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BCG North America DEI Alumni Award

Our annual North America DEI Alumni Award recognizes alumni who are leading the way on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in their organizations and communities.

Since launching this award in 2021, we've been able to recognize ten individuals in our North American alumni community who have proven their ability to make a measurable impact, exert influence, and promote innovation in DEI. Each award comes with a $10,000 prize that BCG donates to a DEI-related charitable organization of the winner’s choice.

BCG knows the importance of DEI. That’s why we founded the North America Center for Inclusion and Equity. Over five years, we are investing $1 million to support organizations in North America that are advancing racial equity.


Meet the 2023 DEI Alumni Award Winners

Lorenna Buck and Malekeh Amini are working hard to create change and advance equity for all. Learn more below about these incredible BCG alums, their work, and the organizations to which they’ll be donating their prizes.

Lorenna Buck

“I grew up knowing that I wanted to do something that breaks down barriers.”
Managing Director, Ariel Alternatives
BCG Boston, 2013-2022; current BCG Senior Advisor
Donation organization: Flare Education

From her earliest days in Delaware, where she grew up as the child of a Black mother and a Japanese father, Lorenna Buck never felt like she fit into any of society’s predesignated boxes. “In some ways, I feel like my entire life has been spent trying to avoid those boxes,” she says. “Instead, I grew up knowing that I wanted to do something that breaks down barriers.”

Indeed, the theme of breaking down barriers is evident throughout Lorenna’s impressive educational and professional journey. It’s a passion that has propelled her to a leadership role at Ariel Alternatives, a private asset management firm with a mission to close racial and ethnic wealth gaps.

But the first barrier Lorenna chose to break was studying electrical engineering at Duke University, where she relished the fact that her very presence increased the diversity of a field where both women and Black people were underrepresented. When liver cancer took the life of her oldest sister, Lorenna decided to pursue a career in cancer research; she obtained a PhD in biological engineering at MIT while studying the effects of chronic inflammation on formation of cancer in the liver.

Eventually, she found her way to BCG. “I recognized that I needed to be in a place where I could have an impact on a shorter timeframe,” Lorenna says. “I spent seven years studying one very specific problem, whereas in my last seven years at BCG I was involved in over 70 different cases.”

Lorenna’s Work in DEI

Why Lorenna Was Selected as a DEI Alumni Award Winner

Lorenna’s Donation Organization

 

Malekeh Amini

“When I went through my own journey as a parent of someone with behavioral healthcare needs, that’s when I knew that I wanted to take a hands-on role in [addressing] the inequities around access to mental healthcare."
Founder and CEO, Trayt Health
BCG Boston, 1995-1998
Donation organization: One Mind

Malekeh Amini traces a direct path between her childhood in Tehran, Iran, and her current role as founder and CEO of Trayt Health, the company she launched in 2016.

“My father is a retired ENT surgeon, and many times I heard him say that the role of a doctor is to treat a patient, not to make money,” says Malekeh. She recalls how patients who visited her father for consultations would receive a mark in their chart, only after they had been seen by him, indicating whether they had means to pay for treatment; those with the resources would pay, while those who did not received care regardless.

“That sense of social responsibility and commitment to one’s convictions has resonated with me throughout my entire life,” says Malekeh.

Despite her father’s example, Malekeh never thought that she would work in health care. Finding that she excelled in math and physics, she pursued a master’s degree in engineering at the University of Southern California, followed by an MBA at Harvard. She joined BCG straight out of business school.

“I wasn’t actually looking for a career in consulting, but the only reason I considered it was that I was intrigued by BCG,” she explains. “I was drawn into consulting by the amazing BCGers that I met during the interview process and the opportunities to look at different problems, learn business decision-making, and be part of engagements that could shape whole industries.”

Malekeh’s work in DEI

Why Malekeh was selected as a DEI alumni award winner

Malekeh’s donation organization

Our 2022 DEI Alumni Award Winners

ALIYA BHATIA

Kristin Peck