SLEB Co-Chairs in Action

The Bernstein Center for Leadership and Ethics is excited to introduce the Student Leadership and Ethics Board (SLEB) Co-Chairs for the 2022-2023 academic year. Andrea Kaman MBA ’23, Chankrit Sethi EMBA ’23, Adam Shelepak MBA ’23, and Sam Sonenshine EMBA ’23 have proven themselves to be action-orientated and impactful leaders, and we are thrilled to support them as they lead the student charge in fostering a culture of values-based leadership and ethics in business within the CBS community. We spoke to the Co-Chairs about this year’s SLEB initiatives and focus areas, all of which will provide opportunities to strengthen the student perspective and allow a deeper understanding of how choices influence the world.   What drew you to the Student Leadership and Ethics Board? MBA Co-Chairs (Andrea/Adam): The opportunity to engage on topics of ethics and leadership with a diverse set of students and practitioners and to impact the instruction of these topics at CBS. SLEB is one of the few student groups linked to a CBS Center or Program, and thus can offer unparalleled access to faculty and guest speakers. As an interest-based group, the students who join represent every industry and background, which makes for amazing diversity of thought and a dynamic experience. We want to ensure that students and the broader community are equipped to wrestle with complex ethical and moral issues now and in the future. SLEB is the primary outlet to drive this type of engagement at CBS. EMBA Co- Chairs (Chankrit/Sam): We view SLEB as both a source of community and a platform for bringing important conversations to the CBS community. The community aspect is important to us especially given the decentralized nature of life in the EMBA program. Most EMBAs don’t engage extensively with clubs given that we work full-time during the day, so having a group at school that comes together to focus on issues we care about is a wonderful benefit. As executives and thought leaders in our fields, EMBA students find themselves constantly encountering complex questions that touch on ethics and leadership—both in our jobs and in our classes. SLEB offers a space for us to address these questions head-on by inviting industry leaders to speak with students and provide specific tools to tackle these issues in the workplace.  Why are you excited to lead the Board this year? MBA: We are honored to lead the MBA SLEB board this year. As we move past pandemic restrictions, we are planning in-person events with faculty and external speakers. Starting this year, SLEB members will be involved in the development of the new CBS Leadership Dashboard with the Bernstein Center, ensuring the dashboard reflects student needs. Alongside traditional programming, anchored by the annual Leadership and Ethics Week in spring, it should be an exciting time to be part of SLEB. EMBA: In-person events! During the pandemic, it was great to see how innovative and effective the community was at moving events into the virtual space, but now that we can convene in person again, it will be a treat to create meaningful dialogues while being together in the same room. We are also excited to work on expanding our presence in the CBS community and engage with other faculties and departments at Columbia to create a space for diversity and inclusion of thought and leadership.   How will SLEB help all CBS students along their ethical leadership journey? MBA: SLEB aims to ensure that CBS is empowering students to work, manage, and lead around modern business issues both within the business school curriculum and outside of it. To do this, SLEB provides a space for students who want to engage in interactive dialogue around the most pressing issues facing leaders today, including human capital, DEI, the environment, technology, social media, and countless other areas. SLEB will also have a hand in further developing the core curriculum, through which we hope to offer multiple opportunities for personal and professional growth. EMBA: We hope to increase SLEB’s engagement with EMBA students at CBS through regular events and by launching additional avenues of engagement, such as podcasts, and YouTube videos. The slate of topics we are working to address this semester is broad, from fundamental issues that affect everyone—AI and tech, data and privacy, legal loopholes, and ESG—to issues that impact specific communities more directly—neurodivergence, mass incarceration, the business of drag . . . the list goes on! What is the most impractical talent you have? Andrea: I can touch my tongue to my nose. My kids think it’s endlessly funny. Chankrit: I write script ideas for potential TV shows that I never discuss with anyone or ever plan on releasing to the public. I have no idea why my brain comes up with these randomly throughout the day. Adam: I am an excellent trivia player, which might not be practical in leadership and ethics contexts, might prove highly practical for a future Jeopardy run.     Sam: My knowledge of baseball statistics is encyclopedic and has never come in handy.