Scholars

































Testimonials
ECS is everything you’d want to know about leading a company or lab—plus everything you didn’t know to ask. The program stands head and shoulders above the rest. AND you build this shared experience with just the coolest people you’ll ever meet!
Being a part of Emerson Consequential Scholars changed the way I approach my everyday and how I think about my future choices. Three key things that stuck with me: 1. Do the thing which you think you cannot do. From challenges comes growth and unexpected opportunities. 2. The importance of storytelling: people buy – or support or vote for, insert whatever verb – stories, so make it a good one. 3. The best email is the one you send. Do not overthink things. Execute with speed, though never at the expense of quality
The ECS program truly reshaped my career path and how I think about impact. It transformed my mindset from being a scientist and engineer in academia to thinking like an entrepreneur --- someone who makes things happen! The experience was incredibly energizing: it broadened my horizons beyond rigorous science and introduced a new way of approaching problems, where building, storytelling, and execution are just as important as discovery. Most importantly, it gave me the mindset and methodology to tap into the tools, resources, and networks needed to turn bold ideas into reality, and, just as importantly, a lifelong community of friends who share the same entrepreneurial values. Thank you, ECS! I can’t wait to share what I build next.
ECS showed me that the gap between being a good communicator and a great one was mine to close — and then helped me start closing it. I believe the program will supercharge my ability to translate medical science into real-world impact, and I’m deeply grateful to the team for their mentorship.
In just one week, I went from feeling alone in this startup journey to finding a community that genuinely feels like family. We became such a close, supportive cohort that I now see my peers out there doing things and my heart is full. I want every single one of them to succeed. They all came in with this intention to change the world, and I left feeling inspired and proud to be among them. ECS also showed me what good investors look like. Spending time with the Emerson Collective and Sutter Hill teams, I saw firsthand how much they care about our growth as founders. ECS gives you the tools, the network, and the push to actually start this journey!
Being part of Emerson Consequential Scholars has pushed me to think bigger about the kind of impact I want to have and actually act on it. It’s a rare space where people are not only ambitious, but deeply intentional about building things that matter. The ECS community has meaningfully shaped how I approach both my research and the problems I choose to work on.
The [...] program was one of the most formative experiences I had at Stanford, both in terms of understanding what it means to be an entrepreneur in practice and in providing me with an incredible cohort of similarly minded peers who I am lucky to still count as close friends and supporters today.
One of the most valuable aspects of the fellow’s program for me was the human connection: to connect with like-minded individuals. Unlike an award or a big milestone, the fellowship wasn’t a one-time thing but an ongoing engagement that reinforced innovation/entrepreneurship can mean different things for each of us—it’s not a monolith. Each of us has our own path and journey. The fellowship helped me see innovation not as a single leap, but as a series of small, steady steps. Looking back, it helped me develop valuable habits, and the friendships and connections I formed continue to be incredibly rewarding
ECS is everything you’d want to know about leading a company or lab—plus everything you didn’t know to ask. The program stands head and shoulders above the rest. AND you build this shared experience with just the coolest people you’ll ever meet!
Being a part of Emerson Consequential Scholars changed the way I approach my everyday and how I think about my future choices. Three key things that stuck with me: 1. Do the thing which you think you cannot do. From challenges comes growth and unexpected opportunities. 2. The importance of storytelling: people buy – or support or vote for, insert whatever verb – stories, so make it a good one. 3. The best email is the one you send. Do not overthink things. Execute with speed, though never at the expense of quality
The ECS program truly reshaped my career path and how I think about impact. It transformed my mindset from being a scientist and engineer in academia to thinking like an entrepreneur --- someone who makes things happen! The experience was incredibly energizing: it broadened my horizons beyond rigorous science and introduced a new way of approaching problems, where building, storytelling, and execution are just as important as discovery. Most importantly, it gave me the mindset and methodology to tap into the tools, resources, and networks needed to turn bold ideas into reality, and, just as importantly, a lifelong community of friends who share the same entrepreneurial values. Thank you, ECS! I can’t wait to share what I build next.
ECS showed me that the gap between being a good communicator and a great one was mine to close — and then helped me start closing it. I believe the program will supercharge my ability to translate medical science into real-world impact, and I’m deeply grateful to the team for their mentorship.
In just one week, I went from feeling alone in this startup journey to finding a community that genuinely feels like family. We became such a close, supportive cohort that I now see my peers out there doing things and my heart is full. I want every single one of them to succeed. They all came in with this intention to change the world, and I left feeling inspired and proud to be among them. ECS also showed me what good investors look like. Spending time with the Emerson Collective and Sutter Hill teams, I saw firsthand how much they care about our growth as founders. ECS gives you the tools, the network, and the push to actually start this journey!
Being part of Emerson Consequential Scholars has pushed me to think bigger about the kind of impact I want to have and actually act on it. It’s a rare space where people are not only ambitious, but deeply intentional about building things that matter. The ECS community has meaningfully shaped how I approach both my research and the problems I choose to work on.
