doing to make the world a better, more inclusive place?

On our side, we are excited to welcome to the team our new Women Leadership Editors who will add investigative, thought-provoking, and well-rounded stories of female leadership to our pages in the months ahead.

Monika Berankyte, Women Leadership Editor

Women’s leadership comes in many shapes and forms. During my time at the Harbus as a Women Leadership Editor, I intend to share brave and exciting stories that portray the diversity and strength of female leaders. I hope that the honest and down-to-earth experiences of female leaders that I will write about will inspire the HBS community.

Ziana Kotadia, Women Leadership Editor

Through my role as Women Leadership Editor, I hope to bring the female perspective to narratives that have historically been dominated by the male voice. I truly believe diversity is a source of strength, and I am looking forward to ensuring this diversity is reflected in the pieces I write while at the Harbus.

Noelia Lombardo (MBA ’22) was born in Argentina but identifies herself as a global citizen. She is a biomedical engineer and a management consultant, a storyteller, and a lifelong migrant. She loves the outdoors, diving, yoga, reading, and good debates.