HAAS FUND
Contributions to the Haas Fund enable the school to seize new opportunities and tackle unforeseen challenges. Over the past year, gifts to the Haas Fund have helped us strengthen our programs, recruit and retain faculty, attract top students and alleviate their financial need, and enhance our position as a leader in innovation, inclusion, and sustainability.
Special thanks from our students
EMBA class makes meaningful Haas Fund gift
A matching gift, engaged class volunteers, and the desire to memorialize a beloved colleague sparked the EMBA class of 2024 to raise $126,000 for the Haas Fund. Ravinder “Ravi” Khaira, EMBA 24, founding doctor and clinical director of Capital Pediatrics, put up a challenge match from his family’s Khaira Family Experiential Learning Fund, led by his wife, Kamal. EMBA Class of 24 volunteers Dennis Worden and Lee Helms rallied classmates to participate. The gift was even more meaningful with its dedication to the memory of EMBA Career Coach Luke Kreinberg, who passed away in February. The $51,000 raised by the class and another $75,000 from the Khaira Foundation will help award scholarships, hire faculty, and strengthen programs and career services.
New entrepreneurship hub to shepherd student ingenuity
The Haas School’s Entrepreneurship Hub (eHub) will soon welcome Berkeley students who want to exchange ideas, test concepts, find mentorship, and plug into the many entrepreneurship resources across campus. New Executive Director Dawn McGee and a Hub navigator will provide learning opportunities that shepherd the next generation of startup ideas. Thanks to Berkeley’s world-class research and programs, says McGee, “Students here have access to levels of knowledge that most people don’t. This allows you to go after the most complex problems, the ones that we have left unsolved for a long time.”
First Thrive Fellows complete access program
The Berkeley Haas program helping prospective MBA students navigate acceptance into top-tier programs, aimed at Latinx individuals, celebrated its first graduating cohort in June. Haas Thrive Fellows offers a yearlong deep dive into mapping a career trajectory, building a network and community, preparing for MBA entrance exams, applying for financial aid, and bolstering interview skills. The program, launched with a seed donation from Adrien Lopez Lanusse, MBA 99, included six undergraduate seniors and 20 working professionals in its first graduating class. Among them is Herman Cortez , BS 24, who’s been accepted to the full-time MBA program at Haas under Accelerated Access, a program that allows a two- to five-year deferment period for professional experience. The Thrive Fellows program aligns with UC Berkeley’s 10-year plan to become a Latinx Thriving Institution.
New degree positions early-career professionals for immediate impact in sustainability
Haas and Berkeley’s Rausser College of Natural Resources recently launched the concurrent MBA/Master of Climate Solutions to prepare the next generation of sustainability and climate leaders. The new program, which kicked off this fall, will allow students to earn a master’s degree in both business and climate solutions in five semesters, one more than is typically required for the full-time MBA. In addition to business training, the degree will teach critical skills and knowledge in climate data science, carbon accounting, and lifecycle analysis as well as technological and nature-based solutions.
Haas welcomes 1st 4-year Spieker undergrads among new class
In August, 191 students—the first class of freshmen in the new four-year Spieker Undergraduate Business Program—began their Haas journeys with an orientation that culminated with Haas Base Camp, a community-building weekend in South Lake Tahoe. Within the class, 41% are women and 20% are underrepresented minorities. The Spieker undergrads join 110 transfer students and 100 continuing UC Berkeley students.
