Prakash Melwani, MBA '86

Senior Managing Director, Blackstone

Dinner Chair

Mr. Prakash A. Melwani is a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone and is based in New York. He is Chief Investment Officer of the Private Equity Group and chairs each of its Investment Committees. Blackstone is the largest alternative investment firm in the world managing over $450 billion for pension and sovereign wealth funds. Mr. Melwani received a First Class Honors degree in Economics from Cambridge University, and an MBA with High Distinction from the Harvard Business School, where he graduated as a Baker Scholar and a Loeb Rhodes Fellow. Mr. Melwani serves as a Director of Ascend Learning, Crocs, RGIS Inventory Specialists and Blackstone strategic partner, Patria. Mr. Melwani sits on the Board of St. Bernard’s School in New York City and The Akanksha Fund. He serves on the Board of Dean’s Advisors at Harvard Business School, the Board of Cambridge in America, and the President’s Council on International Activities at Yale University. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Barry Sternlicht, MBA '86

Chairman and CEO, Starwood Capital Group

Recipient of the Business Statesman Award

Barry Sternlicht is Chairman & CEO of Starwood Capital Group, the private alternative investment firm he formed in 1991 focused on global real estate, hotel management, oil and gas, and energy infrastructure. Mr. Sternlicht also serves as Chairman of Starwood Property Trust (NYSE: STWD), the largest commercial mortgage REIT in the U.S.; as well as member of the Board of Directors of Invitation Homes (NYSE: INVH) one of the largest publicly traded investors, owners and operators of single-family homes in the U.S.

From 1995 through early 2005, Mr. Sternlicht was Chairman and CEO of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, a company he founded in 1995. During his tenure, he built Starwood Hotels into one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world, employing more than 120,000 people with 895 properties in 100 countries.

Mr. Sternlicht serves on the Board of Directors of The Estée Lauder Companies and the Real Estate Roundtable. Additionally, he formally served as Chairman of the Board and is currently a Board member of The Robin Hood Foundation, and also serves on the Boards of the Dreamland Film & Performing Arts Center, and the Executive Advisory Board of Americans for the Arts. He is a member of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Foundation Trustee Council, the World Presidents Organization and the Urban Land Institute. Mr. Sternlicht also served as the HBSCNY 2013 Leadership Dinner Chair.

Barry Sternlicht received his BA, magna cum laude, with honors from Brown University. He later earned an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School.

Jen Goodman Linn, MBA '99 posthumously and David M. Linn, MBA'00

Co-Founders, Cycle for Survival

Recipients of the John C. Whitehead Social Enterprise Award

David and Jen met at HBS in 1999. Less than a year after they married in 2002, Jen was diagnosed with sarcoma, a rare and aggressive cancer. David and Jen were surprised to learn that rare cancers make up more than 50% of all cancer cases, yet they are severely underfunded. They created Cycle for Survival in 2007 to try to change that.

Fast forward to today, and Cycle for Survival has become a powerful movement that has raised more than $200 million through its signature indoor team cycling events across the United States. One hundred percent of every donation directly funds pioneering rare cancer research led by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), which has owned and operated Cycle for Survival since 2009.

Jen knew the research progress made possible by Cycle for Survival might be too late to help her, but she was determined to do everything possible to help future patients. David continues to honor Jen’s legacy by volunteering much of his free time to help continue to build the Cycle for Survival movement.

David is a founding partner of Oak Point Partners and previously worked at McKinsey & Company and CenterPost Communications. During his years at McKinsey, David had a unique arrangement whereby he took a five-month leave of absence every year to play soccer professionally with the Chicago Stingers.

David graduated with highest distinction from Northwestern University.

Sarah Kauss, MBA '03

Founder and CEO, S'well

Recipient of the Entrepreneurship Award

Sarah Kauss is the founder and CEO of S’well — creator of the original fashion hydration accessory. Launched in 2010, she married her passion for fashion, hydration and philanthropy to disrupt the reusable bottle industry and transform the on-the-go, drinking experience. Sarah has been recognized as a Fortune’s “40 Under 40” honoree and EY Entrepreneurial Winning Woman, while S’well has been named #1 Fastest-Growing, Women-Led Company by The Women Presidents’ Organization and honored with the Brand Design award by Inc. magazine.

As an entrepreneur and advocate, Sarah is building a global lifestyle brand that gives back. She currently sits on the UNICEF USA New York Regional Board and is a member of the 2018 Class of Henry Crown Fellows within the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute.

Prior to starting S’well, Sarah was an international real estate developer and CPA. She earned a degree in accounting from the University of Colorado, Boulder and an MBA from Harvard Business School.