John Ku's Profile

John Ku
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General Information

About John:

John is interested in the application of business practices in the field of social enterprise.
Through rigorous analysis, he believes that
social organizations can optimize their
financial resources to generate maximum social
returns. Ultimately, John wants to start a social
investment fund applying business discipline to
the use of technology to create economic opportunity and to increase
the availability of education. In addition, John seeks to launch new
ventures that create positive disruption, challenging the status quo
and creating innovation and competition to benefit society.
John graduated from the University of Maryland with a dual major
in Finance and Management Science and a citation in International
Studies. He began his career in management consulting with Deloitte,
one of the largest business advisory firms in the world. Wanting to
switch his career to finance and interested in affordable housing,
John then moved on to Freddie Mac. Later, inspired by the stories of
struggle and triumph that arose from the tsunami in Asia and from
hurricane Katrina, John sought out a financial role with the American
Red Cross.
At the Red Cross, John utilized his financial knowledge and
management consulting background to evaluate capital spending
decisions, review and refine business cases for operational projects
and assist business units in improving operations. John pursued
a greater vision of both the financial and social benefits of certain
programs and worked to increase his colleagues’ awareness of
and openness to creative approaches to supporting both aspects
of blended value propositions. John’s basic approach instilled the
importance of conducting in-depth analysis to understand cost
impacts and how those costs could be recouped elsewhere.

In one key project, John supported a spin-off of a piece of intellectual
property used in combinatorial chemistry that had the potential
to create or enhance new products in biotechnology. John’s role
involved analyzing the new technology and potential applications and
to help assess market and revenue opportunities. Although helping
to launch the new venture was exciting on its own, the prospect of
bringing life-saving technology to society was even more fulfilling.
This project helped reinforce his entrepreneurial aspirations and
interest in working with other passionate entrepreneurs.
As a Stern MBA candidate and Reynolds Fellow, John will continue
growing his business acumen and increasing his knowledge of social
issues. Leveraging his past experience and the resources at Stern and
Reynolds, John intends to develop tools that help social organizations
apply business practices and create measurable social return metrics.
Upon graduation, John’s primary goal will be to expand his current
role of providing financial and business advisory assistance to a
broader group of socially based organizations.

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