AboutOur PeopleJenna Bao
Jenna Bao
Fellow, Class of 2024

Jenna Bao

Finance
San Jose, California

Jenna is a student in the Wharton School and plans to major in Finance and Operations Management and minor in Data Science. Growing up in the Silicon Valley, Jenna has developed a passion for telling stories and inspiring change through data.
During her time at Penn, she wants to further explore the intersection of finance and social impact, particularly finding ways to use capital to empower entrepreneurship and innovation from underserved communities.

She hopes that the SNF Paideia Fellows Program will be instrumental in equipping her with the necessary skills to navigate the process of learning about the world around her and develop sustainable, informed solutions to economic inequities. She is particularly excited for the experiential component of the program and believes the immersive nature of SNF Paideia courses and programming will aid in strengthening her understanding of wellness, service, citizenship, and dialogue. As someone who has dedicated her high school career to competing in Parliamentary Debate, Jenna understands the power of dialogue firsthand. Although Speech and Debate has taught her to critically engage with contemporary global issues and helped to develop her oratory skills, she knows that developing her communication abilities requires an understanding of dialogue outside a purely argumentative and competitive paradigm. With the help of SNF Paideia Initiatives such as the Red and Blue Exchange, “Can We Talk?” event series, she is looking forward to further honing her command of rhetoric and leadership to be able to facilitate and engage in dialogue across divides. Jenna believes that such a mastery of dialogue is necessary to realize the potential of our differences.

At Penn, Jenna currently serves as the Vice President of Social Impact at Wharton’s Marketing Undergraduate Student Establishment (MUSE), where the committee takes on pro-bono fundraising, advocacy, and consulting work to tackle important social issues like homelessness, environmental sustainability, and racial injustice. One of the core missions of MUSE Board is to promote student wellness on campus. As part of this mission, Jenna collaborates with the President and Vice President of Internal to host a Wellness Week every semester. Jenna also serves as the President of Penn’s Panhellenic Council where she works with her executive board to make Greek life more diverse, equitable, and inclusive.