THE LAUDER INSTITUTE CHALLENGE

The Challenge is over. Your participation now counts more than ever!

875 alumni donated to the Lauder Institute Challenge!

In recognition of the incredible dedication of alumni and friends supporting the Institute, the Lauder family graciously extended the Challenge by providing funds to match all gifts through December 31, 2018.

The Lauder Institute thanks all its alumni and friends who are helping ensure we continue educating new generations of business leaders to become fluent in the global language of business, culture, and politics.

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We Continue to Succeed

When the Lauder community joins forces, it is unstoppable in its efforts to provide resources for creating new opportunities while extending the Institute’s horizons.

As an inaugural fundraising and engagement campaign, the Lauder Institute Challenge raised more than $32 million from more than 900 Lauder alumni and friends—and the generosity of the Lauder family.

The Challenge helped establish the Lauder Institute Annual Fund, which will continually impact the Institute’s ability to:

  • Develop fresh and innovative curriculum
  • Attract top student talent
  • Create international leaders with global agility

Innovation

Lauder programs offer the most effective means for learning in a global environment. We encourage our alumni to stay empowered and continue to help us implement new programs and initiatives that differentiate us from our peers.

Visibility

As the Institute grows in preeminence, it is also growing the visibility of its brand by increasing marketing efforts that promote Lauder’s unmatched programming, influential alumni community, expert faculty, and thought leaders.

Student Support

The Fund allows the Institute to increase endowed fellowships that attracts the most promising students.

Amy-Gutmann-Official-Portrait_SQUARE

The Lauder Institute is a world-renowned leader in global business education with an innovative interdisciplinary approach that has become a hallmark of Penn.
Amy Gutmann, President, University of Pennsylvania

IMPACT STORIES

Breaking Down Auto Insurance Barriers for Hispanic Americans

Simple, smart, transparent—this is Sigo Seguros. Founded by two Lauder graduates, Sigo is a mobile-first online auto insurance provider for non-standard, Spanish-speaking drivers. Easy to use, the bilingual platform helps drivers with limited insurance histories obtain low-cost policies regardless of language preference or risk profile.

Winning two Jacobson Global Venture Awards provided Sigo’s founders Nestor Solari, G’19, WG’19, and Júlio Erdos, C’10, ENG’10, G’19, WG’19, with startup funds so they could focus their energies on the company’s development. Solari and Erdos, along with a third partner, Ricardo Rodriguez, also received a $100,000 investment from Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator, a four-month business innovation program in New York City.

“I was familiar with the insurance industry,” Solari said. “My aunt in California was being hit with hidden fees and I wanted to change that for her.” Solari’s parents and family immigrated to the United States from Uruguay before he was born; they often encountered challenges when trying to purchase auto insurance from traditional providers.

Solari believed he could find a solution, not just for his family, but for the Hispanic-American population, which often receive quotes padded with bill pay fees and hidden taxes. He teamed with classmate Erdos to explore ways to provide a single-platform service in partnership with insurance companies that would issue polices directly through the Sigo website.

“Our customer base is very tech-savvy,” said Solari. “Hispanic Americans over-index in mobile usage, mobile internet access, mobile purchases, and online purchases. But they have limited digital options for purchasing auto insurance.”

Erdos, a former Bain Capital consultant, said it was important to bring the product online as a way to ensure customers were getting the fairest quotes. e. “By being online, we are able to get rid of hidden fees by selling directly to our population,” he said.

Sigo’s customers receive auto insurance quotes that are easy to understand and meet state requirements, while being charged no extra fees above their premiums. This end-to-end service not only helps customers save money — it is improving quality of life for an underserved population.

Next steps for Solari and Erdos include looking beyond the auto insurance market. They are considering additional services like mobile bilingual tax return preparation that can deploy a similar tech-enabled model based on simplicity and low cost.

Julia Hoos

Field Leadership Experience Leads to the Future

Julia Hoos, G’18, WG’18, knows that renewable energy is driving the future. By participating in two Lauder Leadership Immersion Internships, Julia witnessed this growing energy transformation first hand.

Originally from Germany, Julia was drawn to the Lauder Institute because of its global mission. “I knew the way to learn about other business cultures was from the inside out,” she says.

Julia interned in Mexico and Colombia with Bright, Mexico’s fastest-growing residential solar energy provider. She was tasked with looking into Bright’s expansion into the Colombian market and developing and executing a buy-in plan for stakeholders. Julia’s field experience with Bright sparked her interest in energy as a career path.

During her summer internship with Samsung’s Global Strategy Group, Julia saw the challenges of rolling out electric vehicles and observed how the company was embracing this new industry.

“I saw why the product was necessary, and it impressed me that the company was taking advantage of new strategies and then experimenting with solutions,” she said. “That experience took me way out of my comfort zone!”

Now she is a consultant in the Houston office of Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where she is applying her background in alternative energy. “I’m using the experience I gained through Bright to help position me for future opportunities within BCG,” she said. “I’m talking with colleagues every day who are exploring renewable energy and, increasingly, I see this is where the future is.”

The Lauder Institute prepares students for employment by providing global career support and opportunities, like Julia’s, that ensure students’ transition from the classroom to the business world is seamless.

“My time with Lauder was awesome,” said Julia. “My internships set me up for what I am doing today, and will do in [the] future.”

Class Leaderboard

Lauder Class CommitmentsParticipation
1986$415,42575.0%
1987$348,67339.6%
1988$205,13544.7%
1989$2,004,92985.7%
1990$2,277,20550.0%
1991$147,32045.8%
1992$294,69978.0%
1993$2,605,87455.8%
1994$335,99039.2%
1995$161,82530.8%
1996$143,95634.0%
1997$2,256,40973.7%
1998$81,90432.1%
1999$9,05023.5%
2000$653,95040.4%
2001$356,80066.7%
2002$8,00017.4%
Lauder Class CommitmentsParticipation
2003$57,81039.2%
2004$237,73938.9%
2005$7,75019.6%
2006$7,45020.8%
2007$51,43320.4%
2008$22,05519.7%
2009$11,53248.4%
2010$10,88949.2%
2011$14,35030.6%
2012$32,99936.2%
2013$6,15943.3%
2014$11,89747.0%
2015$3,83191.4%
2016$2,03192.1%
2017$1,86649.3%
2018$1,95153.0%

*Does not include Lauder Challenge Match

Lauder Preferred Year CommitmentsParticipation
1986$415,42575.0%
1987$348,67339.6%
1988$205,13544.7%
1989$2,004,92985.7%
1990$2,277,20550.0%
1991$147,32045.8%
1992$294,69978.0%
1993$2,605,87455.8%
1994$335,99039.2%
1995$161,82530.8%
1996$143,95634.0%
1997$2,256,40973.7%
1998$81,90432.1%
1999$9,05023.5%
2000$653,95040.4%
2001$356,80066.7%
2002$8,00017.4%
2003$57,81039.2%
2004$237,73938.9%
2005$7,75019.6%
2006$7,45020.8%
2007$51,43320.4%
2008$22,05519.7%
2009$11,53248.4%
2010$10,88949.2%
2011$14,35030.6%
2012$32,99936.2%
2013$6,15943.3%
2014$11,89747.0%
2015$3,83191.4%
2016$2,03192.1%
2017$1,86649.3%
2018$1,95153.0%

Stay Engaged

To learn more about supporting the Lauder Institute, please contact Sonja Lee Chen, Lauder External Affairs, at sonjalee@wharton.upenn.edu.

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