Get to know the LGO Class of 2023! We checked in with Nayeli Arellano from Civil and Environmental Engineering as the class transitions from the LGO Summer Core into their first Fall semester to learn more about why LGO was the best fit for her.

What were you doing before attending LGO?

Before coming to LGO, I was working in Supply Chain, holding two different positions (now that I think about it, I guess the dual degree was meant to be for me). I started as an Americas Trade Compliance Manager in 2017, leading optimization efforts that support import/export operations while interfacing with global team members, business leaders and other key stakeholders to successfully implement and upgrade the internal policies and processes, as well as identifying risks areas to develop actionable plans and procedures to maximize the organization’s performance. Additionally, in early 2020 I was appointed as the Americas E-commerce Operations Manager. I was responsible for the development of the company’s cross-border e-commerce initiative, from the 4PL’s Control Tower side. I was accountable for key metrics and vendor service level agreement monitoring and assessment to ensure optimal customer service from my local team as well as stakeholders located in different countries in the Americas and Europe.

What factors informed your decision to attend MIT LGO?

• Perfect Fit: Having worked in Supply Chain Operations with teams all over the world, I knew LGO was the right program for me ever since I heard about it. The focus on Operations and how the program builds on the technical aspect of our respective engineering specialties while also elevating our leadership skills made it the perfect next step in my professional career.
• Time effective: Being able to complete an MBA and an MS degree at the same time was an excellent opportunity since I was planning on getting both degrees in the near future.
• Community: Either from virtual events or by talking to LGOs directly, I learned that LGO cohorts were known for creating tight bonds and supporting environments. Also, this program is filled with amazing people with similar interests and very different backgrounds and personalities. Of course I wanted to be part of this incredible community.

Why did you choose your specific engineering department?

I was initially interested in the Supply Chain Management Masters.  It was while I was doing my research for it that I first found the LGO program.

I have been interested in Sustainable Operations since my undergrad, and in more recent years, I started focusing in Sustainable Supply Chain. After researching the offerings from each engineering department, it was very clear to me that Civil & Environmental Engineering was the way to go. Its offerings on the different applications of Sustainability and Supply Chain are exactly what I was looking for.

Do you have any advice for future applicants?

• Connect with as many LGOs as you can. Ask questions. Learn about the program: the good and the bad (Summer Core is hard!).
• Do your research. Get familiar with the program, the faculty, the requirements, and the partner companies.
• Do some soul searching and identify what you bring to LGO and what can LGO give you.
• Be yourself. Let your passion for your discipline shine. Make sure your application reflects who you are and why you want to be part of this community.
• Learn (at least) basic Python before you come! Seriously, it will make your life so much easier.

What is your favorite memory from the LGO Summer Core experience?

Not exactly a memory, but my favorite part of the LGO Summer Core experience was discovering that regardless of how accomplished and amazing they are, everyone is incredibly humble and approachable. There was always someone willing to help, even if it was just checking in when the deliverables piled up.

Also, being part of the most diverse class in the history of LGO (so far) and being the first Mexican female in the program is something I am very proud of!

While colleges and universities are gearing up to start the fall semester, the newest LGO Class of 2023 has already been on-campus and in class since June. LGO’s full 24 months of curriculum begin every summer at the very start of June, when the new class comes together just as the 2nd years are graduating and re-entering the workforce. The first three months of the program are dedicated to the LGO Summer Core and is a busy time for our students as they get to know each other and get started on their credits for their dual degrees.

The Class of 2023 is one of our most diverse classes ever, in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, industry, work experience, engineering department distribution, and what they are hoping to accomplish over the next two years.

The 2020/21 admissions cycle was unique for many reasons, but it was also our biggest pool of applications, making this class one of the most competitive we have ever had. We were excited to welcome the LGO ’23s who are bringing a lot of new perspectives to the class, showing increasing interest in healthcare, data analytics, and sustainability focuses along with the strong manufacturing and operations that have always been at the foundation of LGO. This year we are welcoming 2 students to our newest engineering department: Nuclear Science and Engineering. These students will focus on exploring sustainable energy and will pioneer a new engineering curriculum.

