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ZORA

A publication from Medium that centers the stories, poetry, essays and thoughts of women of color.

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THE CAKE

Inclusion Is the Only Representation That Really Matters

How Harvard Business School case studies affect the world but have often left Black women out

5 min readAug 21, 2019

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Credit: Brooks Kraft/Getty Images

RRepresentation is often discussed as seeing oneself. Yet in a world where Black women, in particular, are vastly underrepresented when it comes to access to capital, representation can be our strongest tool in both educating the decision-makers and accessing the resources we deserve.

While I was a student at Harvard Business School (HBS), I read hundreds of case studies on business leaders. Reading about and discussing business challenges and exemplary leadership through these cases — the “case method — is the primary tool used there. HBS cases are also used and taught in business classrooms across the world. With that many case studies featuring a wide range of people and businesses, it seems like it would be hard not to represent the diverse U.S. population. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

While reading through cases, I discovered an atypical case protagonist, Taran Swan, a Black woman. I felt a special sense of pride seeing someone who looked like me being represented and discussed in the business school classroom. I remember thinking, “Finally! My class of mostly White men will have to discuss…

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ZORA
ZORA

Published in ZORA

A publication from Medium that centers the stories, poetry, essays and thoughts of women of color.

Brittany Davis
Brittany Davis

Written by Brittany Davis

General Partner @Backtage_Cap. Venture Capital. Startups. Diversity in Tech and Biz. @HarvardHBS MBA @UNC

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