The
Illumine
KRAVIS LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE
FALL 2025 NEWSLETTER
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE ..................................................................................... 3 NEWSLETTER TEAM ......................................................................................... 4 KLI FACULTY AND STAFF ................................................................................ 5 BOARD MEMBER HIGHLIGHT ...................................................................... 6-8 KLI FACULTY SPOTLIGHT ................................................................................ 9 KLI ADVISORY BOARD AND FELLOWS ......................................................... 10 KLI FELLOWS SPOTLIGHT ........................................................................ 11-12 TEAM LEADS ............................................................................................. 13-14 NEW HIRE SPOTLIGHTS ........................................................................... 15-16 WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT ................................................ 17-18 LEADERSHIP DIALOGUE SERIES ............................................................. 19-20 LEADERSHIP COACHING ............................................................................... 21 MEET THE RESEARCH TEAMS .................................................................. 22-25 MEET THE INSTITUTE TEAMS .................................................................. 26-28 CONVERSATIONS IN LEADERSHIP ............................................................... 29 D-CREW SPOTLIGHT ..................................................................................... 30 LOOKING AHEAD .......................................................................................... 31
THE ILLUMINE NEWSLETTER FOR THE KRAVIS LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE
A MESSAGE FROM OUR DIRECTOR
December 2025
David V. Day
Academic Director of the Kravis Leadership Institute Steven L. Eggert ’82 P’15 Professor of Leadership George R. Roberts Fellow david.day@cmc.edu
Dear KLI Community
Season’s greetings! I’m pleased to share highlights from the Fall 2025 semester. We began the academic year with strong student interest in leadership and KLI opportunities. This fall, we received over 100 applications—primarily from first- and second-year students—and welcomed 16 new hires to our Research and Institute teams. While we regret turning away many talented applicants, our student team remains steady at 42 members. The Women in Leadership Development (WLD) initiative, now in its fifth year under Assistant Director Marilyn Pierce, continues to thrive with record participation. Likewise, the Student Engagement and Mentoring Initiative (SEMI) remains robust, offering students valuable interactions with Advisory Board members and Kravis Fellows through Master Classes, office hours, and small-group discussions. As part of CMC’s research centers, KLI advances leadership scholarship and practice. Over half of our student assistants contribute to seven research teams exploring topics such as networked leadership, women and leadership, and responsible leadership. Please save the date for our next Advisory Board meeting on Saturday, April 25, 2026 , during CMC Leadership Weekend. This event will include the Kravis-de Roulet Leadership Conference, celebrating President Hiram Chodosh’s 12-year leadership legacy.
Thank you for your continued support of KLI.
David Day, Ph.D. Academic Director
PAGE | 04 NEWSLETTER TEAM Meet The Newsletter Team!
Charlotte Shamia ’29 Hometown: Orinde, CA Major: Integrated Sciences Sequence: Leadership Studies
Illango Bogschutz ’29 Hometown: Brighton, England Major: Maths & Economics
Katharine Bhatt ’26 Editor Hometown: Wellesley, MA Major: Government Sequence: Legal Studies
KLI FACULTY AND STAFF
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KLI FACULTY & STAFF KLI FACULTY & STAFF
Jay Conger, DBA Henry R. Kravis Chaired Professor of Leadership Studies
Laura Dannhäuser, Ph.D Research Fellow Visiting Assistant Professor of Leadership
Savannah Leslie CGU ’25 Graduate Research Coordinator
David Day, Ph.D. Academic Director of the Kravis Leadership Institute, Professor of Psychological Science & Leadership, Steven L. Eggert ‘82 P ’15 Professor of Leadership
Marilyn Pierce Assistant Director of the Kravis Leadership Institute
Sherylle Tan, Ph.D. Director of Internships and KLI Research, Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychological Science
Ronald Riggio, Ph.D. Henry R. Kravis Professor of Leadership Studies and Organizational Psychology, Leadership Studies Sequence Advisor
BOARD HIGHLIGHT
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Q&A with KLI Advisory Board Member Tina Daniels ’93
“My name is Tina Daniels, I am the president and COO of Aquila. Aquila is a media, measurement, and technology start-up.”
In your opinion, what are the most important qualities of a leader? “The three things that come to mind immediately are trust, transparency, and integrity. I think that it is really important for employees to trust their leader and their leadership team, and critical for a leader to have trust amongst their senior people, clients, vendors, and the market in general. That goes hand in hand with integrity typically. I really value transparency; not every company has a culture of transparency and not every leader prioritizes it. It is imperative for me, and I have a reputation of being very straight forward and direct. In corporate America there is so much jargon and double- speak where people are afraid to commit and take a stand, and I don’t have the patience for that. I have a real bias for action, and I like to get things done. I want to get things done as quickly and efficiently as possible, so I tend to prioritize transparent and direct communication. In this way, you are bringing more people into the opportunities and problems with the company at large, but in a perfect world you are also giving people regular and direct feedback so they can understand where they sit in the company and what opportunities exist for them.”
