Christopher 'Kit' Barron , 2011, United States

CapLog Group, Senior Associate - Boston, MA
CapLog provides information, consulting and products that support innovation in the wild-caught seafood industry.

Fletcher Thesis: Value Chain Analysis of the Gulf of Mexico Shark Fishing Industry

Why I chose Fletcher: After being admitted to Fletcher, I attended a conference on microfinance hosted by Fletcher's Center for Emerging Market Enterprises. Accustomed to stuffy academic conferences that seldom present new ideas or challenge the status quo, I was surprised by what I saw at Fletcher. The six experts on microfinance were arranged in a semi-circle at the front of the room and asked to engage in 'dinner table conversation' about the impact and future of microfinance institutions on the developing world. A sometimes heated, very dynamic, and always cordial conversation evolved, touching on a number of exciting new developments in the field. As impressed as I was with the speakers, it was the Fletcher students’ clear expertise and interest in the subject that left the largest impact on me. After the conference, I spoke to a number of students, many of whom were involved in organizing the conference, and I was welcomed and enthusiastically encouraged to attend Fletcher. I haven't looked back since.

How Fletcher has changed the way I look at the world: Coming into Fletcher, I had spent years outside of the US and explored close to 30 countries; I knew the world was overwhelmingly vast. But now that I'm at Fletcher, the world seems a lot smaller. Just like the flags that line our entryway, Fletcher students are from every nation across the globe. Suddenly, a summer internship in Lagos or a spring conference in Cochabamba doesn’t seem so far away. Moreover, I know that I have a place to stay and a Fletcher alum to visit in almost every corner of the world.