From social groups to venture funds, GSB alumni have continued their bonds far beyond graduation.
written by Dylan Walsh
Photos Courtesy of CarolAnn Shindelar
Aisa Aiyer, MBA ’05, and Alex Charters Zubko, MBA ’05, live 20 minutes from each other in Connecticut. Recently, as they were both nearing 50, changing jobs, and approaching their 20th Stanford Graduate School of Business reunion, they were “doing a lot of introspection and reflection on big questions,” Aiyer remembers. “This all coalesced into us saying, we can’t be the only people thinking through this, and we stumbled upon this idea to start talking to our classmates.”
CarolAnn Shindelar, center, MBA ’87 with the other members of her alumni women’s group in 2018 (bottom) and at their GSB graduation in ’87 (top) | Courtesy of CarolAnn Shindelar
Thus, 50 Cups of Coffee was born. A private podcast for the Class of 2005, Aiyer and Zubko interview their classmates about what led them to Stanford GSB and what life has thrown their way since graduation. “We set out to do 10 conversations, and it snowballed into an outpouring of thoughts, ideas, people really seeking connection with each other,” Zubko says. “The show of love has been astounding.” They’ve already done 50 interviews, and ultimately, hope to capture all 350 classmates on tape.
The podcast is representative of the many ways Stanford GSB classes and communities not only remain in touch after graduation, but often establish deeper and more meaningful bonds as the years pass.
“I think all of us would say this group has cemented one of the most important relationships in our lives: our relationship with each other,” says CarolAnn Shindelar, MBA ’87. She and seven other women met through a weekly facilitated women’s group while at the GSB, and have continued meeting for an annual three-day gathering ever since graduating.
The long-running alumni gathering hosted by Andrew Moley, MBA ’91, and Cathy Crane Moley, MBA ’92, shown at their first get-together in 1991 (top) and at their 35th annual gathering this past January (bottom) | Courtesy of Andrew Moley and Cathy Crane Moley
Another informal alumni group is similarly long-lived. Having started over a long weekend in Carmel, California, a few months before graduation, an event by hosts Andrew Moley, MBA ’91, and Cathy Crane Moley, MBA ’92 — who met that first weekend and are now married — has continued for another group of classmates ever since. The clan has expanded to include spouses, children, and grandchildren. “We lived these amazing years at business school, and for 35 years since, we’ve been able to be together to reconnect,” Andrew says.
Dan Matthies and Babu Sivadasan, both SEP ’19, are founding partners of Reaction, a global venture fund that has brought classmates together to help solve large-scale challenges. Recognizing that Stanford Executive Program alumni possessed a sweeping range of expertise and geographic reach, Reaction formed partnerships on issues like climate change and healthcare.
Roughly 250 leaders, spanning six continents and including SEP alumni from 2010–2024, have participated in the fund. “All of us had this shared feeling that by building something together, it would be exponential compared to what anyone could do on their own,” Matthies says. Their goal is to improve the lives of one billion people by the end of this decade.
Babu Sivadasan, left, SEP ’19, brings together Stanford Executive Program alumni through Reaction, a global venture fund | Courtesy of Babu Sivadasan
The global span of GSB connections is highlighted with the 100 Dinners campaign, spearheaded by TJ Duane, MBA ’14, which convenes groups of 8–10 alumni to share meals in cities worldwide. The idea started in the lead-up to the GSB Centennial and then took on a life of its own. More than 135 dinners have already been hosted, and the number keeps growing.
“The dinner became a way to activate and connect a lot of alumni,” Duane says. “In New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Ukraine, Turkey, Colombia — all over the world, we’re hearing these stories about the powerful thread of the GSB, the way these meetings reveal we’re much more similar to each other than we are different.”
Alumni gather in Hong Kong, Zurich, Switzerland, Foster City, CA, Atlanta, GA, Hyderabad, India, Vancouver, B.C., and Maui, Hawaii as part of the 100 dinners campaign.
