When Kristen Helsel was accepted into MIT Sloan Executive Education’s five-week in-person Advanced Management Program (AMP) in the summer of 2022, she made one key decision prior to participating: she left her position as Chief Revenue Officer of Ideanomics, a global electric vehicle company.
“I saw this as an opportunity to clear the decks and have a clean thought process going into the program,” Helsel explains, adding that she has no regrets about moving on from her job at the time. “That decision really helped me. I think if I had carried the burden of trying to take back all of the knowledge I gained and make it work within the company’s framework, I would not have gotten as much out of this as I did. I could just think clearly about all of the different experiences and information that AMP was able to give me.”
A Personal Transformation
For Boston-based Helsel, who holds an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA in finance and marketing, the goal was to have a personal transformation regarding her career through the AMP. For many years, she worked in various revenue and operations positions for cleantech and sustainable startups, but she felt the need to take a step back and figure out how to consolidate her experience and add new knowledge and state-of-the art business leadership expertise. The Advanced Management Program gave her the perfect outlet to do just that.
“The AMP allowed me to recharge my batteries. It got me excited to go back into the market to find the right position in a sustainable startup,” she says. Much of that enthusiasm came from the various topics covered in the program, which is designed to help experienced executives deepen their ability to make systemic changes in their companies, their industries, and the world. From insights about the latest business technologies to information about change management, leadership, entrepreneurship, and more, the program brought together all of the concepts that Helsel wanted to touch upon and master.
"I would love to encourage more women to apply and participate in the AMP... This is such a concentrated learning opportunity that will help you expand your horizons, take on a new leadership challenge, and really think of yourself as a successful woman."
“I wanted to focus on what people think about leadership today and how to build organizations and teams that can really think through problems. Any startup—or any business, for that matter—is about solving problems. I wanted to have an array of leadership tools to bring to a problem. Today, I feel that my toolbox is full,” she notes. What’s more, she now has a keen understanding of how technologies like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and machine learning are impacting business today and how she can use that in her work in the sustainable arena. “It is so helpful to understand those technologies and to see where they possibly are going to take us in the next five to 10 years,” she continues. “It really grounded me to look how technology is leading business. I was able to really sit down and spend time learning about it. And it really aligned well with where I see my future.”
This Woman’s Work
Helsel was one of five women who participate in the 40-person AMP cohort last year. While she hoped to connect with more women during the experience, she not only walked away with a burgeoning network of international colleagues she can turn to for advice at any time, but she also found another new purpose: to share her AMP experience with other female executives.
“As a woman engineer, I’ve spent most of my professional life in places with very few women,” she reveals. “I would love to encourage more women to apply and participate in the AMP. I don’t think enough women are taking advantage of this opportunity. It’s very aspirational. Whether you are a woman who aspires to be a the top of a startup or in a leadership position in a big company, this program will help you think about how to take those next steps and what those next steps mean. It will help you prepare yourself for the future. This is such a concentrated learning opportunity that will help you expand your horizons, take on a new leadership challenge, and really think of yourself as a successful woman.”
The Next Steps
Upon completion of the program, Helsel had the opportunity to join the board of advisors of PH BID, a division of Indonesian logistics startup Prahu-Hub, a company co-founded by fellow AMP participant Utami Prasetiawati. Helsel also continues to provide strategic consulting to the automotive, aerospace, cleantech, manufacturing, and renewables industries as she plans out the next phases of her career. Wherever she ultimately lands, she attributes her renewed confidence to move forward to the AMP.
“The experience reaffirmed my commitment to the sustainability arena and made me more laser focused on where I could go within that space. My heart is in sustainable startups,” she says. “The world is now awake to the climate crisis, and the AMP has given me new and improved skills I need to face the very difficult problems ahead. I now have a lot of tools at my disposal, and whenever I begin with a new opportunity, I will bring those tools with me--along with a large cohort of peers who can help and advise. Growing that skill set has been a gift at this point in my career.”
Learn more about the Advanced Management Program.