We also have students from non-tradtional admissions pathways joining us this year. The first student to pass through Sloan’s MBA Early Admissions program and apply to join LGO has started this year in Mechanical Engineering. Sloan’s MBA Early and LGO Early (for current MIT seniors) are admissions pathways that are for undergraduates looking to get a head start on their graduate school timeline. We also have a Department of Material Science and Engineering PhD joining us to finish out his PhD along with a Sloan MBA. This is the third DSME PhD student who has pursued LGO to maximize their time at MIT and opportunities for industry research.

The Class of 2023 has shared a wide variety of reasons and factors that led to them joining LGO this year. Top considerations included access to MIT as a world-class institution and network, the short-term and long-term benefits and ROI of a dual degree, accelerated career outcomes, access to industry partner companies, the enthusiastic and tight-knit community of students and alumni, and the generous fellowship that is granted to each student admitted into the program. This was also a cycle where LGO was able to expand its scholarship offerings to support our diversity efforts, with the new LGO Diversity Fellowships for students who demonstrate a commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity in their life experiences, personally and/or professionally.

We were excited to welcome the 55 LGO ’23s earlier this summer, marking one of the biggest classes admitted into LGO. The next two years will be busy, but we are looking forward to all the newest cohort of LGOs will explore and accomplish at the intersection of business and technology.

Recently graduated CEE LGO ’21 Julia Chen reflects on her two years at MIT LGO. Making the most of her many projects and experiences in a difficult time, Julia showcases the true variety of opportunity around MIT. Congratulations to Julia and all the LGO ’21s!

What LGO and/or Sloan extracurriculars and leadership activities did you participate in? How accessible were Sloan activities and communities as an LGO student?

In LGO, I was a co-chair of the Action Learning Operations Lab Committee, member of the LGO Program Director’s Advisory Committee and Partner Relations Committee. Within Sloan, I was a Sloan Core Fellow and a Spring Fellow. I co-organized the Asia Business Conference as the Marketing Director and the ClimateTech and Energy Prize @ MIT as the Mentorship Director. I served as a Mentor for the Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Program for MIT undergraduate students from the School of Engineering. I also participated in several hackathons including MIT COVID-19 Challenge and Energy Hack with our fellow LGOs.

Despite LGOs being away from campus for one semester for the six month research internship, there is an abundance of opportunities for LGOs to take leadership positions and get involved with Sloan activities. The MBA program office and our fellow Sloanies are generally willing to accommodate our schedule as long as we proactively communicate and make arrangements beforehand.

What was the most valuable leadership learning and how do you think your leadership experience will influence your future career?

I truly enjoyed my time in LGO and the wider Sloan community. Through the core semester and the core fellow program, I worked closely with many Sloanies and met friends who have been a constant source of inspiration to me. Among my closest friends from Sloan were Olga Timirgalieva, who co-founded the First Generation / Low Income Club to support underprivileged students and build an inclusive community in Sloan, and Jessica Leon, who co-founded Latinx MBA Association to empower aspiring Latinx students with educational and professional development opportunities across the US.

I am very fortunate to be close friends with many LGOs and Sloanies like Olga and Jessica. They made me realized the three things that are essential in becoming a principled, innovative leader: gratitude, empathy, and the ability to listen. Maintaining a grateful heart allows us to appreciate what we have, stay positive and make the most out of the less-than-ideal environments. Empathy enables us to see the needs of not just our immediate surroundings but those from the wider society. It helps us identify the opportunities to maximize our potentials. The ability to listen, not just through communication tools but truly attending to the stories of the many brilliant minds around us, motivates me to keep learning and growing. Going through 2020 with a global pandemic and many awakening moments on social issues across the world, I appreciate that my Sloan experience has offered valuable formal leadership training and, more importantly, helped me realize these important qualities as a future leader and a global citizen.

What entrepreneurial resources did you take advantage of while an MIT student? What surprised you most when learning more about entrepreneurship? How do you plan to apply these lessons in your career and broader approach to business? What advice do you have for those interested in learning more about entrepreneurship at MIT?

Over the past year, I worked on a start-up that develops droned enabled robots to address the labor shortage and workplace safety. With co-founders from MIT and Harvard, we were able to take advantage of resources from both schools and outside organizations. We received funding, awards, and mentorship support from MIT SandBox, MIT 100K, Sloan Collaborative Intelligence Competition, Mass Robotics, as well as incubator and accelerator programs such as MIT DesignX, Harvard Innovation Lab, and Launch Lab. We recently won the top prize from RaboBank-MIT Food and Agribusiness Innovation Prize.