BOARD HIGHLIGHT
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What has been your most proud moment or accomplishment throughout your involvement at the KLI? “My proudest moment is the founding of the Women in Leadership Development initiative. I was really happy to connect the dots early with Tom Handley and the KLI. Tom was looking for an opportunity to do something impactful philanthropically for CMC, and throughout his career, he has always been really committed to the development and leadership cultivation of women. When I heard about his interest, [the KLI] seemed like a natural home. I am super proud of it, partly because I didn’t have to do a lot; I made the introduction to Dr. Sherylle Tan and she really ran with it in a wonderful way. I have been so impressed with her leadership and seizing of the opportunity and I think it is a meaningful program for the participants.” What skills learned at the KLI or within your leadership development have contributed the most to your leadership journey within your professional, academic, or personal life? “KLI did not exist when I was a student at CMC—it was formed afterwards. The KLI was my first exposure to an advisory board; I have served on corporate boards as well as the CMC Board of Trustees, but those are fiduciary boards with government requirements. An advisory board is different because you are there as committed experts who want the organization to succeed, but you don’t necessarily have managerial governance or fiduciary accountability. I think getting that right and figuring out how to be an effective board member where you have impact but you are not overreaching was a good development lesson for me. As I am now setting up the board structure for my company and thinking about the difference between the fiduciary Board of Directors and the stakeholder boards, it has been quite helpful to think about KLI and how that works.” What made you specifically interested or intrigued by the KLI board? “I was very interested in getting back involved at CMC in a more meaningful way. After I graduated, I served on the Alumni Association Board, and then I went to business school, moved to New York, and stayed loosely involved in the college. I chaired a couple of reunions, and I was the CMC Chapter President in New York. David Mgrublian, who at the time was the Chair of the Board of Trustees, encouraged me to join the KLI board and get more actively involved in on-campus leadership. I have always had a real interest in leadership–throughout my career I have been actively involved in various corporate opportunities to cultivate young leaders.”
BOARD HIGHLIGHT
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As a leader at Aquila, how do you build that transparency and trust on your teams? “Because we are a start-up and we are building a platform, we have very clear achievement milestones that we are working towards. The milestones are both in terms of the technical development of the platform, and also the business milestones in terms of winning new clients, securing funding—they are very comprehensive. We are really open with both our employees and our broader stakeholders about our milestones and how we are pacing towards them. I think we have a fundamental transparency about the health of the company, and we are trying to invent a new category. This is very technically challenging, so it comes with some grace—if this were easy, it would have already been done by now. The company is set up to more accurately compare the at- media and the advertising that marketers buy on Google, Meta, Amazon, Tik Tok, and Linear Television. Amazon, Google, Meta, and Tik Tok are all investors in the company, so we have their support. But, it gets complicated because they are fierce competitors, but they are coming together on this project. As a result, we are very clear about progress, and we are very universally transparent because we are also very cautious about anti- competitive behavior, so we want everyone to know the same information. I think in many ways the company is set up on a foundation of transparency.” What is one piece of advice you want to share with graduating KLI seniors and/or the broader women-identifying CMC graduating seniors? “I will tie back to the value of integrity. It is not to be underestimated how important it is to simply show up and do what you say you are going to do. If you can root that behavior into your professional life, you will be miles ahead of most people. It sounds really simple, but in today’s hectic, busy world, it is not as easy as it sounds. Some of that is because we are all barraged with emails, outreach, things to read, meetings to attend; in this very fast-paced world, it is really easy to let things slip. I am talking about the basics: showing up to calls on time, or a minute or two early; responding to emails in a timely way; if you say you are going to submit something or you are going to prepare a draft of a deck by the end of the day, you do it by the end of the day. It is that level of personal integrity that can really make a huge difference in the way, particularly junior people, are perceived. To sum it up, be really reliable. If you are a CMC student, you are already ahead of the game; you are already going to show up as a smarter, more articulate, more analytical, and creative thinker. If you can develop a discipline to be the go-to person in your organization, you will set yourself up to be on a winning trajectory. It is simple, but it is hard to do.”
KLI FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
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KLI FACULTY SPOTLIGHT KLI FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
Jay Conger, DBA Henry R. Kravis Chaired Professor of Leadership Studies
“I will be offering my workshop on Persuasion and Influence for Emerging Leaders in early December. In this session, students move beyond the typical view of persuasion as a slick pitch or a data-heavy presentation and instead learn the tools to reframe the skill as a meaningful, collaborative conversation —a way of thinking together to solve problems and capture opportunities. Students will learn how to build their credibility with different audiences, how to frame issues so decision makers feel engaged around their concerns, and how vivid arguments and emotionally resonant stories can inspire others to act. What excites me most is the chance to help students discover the power of their own words and rich conversations —the recognition that a thoughtful conversation can mobilize people toward innovation, change, and shared purpose. I have long found it ironic that so few colleges and universities teach persuasion as a fundamental leadership skill. Yet it sits at the heart of how leaders make things happen. This workshop is my way of helping close that gap and equipping students with a capability that can transform the way they lead and put ideas into actions.”
