New Full-Time Drake Scholars & Forte Fellows Strive to Create Positive Change for Women

Hailing from around the world and across industries, 43 inspiring women in business will join Kellogg’s Full-Time MBA Program this fall, pursuing their studies with the support of the Drake Scholars fund or Forté Foundation. The Drake Scholarship and Forté Foundation Fellowship are critical components in Kellogg’s commitment to advancing women in business.

Here, incoming scholarship recipients share the perspectives and experiences they’re bringing to the Kellogg community: 

Hope Kabel (2Y, 2023)

Forté Fellow and Drake Scholar
Associate, Boston Consulting Group
Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio

Can you share a meaningful experience that has shaped your personal view of leadership?

“Early in my career, while working in a male-dominated field, I was lucky to be assigned a manager who was not only an admirable executive, but also a strong mentor and advocate for her employees. She invested time and effort into my career development and pushed me to improve as a professional. We’ve all heard of the studies that show that women tend to shy away from applying for promotions where they don’t feel they possess all of the qualifications; this manager encouraged me to push myself and helped me to learn that I am capable of succeeding in unfamiliar territory.

“At Kellogg, my main goal is to develop into a better leader so that I may provide similar mentorship for women in my future workplace. Being included in both Forté Fellows and Drake Scholars further motivates me to achieve that goal as I learn more about the positive ripple effect that strong female leaders can create. I am inspired by my classmates and the ways in which they have worked to support women in their careers so far, and I look forward to growing with them into strong professionals who will uplift those around us.”

Supriya Kashyap (1Y, 2022)

Forté Fellow
Senior Manager, Procter & Gamble
Hometown: Delhi, India

What motivates you to address discrimination and biases in the workplace?

“My personal and professional experiences have encouraged me to provide opportunities to fellow women and help resolve the gender-based discrimination they might face in their journey.

“I think back to my first professional assignment at a leading technology conglomerate in India, when I asked for a tech-sales role (a male-dominated area). I was turned down even though 10 of my male colleagues were accepted. When I approached the hiring manager, I was told that women weren’t offered sales roles, as they lacked the skills to handle the complexities of sales. I was taken aback, but I sat down with senior management to assess my candidacy. After passing multiple rounds of technical and behavioral interviews, I not only became the only female inducted into a team of 40 male engineers in the Delhi office’s history, but I also won the ‘Best Performer’ award two years later.

“At Kellogg and in my future workplace, I plan to use my own experience to facilitate dialogue on diversity and inclusion. I hope to inspire peers to adopt inclusive practices in our roles as future business leaders.”

Kayla Williams (2Y, 2023)

Forté Fellow
Business Analyst, McKinsey & Co.
Hometown: Bristol, Pennsylvania

What does it mean to you to have received this scholarship, and how do you hope to grow while at Kellogg?

“I feel very humbled and grateful to the Forté Foundation for granting me this scholarship to recognize some of my efforts with empowering women. Back in college, I was a survivor of sexual assault just as many other women were. Realizing how common such a traumatic experience was (and still is) moved me to want to include as many women as I could in my own healing process. One example of how I did that was leading a workshop at my school, focused on empowering women to see ourselves as more than victims of various hardships. It was powerful to relate to these women in our shared experiences, but also talk about the resilience we’ve shown and how that can be utilized to effect change going forward.

“I hope to continue such conversations at Kellogg and learn from some of the bravest and brightest women in business that I now get to call my classmates. Some of the moments where I’ve felt most inspired were when I was listening to another woman’s unique perspective on how she overcame various obstacles in her life. I walked away from those moments with lessons that could be applied in other areas of my life outside of gender, too. I’m excited to see the woman I’ll become when I leave Kellogg and I’m sending a huge thanks to the Forté Foundation for helping make that possible!”

More in this series: Kellogg EMBA Program Welcomes New Forté Fellows & Drake Scholars »