“Don’t Leave Home Without It” is the iconic slogan that landed American Express cards in millions of wallets worldwide. American Express was originally founded in 1850 as an express mail business before evolving into one of the world’s most recognized financial services companies. Today, it continues to be a leader in innovation, employee engagement, and customer service. Gabriel Rondon Ichikawa, Harvard Business School MBA ’24, has embraced this dynamic environment in his post-MBA career, leveraging his background in economics and labor theory to shape HR strategies at American Express. In this edition of our annual series Real Humans: Alumni, Gabriel shares insights into his MBA and career journey, and the lessons that have guided his path to American Express.
Gabriel Rondon Ichikawa, HBS MBA ’24, Chief of Staff at American Express
Age: 31
Hometown: Gig Harbor, WA
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Tufts University – Economics and International Relations
Pre-MBA Work Experience: Senior Associate, Liberty Mutual, 1.5 Years, Insurance; Senior Research Assistant, Federal Reserve Board of Governors, 2 Years, Government; Senior Analyst, Analysis Group, 3 years, Economics Consulting
Post-MBA Work Experience: Manager (Chief of Staff), American Express, 8 months (started in July 2024), Financial Services
Why did you choose to attend business school?
During my junior year at Tufts University, I got involved in a labor economics research lab, which was a defining part of my undergraduate experience. Ever since then, I became fascinated with labor economics and economics more broadly. As I navigated my post-grad career, I dove deep into working in the field of economics, working at the Federal Reserve and later in Economics Consulting. However, as I got more involved, I become more interested in the application of theory than the creation of it. I decided to go to business school to pivot out of economics, into human resources, to bring to life the labor economic and business theories and make a more tangible impact on workers.
Why HBS? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
There were a few factors that really enticed me about HBS. The first was being part of the broader Harvard eco-system. I really tried my best to take advantage of my proximity to these other schools. For example, throughout my time there, I was able to attend election day events at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, debate students from the Chan School of Public Health about the Future of Work, and go on treks to the Middle East with students from the Harvard Law School.
The other thing that really appealed to me about HBS was its size. The large size of the class provided a diversity of backgrounds that I really valued. It provided me the ability to find people that I shared interests and backgrounds with, while also interacting with students from completely different walks of life. To counter-balance this scale, the section experience provided a level of intimacy that allowed for strong relationship building. This really felt like I was getting the best of both worlds.
Lastly, and probably most importantly, was my love for Boston. I did my undergrad at Tufts University and despite spending time in Washington D.C. and Chicago after graduation, I longed to go back to Boston. I think Boston provides all the needs of a major city, while very approachable. The HBS campus is nested right between Allston and Cambridge giving us easy access to good dining options, easy access to downtown, and proximity to beautiful nature, plus it’s hard beat a New England fall.
What about your MBA experience prepared you for your current career?
An unexpected benefit of HBS’ case method was it provided me with the skill to think quickly on my feet to tactfully push back on others’ ideas in a value creating way. My previous places of work were very hierarchical and as an earlier-in-career employee, I did as I was told and did the best I could to do it excellently. However, now I am working in HR, and particularly as a Chief of Staff, I serve as sounding board to leaders who are looking to me to help guide them toward various HR and strategic people decisions. Debating my peers over hundreds of different cases, gave me the communication skills needed to speak confidently to leaders, many levels above me, and nudge them toward the best outcomes for their teams or at least encourage a productive debate, particularly around topics that can be sensitive or uncomfortable to discuss.
What was your internship during business school? How did that inform your post-MBA career choice?
I interned in the Colleague Experience Group (i.e., HR) at American Express as part of a rotational program, now called the HR Leadership Development Program. My three months at American Express, were essential in helping inform my post-MBA career.
Firstly, it confirmed that HR is in fact what I want to do for the rest of my career. I came to business school to test this grand hypothesis, that I would enjoy committing my life to supporting the colleagues around me. However, this hypothesis was driven mostly by my gut. Having the opportunity to work on a real project, which had a real impact on the people at American Express, helped underscore that I had made the right decision.
Secondly, perhaps naively, I did not understand how complex HR was. When I applied to business school, I was keen on working in People Analytics to help drive data-informed decision-making. Yet, my internship opened the aperture of what was possible in an HR career. I could have a diverse career working across teams like compensation, learning and development, and talent acquisition, while remaining within the same function and all while remaining true to the main tenant that drove me to business school to begin with: make a tangible impact on workers.
Lastly, and much less seriously, I had been a New York skeptic for years. I had lived in Seattle, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, but never had a strong interest in moving to New York. It seemed a bit chaotic for me. Nevertheless, spending three months in New York over the summer, showed me what everyone else had been telling me for years: New York is awesome. As someone who loves a robust public transit system, highly diverse cuisine choices, and the performing and visual arts, I’ve completely changed my perspective on New York and was excited to return back to American Express.
Why did you choose your current company? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of your American Express career journey?
After my summer at American Express, I was really motivated to return. It was really important for me to work at a company that invests heavily in their employees and where HR has a seat at the table. There were certain signals, some subtle and some more clear, that demonstrated that American Express was one of these places. One key example of this is that American Express doesn’t refer to their workers as “employees,” but rather as “colleagues.” While something like that may sound small, it demonstrated to me the paradigm that American Express has about the people that work there: we are a collective team.
Further, as someone who is early on in his HR career, it was important for me to find a role where I could maximize my learning and development. As a Manager Assistant (Chief of Staff) to a Senior Colleague Strategic Partner (HR Business Partner), I get a glimpse into the entire HR cycle, collaborating across various teams within HR and working directly with other business units. Every day I see and learn something new that it sometimes feels like I’m doing a second masters, but in HR. This was exactly the sort of thing I was looking for. It was important for me to work in a large company with strong and established HR practices and policies, to learn how “best-in-class companies” approach their HR strategy.
Advice to current MBA students:
–One thing you would absolutely do again as part of the job search?
I am so glad I explored. Others warned me that if I knew what I was interested in, that I should remain focused on the goal and not be tempted by opportunities outside of that. However, I wanted to do my due diligence to help provide myself with evidence that the decision I was making, to pivot into HR at a large company, was the right one. I did exploratory chats with alumni across a broad swath of related HR industries, HR Tech, HR venture capital, and HR consulting, and in that discovery, strengthened my resolve that I was indeed most interested in going into HR at a large company, which ultimately lead me to American Express.
–One thing you would change or do differently as part of the job search?
Utilize your professors. This was something that I was late to realize, I will admit. Your professors are just as invested in your success as you are or anyone at career services. They have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of students, just like you, and observed how these students navigated their careers and the impacts of the career decisions that these students have made. This makes them the keepers of priceless mental databases on how certain decisions can impact the trajectory of ones’ career. The meetings I had with my professors, really changed my perspective on my career and helped me navigate difficult career choices, as well as connected me with leaders in the fields I was most interested in.
–Were there any surprises regarding your current employer’s recruiting process?
As I recruited, I was worried that my lack of direct HR experience would be a barrier. I was very surprised at how open American Express was to my previous experience in Economics and how they were able to focus on the skills I had developed throughout my career versus solely focusing on what functions I supported in my previous roles.
–What piece of advice do you wish you had been given during your MBA?
When you’re in the middle of everything in your MBA, it’s sometimes hard to take a step back and realize all that you’ve experienced and learned. I wish I had been more diligent in keeping track of my “a-ha” moments or interesting tidbits of information. In the moment, I kept saying, “oh, I will definitely remember this” and now, less than a year out, there are a lot of moments that I wish I could remember more clearly. It might seem silly at the time, but it’s worth keeping a note on your phone just to track those moments.
