A joint program for mid-career professionals that integrates engineering and systems thinking. Earn your master’s degree in engineering and management.
When Lili Wondwossen, MBA ’24, decided to pursue an MBA at MIT Sloan, it was a full-circle moment for her. In high school, she was on the MIT campus every Saturday coding, building robots, and taking engineering classes through MITES Saturdays (formerly SEED Academy). As an adult, working at Pfizer during the pandemic reignited her passion to build the skills needed to navigate a global health crisis of that magnitude in the future.
Lili is involved in the MIT community on many levels—academically and socially; locally and globally. As an Ethiopian and a Black woman who grew up in Boston. She’s excited to be the incoming co-president of the Africa Business Club (ABC) and to also further challenge herself with courses in areas or industries she is not familiar with to widen her skill set.
A Day with Lili
9:00 am
I started my day in the Sloan cafeteria where I happen to see my classmate, Bryant Johnson. He’s also a first-year from Atlanta. We were introduced by a mutual friend, Jamal Grant, who is one of my best friends and a Sloan Alum.
10:00 am
Next, I’m headed to my first class which is Managerial Finance with Professor Eben Lazarus.
10:30 am
This class is hard! I took managerial finance because it’s important for me to have some foundational knowledge about finance. And it’s one of the finance one-on-one classes that you can take if you’re interested in becoming more versed in the finance world. It’s also a prerequisite to a lot of classes at MIT Sloan.
11:30 am
After class, I went to my debrief meeting for the Africa Innovate Conference (AIC) which sits under the Africa Business Club. It included the leaders, organizers, and club members involved in the conference.
12:00 pm
At the Africa Innovate Conference, I was the marketing and healthcare panel lead. Managing the conference and organizing it is one of the toughest things I’ve ever done. But seeing the results of it—people so happy and excited by the content that we’re able to produce—was very exciting and rewarding!
1:00 pm
I’m walking over to E62 with the outgoing Africa Business Club co-presidents, Khadija and Ebere, for the Black Business Student Association (BBSA) club photoshoot.
1:15 pm
It was important for me to participate in the photoshoot because I identify myself with so many communities and classmates within these pictures. I am an Ethiopian immigrant, a Black woman, and an American. I’ve grown up in a very diverse community. I’m part of a historically Black sorority called Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. A lot of my life, the things that I’ve done, and my friend circles are representative of the diverse cultures I grew up within. But it’s also exciting to know that these are the classmates that will be taking over BBSA and have leadership roles for next year.
1:30 pm
After that, I’m meeting with my fellow interns for the summer at Biogen. It was great just getting to know each other. We played icebreakers and met the director of the internship program. I’m really excited to not only be staying in Boston but also be working for Biogen, considering that my passion is in healthcare. But this time, I get to work on the commercial side and support patients with SMA.
2:30 pm
I usually meet with Zach Wang in the cafeteria and walk to our New Enterprise class together at the Stata Center.
2:40 pm
We first go to this place called the Banana Lounge. It’s a part of our routine and such a cool experience. This is such a cute part of MIT.
3:00 pm
I’m now in my last class of the day, New Enterprise with Professor Bill Aulet and Paul Cheek.
3:15 pm
One thing that I want to explore as part of my MIT experience is entrepreneurship. And so, I wanted to take this class because it’s one of those fundamental entrepreneurship classes that take you through the steps of what a principled entrepreneur looks and feels like.
