Growing up in Kansas City as the child of Iranian immigrants, Nooshin Bowman ’25 MBA saw firsthand the impact that community investments can have. Though she lived in a lower-middle-income neighborhood, she was able to use computers donated to her school and take engineering programs for free. Those benefits helped open her perspective and led her to pursue a career in engineering and consulting and eventually to her MBA at Kellogg.
Arriving in Evanston, she found a way to give back through the Golub Capital Board Fellows Program. Sponsored by direct lender and credit asset manager Golub Capital, the program trains top MBA students in board governance through a combination of education and experiential learning. Through the program’s matching process, Bowman became an ex officio board member for Devices 4 the Disabled (D4D), which provides donated wheelchairs and medical devices for free to patients in need. “It was my exact niche. I thought I could bring a lot of value.”
Bowman arrived to find a board with a mix of skills and engagement. For her required project, she interviewed board members one-on-one to better understand how they might contribute. She also standardized the onboarding and governance process and set up trainings. The experience gave Bowman a new appreciation for the importance of boards in setting strategy and culture for organizations.
At the same time, working closely with the nonprofit’s clients only increased her passion for the medical device industry. She recalls being at the warehouse when D4D gave a specialized wheelchair to a girl suffering from a neurodegenerative disease. Thanks to the device, the girl could go to school, and her mother could go back to work — potentially enabling them to move out of shelters and to a better living situation. “If my career can help cause that kind of impact,” says Bowman, “that is incredibly motivating.