Through Wharton WORKS, MBA Students Expand Access to Opportunity

A warmly lit prison corridor with metal bars on both sides and several figures in the distance.
MBA students in the popular Wharton WORKS program say the experience has helped them hone valuable leadership skills while making a positive impact. (Image Credit: Adobe Stock)

Since its launch in April 2023, the Wharton Opportunities for Reentry, Knowledge, and Skills (WORKS) program has steadily increased its impact. Led by Wharton Professor Damon Phillips, the WORKS program — in which MBA students teach business classes to incarcerated learners, mentor formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs, and help formerly incarcerated people reintegrate into society and the workforce — reached 60 justice-involved individuals this spring, up from 30 last year. Additionally, MBA student interest in Professor Phillips’s prerequisite course, Reforming Mass Incarceration and the Role of Business, has grown more than 50%. This spring, the course hit capacity at an impressive 76 students enrolled; last spring, it had 48.

Wharton WORKS is a part of Opportunity Lab, housed within the Wharton Impact, Value, and Sustainable Business Initiative. To learn more about what’s driving interest in the program — and what MBA students have gained from the experience — we spoke with four people who participated in it in spring 2026. Here’s what they had to say about their experiences as teachers and mentors to people in prison, as well as those reintegrating and starting their own businesses after release.

Amelie Ha, WG’26, and Perri Sucoff, WG’27, taught incarcerated learners at SCI Chester, a correctional facility located in Chester, Pennsylvania. Amelie, who earned her MBA this year and is now working in investment banking, and Perri, who enrolled at Wharton after five years at PwC, both noted that the WORKS program helped them hone leadership skills they believe will be integral to their long-term success.

On Joining the Program

Amelie: Ever since high school, I’ve tried to dedicate part of my time to volunteering and giving back to the community. When I entered Wharton, I knew I wanted to continue that commitment. This was a way to challenge my assumptions about incarceration and meet people that I probably would never meet in any other context. But it was also an opportunity to apply and practice the soft skills that are beneficial to me as someone working in corporate. In management you need to show up, listen, and build trust, and WORKS was a great way to practice that.

Perri: Teaching at SCI Chester was really interesting. It’s case method, so a lot of it is letting the students talk through the cases themselves and come to their own ideas and opinions. I loved how open the men were to sharing their stories. It was really eye-opening for me to talk to people who were so different from myself, but also very similar in a lot of ways. They were extremely invested in their education and dedicated to turning their lives around and providing a better future for themselves and their families.

What They Learned

Amelie: This program goes beyond giving back to the community. It’s an opportunity to invest in human potential. And I think that’s true not only for the incarcerated learners that we’re teaching, but also for the Wharton students and the Wharton community. It encapsulates the kind of institution and kind of society we’re trying to build and the kind of leader that we’re trying to educate.

Perri: These are the exact types of programs that Wharton should be funding and continue to fund. They help prepare Wharton students to be well-rounded leaders — people who are very educationally and financially savvy, but who also have soft skills and real-world experiences to add to their toolkit. I think soft skills and empathetic leadership are going to differentiate individuals moving forward in the age of AI, so investing in programs to help future leaders understand people, understand our world, and lead with empathy is critical. 

Wes Suggs, WG’26, leveraged his expertise in education to help a formerly incarcerated entrepreneur get his business idea off the ground. Wes, who studied political science, began his career as a high school history teacher and eventually became an assistant principal. Though he came to Wharton to hone his quantitative and analytical skills, he also prioritized exploring the School’s many social impact-related opportunities, which is how he learned about WORKS.

Wes: A lot of people, when we think about incarceration, think about those who are currently incarcerated. But few think about the barriers that individuals have to overcome when they reenter society. That’s acutely felt when it comes to entrepreneurs. Things like trying to get a small business loan, trying to get your driver’s license — it’s not impossible, but it’s very, very difficult for a lot of these folks.

I really appreciated the opportunity to work one-on-one and build a close relationship with the person I was matched with. For the first three weeks or so, we focused on building out a financial operating model. Getting that down was our biggest accomplishment. Now he’s in a place where he can always look at that model to inform what type of money he’s asking for and why he’s asking for it.

This experience has really inspired me. By investing in programs like WORKS, you’re not just funding another leadership experience — you’re closing a gap that affects our country, and you’re ensuring that the next Wharton graduate is ready to make the change you want to see.

Carley Mambuca, WG’27, is a student in the three-year MBA/MPA program offered by Wharton and the Harvard Kennedy School. Though she plans to pursue a career in sports-anchored real estate, Carley was drawn to the WORKS program after hearing Professor Phillips speak at Pre-Term. She taught workforce preparedness skills to formerly incarcerated people through the program.

Carley: A big thing that we ideate on in the course is how to serve people reintegrating into society. I now understand that entrepreneurship is a viable option for many people. There’s a lot we can do to support those businesses, whether that’s as a friend or as a thought partner. Also, one of the biggest skills that people reintegrating need is financial literacy. Sharing your knowledge of financial literacy and helping people develop that skill is a great way to give back, either through your company or your own personal time.

This program is not about me. It’s about other people and doing right by the world and believing in humanity and the humanity of others. It is so important for Wharton to both have and expand on programs like this because it builds well-rounded people — not just great business minds, but great people who have business minds.