These updates are awesome - it’s great hearing from everyone and I’m excited to see many of you if a few days. I’ll start with the most exciting news on our end. Sarah and I had a baby boy - our first - last September. Zarar is almost 9 months old and we’re adjusting to the joys and challenges of parenthood. Current challenge: teething. After the last few nights, I can confirm that sleepless nights hit differently in your (late) forties! Sarah and I got married in 2022 (a friend set us up in 2006 but we didn’t hit it off then and somehow reconnected 13 years later). She’s a travel writer and covers the Middle East, South Asia and Africa. Sarah typically takes 6-8 trips a year and I try to tag along for least one… over the last few years, I’ve joined her in Uzbekistan, South Africa, Kenya and Rwanda. After HBS, I joined Credit Suisse and have been working as a banker ever since. I’ve had several stops (I’m now at Lazard), but for the last 16 years have been advising on PE Secondary transactions (such as Continuation Vehicles), which has grown from a niche business in 2010 to a mainstream segment of the PE market today. I’ve lived in NYC since graduation, and after spending 19 years in Chelsea, moved to the Upper West Side just before Zarar was born.

Zarar’s first trip to Chicago earlier this year

Hello E – so many great memories from 20 years ago (who could forget the RC-year relic, Priscilla Ball?!?). I’m excited to see everyone next weekend. I’ll be coming solo – Christina will be handling double duty with kids activities back at home. Living in the NY burbs, I’ve been fortunate to keep in touch with E friends who also live in the area or those of you who've come through NYC for work or other reasons. I’ve been in PE Private Equity since we graduated and spend all other waking hours chasing / driving our 4 kids. Being Section E Dad was good practice for real parenthood. My oldest, Teddy (16), recently got his driver’s license – that’s the big news in the White House these days. Rounding out the rest of our crew are Christian (14), George (12) and Penelope (9). All 4 play golf, among a variety of other activities. The only one who doesn’t play golf (yet!) is Christina. That’s on the to do list. I’ve attached a family photo from Milos, Greece taken last summer. The background is Sarakiniko Beach, the famous “moon beach.” We love to vacation in Greece each summer – my homeland through marriage. Speaking of photos, I do still have the 2016 Section E 10-year reunion slideshow. Just flipped through it. Wow, lots of laughs and good times! If there’s time after Sameer’s speech and Brian & Xave’s skydecks, maybe we can run the slideshow again. See you soon!

I'll be coming to Boston solo too. Chang girls all claimed they just have too much going on 🙄, but grateful they're all healthy and thriving out here in Kirkland, WA. Kelly just left Village Reach to recenter on climate, Ashlan (19) is off to college, Tayla (16) has way too many friends that like to hang 24/7, and Espy (14) spends most her waking hours at the gym. I joined Gates Fdn 10 years ago, so spend most of my waking hours thinking about India and Africa. Recently, it's been AI everywhere, the shifting global health landscape, nutrition for moms and babies, and a lot on smallholder farmers. Will actually be going from reunion to Kenya to check out some of our livestock work and see what more we can do on BDBV Ebola response. Promise I haven't been to east Africa yet in 2026, so I'll be 100% safe to hug when you see me. Fingers crossed I'm allowed back into the country. Here's a picture of Espy from right now.

So appreciate all the personal updates!

Random Q anyone know the dress code for our section dinner Friday? Starting to think ahead to next weekend. See you soon

It says smart casual

So I can wear Shorts and glasses? 🤓

X, thought you were going Canadian tuxedo?

Yeah!! Jean jacket and jeans 👖

That’s right!!

ha…so cute!

Hello Section E, Hard to believe it's been 20 years! I won't be able to make it to the reunion after all. I wasn't able to get a US consulate interview in time, which was required after business trips to Iraq earlier this year. So reading everyone's updates is helping make up for missing it! And at least I got to be in Munich last year and Budapest last weekend for my home team PSG's first 2 European Champions League titles after a lifetime of football heartbreak (yes, I can't bring myself to call it soccer)! As for my update, after graduation, I spent 4 years in New York, in banking before moving into private equity. I then moved to Dubai, where I helped build a PE firm before helping manage one of our portfolio companies, which led to my move into the energy sector. From there, I joined ADNOC where I oversaw investments and strategy. Today I second the CEO of Crescent Petroleum, a regional IOC. Work has felt like a succession of BGIE cases, including being threatened to be kicked out of a country by its Oil Minister during heated negotiations… On the family front, Nayla is 20 and a rising junior at Yale, while Esma is 18 and just finished her freshman year at Georgetown. We still manage to have our annual ski trip with extended family and to explore new parts of the world together for now, while their schedules still allow. The girls were so excited to attend the reunion that, as they'll be close by for their internships, they're considering joining for a day and maybe even the section dinner. So I've kept our registration. For anyone passing through Dubai (let's hope things settle down soon here), don't hesitate to reach out. It's been great to see those you who've been in town. Wishing everyone a great time together at the reunion! Maamar