KLI ADVISORY BOARD AND FELLOWS
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The Kravis Leadership Institute Advisory Board
Advisory Board Chair: Scott Gilbertson ’91 Board Members: Cody Chang '13, Hiram E. Chodosh, Jay Conger, Heather Cowart '12, Tina Daniels ’93, David Day, Gaston Espinosa, Hector Fernandez ‘01, Laura M. Grisolano ‘86, Shamil Hargovan ’10, Matt Horvitz ’08, Daniel Kan ’09, Michael Lang ’87, John-Michael Lind ’86 P'26, Mike Nutting ‘97 P'24, Michelle Oden ‘94, Sean Rawson '00, Ron Riggio P’10, Kwame Yankson ‘04 Life Members: Jean I. Cox P'92, Steven Eggert ‘82 P’15, Michael Grindon '76, E. David Hetz ‘80 P’10, Henry Kravis ’67, Douglas Peterson ’80 P’14 P’15 Kravis Fellows Elisa Alban ’09, Connor Barclay ‘13, Jennifer Bernardez ‘22, Daniel R. Cahir ’05, Katherine Daifotis '18, Emma David ‘21, Saloni Dhir ’19, Benjamin Forster ‘11, Leyna Hong ‘23, Samuel Johnson '22, Julian Laguisma ’14 , Ian Larson ’24, Peter X. Li ’05, Charles McGregor ’15, Maria Mengual-Paredes ‘09, Kaavya Narayan ‘25, Simeon Nestorov POM ’98, Amelia Opsahl ’25 Claudia Raigoza ‘14, Alina Rainsford ’20, Yesenia Rodriguez ’23, Shreya Shome ‘22, Will Su ’16, Linnea Uyeno ’20, Patrick Weisman ‘08, Asher Weiss ’18, Joy Zhu ‘24
KLI FALL ADVISORY BOARD MEETING KLI FALL ADVISORY BOARD MEETING
“The KLI Advisory Board meeting was an incredible experience. KLI's Advisory Board includes many unique industry leaders, and it was a privilege to learn from their wisdom, stories, and advice.” -Fred Neuburger ‘27
THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR BOARD MEMBERS AND FELLOWS FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!
KLI FELLOWS SPOTLIGHT
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Introducing the KLI’s Newest Fellows
REFLECT ON A SPECIFIC MOMENT THAT HAD A MEANINGFUL IMPACT ON YOUR LEADERSHIP JOURNEY.
Amelia Opsahl ’25 2024-25 Institute Team Lead
“Early during my time at CMC, I attended an Athenaeum talk in which the speaker shared about servant leadership. Servant leadership is a philosophy in which leaders prioritize the growth, well-being, and empowerment of their team and community above all, even above their own goals. I believe this is a deeply powerful approach and I strive to practice it in my role as a team member and leader still today. “
KLI FELLOWS SPOTLIGHT
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Introducing the KLI’s Newest Fellows
REFLECT ON A SPECIFIC MOMENT THAT HAD A MEANINGFUL IMPACT ON YOUR LEADERSHIP JOURNEY.
Kaavya Narayan ’25 2024-25 Research Team Lead
“Being an RA was one of the most rewarding leadership roles I had on campus. One moment that stands out was when one of my first-year residents — who reminded me so much of myself — came to me for advice. It made me reflect on all the people who had supported me when I was in her shoes and how their guidance shaped my own path. That experience redefined leadership for me as an act of service. As I begin my professional journey, I strive to lead with that same mindset — focusing on serving others and helping those around me build confidence in themselves.”
TEAM LEADS
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25-26 TEAM LEADS “I’m a senior at Claremont McKenna College majoring in Economics with a sequence in Financial Economics, originally from El Segundo, CA (about a five-minute drive from LAX). I joined
KLI as a sophomore, and now serve as the Research Team Lead while contributing to the Responsible Leadership in Technology research team. I’m also the VP of Leadership Development for CMC’s chapter of Scholars of Finance. In my role, I help lead the research teams, mentor peers, improve the breadth of our research topics and influence, and help our students find opportunities to lead. One of my focuses has been building a community of like-minded students who help each other develop as leaders and support one another in all areas of life.
Ariel Santiago ’26 Research Team Lead Joined the KLI in Fall 2023
I have many favorite moments that range from our retreats to my D-Crew meetings, but most of my favorite KLI memories are from late nights in the conference and tech rooms, studying side by side, trading ideas, and lifting one another up through tough weeks. It has been energizing to see new hires make these spaces their own and join our KLI community. I became a Team Lead to give back to the institute that helped me develop as a person and to build a welcoming, high-performance culture with clear paths for students to lead. In the long term, I aim to keep growing as a values-driven leader by applying what I have learned at KLI to the communities I am part of, mentoring younger students, and bridging leadership and finance in meaningful, ethical ways.”
TEAM LEADS
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25-26 TEAM LEADS “Full-circle and genuinely impactful are two ways I would describe my role as Team Lead at KLI. Since my first year at KLI, I knew I wanted to be a Team Lead during my senior year. Each year, I looked up to the team leads for both research and institute teams. From Yesenia and Leyna, to Ian and Joy, and to Amelia and Kaavya, I have been fortunate to build friendships and mentorships that have shaped my leadership philosophy and enhanced my growth at CMC. These relationships, along with KLI’s leadership
development system, mentorship from KLI faculty & staff, and leadership coaching, have helped me establish a clear identity and leadership philosophy. I feel more comfortable and confident in who I am and my purpose as a leader & person. Some of my favorite memories with KLI are travelling with KLI to the Spring Board Meeting in New York in 2024 and to the International Leadership Association (ILA) Conference for a case study competition in the fall of 2024. I also enjoy the minute day-to-day interactions in our beautiful Kravis 4th Floor office space, either at the front desk when conversing with those walking by, chatting extensively with Marilyn, or sharing team meals for SEMI or Newsletter Team. As a Team Lead, I hope to 1) promote this same leadership development system and its potential to all KLI members by making it clearer and accountable, and 2) continue to build our KLI family –our community is unique among research institutes, given our supportive and friendly environment that
Davis Eglin ’26 Institute Team Lead Joined the KLI in Fall 2022
transcends the work we do at KLI. From my roommate junior year (Zach Roerden) to many of my closest friends with whom I have formed the best memories at CMC, the KLI community has both provided a great means of leadership development and also a sense of personal support & celebration. Specifically on the Institute Team, I hope to support our existing work and further expand our projects: establishing a formal podcast team, innovating and expanding our social media presence through a more organized posting implementation team for Instagram and a new KLI TikTok, finding ways to service our local and global communities through community leadership, engaging our audience better through a more frequent communication from the Newsletter team (monthly newsletter), and lastly, creating a new way for KLI students to engage with Advisory Board Members through in-person visits/interest treks organized by the SEMI team.”