The key takeaways from my start-up entrepreneurship experience were to stay agile and disciplined. Agility helps startups re-orient from failures and move on to the next iteration. Discipline allows us to stay focused under resource constraints while exploring different opportunities. Besides start-up entrepreneurship, I am also a believer of corporate entrepreneurship where innovators and ventures are able to leverage the technical and business resources from established organizations to create impact opportunities. In the corporate environment, our organizational processes learnings from Sloan through the three lenses framework offers practical guidance in navigating structural, culture and political dynamics for the success of corporate entrepreneurs.

How has DEI engagement in LGO changed since you became a student? What were your ideals and goals motivating your participation in DEI in LGO? What was your experience as an international student in LGO? How have you had an impact on the program?

It has been extremely encouraging to see the transformation of LGO as result of joint efforts from the program staff and the LGO students on DEI-related issues. In 2020 we started the Active Allyship Committee aiming to create an inclusive environment that empowers talents from all ethnicities, genders, and nationalities. As an international student and a minority in my previous professional experience, I see firsthand the value of a diverse workplace. It has been an extraordinary experience learning about the granularity of DEI issues in different organizations and societies while exploring implementable solutions. In the past year, I led a group of LGO students and started an outreach exercise examining DEI practices from LGO Partner Companies. While we celebrate a more diverse incoming Class of 2023, I truly hope we continue the effort to make LGO an all-rounded program with global perspectives.

What did you do before LGO? Why did you decide to attend LGO? How have your expectations about your career post-LGO changed as you went through the program? What was the pivotal moment that you decided to switch industries (pre or during LGO)?

I worked as a project manager on large-scale building and infrastructure projects in Hong Kong prior to LGO. I have been an advocate for new technologies to improve productivity in my past projects. The experience made me realize the need for additional engineering and business training to develop innovative solutions for traditional industries transitioning into the future of works. The interdisciplinary nature of our LGO cohort and the flexibility offered by the curriculum has helped prepare me to achieve these career goals.

How was the recruiting experience? What resources were most helpful during recruitment? What are you looking forward to in the next step of your career?

The Class of 2021 has gone through an unusual recruitment season through the pandemic and it was particularly challenging as an international student to find opportunities in the US. I am grateful for the LGO and Sloan alumni network during job search, interview preparation, full-time position matching or role creation process. I am excited to share that I will be joining Amgen’s Global Operations Leadership Program and becoming part of the team delivering Amgen’s sustainability target.

After MIT’s virtual Commencement Ceremonies, the LGO program held another virtual celebration for the Class of 2021. As a yearly tradition, the LGO program celebrated each member of the class with friends and family in attendance, and the winner of the LGO Best Thesis award was announced.

This year’s best thesis winner was AJ Tan, who developed deep learning image augmentation to improve performance of automated visual inspection (AVI) systems at Amgen. AJ developed deep learning tools to generate synthetic images for training AVI systems. Synthetic images significantly increased the overall accuracy of visual inspection systems, leading to smaller false eject and accept rates and less manual reinspection. AJ’s tools also reduced characterization and setup time for new products as images are artificially generated. AJ was advised by Duane Boning, the Clarence J. LeBel Professor in Electrical Engineering, and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in the EECS department, and Roy Welsch, the Eastman Kodak Leaders for Global Operations Professor of Management and Professor of Statistics and Engineering Systems at MIT Sloan.

Of the project and its impact, AJ said: “This is probably one of the most exciting projects I have worked on. At its core, the project is about figuring out how to use deep learning for machine vision in a small data environment. It is exciting because many companies do actually operate in this environment but most research publications often overlook this fact. If we can provide some solutions to the small data problem, then the range of companies that can actually benefit from the deep learning revolution will be increased significantly.”

One of AJ’s advisors described his research as “a comprehensive analysis of how the engineering solutions would reduce the need for detailed defect characterization, reduce training and inspection time and, therefore save enough to more than justify their cost while providing a basis for further development of savings in the future.” An LGO Alumni reviewer cited that AJ’s research was “well designed and implemented, clearly an extraordinary amount of work for the LGO internship period.”

Earlier this month, AJ received his MBA and MS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from LGO program. He joined the program after finishing his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at MIT and holds a BS in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Post-LGO, AJ has accepted a position with Amgen.

