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| FROM Insead Admissions Blog: We only have what we give – about the non-for-profit route to business school |
 INSEAD Blog Series on Diversity At INSEAD, we put diversity at the heart. As most of us already have come to know, the 14J class is an extraordinary mix of vibrant, inspirational and exceptional people. This is the eighth article in a blog series, that aims to capture some of the diversity that exists in abundance at INSEAD. It will profile some of our most distinctive class members, asking them to share their unique stories about life, moments of joy, but most importantly about their hopes and dreams. So, the next one out in our profile series is…..  Mastak Kaur Nationality: Indian 5 quickies 1. If you had to choose one drink for the rest of your life, what would it be? Sweet lemonade 2. Who is your favourite professor at INSEAD? Has to be P3 negotiations prof Brett Saraniti, he is the funniest and most engaging professor I have ever had. Humour can be such a powerful tool to engage and motivate is not used enough at INSEAD 3. What you were an animal, which one do you think resembles your personality traits the most? Hmmm… probably a squirrel! 4. One thing you want to accomplish before INSEAD is over? Explore the forest… I have been wanting to do that for a while and now I only have a few weeks left to do it 5. Which country to travel to is next on your list? Brazil for sure. I have met some really great people from Brazil at INSEAD and can’t wait to explore their beautiful country and culture __________________________________________________________________________________ ….so, Mastak, what are you doing at INSEAD? 1. Your background is quite different from most of the INSEAD 14Js. Tell us how your professional career to date has led you to business school. I grew up for the most part in India, but because of the nature of my father’s job, I moved around a lot. Before the age of 16, I had been moved schools 10 times.  My family has always played a crucial role in my achievements Many of my friends marvelled at how I managed to retain a sense of belonging with so much transition happening, but I really saw it as an opportunity to discover the many unique parts that make up my home country and make friends in all these places. I studied my undergraduate degree at University of Delhi and whilst at university, I developed a strong interest in marketing. Marketing is based on the observation of other people and connecting with their emotions and desires, and played to my passion for people.  Seeing these young teenagers feel empowered was the most rewarding part of my job At this time, there were no attractive master programmes in Marketing available in India, so I decided to go to Manchester in the United Kingdom for my degree. It was the first time I was leaving India, and also the first time anyone in my family was going abroad. My family was very anxious, but I eventually managed to persuade them to support me, both emotionally and financially. I was really nervous about my decision, but I knew inside I was doing the right thing and had to overcome the fear. When I arrived, I quickly realized that all students were nervous about their life change, and this helped us to become very close quite quickly. I loved the year, and fell in love with Great Britain. Upon graduation, I decided to apply for work in the country. Having grown up in India where social work is such an important part of our culture, I was particularly interested in the non-for-profit space. I joined The Challenge, a charity that was mandated by the UK government to develop a youth policy. United Kingdom is very diverse country and in inhabited by people from all walks of life and more different backgrounds that you could ever imagine. It is quite a segregated society, where people live in small communities with people from similar backgrounds. They can live most of their lives without breaking out to socialize with the people living a few blocks away, because they happen to have a different ethnic origin. As a result, the United Kingdom is one of the least trusted societies in the world, resulting in slow economic and social development. Our work focused on helping the youth break those barriers of isolation, suspicion and lack of confidence to nurture a next generation society built on trust and mutual respect.  The Challenge is a 3-week programme that runs every summer with more than 14000 youth, put together in small teams with other people from their local communities, but from very different social backgrounds. The groups were designed in a similar way to the P1&P2 groups at INSEAD, coming together to solve physical challenges together and also work on a community-benefiting project. The participants would range from the posh public school kids to the high school dropouts or the disabled. They worked together day and night for three weeks and at the end, they had to pitch a community-project to a Dragon’s Den judge for funding to implement their project. Every time I worked on one of those programs, I saw the transformation happen before my eyes. It was like magic each time. Those kids, lacking vision and confidence, transformed into empowered entrepreneurs and strong role models for younger children. It is the most rewarding experience I have ever had in my entire life. I worked for the charity over the next two years and eight months and saw it grow into a national movement, a flagship for youth empowerment in the United Kingdom.  This one is after my team’s 15k blindfolded walk in windy Blackpool The Challenge was a very successful charity for many reasons, one of them being that it benefited from excellent leadership. The management team all had stellar academic background and experience from working in the corporate world. To me, this was really a key success factor and it inspired me to gain sound business experience at INSEAD and beyond, to be able to return to the non-for-profit world in a more effective capacity later in my career.  The first week of the programme where these teenagers go through physical challenges and bond with their team 2. There is currently a debate around the true benefits of aid; some argue that aid is even dead. What is your view? To me, charities play a critical role in society and will continue to do so, as they turn governmental policy work into reality. Sometimes charities lack structure and are run inefficiently, but with the right leadership, they can operate just as well as a corporate, just with the added element of true passion and belief in making the world a better place. I don’t believe that corporates can replace charities all together in the sense that a corporate will be limited by its agenda that potentially distort the purpose of the work because of its focus on delivering shareholder value. Most of the times, a charity operates completely selflessly; simply just delivering on its mandate to benefit the people it has been set up to serve. 3 . What has been your biggest personal challenge entering the unknown environment of INSEAD? I am used to transitions, disruptions, diversity and new people, so that was not anything different coming to INSEAD. For me, the biggest challenge was to find my place, not falling for FOMO (fear of missing out) and making the most of the exceptional network we develop at INSEAD. Finding a way of breaking down the stereotypical perception of nonprofits, where most people assume you are a non-structured organisation barely surviving on limited funds, is hard. But many detailed conversations with fellow classmates have helped broaden this understanding.  My experiences at INSEAD were as intense and as much fun as my previous job 4. Being one of the youngest MBA participants in our cohort and a woman, do you think this has given you a different experience? The experience would only have been different if I would have wanted it to be. For anyone who is applying to INSEAD as a young woman should not be intimidated by the statistics showing that most students are male, consultants and 29 years old. Having a different profile is actually an advantage; it helps you stand out from the crowd. In addition, because your background is so different from most people it gives you the opportunity to meet so many people that are different from yourself. The real value of INSEAD truly comes from the people. I am confident that there is never going to be such a unique opportunity to meet a more diverse group of people. From that perspective, I believe it is the richest learning experience one can ever have. 5. We are now in P5 and INSEAD is almost over. When looking back at the experience, what did you get from the year that you didn’t expect? I think one of the most exceptional experiences at INSEAD is that the craziness never dies. When you are thrown into an environment with people from the entire world, it doesn’t matter where you come from or what you have done in the past, it breaks your life pattern and totally shakes you. It is a year that is so different from anything else, and each period is unique. Once you feel like you have everything under control, the next period begins, and everything is changing again. Learning how to stay grounded in an environment of constant change and fluidity has been tremendously helpful, and not something I anticipated to be such a powerful component of my self-development.  Representing INSEAD at the Sustainable Business plan competition in Bangkok |
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Hi Generic [Bot],
Here are updates for you:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
 Wednesday, Apr 24, 2024 11:30am NY / 3:30pm London / 9pm Mumbai Watch earlier episodes of DI series below EP1: 6 Hardest Two-Part Analysis Questions EP2: 5 Hardest Graphical Interpretation Questions
Tuck at Dartmouth
AGSM at UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE
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