NEW HIRE SPOTLIGHTS
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INSTITUTE TEAM NEW HIRE SPOTLIGHTS
CALEB ROCKCASTLE ‘29
SELAH HAN
‘28
Hometown : Torrance, CA Major: Government & Philosophy Fun Fact: I danced ballet for 10+ years!
Hometown: Montpelier, VT Intended Major: Undecided Fun Fact: I can play banjo
HINODE SAFFEN
CHARLOTTE SHAMIA
Hometown : Tokyo, Japan Major : Economics Fun Fact: I have two sisters
Hometown: Orinda, CA Major : Integrated Sciences Fun Fact: I have an extra bone in my foot
‘29
‘29
CHLOE GUDAS
ILLANGO BOGSCHUTZ ‘29
Hometown: Concord, New Hampshire Major: International Relations Fun Fact: I am proficient in Arabic! ‘28
Hometown: Brighton, England Major: Maths & Economics Fun Fact: My great-grandpa’s cousin was on the team that build the H-Bomb
TRACE SCHROEDE ‘29
Hometown: New York, NY Major: Economics Fun Fact: I am the middle child of five!
NEW HIRE SPOTLIGHTS
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RESEARCH TEAM NEW HIRE SPOTLIGHTS
Hometown : Edina, Minnesota Major : Psychology & Economics Fun Fact : I met the presidential pardoned turkeys, Liberty and Bell OLIVIA WEGMANN-KRIDER ‘29
Hometown : San Gabriel, California Major : International Relations and Economics Fun Fact: I am good at whistling MARCO CISNEROS-FARBER ‘29
DANIEL CAO
MAYA KARAFOTAS ‘28
‘29
Hometown: McLean, VA Major: Government & Philosophy
Hometown : Vancouver, Canada Major: Economics & Philosophy Fun Fact: I love to play tennis
Fun Fact: I have been a vegetarian for 8 years
ZOEY MARZO ‘29
MARTINA BERNHEIM
Hometown: Nicaragua Major: Integrated Sciences Brain Focus & Psychology Fun Fact: I grew up speaking Spanish
‘28
Hometown : Whitefish Montana Major : Government Fun Fact : I was the crying baby on the tv show Lost, season 3.
JOSEPH SANTHOSH ‘29
MARCEL ASTRAKHAN
Hometown : Claremont/Singapore Major: Econ & Math Fun Fact: Graduated high school at 16 so I could serve in the military.
Hometown : Edgewater, NJ Major : Data Science Fun Fact: I've fistbumped Kevin Hart
‘29
WILLIAM HOU ‘29 Hometown : Vancouver, Canada Major: Econ & Math
Fun Fact: Won a poker tournament in Japan!
WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
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Women in Leadership Development (WLD) Initiative Celebrating 5 Years!
A Reflection from WLD’s Leader: Dr. Sherylle Tan
What was your main vision for WLD 5 years ago? The Women in Leadership Development (WLD) Initiative came out of student feedback for interest in leadership development concentrating on topics that women face as they navigate leadership. Tom Handley ‘77 was had long been interested in supporting initiatives to develop emerging women leaders on campus. With the support from Tom and Susan Handley and Cascade Asset Management, the Women in Leadership Development (WLD) Initiative was created. I was interested in seeing a leadership development opportunity that went beyond a one-time activity or event, but something that could be more impactful and create community. In order to do that we needed this to focus on a commitment to develop and to span the academic year. WLD was designed to provide undergraduate women with a space to support the unique developmental needs of emerging women leaders. In this way we could deliver a rigorous leadership development initiative that focuses on essential topics that women face as they become leaders organized around three leadership pathways: leadership training, leadership coaching, and leadership support. How has WLD grown and expanded within these 5 years? We have grown the WLD initiative over the last 5 years, not just by increasing the cohort to accommodate about 20% more students in the last 2 years, but by also growing an alumni base that has thought deeply about these issues. Handley Leadership Fellows who completed WLD didn’t want to stop after their initial year, and we created opportunities for Fellows to become mentors. The WLD mentors added another support mechanism for the Handley Leadership Fellows. Where do you see WLD heading in the next 5 years? I hope to see WLD continue and to use this model of leadership development that takes into account various leadership pathways as a foundation to other leadership development initiatives and perhaps other cohorts. I hope to see this community of Handley Leadership Fellows to take lead and expand their leadership in multiple areas on campus and to take what they learn and share that with others to help work toward leadership equity and growth.
WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
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Reflections from those who helped put WLD together!
