Meet The Stanford GSB MBA Class Of 2026

In Palo Alto, there’s a certain electricity in the air. An energy and boldness – a sense of hope and possibilities. It is an embrace of the new and unconventional – an ambition rooted in the motto of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business: “Change lives. Change organizations. Change the world.”

Stanford University is home to some of the world’s top undergraduate programs in Computer Sciences, Economics, Engineering, and Psychology. At the graduate level, Stanford GSB has emerged as the standard for graduate business education. While the program is renowned for academic excellence, it is equally devoted to self-awareness and personal development. It is a profoundly introspective experience. Here, MBAs take a mirror to how they think and why they act, exploring the experiences, belief systems, and motivations that have shaped them. That way, they can develop a conscious leadership style that brings people together to make a difference.

At Stanford GSB, students come to answer the big questions: What matters most to me and why?; Why should others follow me?; How can I change to maximize my talent and achieve my goals? It is also a place where, in the words of first-year Nate Peeler, “everyone is running their own race” – focused on their personal outcomes and not beholden to the pack. Even more, in the Class of 2026, every student possesses an X-factor – a special talent, a distinctive experience, or track record of achievement – a sense of confidence, creativity, courage, and commitment that elevates everyone around them.

THE STANFORD SPIRIT

Lúcia Mees, a member of the Class of 2026, describes her classmates’ X-factor as “drive and genuine curiosity” – a group unafraid to weigh new ideas and challenge their own beliefs. “These are the kind of people who find a way to move forward even when all doors seem to be closed, and who will keep a positive attitude even when it’s the 11th hour working on the same initiative,” Mees tells Poets&Quants. “This creates an environment where it’s easy to feel empowered, creating a collective “go for it” attitude where everyone pushes one another to aim higher.”

At its core, the GSB is a program that awakens the heart and the imagination. For Patrice Tsafack, Stanford GSB is “dedicated to the things that haven’t happened yet and the people who are about to dream them up” – a place where “no problem is unsolvable and no dream is too big.” Such a spirit is why Santiago Paz Ojeda is so thrilled to be part of the MBA Class of 2026.

“What truly stood out was the diversity of interests and ambitions that people bring—it’s incredibly stimulating to realize that I’m not the only one with bold ideas and big dreams. At GSB, those ideas aren’t dismissed; they’re explored, challenged, and refined.”

MANAGING A $12-BILLION DOLLAR BUDGET

Ojeda himself comes to Stanford GSB after working in the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Peru, where he handled economic development. Here, he managed a 12-member team overseeing a $12-billion-dollar budget while his government was developing economic stimulus packages in 2023.

“Managing a large budget and balancing the priorities of multiple sectors required constant coordination with diverse stakeholders, ranging from government officials to private sector representatives,” he explains. “Through these interactions, I gained invaluable insights into the complexities of economic policy, fiscal responsibility, and the real-world impact of financial decisions.”

Staying in South America and the public sector, Lúcia Mees last worked in a Brazilian govtech venture, IPM, which served over 30-million people. Originally devoted to providing software to help cities run areas like education and accounting, IPM expanded into AI through its Dara platform – where Mees was tapped to take on a leadership role despite possessing minimal experience in the field and overseeing a more seasoned team.

“[It was] a product that at the time was the first-of-its-kind (and our most important launch to date). All of this in an incredibly compressed timeframe: less than a month between being assigned the leadership role of a product that still did not have a name, and launching what then became Dara. Today, this ecosystem fulfills over 150 million citizen demands per year and grows at an impressive rate, which means more and more people are able to access the governmental services they need whenever they need it, at no cost, and in a way that is so convenient that it rivals that of B2C companies.”

MAKING AN IMPACT FROM UNILEVER TO CVS HEALTH

Patrice Tsafack supervised a different form of connection. Possessing Civil Engineering and Law degrees, Tsafack started his career designing bridges. However, one bridge stood out to him. Growing up in a small village in West Cameroon, his dad would take one bridge to leave his community and become a doctor. For Tsafack, replacing this bridge was a testament to the “transformative power of infrastructure.”

“Working on the Trans-Gambia Bridge was my way of continuing that story, ensuring that geography is not a barrier to progress. The bridge not only restored peace and fostered economic activity, but also created an environment where children—just like my father once was—could access opportunities beyond their parents’ circumstances. It encapsulates the kind of impact I want to keep having on the world.”