The [...] program was one of the most formative experiences I had at Stanford, both in terms of understanding what it means to be an entrepreneur in practice and in providing me with an incredible cohort of similarly minded peers who I am lucky to still count as close friends and supporters today.
One of the most valuable aspects of the fellow’s program for me was the human connection: to connect with like-minded individuals. Unlike an award or a big milestone, the fellowship wasn’t a one-time thing but an ongoing engagement that reinforced innovation/entrepreneurship can mean different things for each of us—it’s not a monolith. Each of us has our own path and journey. The fellowship helped me see innovation not as a single leap, but as a series of small, steady steps. Looking back, it helped me develop valuable habits, and the friendships and connections I formed continue to be incredibly rewarding
ECS is everything you’d want to know about leading a company or lab—plus everything you didn’t know to ask. The program stands head and shoulders above the rest. AND you build this shared experience with just the coolest people you’ll ever meet!
Being a part of Emerson Consequential Scholars changed the way I approach my everyday and how I think about my future choices. Three key things that stuck with me: 1. Do the thing which you think you cannot do. From challenges comes growth and unexpected opportunities. 2. The importance of storytelling: people buy – or support or vote for, insert whatever verb – stories, so make it a good one. 3. The best email is the one you send. Do not overthink things. Execute with speed, though never at the expense of quality
The ECS program truly reshaped my career path and how I think about impact. It transformed my mindset from being a scientist and engineer in academia to thinking like an entrepreneur --- someone who makes things happen! The experience was incredibly energizing: it broadened my horizons beyond rigorous science and introduced a new way of approaching problems, where building, storytelling, and execution are just as important as discovery. Most importantly, it gave me the mindset and methodology to tap into the tools, resources, and networks needed to turn bold ideas into reality, and, just as importantly, a lifelong community of friends who share the same entrepreneurial values. Thank you, ECS! I can’t wait to share what I build next.
ECS showed me that the gap between being a good communicator and a great one was mine to close — and then helped me start closing it. I believe the program will supercharge my ability to translate medical science into real-world impact, and I’m deeply grateful to the team for their mentorship.
In just one week, I went from feeling alone in this startup journey to finding a community that genuinely feels like family. We became such a close, supportive cohort that I now see my peers out there doing things and my heart is full. I want every single one of them to succeed. They all came in with this intention to change the world, and I left feeling inspired and proud to be among them. ECS also showed me what good investors look like. Spending time with the Emerson Collective and Sutter Hill teams, I saw firsthand how much they care about our growth as founders. ECS gives you the tools, the network, and the push to actually start this journey!
Being part of Emerson Consequential Scholars has pushed me to think bigger about the kind of impact I want to have and actually act on it. It’s a rare space where people are not only ambitious, but deeply intentional about building things that matter. The ECS community has meaningfully shaped how I approach both my research and the problems I choose to work on.
The [...] program was one of the most formative experiences I had at Stanford, both in terms of understanding what it means to be an entrepreneur in practice and in providing me with an incredible cohort of similarly minded peers who I am lucky to still count as close friends and supporters today.
One of the most valuable aspects of the fellow’s program for me was the human connection: to connect with like-minded individuals. Unlike an award or a big milestone, the fellowship wasn’t a one-time thing but an ongoing engagement that reinforced innovation/entrepreneurship can mean different things for each of us—it’s not a monolith. Each of us has our own path and journey. The fellowship helped me see innovation not as a single leap, but as a series of small, steady steps. Looking back, it helped me develop valuable habits, and the friendships and connections I formed continue to be incredibly rewarding

Dr. Cristabelle De Souza is a cancer biologist and cancer immunologist whose work currently focuses on fibrosis, inflammation, and cancer. She has a specific interest in using multiple drug discovery techniques to translate bench discoveries for therapeutic translation in the clinic. Having received her Ph.D. studying functional genomics and molecular therapeutics in the realm of gynecological malignancies, she then chose to pursue her postdoctoral training at the Stanford Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and clinical Department of Pathology studying mechanisms governing the pathogenic formation of fibrosis in solid organs and their development into cancer. Her interests broadly lie in defining the crosstalk between pathogenic fibroblasts and the innate immune milieu with the goal of identifying signaling proteins for therapeutic targeting. In her career so far, she has authored highly cited 43 peer reviewed publications, invented medical discoveries on 4 patents and been an invited oral presenter at over 15 international conferences. She is also the recipient of the Dr. Dina Lev Young Investigator award for her work on sarcomas and desmoid tumors among others. She was also recently awarded the OCRA Young Investigator Mentored award for her new role as an instructor studying ovarian tumors. As she transitions to her independent faculty position, Dr. De Souza would like to narrow her focus on studying the tumor microenvironment (TME) using multiomic strategies and identify molecular mechanisms that allow the TME to support disease onset and progression. She hopes her studies will help identify novel markers of disease pathogenesis, new mechanisms that can be targeted ultimately helping revert fibrosis and cancer. In her free time she enjoys adventure trips, dancing and learning new languages.
























