“WLD was conceived when a wonderful alum Tom Handley '77 wanted to make a meaningful contribution to CMC to support future women leaders. We landed on KLI as the best home for such a program given that Dr Sherylle Tan is an expert in the field. Sherylle conceived of experiential learning groups in which CMC women would share their on campus leadership challenges and triumphs, while learning about the latest leadership research. As someone who has participated in many executive forum groups over my career, I loved it from the beginning. Creating a program for women to learn from each other's leadership experiences and through shared curriculum is the epitome of CMC's mission. I hope to see this program expand and continue for many years to come.” - KLI Advisory Board Member Tina Daniels ’93
“I became involved in WLD because, growing up, my strengths in organization and responsibility often placed me in supportive roles, which made me reflect on how gender norms can limit women’s leadership. What began as a year-long project has since grown into a strong community that amplifies underrepresented voices and empowers women, including myself, to redefine leadership and confidently step into spaces we work hard to reach.” - Hailey Kang ’24 WLD Student Manager 2021-2024
Jasmin Joshi ’23 WLD Cohort: 2021-2022 WLD Student Advisor 2022-2023
Sophie Dvorkin ’23 WLD Cohort: 2021-2022 WLD Student Advisor 2022-2023
“WLD’s leadership coaching helped me identify the specific skills I wanted to strengthen as I grew into a thoughtful leader, and that foundation has guided my development ever since. As a first ‑ year medical student, I’ve continued to build on those lessons by leading with courage, asking questions, contributing meaningfully to group discussions, and engaging in advocacy through student government and other campus organizations. Embracing a more fearless leadership style has strengthened me as a student, colleague, and mentor. Clearly defining my values through WLD, especially curiosity and creativity, has helped me cultivate my personal and professional goals, including a growing passion for medical innovation.”
“Participating in KLI’s WLD Initiative has had an immeasurable impact on my early career. It prepared me well for what to expect from the workplace, specifically how to build a community and advocate for myself in male-dominated environments. Because of WLD, I aim to empower other women in their early career and share the learnings from the WLD program so we can all better support each other.”
LEADERSHIP DIALOGUE SERIES
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Fall Leadership Dialogues
The KLI’s Fall Leadership Dialogue Series engaged CMC students in conversation about leadership. The Leadership Dialogues tackled important issues connected to leadership and practicing leadership in real world situations. The Dialogues were a KLI-supported, student-led initiative that featured small group discussions facilitated by KLI students. This semester’s leadership dialogues tackled important issues connected to competitive leadership and seeking out mentorship and guidance when needed.
COMPETITIVE LEADERSHIP
How do you differentiate between leadership and leadership positions?
Does competition for leadership roles make students stronger leaders, or does it harm collaboration and community?
Should leadership programs intentionally discourage competition?
How do you know what to value when being a leader?
Lead by : Amrit Dhaliwal ‘27, Vivienne Arndt ’28, and Trace Schroeder ‘29
LEADERSHIP DURING CRISES
What are some examples of leadership in crises you’ve admired? What lessons can you draw on?
Should leaders be judged more on how they respond, prevent, or recover from crises?
How can leaders communicate hope without creating false expectations?
When is it better for a leader to admit uncertainty rather than project confidence?
Lead by: Amrit Dhaliwal ‘27, Vivienne Arndt ’28, and Trace Schroeder ‘29
LEADERSHIP DIALOGUE SERIES
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“I hope this dialogue creates a space where people can openly explore what effective leadership looks like in times of crisis, which includes heightened stress and pressure. Similarly, I hope participants walk away from this experience with a new perspective on the leadership techniques applied by leaders today in global conflicts. Every dialogue offers me something new to consider in the world of leadership. Through the engagement of the attendees, I gain deep insight into the variety of responses leaders may employ to the same issue. In this way, I am constantly reminded that strong leadership isn’t necessarily about having all the answers, but instead about staying engaged and curious. I feel incredibly grateful to be a part of a community and team that values growth in various forms, where individuals can show up and be vulnerable, ultimately contributing to constructive dialogue and learning. I hope that others feel this way as well, and I encourage everyone to engage with important discussions like this around campus and the world as well.” - Trace Schroeder ’29
“I was surprised to see the range of perspectives on competitive leadership. There were people who believed it was necessary to create improvement, and those who saw less space for it in academic institutions, where the goal should be learning and encouraging new opportunities, rather than creating competition. Throughout the dialogue, people were able to discuss the differences in their views and find common understanding while understanding the contexts for people’s perspectives.” - Amrit Dhaliwal ’27
“For the Leadership During Crisis: In Practice Dialogue, our goal is to build on the momentum of students who are engaged in conversations about leadership and are excited to contribute during the dialogues. We aim to do this by asking students to highlight specific examples from their learnings and personal lives on the topic of crisis practice. This way we can get at more specific and productive discussion on this pressing topic.” - Vivienne Arndt ’28
LEADERSHIP COACHING
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LEADERSHIP COACHING
The KLI Leadership Coaching Initiative includes up to five hour-long one-on-one coaching sessions for students to develop their leadership potential with a professionally trained and certified leadership coach. I llango Bogschutz ’29 interviewed Cathy Wang ’26 about Cathy’s experience with leadership coaching.
Illango: “ What has been the most rewarding and most challenging part of leadership coaching?”
Cathy: “The most rewarding part has been having external guidance that has helped me shape my life. Working with my coach and having someone to always ask “Why?” has made me have a mindset shift through learning to always consider other perspectives. On the flip side, the most challenging part has been having the power to drive the conversation wherever I want it to go. You get so used to doing and talking about what others decide, that it can take some time to take the driver’s seat.”
Illango: “Now that you have taken part in leadership coaching, what is something you would advise others?”
Cathy: “Do it! Leadership Coaching has brought my life so much clarity. My coach always offers a third-party perspective to any issues I am facing, which has helped my growth loads. A specific thing that my coach has encouraged is to find natural, unofficial mentors. These can be anyone in your network that you can learn from. For these mentorships to be the most rewarding, make sure you both contribute to each other’s success.”