Earlier this year, NextEra Energy joined the lineup of LGO industry partner companies. A leading clean energy company, NextEra is the world’s largest producer of wind and solar energy and operates the largest regulated utility company in the United States. NextEra has been recognized as a Top 20 Innovative Company by Fortune and received the S&P Global Platts Energy Transition Award in 2020.

NextEra is offering internships and recruiting in how energy is delivered to thousands of homes and businesses. NextEra offers challenges that are compelling in their content and their scale. Already the largest operator of renewable generation in the world, NextEra is investing in technologies such as green hydrogen, fleet electrification solutions, and distributed water hubs that will contribute to the long-term sustainability of how Americans meet their basic needs. NextEra Energy launched its first LGO internship this month with Gustavo Castillo, MechE LGO ’22, who will analyze and build models for EV adoption and infrastructure build out.

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Why did you decide on attending MIT LGO?

As soon as I learned about LGO, I felt as if it were a no-brainer. “Two MIT degrees in two years” is hard to ignore. And I think the value proposition just grew stronger and stronger as I learned more. In particular, I loved how the program so closely integrated business, operations, and technology. That was exactly where my interests laid, and I think the way LGO weaves them together is unparalleled. When I met the people (students, professors, and administration) I was just so thrilled – it was just such an inspiring, engaging, smart, and genuinely friendly group.

Where do you currently work and what do you enjoy most about the work you do?

I’m currently a consultant at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where I’ve focused on a broad range of digital topics, including optimizing IT functions, doing studies on digital marketing, and helping enterprise tech companies go to market more effectively.

This is not necessarily a typical path for LGOs, but I have still found my time at LGO to be immensely valuable in this role. All the lean manufacturing principles I learned in LGO applied directly to the agile development work I’ve done with IT organizations, and all the experience I got around IoT has been really helpful in my work with my current tech client.

I have really enjoyed continuing to operate at the intersection of technology and business, but I have to say that my favorite part of the job continues to be the people. BCG was the biggest employer of MIT Sloan grads in my year, so the culture and people are aligned in all the right ways.

What is your favorite memory from your time at LGO?

It’s so hard to pick just one! You just pack so many moments into those 2 years.

The one that comes to mind was at the end of LGO Summer Core (for context – LGOs start about 3 months before Sloan starts at the beginning of June every year) when we did class superlatives at our last group lunch of the summer. I helped draft and present the superlatives, so I’m admittedly biased, but I just loved the event. We had so many funny and heartwarming anecdotes to share about our classmates and professors – it made me realize how much we had come together as a group in less than 3 months.

Honorable mention also goes to serving as COO of MIT Driverless, which is North America’s first student-run driverless racing team. LGO sponsored the team and helped us win 3rd place at a large international competition.

What was the most valuable takeaway from MIT that has helped in your career post-LGO?

I know this is a cop out, but I have to say two things. They’re both equally good in my book.

First, limit work-in-process (WIP)! It’s life changing. I even go so far as to fold my laundry and place it directly into my drawers. And even as a consultant it helps me and my team be so much more efficient

Second is the growth mindset. Of course, the hard skills I mentioned above have been super valuable, but LGO also taught me how to get comfortable being uncomfortable and gave me the confidence and toolkit I needed to quickly grow and learn in different situations.

How were you able to engage with LGBTQ+ communities at MIT?

I was one of the co-presidents of Sloan Pride, which is Sloan’s LGBTQ+ affinity group. This was a great way to meet queer peers across programs and years. We had various social events, including a weekend in Provincetown that I helped organize in my 2nd year. I’m still close with a lot of the people in that group – I actually just saw two of them last weekend!

MIT also has broader campus-wide resources that I engaged with. At one point I was pulled into a lunch with MIT Chancellor (Cynthia Barnhart) to help offer perspective on how MIT might respond to a ballot proposition for banning gender neutral bathrooms in Massachusetts. The proposition thankfully did not pass, but I deeply appreciated that MIT leadership had the foresight and care to consider the potential impact on transgender and genderqueer members of the community.

What are your hopes for the future of diversity in LGO and in industry?

I, of course, hope that LGO and industry will eventually reflect the diversity of the communities they serve – in terms of gender, ethnicity, sexual preference, and other underrepresented groups/identities. Like many organizations, LGO is still on a journey for the first two groups, although I’d argue LGO has been good on the third (albeit with a small N, as my LGO stats professor would be quick to point out!)