Tsafack reflects the magic of Stanford GSB: bringing together a group of diverse talents who worked at the highest levels in their regions, industries, and roles. Take Amira Weeks. A Sociology major at Harvard, she became a content strategy manager at Netflix, working on a team that ‘re-defined’ how the performance of children’s content I measured. Nate Peeler served as a special tactics officer in the U.S. Air Force, where he was involved in leading close air support during Afghan missions. Previously, Sukh Bansal practiced medicine in the UK as an anesthesiology resident. By the same token, Srishti Samadder operated in the manufacturing and supply chain space in India for Unilever. In the wake of COVID-19, when her Unilever division lost 50% of its sales, she designed a strategy that enabled it to recoup the lost sales – in a year!

COVID-19 also brought out the best in Stephanie Yeh, who was named one of three founding members of CVS Health’s virtual care business. Her story has the meat to be a GSB case study.

“At the time, CVS had multiple lines of businesses with disparate telemedicine strategies, which was unequipped for the huge volume influxes. My team’s mandate was to quickly develop an integrated strategy that could be implemented to meet the new pandemic-driven needs for patients and the business needs of each division. Seeing our team grow from three to hundreds of colleagues over the span of a few months, all aligned on helping patients access quality care, was such a rewarding effort to be part. The experience was very “intra-preneurial.” It felt like our team was a start-up, just nestled within a large corporation, and ultimately it inspired me to transition into VC where I got to build and support early businesses from the ground up.”

ADJUSTING TO BUSINESS SCHOOL

After moving from venture capital to business school, Yeh tackled another challenge: her fear of public speaking. “I told hundreds of classmates about my life story at TALK and I am one of the 30 students chosen to deliver a ten-minute LOWkeynote (our GSB version of a TEDTalk) this year. Additionally, I am enrolled in Essentials of Strategic Communications taught by Professor Matt Abrahams, a highly interactive course teaching us to be better communicators through message construction, credibility building, powerful delivery tactics, and audience analysis. I’m so proud to say that I have made tangible improvements over these past two quarters – I am more comfortable with speaking to a crowd on the fly, I lost a few of my “squirrel-y” nervous tics, and I have improved my overall body language and voice projection.”

True to the GSB’s high risk and high reward culture, Sukh Bansal has been transitioning from a more answer-driven clinical setting to a more process-centered business climate where he must wrestle with ambiguity daily. In contrast, Amira Weeks was selected to be a part of the View From the Top leadership team, where she has been busy bringing top speakers to campus.

“Highlights from this year have included Roelof Botha, Managing Partner at Sequoia Capital, discussing moments where he “bet on himself” and Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation, candidly reflecting on the best advice he’s ever received. These events leave me feeling inspired to stand in my purpose and pursue my goals.”

For Steven Kish, a former senior business analyst at McKinsey, Stanford GSB has provided time to actually slow down and refresh. “Being an MBA student affords me the opportunity to exert a little bit more control over the pace of my life and how I spend my time than I had while I was working in consulting. For me, that’s meant prioritizing lots of exercise, consistent sleep, and intentional time with friends – and saying “no” a lot more often.”

GROWING AFTER GOING OVERSEAS

At the GSB, MBAs are required to complete an international experience. For the Class of 2026, many of their best memories came when they discarded the comforts of home to spend time with classmates overseas. That doesn’t mean they didn’t just grab a plan for fun. Over Thanksgiving in Mexico, Srishti Samadder bonded with classmates over scuba diving. During Christmas holiday, Makiko Shimada brought seven classmates to her native Japan, where they skiied the Nagano Mountains, dipped in hot springs, and ate sushi. In Saudi Arabia, Nate Peeler drove on a Formula 1 racetrack in Jeddah and camped out in the Al-Ula desert. For Keiron Durant, the highlight has been a 10-day Global Study trip to Chile. In one memorable activity, he went over a thousand feet underground to walk the “massive tunnels” of a copper mine. In the end, it was the time with his classmates that Durant enjoyed most.

“I formed lifelong friendships with classmates I might not have otherwise crossed paths with, bonding over shared experiences, late-night conversations, and some of the best food and wine Chile had to offer. Our last day at a beautiful winery, owned by a GSB alum, was the perfect way to wrap up the journey—reflecting on everything we had learned while enjoying incredible wine and breathtaking views. It was a reminder that the MBA experience is about so much more than academics; it is about the connections, the adventures, and the moments that push you outside your comfort zone.”

Academically, the events provided plenty of food for thought, says Vanessa Sims, a Bain consultant, energy healer, and yoga teacher who participated in a school-sponsored immersion in Argentina and Uruguay.