MEET THE RESEARCH TEAMS
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Meet The Research Teams
Women and Leadership
Lead: Oliver Broegger ‘26
Lead: Davis Eglin ‘26 Social Media Wensheng (Vivan) Gao ’28, Martina Bernheim ’28, Maya Karafotos ’28, Talin Tyvand ’27 hope to continue narrowing our focus and exploring potential directions for this project. The Women and Leadership team is launching a new project and has been conducting a literature review to identify gaps in the women- in-leadership space. We continue to find a lack of research on leadership development programs within the undergraduate context. We
Lead: Meilan Uyeno ‘27 Members: Roman Sycz ‘27, Amrit Dhaliwal ‘27, Vivienne Arndt ‘28, Trace Schroeder ’29
WLD
Leads : Katharine Bhatt ’26, Milan Manfredi ’27
Networked Leadership
Lead: Oliver Broegger ‘26 The Networked Leadership team is analyzing the impact of social networks on effective leadership. By using Social Network Analysis (SNA), an analysis on someone's "centrality" within a social network, their capabilities/traits, and even their titles, we will be able to understand what kinds of networks produce productive leaders--and what don't. We plan to begin data collection regarding KLI members’ perception of traits of those they views as leaders within the institute within the next couple of months.
Lead: Katharine Bhatt ’26 Members: Illango Bogschutz '29, Charlotte Shamia ‘29 Lead: Meilan Uyeno ‘27 Members: Roman Sycz ‘27, Amrit Dhaliwal ‘27, Vivienne Arndt ‘28, Trace Schroeder ’29 We assist in leading discussions and activities in our monthly workshops, oversee assignment tracking on Sakai, provide make-up sessions to support participants, and ensure our workbooks stay up-to-date with valuable leadership insights. I most enjoy interacting with the women leaders in our cohort, and supporting Dr. Tan and Marilyn! WLD
Members: , Zach Roerden ’27, Jaden Andrews ‘27, Haley Penn ‘28, Choe Gudas ‘28, Caleb Rockcastle Lead: Davis Eglin ‘26 Social Media
Nethra Mahendran ’28, Daniel Cao ’29, Zoey Marzo ’29
MEET THE RESEARCH TEAMS
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We manage and represent KLI’s online presence on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. We aim to highlight the awesome achievements of KLI’s faculty and students, broadcast upcoming events, and keep KLI’s board and alums updated! The Language of Leadership
Lead: Oliver Broegger ‘26 The Language of Leadership team is looking to understand how leaders use communication to motivate and energize their followers. Building on our literature review, we are now conducting a comparative analysis of political rhetoric, focusing on how New York City’s leading mayoral candidates communicate vision and authority, and using this case to draw broader insights about effective leadership communication.
Lead: Meilan Uyeno ‘27 Members: Roman Sycz ‘27, Amrit Dhaliwal ‘27, Vivienne Arndt ‘28, Trace Schroeder ’29
WLD
Lead: Davis Eglin ‘26 Social Media
Diego Nuñez ’28, Samuel Dominguez ’27, Olivia Wegmann-Krider ’29
We manage and represent KLI’s online presence on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. We aim to highlight the awesome achievements of KLI’s faculty and students, broadcast upcoming events, and keep KLI’s board and alums updated! Data Science of Leadership
Lead: Oliver Broegger ‘26
The Data Science of Leadership team has been exploring new research ideas and have settled on exploring applications of Digital Twins (DT) technology to assessing leadership development programs. Currently, the team is conducting a thorough literature review to understand prior DT use cases as well as to identify what leadership interventions and assessment surveys could be distributed to DTs.
Lead: Meilan Uyeno ‘27 Members: Roman Sycz ‘27, Amrit Dhaliwal ‘27, Vivienne Arndt ‘28, Trace Schroeder ’29
WLD
Lead: Davis Eglin ‘26 Social Media
Sylvana Poon ’26, Daniel Wu '27, Marcel Astrakhan ’29
MEET THE RESEARCH TEAMS
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We manage and represent KLI’s online presence on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. We aim to highlight the awesome achievements of KLI’s faculty and students, broadcast upcoming events, and keep KLI’s board and alums updated! Responsible Leader Perception
Lead: Oliver Broegger ‘26 This semester, the former Responsible Leadership in Tech team relaunched as Responsible Leadership Perception and returned to our existing dataset, recognizing that it held far more insight than we had originally extracted. We have been systematically recoding the data and reorienting Lead: Davis Eglin ‘26 Social Media our literature review to focus on responsible leadership and leadership perception in college settings alongside how perceptions differ across generations, age groups, and other demographics. By the end of the semester, we aim to complete this in depth analysis and surface clear findings that can inform how the KLI designs future programs and supports student leaders.
Lead: Meilan Uyeno ‘27 Members: Roman Sycz ‘27, Amrit Dhaliwal ‘27, Vivienne Arndt ‘28, Trace Schroeder ’29
WLD
Ariel Santiago ’26, Jai Rui (Jasmine) He ’28, Jonas Rickert ’28
We manage and represent KLI’s online presence on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. We aim to highlight the awesome achievements of KLI’s faculty and students, broadcast upcoming events, and keep KLI’s board and alums updated! Followership
Leads : Katharine Bhatt ’26, Milan Manfredi ’27
Lead: Oliver Broegger ‘26 The Followership team has made good progress orienting ourselves to the MAXQDA software which we are using to analyze data. We have also begun working on creating parameters to analyze the data and derive deductions. Lastly, we have put in place clear goals we are working towards for the coming months! A big goal is to complete a paper on the preliminary findings based on our data analysis.
