Molly Gilson

Molly Gilson, (MBA ’24), is Head of Customer Success, Operations and Programming at Harvey AI. She earned her business degree at night through NYU Stern’s Langone Part-time MBA Program. While an MBA student, she served as a board fellow for Eskolta, a nonprofit focused on education reform, equity and social justice.

Can you talk about your background – where you grew up and went to college?

I grew up in Sparta, New Jersey, the youngest of four children. My mom is a retired elementary school librarian, and my father is an appellate judge for the state of New Jersey. My parents both went to Hamilton College, and all my siblings attended small liberal arts colleges, so those were what I mainly considered.

I attended Colgate University and earned a bachelor’s degree in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution, which is basically a version of international relations. I loved the liberal arts approach to education: taking classes in a wide variety of subjects. However, I didn’t take many economics classes, which is part of what eventually led me to pursue an MBA.

What was your professional experience prior to attending NYU Stern?

After graduating from Colgate, I wanted to work for an NGO and gain experience
abroad. I moved to Thailand, where I taught English for a year to students in grades 7 through 11. Over time, I became disillusioned with some of the limitations I saw in what aid organizations could and couldn’t do.

I returned to the U.S. and took an entry-level sales job at Hanover Research in Washington, D.C., where I did a lot of cold calling. It was a tough job, but I learned a lot -- and it prepares you for almost anything. I’m great at getting rejected -- I just keep going.

I’d always been interested in technology, and I eventually landed an account management role at HubSpot in Boston. I spent nine years there, finishing as a manager of team leads in technical onboarding.

Why did you decide to enroll in the Part-time MBA program at NYU Stern?

I wanted to keep working in tech, but I felt like I was missing some of the business acumen I saw in my peers. Another factor was when I looked around at the female executives in tech -- there aren’t many -- most of the ones I saw had MBAs. So I decided to see if I could get into a strong part-time MBA program. When I was accepted at Stern, I moved from Boston to New York and worked remotely for HubSpot while getting my MBA at night.

Being a board fellow is a major time commitment, especially while working full- time and earning your MBA at night. What convinced you it was the right move?

I was excited about the opportunity to learn about nonprofits from a board’s perspective. I’ve always been curious about joining a nonprofit board one day. And in my own career, I wanted to better understand operations and the business side of nonprofits.

Also, I like volunteering. For three years, I was a mentor for a high school student through an organization called Minds Matter in Boston, where I also served on their recruitment board. I currently volunteer at the New York Public Library.

Can you talk about your working relationship with Eskolta as a board fellow?

I worked on a team with three other board fellows, and we met regularly with the executive director and board chair. In the first half of the year, we interviewed each board member individually to get a sense of where they thought improvements could be made. From those conversations, we saw that they had a great board with passionate members, but there was a need to develop and strengthen their board processes.

Can you describe the project you worked on?

We built best-practice templates for board recruitment and onboarding. The board didn’t have a give-get policy, essentially a fundraising commitment where members are expected to donate or raise a set amount for the organization. Many board members are hesitant to put a price tag on board service.

NYU Stern Professor Nicole Sebastian helped us understand why that expectation is considered a best practice, and why members should be willing to make a financial commitment. Financial stewardship is a core part of serving on a nonprofit board. We worked with the board to show how a give-get policy could strengthen governance and help set them up for long-term success -- especially as they considered expanding nationally.

It was challenging to think about how we, as consultants and outsiders, could influence the organization’s direction in a positive, meaningful way for the long term. We’re not in it daily, so our suggestions needed to be clear and well researched, while also respectful of the board members’ perspectives and experiences.

What other challenges did you face during your fellowship, and how did you overcome them?

When our team gave a midyear update, only about half the board members showed up, and that was disheartening. We thought, “Oh, maybe we’re not making much of an impact.”

So for our capstone, we worked really hard to communicate that we wanted everyone to be there. We rescheduled several times to make it work for everyone, and we ended up having at least 90% attendance.

It was great to have that level of engagement from board members, and it was also nice to get their feedback at the end. They really appreciated how practical our suggestions were. Rather than pie-in-the-sky ideas like ‘Think about recruiting differently,’ we gave the board concrete tools like interview templates and scoring guides – and showed members how to use them. One thing I was especially proud of was that our team built an internal website so they’d have everything they needed for best-practices recruiting and onboarding all in one place.

What were the greatest areas of growth and development for you through the fellowship?

The Board Fellows program gave me tangible experience in nonprofit operations and insight into how a board should be set up and organized. It made me appreciate how important financial stewardship is. It was interesting to be able to read a balance sheet and understand what was going to have a real impact on the organization. For example, if the nonprofit wants to offer a certain program, how much does it need to raise and what does that look like in practice?

As a part-time student, you don’t have as many internship opportunities as full-time MBA students. The fellowship gave me the chance to learn real, actionable skills. One of my favorite parts of being in a part-time program was that what you learned at night, you could use the next morning at work.

Are you using any learnings from your fellowship in your current position?

I now work at Harvey AI, where I'm Head of Customer Success, Operations, and Programming. I credit my experience as a board fellow with helping me take that leap into a new space.

At Stern, Nicole Sebastian really emphasized the power of asking open-ended questions. During our interviews with board members, we asked open-ended questions and practiced active listening –– and I’ve carried that into my conversations with customers. It’s a skill I now use both professionally and personally.

Do you still hope to serve on a nonprofit board?

Being a board fellow made me even more interested in serving on a nonprofit board someday. It also made me aware of how a board should have a diversity of experiences. When I join a board one day, I want to consider what experiences I’m bringing so I don’t duplicate those of current members. I want to ensure that my professional background is beneficial to the nonprofit and that I’m part of setting up the board for long-term success.