Senior leaders operating at scale — on capital, strategy, and institutional direction.
Supported by the Columbia University School of Professional Studies
The Leaders Series convenes senior global decision-makers for disciplined, forward-looking conversations on capital, strategy, and institutional direction. Each session features leaders operating at scale — CEOs, founders, chairpersons, and policymakers shaping consequential sectors of the global economy.
The aim is to move beyond conventional narratives to examine structural change and inflection points, equipping the audience with clearer strategic judgment and a sharper understanding of where opportunity lies.
Opportunity is rarely obvious at the outset. It is defined by those willing to make disciplined decisions before consensus forms.
Understanding how leaders think and act in those moments provides the entrepreneurial clarity required to build, invest, and move first.
Markets and strategy are widely taught, yet the real moments where opportunity is defined — where risk is taken and capital is committed — remain largely unseen.
Maria Cristina Baroudi founded the Leaders Series at Columbia University to make that layer visible, opening access to the judgment and discipline that shape great companies and lasting institutions.
Markets and strategy are widely taught, yet the real moments where opportunity is defined — where risk is taken and capital is committed — remain largely unseen. Maria Cristina Baroudi founded the Leaders Series at Columbia University to make that layer visible.
Supported by the School of Professional Studies and shared across all Columbia schools — Columbia Business School, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering, SIPA, and the Climate School — the Series reflects a cross-disciplinary approach to leadership, finance, technology, and institutional strength.
Rothschild & Co, Deloitte, ACCIONA Energía, Energy Capital Partners and Ariel Investments — finance, energy, asset management and professional services — each session student-moderated, on the record, and open to audience questions.
In the heart of Silicon Valley the Series turns to the integrated AI and semiconductor ecosystem. Each speaker illuminates one layer — because a constraint in one part of the chain reshapes every part downstream.
Technological leadership takes more than invention. It also requires the ability to manufacture, finance, power, deploy and scale innovation in global markets — and that is what every conversation returns to, from a different position in the chain.
Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer, Ariel Investments
Edge, Conviction, and the Discipline to Win
The conversation examined enduring edge built on patience and discipline, conviction sustained through cycles of volatility, and value created by acting on mispriced opportunities.
Moderated by Maria Cristina Baroudi. Open to graduate students across CBS, Columbia Engineering, SIPA, the Climate School, GSAS and SPS.
Global Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte
Inside Global Leadership: Decisions at Scale
A conversation on leading a global professional services organisation — how decisions are made at scale, and what holds an institution together across markets.
Moderated by Maria Cristina Baroudi. Open to graduate students across CBS, Columbia Engineering, SIPA, the Climate School, GSAS and SPS.
Founder and Executive Chairman, Energy Capital Partners (ECP)
Scale Infrastructure. Capture Returns.
This conversation examines how ECP underwrites power investments to generate outsized returns, where value is created across the investment lifecycle, and what distinguishes compounding infrastructure platforms from stranded capital.
Moderated by Maria Cristina Baroudi. Open to graduate students across CBS, Columbia Engineering, SIPA, the Climate School, GSAS and SPS.
Leading global energy executive; former Chief Executive, Acciona Energía
Power Markets: What’s Broken, Who Wins
The discussion addresses what is broken in today’s power markets, where capital is being misallocated, where real opportunity lies, and which decisions will create long-term winners versus quietly destroy value.
Moderated by Maria Cristina Baroudi. Open to graduate students across CBS, Columbia Engineering, SIPA, the Climate School, GSAS and SPS.
Executive Chairman, Rothschild & Co
Strategy and Long-Term Sustainable Value Creation
The discussion examined the evolving role of global advisory institutions within today’s financial landscape, sustainability as a driver of value creation from principles to execution, competitive dynamics in advisory and capital allocation, and the integration of AI within financial institutions — closing with guidance for the next generation entering finance.
Moderated by Maria Cristina Baroudi. Open to graduate students across CBS, Columbia Engineering, SIPA, the Climate School, GSAS and SPS.
Receive updates on upcoming Leaders Series sessions, confirmed speakers, and emerging themes across capital, technology, energy, and global strategy.
If you are a C-suite executive, founder, global head, or institutional leader interested in participating in a future session, submit a brief profile and area of focus.
The Leaders Series selectively engages graduate students interested in research support, strategy, and event execution. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.
We welcome select institutional partners aligned with long-term capital, innovation, and leadership development. For sponsorship inquiries, collaboration proposals, or institutional partnerships:
Christinabaroudi@gmail.com