Lead: Katharine Bhatt ’26 Members: Illango Bogschutz '29, Charlotte Shamia ‘29 Lead: Meilan Uyeno ‘27 Members: Roman Sycz ‘27, Amrit Dhaliwal ‘27, Vivienne Arndt ‘28, Trace Schroeder ’29 We assist in leading discussions and activities in our monthly workshops, oversee assignment tracking on Sakai, provide make-up sessions to support participants, and ensure our workbooks stay up-to-date with valuable leadership insights. I most enjoy interacting with the women leaders in our cohort, and supporting Dr. Tan and Marilyn! WLD
Social Media
Daniel Drucker POM’27, Marco Cisneros- Farber ’29, Joseph Santhosh ’29
Members: , Zach Roerden ’27, Jaden Andrews ‘27, Haley Penn ‘28, Choe Gudas ‘28, Caleb Rockcastle Lead: Davis Eglin ‘26
MEET THE RESEARCH TEAMS
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We manage and represent KLI’s online presence on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. We aim to highlight the awesome achievements of KLI’s faculty and students, broadcast upcoming events, and keep KLI’s board and alums updated! Effective Mentorship
Lead: Oliver Broegger ‘26
Lead: Meilan Uyeno ‘27 Lead: Oliver Broegger ‘26 LEAD is a mentorship-based leadership initiative that pairs students with mentors who share similar career paths and aspirations. The program provides structured guidance, professional development, and long-term support as students clarify and pursue their goals. 2 . Evaluation & Research: The team is also developing the assessment framework for LEAD, studying the program’s impact on students’ confidence, career readiness, and overall leadership growth. This research helps ensure that the mentorship model is effective, scalable, and grounded in evidence-based practices. Members: , Zach Roerden ’27, Jaden Andrews ‘27, Haley Penn ‘28, Choe Gudas ‘28, Caleb Rockcastle The Effective Mentorship team is focused on understanding how meaningful mentorship can prepare students to become strong, capable leaders across a variety of industries. The team’s work centers on two major initiatives: 1. The LEAD Program: Together, these efforts aim to build a sustainable mentorship system that empowers students to navigate their academic and professional journeys with clarity and confidence.
Lead: Davis Eglin ‘26 Tanzila Jamal '26, Harry Patel ’27, William Hou '29
MEET THE INSTITUTE TEAMS
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Meet The Institute Teams
Website
The KLI Web Development team manages all of Kravis Leadership Institute's websites and domains, develops web pages for conferences and events, and handles other technology-related needs for the institute.
Lead: Fred Neuburger ‘27 Members: Selah Han '28
Social Media
We manage and represent KLI’s online presence on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. We aim to highlight the awesome achievements of KLI’s faculty and
Social Media We manage and represent KLI’s online presence o LinkedIn, and Facebook. We aim to highlight th achievements of KLI’s faculty and students, b upcoming events, and keep KLI’s board and alum students, broadcast upcoming events, and keep KLI’s board and alums updated! Members: Oliver Broegger ’26, Gabriel Buyuklyu ’28, Selah Han '28
Social Media We manage and represent KLI’s online presence on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. We aim to highlight the awesome achievements of KLI’s faculty and students, broadcast upcoming events, and keep KLI’s board and alums updated!
MEET THE INSTITUTE TEAMS
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SEMI
We lead three key programs to foster connection, learning, and growth. Mentorship Office Hours pair KLI students with alumni for 30-minute conversations that build meaningful mentorship relationships. Leadership Learning Masterclasses help students develop essential leadership skills. We also coordinate internal mentorship pairings to support new hires as they transition into KLI and the CMC community.
Website
Lead: Fred Neuburger ‘27 Members: Selah Han '28 Social Media We manage and represent KLI’s online presence on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. We aim to highlight the awesome The KLI Web Development team manages all of Kravis Leadership Institute's websites and domains, develops web pages for conferences and events, and handles other technology-related needs for the institute. achievements of KLI’s faculty and students, broadcast upcoming events, and keep KLI’s board and alums updated!
Lead: Davis Eglin ’26
Members: Jaden Andrews ’27, Zachary Roerden ’27, Chloe Gudas ’28, Haley Penn ’28, Caleb Rockcastle ’29
Social Media
We manage and represent KLI’s online presence on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. We aim to highlight the awesome achievements of KLI’s faculty and students, broadcast upcoming events, and keep KLI’s board and alums updated!
Logistics
We foster a community where students can constructively disagree, connect with faculty, and advance their career goals. Through leadership dialogues, we encourage discussions on leadership topics, promote workshops with KLI professors and leadership coaches, and assist in planning events like conferences to boost student engagement. Lead: Amrit Dhaliwal ’27 Members: Roman Sycz ’27, Vivienne Arndt ’28, Trace Schroeder ’29
Lead: Oliver Broegger ‘26
Members: , Zach Roerden ’27, Jaden Andrews ‘27, Haley Penn ‘28, Choe Gudas ‘28, Caleb Rockcastle Lead: Davis Eglin ‘26 Social Media We manage and represent KLI’s online presence on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. We aim to highlight the awesome achievements of KLI’s faculty and students, broadcast upcoming events, and keep KLI’s board and alums updated!