For me, diversity is just a first step. What I really hope for is inclusion and I do think LGO and, more broadly, MIT are ahead of the curve there. For example, every year MIT hosts the Hack for Inclusion, which is an incredibly empowering, inspiring, and action-oriented event. In the year I attended, my team designed a concept for an open job platform where candidates could take double-blind talent assessments to help connect them with qualified opportunities in an unbiased way. Other teams came up with dozens of innovative concepts, such as a smart cane for visually impaired people. That particular idea was sponsored by Microsoft, which made its first investment in a smart cane startup two years later.

Do you have any advice for prospective students thinking about applying?

LGO and MIT offer incredible opportunities. I would do it again in a heartbeat, so if you’re at all on the fence, I’d strongly encourage you to apply. I think the more you learn about it, the more you’ll like it.

And if you do decide to apply – let your personality show! So many people get caught up trying to come across a certain way, and that ultimately makes their application or interview performance less memorable. I’d still recommend practicing for the interview and getting input on your essay from others, but I hope you never let that dampen or alter who you are.

On Monday, May 3rd, current LGO students, LGO staff, and alumni across thirteen different class years virtually gathered to honor and celebrate the late LFM ’99 Charles “Harrison” Smith III with members of his family. Harrison’s legacy as a major LFM/LGO community builder was reflected in the efforts of the eight nominees for the annual award, with LGO ’22 Dan Borchik receiving the prize.

LGO ’21 recipient of the award, Liza Xu, shared the words: “May Harrison’s spirit inspire us all to be more active and involved, kind and devoted, open and friendly in our own lives.” It is abundantly clear that spirit rings true at LGO today, as students and alumni continue to spread these values in their lives and communities.

A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Dan was an Apache helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army prior to joining LGO. Nominated for his tremendous efforts in supporting the LGO community throughout a difficult year, Dan worked across classes and committees to improve the LGO experience for everyone. His classmates described him as “intensely focused on building community among our LGO class” and that he “sees the best in others and is not shy about complimenting and building others up… [Dan] has been and continues to be a light in our class.”

Christine: I did the Management and Technology at the University of Pennsylvania as an undergrad and really valued the dual degree and discipline approach to the program. It was such a formative experience to be able to apply engineering principles as well as a business mindset to every problem. The LGO program was really a natural extension of that experience.

How were you able to engage with communities of women at MIT and LGO?

Christine: With the LGO community being tight knit, it was easy to befriend and engage all our classmates.  It was especially great to meet women who all had different paths prior to LGO and then to continue to keep in touch to see all the great things they are accomplishing after the program.

Meghan: Three things:

1. Teamwork – it’s how businesses thrive and deliver their best results. Teamwork was essential to survive and get all the work done in LGO. You simply couldn’t do it all alone.
2. The 80/20 rule – knowing when your work is good enough to call it done… and how pursuing perfection can eat up way too much of your time without delivering commensurate benefit.
3. VOC training and diving deep into the customer needs hierarchy – asking “why” until you get the REAL answer of the problem you’re needing to solve.

Christine: The most valuable takeaway from the program would be the strong alumni network. I’m at Verizon today because of the network and I’m trying to pay it forward by hiring more and more LGO graduates each year to come join Verizon. We have an LGO-focused recruiting team that participates in plant treks, company day events, executive proseminar, and full-time and internship recruiting to continue the partnership engagement with the hopes of finding incredible talent.

Christine: I manage reverse logistics at Verizon and work at the intersection of business and engineering every day. I love that I get to manage a team of technical engineers who develop and design product testing while also managing an operational team to implement the technical solution. The LGO program provides not only the skillset required but also the confidence to show up and deliver results.

Meghan: As president of the Urology & Pelvic health division at Boston Scientific, my job is incredibly rewarding. We improve the quality of lives for millions of patients around the world. It’s very meaningful work.

Additionally, I love serving my team and our organization that makes this company so great. Setting clear strategy and direction and then resourcing people to deliver and achieve their professional goals is one of my favorite parts of the job. Watching people and teams flourish and win is incredibly rewarding!

Meghan: I am fortunate to lead a management board that is incredibly diverse. During the many challenges of 2020, I benefited first hand from the power of this diversity. We had richer debates, we made better decisions, we served our teams more meaningfully as a result of this diversity. Diverse and inclusive teams are higher performing teams. Period. We need more business leaders who know and believe this.