“My trip focused on financial inclusion and economic mobility, topics I care about deeply.  We had the rare opportunity to explore this issue from multiple angles and sit down with industry leaders like top CEOS, start-up founders, and senior government officials in the Central Bank to hear their unfiltered insights on the challenges and opportunities in the space. It was such a rich learning experience and I left feeling more prepared to understand and tackle these types of challenges in the social justice work I do.”

A TIME TO TALK

There is a saying that you can travel the world if you stay in the right place. That is certainly true of the GSB, where the 424-member Class of 2026 features students who’ve attended 175 educational institutions and worked for 289 organizations worldwide. More than that, they hail from 72 countries and speak 67 languages. Despite the differences, they love to TALK. By TALK, students mean a hallowed tradition where students gather each week to listen to two classmates spend 20-30 minutes sharing their story. Picture hundreds of classmates focused solely on the speaker. Before giving their TALK, many students feel the pressure, but that quickly fades as classmates share their support after the speech – and expressions of “TALK Love” later on in the hallways.

For Steven Kish, TALK is a reminder to slow down and take time to learn about your classmates and the extraordinary journeys they’ve undertaken. Keiron Durant adds that there aren’t any rigid expectations set with a TALK – they just need to be real. When the hour is over, Durant points out, he hopes his classmates have tapped into their “shared humanity.”

“TALK reminds us that behind every success is a story, behind every achievement is a journey, and behind every leader is a person who has faced struggles, there are doubts, and growth. The fact that this level of openness is not only encouraged but embraced at the GSB speaks to the culture of trust and vulnerability that makes this community unlike any other.”

HUMBLE GIVERS

Activities like TALK and overseas treks – along with Stanford GSB’s moderate class size – enable classmates to get to know each other well. Thus far, Amira Weeks would describe her classmates as humble – people who don’t brag about their talents whether they are “near Olympic athletes or professional chefs.” Makiko Shimada has witnessed a “can-do mindset” across the class, while branding classmates as ‘true givers.’

“When I was overwhelmed with coursework, my kitchen mate and friends cooked for me multiple times,” Shamida adds. “When I was feeling down, friends took the time to have matcha with me and just listen. When I had a failure, my friend took me to Japantown in San Francisco. When I struggled with a class, a classmate spent hours patiently explaining concepts to help me understand. I have been lifted up by my classmates in so many ways, and I hope to give back in small ways as well.”

Santiago Paz Ojeda has also been impressed by how engaged his classmates are with each other’s work. “I’ve seen classmates with backgrounds in venture capital get excited about public policy, and those from government, like myself, rethink how private sector mechanisms can be leveraged for social good. No matter the topic or your background, you can always find someone eager to engage in meaningful discussions. Inspiration often comes from the most unexpected places, making every conversation an opportunity to learn and grow.”

A BOOT CAMP ON HOW TO PRIORITIZE

As their first year comes to a close, what does the Class of 2026 see as some of their biggest takeaways from their MBA education? Keiron Durant learned “intentional time management deciding where to invest my energy instead of trying to do it all.” He equates the “dizzying pace” of the first yar to “stepping onto a treadmill tat is already at full speed.” And he didn’t learn prioritizing just from “juggling accounting, finance, and organizational behavior” in the first quarter.

“Coursework is just one piece,” he admits. “At the same time, we are thrown into career exploration, networking with executives and recruiters, and attending social events happening almost every night. It is easy to fall into the trap of trying to do everything and losing focus. Before GSB, I told myself I would take on everything. But I quickly realized that spreading myself too thin would not allow me to fully engage in what truly matters. The real value comes from being intentional with my time and energy, focusing on what aligns with my goals so I can thrive rather than just keep up.”

In his first week, Sukh Bansal learned a new term: homophily – “the tendency for people to cluster around those similar to them.” During his first year, Bansal experienced the value of doing just the opposite of homophily.

“What I love about the GSB is that it actively pushes us beyond that,” he explains. “We’re encouraged to build loose ties across diverse backgrounds, industries, and perspectives. Through this, I’ve learned to not only appreciate but actively seek out diversity of thought, knowing that some of the most valuable insights and opportunities come from engaging with those who think differently from me.”

Of course, not every epiphany is transformative at Stanford GSB. “Coming from outside the U.S., I’ve also come to appreciate why so many people love California—the weather is exceptional,” quips Patrice Tsafack.

Next Page: An interview with Paul Oyer, senior associate dean for academic affairs.

Page 3: Profiles of 12 members of the Class of 2026.