MEET THE INSTITUTE TEAMS
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We assist in leading discussions and activities in our monthly workshops, oversee assignment tracking on Canvas, provide make-up sessions to support participants, and ensure our workbooks stay up-to-date with Women in Leadership Development (WLD)
Lead: Oliver Broegger ‘26
Lead: Meilan Uyeno ‘27
We assist in leading discussions and activities in our monthly workshops, oversee assignment tracking on Sakai, provide make-up sessions to support participants, and ensure our workbooks stay up-to-date with valuable leadership insights. I most enjoy interacting with the women leaders in our cohort, and supporting Dr. Tan and Marilyn! valuable leadership insights. I most enjoy interacting with the women leaders in our cohort, and supporting Dr. Tan and Marilyn! Student Managers: Katharine Bhatt ‘26 and Milan Manfredi ’27
WLD
Members: , Zach Roerden ’27, Jaden Andrews ‘27, Haley Penn ‘28, Choe Gudas ‘28, Caleb Rockcastle Lead: Davis Eglin ‘26 Social Media
Leads : Katharine Bhatt ’26, Milan Manfredi ’27
Newsletter
Lead: Katharine Bhatt ’26 Lead: Meilan Uyeno ‘27 We create and produce a bi-annual newsletter that showcases our events, initiatives, and leadership insights of KLI, keeping our community of students, faculty, and alumni informed and connected. We collaborate to ensure the content is aligned with the institute’s mission to foster impactful leadership Lead: Katharine Bhatt ’26 Members: Jaden Andrews ’27, Riley Hester ’27, Illango Bogschutz '29, Charlotte Shamia ‘29
ers: Illango Bogschutz '29, Charlotte Shamia ‘29
Leads : Katharine Bhatt ’26, Milan Manfredi ’27
The Illumine CONVERSATIONS IN LEADERSHIP
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THE OFFICIAL KLI PODCAST
The Illumine interviews leadership figures around campus. All episodes can be found by searching “The Illumine Podcast” on Spotify.
Episode 1: Ariel Santiago ’26 & Davis Eglin ’26
We interviewed our two KLI team leads Davis Eglin ‘26 and Ariel Santiago ‘26 , and dove into their leadership journeys, learning about how they have developed their leadership skills through KLI and CMC. They talk about how these skills have translated across other aspects of their lives currently, and also what they will carry with them after they graduate
Episode 2: Michelle Oden ‘94 Michelle Oden ’94 , a KLI board member and CMC trustee, is now a principal in People Advisory Services at EY. In this episode, we hear about the different fields Michelle worked in post-grad that led to where she is now, the challenges she faced, and how the skills she developed at CMC helped her overcome those.
Episode 3: Shelby McIlroy ‘26 In this episode, CMS women's volleyball captain Shelby McIlroy ‘26 takes us through her volleyball journey. She talks about ways she has managed her time as a student athlete over the years and explores some of the challenges she now faces as a collegiate team captain. She also highlights important leadership qualities that she values and strives to embody and shares some rewarding moments throughout her senior season.
Episode 4: Linnea Uyeno ’20 Linnea Uyeno ’20 is one of our KLI Fellows and now works as a senior product manager at Concur. In this episode, we hear about how she navigated graduating into the Covid pandemic and what it took to break into product management. We also discuss some of the challenges she faces as a young woman in tech and how CMC and KLI have supported her throughout her post-grad career.
Episode 5: Kylee Tevis ‘26 In this episode, we got to know our ASCMC student body president, Kylee Tevis ‘26 , and learned about all the behind-the-scenes work she puts into running our student body and planning school-wide events. Kylee shares her strategies for managing many different tasks across campus and how she navigates input from so many people while still fostering a supportive and engaging student community.
D-CREW SPOTLIGHT
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Development Crew Spotlight
“My D-Crew and I went for HotPot earlier this week, which was my favorite memory! My most important takeaway was that while all of us are very busy and involved in many other things on campus, we made time for each other in a very meaningful way. Finding a space wherein we could explore our creativity and share our leadership growth (and even ask for feedback!) was a delightful experience -- and I can't wait to see our D-Crew continue flourish!” - Nethra Mahendran ’28
“I met my D-crew for dinner and we discussed how we were pursuing creative endeavors outside the classroom. I realized there are many ways to develop creativity (e.g., by being a DJ) even if you don't pursue something creative in class or work.” - Sylvana Poon ’26
“My favorite memory has to be when our D-Crew went to Korean BBQ this past semester. We showed courage both in our conversation about leadership at CMC and in the food we tried - we even ate intestine.” - Harry Patel ’27
The KLI’s Leadership Competency model maximizes student leadership potential through D-Crews, or small student groups that focus on developing one specific competency (courage, collaboration, or creative) through intentional reflection, discussion, and group events.
My favorite memory & most important takeaway from meeting with my D-Crew this year was walking back from a lovely dinner at Bua Thai in the village. Zoey & Charlotte expressed some worries about the CMC imposter syndrome/pressure to know what professional course to take, and Davis and I felt a lot of sympathy through being directly in their shoes when we were freshman. We had many heartfelt conversations, and I think vulnerability in our conversations in pairing with a safe space to talk about anxieties and problems resulted in us becoming closer as a D-Crew and friends! - Jonas Rickert ’28
LOOKING AHEAD
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Happy Holidays & Happy New Year! Visit www.cmc.edu/kli to keep up on all our events and current news!
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