Do you have any advice for prospective LGOs?

Meghan: You’ll learn the most and grow the most because of your classmates. It’s the most intense two years of your life… it will feel intense and long while you’re in the thick of it all, and in a heartbeat it will be over. Don’t strive for perfection, strive to learn and grow.

Christine: Look at the LGO program as a start of your journey. The program will open doors but with it comes responsibility. Responsibility to create change in your organizations and to continuously bring multi-faceted solutions to problems.

Continuing our celebration of Women’s History Month 2021, this week we are spotlighting two alumni who are 10 years out of LGO: Kacey Fetcho-Phillips, LGO ’11, and Annie Kang, LGO ’12 and head of the WLGO (Women of LGO) alumni steering committee.

Why did you decide on attending MIT LGO?

Kacey: Early in my career as chemical engineer, I loved creatively solving problems and making a difference in manufacturing plants.  While I enjoyed my work, I knew there was much more in the broader business and I wanted to learn more.  After researching options, I decided to explore full-time business schools.  The combination of building on my existing technical mindset within the School of Engineering, growing as a business leader through Sloan School of Management, and the opportunity to do both within the established operations leadership framework of LGO was amazing.

Annie: I was debating between pursuing a Masters in Electrical Engineering or an MBA and was encouraged to consider both. I had heard about LGO from a previous colleague at an internship and again from a colleague at the job I had prior to joining LGO. I visited Boston to attend an Ambassador Day and as I learned more about the program, I was drawn to everything it had to offer. Accepting an invitation to join a program that was exceptionally strong in both business and engineering and that had also rewarded me with the Robert Noyce fellowship was a no brainer!

What was the most valuable takeaway from MIT that has helped in your career post-LGO?

Kacey: Developing a strategic leadership mindset in the LGO program has been transformational; attending LGO changed the way I think.  This was driven by the experiences unique to MIT and LGO – listening to challenging real-life stories from executives in the Leadership and Ethics Seminar, building technical leadership mindset in System Dynamics, and by developing strategic thinking in the capstone Operations Strategy course.  Additionally, these skills are refined with Action Learning experiences, where we have impact applying these principles during school with courses like Ops Lab, where I was part of a team that helped increase ICU room capacity at Boston Children’s Hospital.

How were you able to engage with communities of women at MIT and LGO?

Annie: Since March 2017, I have been the chair of the WLGO (Women of LGO) steering committee. This has allowed me to stay connected with a large number of the LGO women alumni. Whether getting together at the Women’s Breakfast at the Alumni Conference in Chicago in 2017, or visiting Boston and the Bay area later that year to celebrate the WLGO 10 year anniversary, or holding a coffee meetup with WLGO alums on the west coast during COVID, every gathering reminds me how lucky I am to know such a strong and admirable group of women. WLGOs seem to always stay curious and motivated, and I always feel so inspired and energized every time I meet or speak with a group of WLGOs.

What do you enjoy most about the work you do?

Annie: Product Management pushes me to be both strategic and detail-oriented. I am able to stay involved in every part of the product lifecycle while working across a cross-functional group of stakeholders. The diversity of the role, from collaborating with UX designers and developers to helping solve a problem for a particular user group, always brings a different set of challenges to tackle every day, which I find to be very exciting and rewarding.

Kacey: I lead a manufacturing facility for Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA, where we are building a new facility for a cancer product in North Carolina.  As a leader, I am passionate about helping people, including patients through the medicines we make and as a leader for our teams.

There is currently unmet medical need in oncology, and we’re building a team to serve more of these patients with our products.  I am enjoying the opportunity to be part of this impact from the beginning, including designing the facility, hiring the new team, developing operational structures, and establishing the foundational team culture to enable our collective success.

Do you have any advice for prospective LGOs?

Kacey: Attending MIT is an amazing, inspiring, challenging, and transformational experience.  The foundation and reputation of MIT and LGO, and the boundless innovative mindset from the student and alumni network is a strategic advantage of the program.  If you are energized by the opportunities and innovations that are possible in operations leadership then you have found the right place!

In celebration of Women’s History Month 2021, we are highlighting alumni 5 years out from LGO! Jackee Mohl, LGO ’16, and Amy Gobel, LGO ’17, reflect on their time at MIT as well as the skills and networks they built while pursuing their dual degrees.

