Kalpashree Gupta '08 and Albert Einstein share something in common. They both believe in the value of objective thought and the power of open thinking. In fact, such beliefs led Gupta to Thunderbird, where she hoped to reshape her global mindset.
Kalpashree Gupta ’08 and Albert Einstein share something in common. They both believe in the value of objective thought and the power of open thinking.
Gupta, a manager for American Express, prominently displays Einstein’s proclamation on her intranet profile: “We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.”
In fact, such beliefs led Gupta to the Thunderbird School of Global Management, where she hoped to reshape her global mindset. Even with an existing master’s degree in economics from Delhi School of Economics, Gupta set her sights on developing a global business acumen – a new global way of thinking – when she married and moved to the United States in 2006.
“To me, a business degree was not only about tools and technique,” she says. “It was also about dealing and working with people from different backgrounds.” Thunderbird’s Master of Science in Global Management program, she says, was the best option due to its short program length and the combined business and soft skills in cultural communications it offered.
Since graduating in 2008, Gupta has put those skills to the test as a manager for the American Express Global Fraud Risk Management team. “Our team includes people from different backgrounds,” she says. “Our members are from Puerto Rico and China, and some are Italian-Americans. I learned a lot at Thunderbird about communicating effectively with people from various cultural backgrounds.”
The native of India also puts her ‘hard’ business skills to use daily, ensuring that global cardholders aren’t the victims of fraud. She is responsible for developing controls that mitigate losses on fraudulent credit card transactions.
Formerly an analyst for India’s Genpact (GE Capital International Services), as well as a researcher for India’s National Council of Applied Economic Research, the English-, Hindi- and Bengali-speaking Gupta has always demonstrated a flexibility and willingness to learn about new things.
As a Thunderbird student, she wanted to explore the healthcare industry while also considering a financial services career. As part of a research consulting team for Thunderbird’s Learning Consulting Network, Gupta worked with Mayo Clinic, combining her previous economics expertise with her personal knowledge of India’s healthcare system.
“We were helping Mayo look for business development opportunities in India,” she explains. “The experience gave me a flavor for the complexities of the healthcare industry in general and prepared me for my internship with Bristol-Myers Squibb.”
Despite not choosing the healthcare industry upon graduation, Gupta believes her hands-on experiences at Thunderbird have professionally prepared her for her current role in the financial services industry – a place where she plans to stay.
(Testimonial-Text provided by the Thunderbird School of Global Management)
