Zohra Yaqhubi '22
Zohra Yaqhubi, J.D.-MBA ’22, is an attorney at Kirkland & Ellis in Boston, where she focuses on mergers and acquisitions. She serves on the advisory council of Communities United, Inc., a nonprofit that operates early childhood education centers in the region. While earning a joint degree at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and Pritzker School of Law, Yaqhubi was president of the Golub Capital Board Fellows Program and an editor of the Northwestern University Law Review.
Can you talk about where you grew up and your experience before graduate school?
I grew up in Watertown, a suburb just outside Boston, and went on to earn my bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard University. My early ambition was to work in public service, but as I was graduating, Snapchat had just gone public and offered me a role at a moment of explosive growth. Joining as a Consumer Insights Analyst gave me the chance to dive into an entirely new industry, one that valued adaptability over prior experience (of which, having just graduated, I had none), and to see firsthand how technology shapes the way people connect.
My subsequent roles at Snapchat and Facebook from 2017 to 2019 proved pivotal. During this period, concerns over user privacy were at the forefront of public discourse. At Facebook, I served on the Business Integrity team, tasked with restoring public trust by ensuring our advertising and monetization practices aligned with user expectations. Immersed in those conversations, I found myself drawn to the complex intersection of technology, privacy and consumer protection. That experience planted the seed for law school, not out of abstract interest, but from a desire to understand and influence the frameworks that govern emerging technologies.
While working in the tech sector, I got to see how business strategy, data and market forces shape the environment in which those legal and policy decisions are made. That realization ultimately inspired me to pursue a joint J.D.-MBA degree, with the goal of pairing the analytical thinking skills learned at law school with an understanding of business dynamics explored in business school.
Although my present practice does not focus distinctly on those subject areas, I am grateful for the experience as it was the initial catalyst for pursuing my J.D.-MBA.
Did you have any experience with nonprofits prior to attending Northwestern?
I have been connected to Communities United, Inc. (CUI) for most of my life, beginning as a participant in its early childhood programs in 1997. In addition, with my mother serving as a teacher at one of CUI’s centers for nearly 30 years, I grew up understanding the organization’s impact on children and families. That early exposure instilled in me a lasting appreciation for the critical role that high-quality early education plays in shaping lives and strengthening communities.
Today, I am honored to serve on the board of directors of CUI. The organization is dedicated to providing high-quality early education and family services for children ages four months to five years. Its mission is to support children’s success, empower families and strengthen communities through economically integrated programs, exceptional staff and resources, and a commitment to diversity and lifelong learning. By fostering developmentally appropriate experiences, CUI enables children and families to grow, adapt to change and build on their achievements, while advancing leadership in early childhood education.
Being a Board Fellow requires a major time commitment. Why did you decide to participate in the program while pursuing a joint business and law degree?
As a student, I saw the Board Fellows program as an opportunity to complement my joint business and law degree with practical experience that would serve me in both the private and nonprofit sectors. I knew I wanted to work at a law firm representing corporations and businesses, so it was important for me to understand governance and decision-making from the board perspective and to “speak the same language” as future clients. But I also wanted to explore how I could remain engaged in nonprofit work while pursuing a career in the private sector. What I value about the Board Fellows program is that it demonstrates there is no single path to nonprofit involvement; through exposure to diverse professionals and their experiences, I’ve learned that regardless of one’s career, there are always meaningful ways to contribute to mission-driven organizations.
Which nonprofit were you matched with as a Board Fellow, and what was the focus of your project for the organization?
I served on the board of Kohl Children’s Museum during a particularly challenging time, right after the pandemic, when organizations that relied on in-person experiences were working hard to re-engage their communities. One of the challenges the museum was grappling with was how to integrate the growing national emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion into both board governance and museum programming. This became the focus of my project. On the governance side, we developed recruitment guidelines to support more inclusive processes, while on the programming side, we analyzed visitor data by zip code to better understand who the museum was reaching and whether the exhibits reflected the communities being served. Much of our work centered on bridging the gap between donors and staff on one side and the families who visited the museum on the other. That connection is pivotal to a nonprofit’s success because it is what allows you to be close to, to care about, and to see the impact of your mission.
What were the greatest areas of growth and development for you from the fellowship?
Being able to see the different ways that nonprofit involvement can play out in a person’s life. It doesn’t have to be your full-time job or something you do 100 percent of the time. Just because I’m a lawyer doesn’t mean that the only thing I do in my life is practice law. There are ways that I can still serve communities I care about and missions I care about without having to commit 100 percent of my time to that.
It also helped me understand that just like any business, nonprofits need strategic planning and financial oversight to succeed. Business savviness is just as important for a nonprofit as it is for a corporation. One of my favorite slides that Professor Allison Henry projected in class on the first day of the program read: “Nonprofit is a tax status, not a way of doing business.” And that’s the exact frame of mind that those who came to speak to us from successful nonprofits across the country zeroed in on: Operating for a socially beneficial purpose does not preclude you from generating profits and running a successful business -- and they are certainly not mutually exclusive goals.
How would you rate your Board Fellowship as part of your overall graduate school experience?
Being part of the Board Fellows program was far and away one of the best things that came out of my Kellogg and overall Northwestern experience. Entering business school, I was operating under the preconceived notion that everyone’s focus was to recruit for a consulting or finance job, so it was shocking and refreshing to see so many peers who wanted to be involved in acts of service for their communities. The application process for the Board Fellows program remains one of the most competitive at Kellogg, and that just goes to show you how much demand there is, which is wonderful.
Also, the program is structured to give its students tools to apply lessons from traditional business school classes into the nonprofit model. Nonprofits are often left out of the conversation in finance and accounting classes, but the Board Fellows program bridges that gap.
How did you get invited to join the board of CUI, and what is your role?
The year I moved back to Boston, I attended CUI’s annual gala with the mission of meeting the board chair to ask how I could get involved. I shared that I had recently graduated from Northwestern, discussed my experience serving on the board of Kohl Children’s Museum, and mentioned that I was an alum of CUI. That conversation led to an invitation to join CUI’s advisory council.
Currently, I serve as co-chair of CUI’s Gala Committee, focusing on fundraising efforts. The annual gala is the organization’s primary fundraiser, and when I joined, the event’s growth had plateaued. In my first year as co-chair, we achieved CUI’s highest fundraising total to date -- largely by expanding corporate sponsorships, including support from my then-employer, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, and by increasing engagement among attendees and auction participants.
How are you using your learnings from your fellowship in your professional life?
My fellowship experience has greatly informed my role on the board of CUI, making me a more engaged and knowledgeable member. It has also given me opportunities in my professional life to discuss the impact and operations of nonprofits with colleagues, highlighting how meaningful involvement can complement a corporate career. The fellowship gave me many examples that I still leverage to explain to others how one can bridge the corporate and nonprofit worlds, contributing to both in ways that are mutually enriching.
Is there anything else you’d like to share about your Board Fellows experience?
I can’t stress enough how special the program is. Many people (my younger self, included) assume that board membership is reserved for people later in their careers. The Board Fellows program shows that does not have to be the case. It is empowering for students to see that somebody early in their career can be an asset and bring value to the board, and the program not only shows us that, but lets us experience it.
