Taking the Lead
Hisham Beydoun MBA’19 has always been in the business of doing good.
“Before I decided to go to business school I was working with adults with mental illness and marginalized people in Lebanon,” said Beydoun. “I, then, went on to work with people experiencing homelessness in New York City, helping to employ them through business.”
These experiences helped him come to an important realization: business can be a vehicle for positive change.
Bound for Babson
That realization ultimately led him to Babson. It started with the College’s signature methodology, Entrepreneurial Thought & Action® (ET&A™). “I spoke to a few students and got the initial flavor of ET&A,” said Beydoun. “I could see that Babson students simply did more than students at other schools.”
Couple that methodology with the mission—to educate entrepreneurial leaders who create great economic and social value everywhere—and Beydoun was hooked. His entire career had centered around enacting change for communities that needed it most, so Babson was the perfect fit. “It aligned closely with my view on earth—you ought to do something not just intellectualize it.”
Babson is a place where very different people can draw life plans as well as business plans together.
Hisham Beydoun MBA ’19
Once he arrived, he was blown away by the diversity of the campus. “There were people sitting right across from me in class that were so different than me,” said Beydoun. “They were from different industries, different countries. But, what united us is that we were all excited to take action.”
Diving Headfirst into Leadership
Coming into business school, Beydoun knew he wanted to get involved with student leadership: “I didn’t want to just learn about leadership and take the classes, but to also actually do it.”
He wanted to build communities, and knew he could do that as the president of the Graduate Student Council (GSC). He had never held a leadership position before, but in true Babson fashion, he took action and continued to iterate until he got it right. “We had to ET&A, I had to figure out what to do, and then be able to tell 21 other members of the council. But, Babson prepared me for it.”
A majority of the work Beydoun has done with GSC is creating a solid foundation for growth in the future. “There was an entirely new council—we created an executive board, are working on a plan for compensation, swapped some spaces on campus, implemented new rules around smoking in front of buildings, and began a town hall.”
Beydoun also led Babson’s involvement in the newly created Massachusetts Federation of Graduate Students. This is the first organization that will represent 30,000 graduate students to advocate for change on the policy level. Babson joins Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, Boston College, and Tufts University in passing policy at the State House. “The next council will have a massive opportunity.”
Another point of leadership pride: strengthening the bridge between students and the administration.
“This is a fascinating time at Babson,” Beydoun said. “There is lots of change, a new MBA, new leadership coming in—this gives student leadership a unique opportunity to be able to actually effect change.”
What’s Next?
With Commencement on the horizon, Beydoun is hopeful for Babson’s future. “I hope that Babson can be the hub of diversity, entrepreneurship, and inclusion in Massachusetts, but also more broadly in the entire MBA world,” said Beydoun. He sees an opportunity for Babson to lean into its diverse population and drive students to continue to be a leader among other business schools.
As for him? Beydoun’s post-Commencement plans look very entrepreneurial. “My plans are ever changing,” says Beydoun. “I want to design my life from the ground up. I want the holy trinity—make decent money, do good on earth, and have flexibility with my time. I am determined to do that.”
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