McGowan Fellows Program

Working with 10 students from 10 top-tier MBA programs, the McGowan Fellows Program supports emerging leaders. Unique in its profile, the program provides a year’s tuition. The experiential program involves values-based leadership training, a symposium focused on pressing ethical questions in business and society, alumni coaching, and a problem-solving social impact project. Fellows emerge with a new perspective on the responsibilities and potential of leadership, as well as a cohort of like-minded professionals and access to a welcoming alumni network of change-makers. They are prepared to advance business and society.

The program has roots in the 2008 financial crisis. After witnessing the devastating consequences of that downturn, the board of directors created the fellowship to cultivate leaders who understand and embrace specific principles, including courage, accountability, and empathy, qualities our benefactor was known for. The principles at hand are the same six that our board employs in our work.

The underlying concepts of the program: good leadership has the power to transform individuals, teams, organizations, and society; leadership can be taught; and good leadership is greatly needed as our nation faces increasingly complex challenges.

You will find our alumni leading teams on Wall Street and in corporations, launching a new healthcare device in Kenya, developing strategies for a Chicago nonprofit, pinch-hitting for USAID, and steering a real estate development firm. They’re driven, they’re thoughtful, and they’re connected.

Meet the current class.
Check out news about the program.