Hi Section E! It is with great regret that I’m unable to join you all for our 20th reunion. Our eldest child, Jack, is graduating from high school on Friday. Becky and I are about to celebrate our 23rd anniversary (unreal!), and we continue to live in Menlo Park, California, almost equidistant from our childhood homes in San Francisco and San Jose, and less than a mile from where we met at Stanford. On the professional front, there hasn’t been a dull moment since our last reunion. I rode the COVID-era remote work boom as a senior executive at Mural, a visual collaboration platform, helping lead the company to unicorn status in less than two years. Sensing that some frothiness was around the corner, I left in 2023 to become CEO of sporting goods retailer Decathlon’s North American business. Despite months of due diligence before joining, I quickly leaned on my LCA skills and channeled my inner Bill George and Jay DeCoons after identifying material issues within the U.S. business—and exited stage left. Since then, I’ve focused on advisory work for nonprofits, including Aspen Institute and Design for America, as well as sports and entertainment organizations such as Legends Global and Stanford Athletics. One of my greatest joys has been helping bring Bay FC, Northern California’s National Women’s Soccer League franchise, to life. I partnered with five incredible women to co-found the club in 2020 and later worked with Sixth Street to launch the team in 2024. On the family front, our story is like many of yours: busy, busy, busy! Becky has built one of the Bay Area’s most robust public school musical theater programs, serving hundreds of children each year. After many years as a volunteer, she is now employed by the district as its choreographer. Our soon-to-be graduate, Jack (18), has thrived in the classroom, the pool (captaining his high school swim and water polo teams), and the arts (band and drama). He’ll be a freshman at Stanford this fall. Gracie (16) is a three-sport high school athlete (dance, basketball, and swimming) and an emerging love of journalism. Lorraine (10) is a fourth grader who loves reading, puzzles, all sports, and caring for our backyard chickens. Finally, at the intersection of business and family, my sister and I recently completed the transition of our family business, Bullard 👷‍♂️, from fourth-generation to fifth-generation ownership. We are now the sole owners, with Wells serving as CEO in Kentucky and me serving on the Board. Fewer than 3% of family businesses make it to the fifth generation, and we hope to keep it going for many years to come. Sending lots of love to all in Section E. Have a wonderful reunion weekend ❤️🏫 and I hope to see y’all soon!

Hello Section E! It makes me so happy to read all of these updates and to see the winding roads that have taken us to so many places personally and professionally. My career story is pretty straightforward - after 20 years I’m still with the same employer! I think I’ve counted 12 different jobs with Target over the past two decades, all leading up to the COO role a few months ago. I’ve been lucky enough to ride the ups and downs with people I genuinely enjoy solving hard problems with, and I’ve never stopped learning. In fact, just yesterday I experienced a career high when I got to bring Professor Zeynep Ton in for a session with my peers. She hasn’t lost her energy or aged one bit! On the personal front, I’m married to Brian and we have two kids - Charley (13) and Hazel (11) (yes she’s younger - don’t let the height difference fool you). Charley loves all sports with ski racing and tennis at the top of his list. Hazel plays tennis and volleyball, and loves piano. Unfortunately I’m missing the reunion for a big concert she’ll have this weekend. I will miss seeing you all!

Section E, Great to hear all your updates. I just boarded my flight from London to Boston and excited to see many of you in person. After HBS, I followed my passion in the airline industry, becoming CSO of Lufthansa and transformation chief of Emirates. Since 2022, I moved to a portfolio career, serving on 3 boards, doing lecturing and Jungian coaching, with most of my time focussed on the turnaround of the German airline Condor. I am still involved with Stanford and enjoy going back into the classroom as the protagonist of an MBA case study. I live on my own in London and Ibiza and enjoy the combination 😀

Hmm - not easy to summarise 20 years in a few words. I remember vividly the HBS class that we had which included a summary of reflections people had on their life in their 20th reunion. The key takeaway was that people wished they worked less and lived life more. Today I find myself reflecting on my own life. The summary is that I am happy with the balance that I have found between family, sport and work and would not change any/many of the decisions that I made along the way. Work - I have spent most of the last 20 years in private equity investing in tech businesses. I did a startup app business for a few years but missed PE and went back. Biggest decision was leaving Apax, a big global PE firm, to focus on UK mid market. This meant that I spent 90-95pc of nights sleeping in my own bed and seeing my family each day (even if just for a hug and a quick chat). My last 4 years at a firm called Tenzing had been my best - feels like being captain of high performance sports team. Sport - I managed to keep playing rugby regularly until aged 46 (2-3 years ago). Love that game. One too many knocks to the head means I just play adhoc Vets (over 35) games these days. I still keep fit and strong and make sure my boys can’t beat me at Spartan/Tough Mudder/Hyrox type events. My daughter can whoop my ass though. Family - I have been so fortunate here. Home is my happy place. 33 years with Lisa now (met aged 16). Chloe (who was aged 1-3 at HBS) is now 23 and living in Sydney (my brother and his fam lives there) She is currently selling AI agent software and does @chloes.health on Insta. Liam is 19 and at uni in the UK (football player, Man U fan, and loving AI infra investing in his personal savings account at present) and Charlie is 16 and is glued to his phone when not playing rugby or swimming. Lisa, Chloe, Liam and Lisa will be at the reunion while poor Charlie is stuck at home doing his final few GCSE exams.