Student Profile: Sibley Lovett

This is the third installment in a series highlighting the Class of 2017 recipients of the 1898 Scholarship Fund. Made possible by the generosity of alumni and friends, the fund continues to expand our diverse community and further support truly exceptional candidates. Through continued generous support, we are able to help our students unlock their true potential and thereby propel future leaders to confidently navigate the uncertainties of a rapidly changing world.

Sibley just can’t get enough of the classroom. Before joining the Chicago Booth community, she taught high school English and eventually expanded her role to impact the big picture as an analyst and grade co-chair. The potential impact of public education has long been her passion.

“I moved schools a lot growing up and so I had a plethora of educational experiences and saw different sorts of students be very successful in different contexts.”

With her firsthand experience as a teacher and administrator in Houston, she envisioned the potential to have a bigger, more meaningful, long-term impact on education in the United States.

“To ensure that we live in the type of world that we want, everyone has to have education. As a teacher, you start in the classroom by respecting other people’s viewpoints, engaging with them, and disagreeing or agreeing, but building something around it.”

Sibley was sure that she wanted to be a part of enduring change and it became clear that her experience and vision would best translate into action with an MBA from Chicago Booth.

“I realized that schools are like companies. They’re organizations in addition to having an educational mission. You need to function as an organization, not just as a pedagogical source. A lot of schools do not have enough people with business backgrounds, as opposed to policy or instructional backgrounds.”

Connecting with fellow students and alumni through organizations like BoothEd and centers like the Social Enterprise Initiative, Sibley is already leveraging the network to turn her big ideas into real-life impact.

“Everyone has their own momentum here, and I think that is infectious. It spreads, and it makes you believe that you can marry your passions in a distinctive, unique way.”