We head to Spain to meet some new members of the Esade MBA Class of 2028 in this edition of Real Humans: MBA Students.
To start, Wilda Tri Farizqi comes to Esade from Indonesia after more than 11 years at Bank Indonesia, where she worked in macroprudential surveillance and financial stability. After a decade analyzing systemic risks and macroprudential policy, she pursued an MBA to complement her technical expertise with the strategy and leadership skills needed to take on greater institutional responsibility. Then, Eva Maria Karner has built an international career spanning hospitality, real estate, and cultural projects, with experience across Europe, the United States, and India. Most recently, as Business Development & Strategy Manager at JSW Realty in Mumbai, she worked on large-scale real estate projects, helped build a hospitality vertical, collaborated with international hotel operators, and contributed to the early development of a major museum project.
For Matteo Giovanni Albergati, the MBA marks a shift from advising businesses to building brands and markets himself. Albergati spent five years in consulting with Deloitte and Accenture while simultaneously helping grow his family’s artisan pastry business. His work there included rebranding, product and packaging development, and expansion into European markets; in Spain, he helped grow annual panettone sales from roughly 100 to more than 4,000. We also meet Olawale Adeniyi, who brings eight years of cross-industry experience in healthcare, on-demand delivery, financial services, product, growth, and commercial roles in Nigeria. His career has included scaling healthcare systems at Advantage Health Africa, leading product and growth at SavetoBuy, serving as Growth Lead for Nigeria at Glovo, and, most recently, leading digital business at Regent Bank.
Stephanie Anne Kubota arrives at Esade with a decade of professional experience, including four years as CEO of a B2B e-commerce and loyalty SaaS corporate venture in the Philippines. Leading a business gave her experience building teams, managing a P&L, and navigating difficult strategic decisions, but it also motivated her to challenge assumptions developed within a single market and learn alongside classmates from different industries and cultures. Esade was the only business school to which Kubota applied, thanks in part to its entrepreneurial strength, international cohort, and the opportunity to build a life in Barcelona. Rounding out this group is Zipho Tunyiswa, a South African management consultant who is using the MBA to redirect her career toward sustainability and renewable energy. After nearly three years at Kearney and significant exposure to financial services projects, Tunyiswa reflected on where she wanted to make a longer-term impact and saw an opportunity in South Africa’s rapidly growing renewable energy industry. Sponsored by Kearney, she plans to return to the firm after graduation and contribute to its sustainability initiatives across the Middle East and Africa while continuing to build her expertise through volunteer opportunities.
Across their varied paths, these six students reflect many of the qualities that drew them to Esade in the first place: international perspectives, curiosity, ambition, and a collaborative approach to learning. Read on for their advice and stories.
