Community in Grad School and Beyond: An Interview with Annie Fortnow, Hornstein MA/MBA '23
December 1, 2023
Abigail Arnold | Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
After graduating from Brandeis with her BA in 2017, Annie Fortnow, Hornstein MA/MBA ‘23, spent four years working for Jewish organizations. Wanting to continue making change within the Jewish community, she thought getting a graduate degree would help her make a bigger impact. Because she wanted to get an MBA with a Jewish lens, she looked into the Hornstein Program, which she knew about from her days as an undergraduate.
A few months after graduating, Annie described her time in the program as a “really positive learning experience.” She took classes focused in accounting, financial management, operations strategy, and nonprofit management, skills she didn’t have much previous exposure to and now uses regularly in her job with Yad Chessed, a Jewish social service agency in Waltham. She also gained a very solid understanding of the Jewish communal organization landscape and now feels very comfortable talking about its different sectors, its major players, and what they’re doing. She especially appreciated the chance to do fieldwork with Repair the World, an opportunity she got connected to through a Hornstein alum.
Because she was part of a small cohort, Annie had the chance to connect individually with and be mentored by several different faculty members. Professor Shirley Idelson oversaw her independent study on the Jewish social justice sector, pushing her to read a wide variety of sources that shaped her thinking. Professor Fern Chertok was a valuable resource for her questions, particularly when she was working on her final team consulting project. And Professor Meredith Lewis provided invaluable help in her job search process. Annie also enjoyed the opportunities Hornstein provided to participate in and create committees to help with student programming. She said, “Part of what’s really great about Hornstein is that if you see something you want to create, it’s all there for you. Being in a smaller program allows that.”
Today, as Director of Operations at Yad Chessed, Annie uses many of the operations and financial skills she learned in classes that she took as a Hornstein student. Not only that, but she actually became familiar with the organization through the Heller School’s Board Fellows Program, which she participated in through the MBA portion of her program. As a student, she had a chance to sit on Yad Chessed’s board as a non-voting member and to see the organization’s decision-making behind the scenes. Through this experience, she learned that the organization was looking for a new director of operations and had the opportunity to apply for the role.
Annie would advise prospective Hornstein students to take advantage of professional development opportunities and do as many informational interviews as possible with people in jobs that interest them. “Especially in the Jewish field, people are generally pretty open to having a conversation,” she said. This process helped her determine the next steps in her own career. Of her time in the program, she said, “I’m really so grateful for the opportunity and would encourage people to explore their options and see what’s out there for them. Working in the Jewish community is such a blessing, and I feel grateful every day.”