Advice for future applicants- Trust your instincts. If you’re feeling initial hesitation, lean into it. The inherent anxiety in your hesitation will fuel productive engagements later. Prepare yourself for seven months of rigorous dedication and sudden bursts of inspiration. This program will turn your gaze inward and force you to confront who you are as a changemaker. My advice will be to show up fully for the program. The people you meet here are beyond icons on a screen or LinkedIn contacts; they are your allies- on their own interesting journeys. People who will quickly transcend from classmates to become your friends. Embrace the experience! It will be worth investing the time and money.
Ayan talks about the skills he gained in the Executive Program – I walked away with a rigorous, human-centered design mindset that balanced analytical thinking with deep empathy. The curriculum gave me the right frameworks and tools needed to deconstruct messy, multi-layered global development challenges into scalable solutions. But the most enduring gain was the extraordinary human ecosystem. Through authenticity, vulnerability and a genuine sense of connection, my cohort quickly became a tightly-knit group of friends across the globe. My biggest benefit was to learn “not to put myself in the shoes of the users, rather taking my shoes off”. Asking right questions, finding new perspectives, learning to ideate were some of the other key benefits. The “How Might We” framework rewired my problem-solving process, shifting my focus from treating surface-level symptoms to uncovering root causes. When I learnt to pair that with the core tenets of Design Justice, my problem solving philosophy changed. I shifted from designing for a community to actively designing with them. Integrating these frameworks and tools has allowed me to bring a powerful combination of equity and technicality to my work.
Ayan discusses his educational experience in the program- The entire teaching team was exceptional. Carl Sveen, Amy Ashley and Ankita Diwan facilitated our conversations tirelessly. Ariel Schwartz offered strategic direction, and Kaveh Sadeghian helped me to be kind to myself. However, Sarah Rottenberg and her “design thinking for social innovation” module had a profound impact on my journey. Balancing artistic sensibilities with scientific rigor, Sarah took us on a journey from empathetic listening to iterative prototyping with great fluidity. My learning crystallized during the lessons from our in-person convening at UPenn. Stepping into that physical space, I was struck by the authenticity of my peers and the intentional care they showed for one another. Ariel and Sarah helped us build a compassionate container where we felt safe to share our truest emotions while challenging our deeply-held assumptions. We laid bare our entrepreneurial struggles, and elevated each other’s visions.
Ayan talks about how he has grown and changed since graduating – My professional trajectory fundamentally shifted during the course of the XSD program. I had already made a decision to embark on an entrepreneurial journey before starting the course. But XSD gave me the confidence, frameworks and tools to launch Akili Impact , a consulting firm based in Kenya dedicated to building capabilities of global development organizations to navigate wicked problems. The spirit of collaboration nurtured in the program also helped to forge deep partnerships in India with brilliant, like-minded groups like Aline Partners and Fields of View . Today, I anchor my entire development practice around three non-negotiable mantras: define, design, deliver. I use them in a loop to help organizations navigate complex social problems—ensuring we define the problem through the lens of genuine empathy, design equitable systems alongside the community, and deliver measurable, dignified outcomes.
Thank you Ayan! If you are interested in learning more about the XSD program check out our website .Applications are open for our next XSD cohort and we are offering partial scholarships! We will have our XSD Alumni Panel August 4th, tune in if you want to learn more about this awesome program.
Also, SIS & XSD graduates are eligible to apply to the Master of Science in Nonprofit Leadership (NPL) in an accelerated, on-campus, or online format. The NPL program is a ten-credit master’s program; SIS Alumni must complete six credits to