QS MBA Leadership Scholarship Winner 2021: Matthew Lobach

I think that the more scholarships that are available to students trying to attend business school, the more valuable that is in building a diversity of backgrounds, cultures, and subjects of expertise in business school. This in turn will strengthen the richness and diversity in the classroom and in turn in the business sector as a whole.

I found many scholarships were pretty narrow in scope, whereas QS had a mixture of both broadly and narrowly focused scholarships that could be applicable to most anyone looking for a scholarship. In particular, the fact that the QS Leadership Scholarship also recognised the importance of the UN Sustainable Development Goals in leadership appealed to me because I believe the link between business and sustainability is increasingly important for organisations around the world.

As the Senior Director of Sustainability at Hersha Hotels and Resorts, my background is primarily in real estate and sustainability. Over the past eight years I have built and industry-leading sustainability programme – branded EarthView® - that is utilized by 125 hotels around the world, reduced hotel greenhouse gas emissions by 44%, and developed social impact initiatives around the world pertaining to clean water and hygiene. A core tenant of the programme is the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which I’ve found to be a helpful guide for organisations on understanding how their businesses have an impact on both internal and external stakeholders worldwide.

I previously earned a Master’s Degree in Strategic Leadership toward Sustainability from the Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden. One of our professors often said, “the question of solving some of the world’s greatest challenges is not about if we have enough energy or resources – we have those. The question is if we will have enough leaders in time.” I think that solving any complex problem – for a community, a company, or a government – requires a strong leadership skillset. The better we are at developing strong, compassionate, and effective leaders, the better we will be at addressing some of the world’s most challenging problems.

I am pursuing my MBA at Cornell University’s SC Johnson College of Business. The entrepreneurial culture and engaging people I met at Cornell really helped me decide on their programme over others. As someone who is self-driven and passionate about enhancing my literacy of foundational business and management concepts, Cornell’s academic focus and team-based collaboration provides the opportunity to build my leadership skills critical in today’s dynamic business environment.

Additionally, I am amazed by the diverse backgrounds and industry experience of faculty and fellow students in my class whose knowledge and perspectives make for an innovative and collaborative culture. Cornell’s integration of global immersion courses, new venture creation, and sustainable global enterprises really resonated with my goals of continuing to turn ambition into impact post MBA.

QS offers so many helpful resources throughout the entire process of deciding to go to school. In addition to applying for scholarships, I would recommend engaging with the QS team and taking advantage of their events and information, interacting with school representatives at QS events, and attending as many sessions as you can to determine what schools and programmes best align with your goals.

Specifically for the leadership scholarship, I really tried to outline my experience and integrate my “voice” into how to best answer the prompt. Even though there is a lot to think about with applying to school and scholarships, try to have fun and enjoy the process!