Why did you decide on attending MIT LGO?

Amy: For as long as I have had a career goal, I have wanted to make a positive impact on the environment. My pre-LGO work experience in hazardous waste remediation led me to focus on how I can find win-win opportunities within industry that can help manufacturing companies create more sustainable products, develop more efficient processes, and effectively manage risks. I knew as I was thinking about my next steps that I would need a strong business toolkit as well as a deep understanding of operations to make an impact. The LGO program offered exactly the toolkit I was looking for. But it also offered more than that – as I got to know the community of current students during the application process, I was continuously surprised and delighted to encounter people with similar interests but with an extraordinary range of backgrounds. The program offerings got me to apply; and the feeling of community got me to accept.

How were you able to engage with communities of women at MIT and LGO?

Amy: The women in my class were an important support system during my time in LGO. We organized frequent events – book club meetings, wine & cheese nights, holiday cookie exchanges – that helped us create a sense of community outside the classroom. I also valued the connections I made in the broader Sloan community, particularly with the women I met over the course of my Sustainability Certificate. I chose all-women teams for my S-Lab project and a sustainability case competition, and I valued the chance to work with and learn from these thoughtful, values-driven female leaders.

Jackee: During my time at LGO,  I was able to be a part of Sloan Women in Management (SWIM) and represent LGO on the Dean’s Task Force for Gender Diversity, where we worked with students and administrative teams to increase gender diversity in recruiting applicants for Sloan and LGO.  In addition, the group of LGO women in my class were and continue to be some of the closest relationships I formed during my time in graduate school.  I genuinely appreciate being inspired, supported and motivated by my female classmates during school and continuing in the 5 years since graduation.  There is so much value in this support network sharing our experiences as leaders and the challenges that come with those roles across multiple industries.  Being able to connect with LGO alumna specifically at Boeing has been a tremendous benefit as I navigate my career through the company.

What was the most valuable takeaway from MIT that has helped in your career post-LGO?

Amy: I came into the LGO program with substantial Imposter Syndrome. Even knowing how common that feeling is didn’t alleviate the symptoms. But through the program, I gained both a framework to evaluate complex operations challenges and also plenty of experience applying this framework in the real world. The time with LGO gave me both the practical skills to be able to address important problems and the confidence to know that I can add value.

What do you enjoy most about the work you do?

Jackee: What I enjoy most about my work is being able to develop and mentor talent at Boeing.  I have been fortunate to work with great team members across multiple functions, as I’ve moved through many roles at Boeing by leveraging the LGO playbook.  I now enjoy using the network of people and experiences I have built to connect talent with potential opportunities for growth.  I am particularly passionate about mentoring women in engineering, operations and program management to ensure greater diversity of leadership.  My hope for the future is that we can provide more opportunities for diverse talent in operational leadership and I am encouraged by the macro steps that I see Boeing and other companies taking to ensure that.

Amy: I enjoy the chance to operate at many different levels of zoom. I get to dive into the details of a problem, and I can pull back to understand the strategic context for this problem. And I can repeat this process both for the technical dimension and the people/culture dimensions.

What are your hopes for diversity in LGO and in industry?

Amy: Prejudice in our community creates unnecessary friction for good people and good ideas. It slows people down and turns their forward momentum into so much waste heat. In the spirit of Lean manufacturing, we should all want to eliminate that waste. I hope that we as an LGO community continue to make good on the title and lead industry to a place where people can fulfill their full potential as their full selves.

Do you have any advice for prospective LGOs?

Jackee: I’d advise prospective LGOs to take advantage of everything that the full school has to offer.  It’s super easy to get involved with clubs and programs on campus, across both MIT and Sloan.  LGO is uniquely positioned to be able to make the most of relationships at both the engineering and business schools.  Because of this, there is a wealth of experiences available to the students.  By rounding out your education with varied extracurricular activities, you are able to grow the diversity of your connections and set yourself up for greater success when taking on leadership roles as you graduate.

MIT LGO was very excited to recently announce our new industry partnership with Rivian! An independent U.S. automotive company, Rivian manufactures electric adventure and delivery vehicles and aims to accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels. The company plans to host MIT LGO internships and recruit graduates into product development and scaling up manufacturing and operations.

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