Teaching

Organizations are the engines through which societies deliver — or withhold — opportunity. My teaching prepares leaders to diagnose where organizational systems break down, to understand why disparities emerge, and to redesign processes that restore fairness and trust.

“I am not a natural teacher. I have developed effective pedagogical skills over many years of trial and error, investing substantially in methods that expand students’ opportunities and prepare them to select wisely among those opportunities.”

Philosophy
01

Exceed expectations

I hold students to standards they do not initially expect to meet, encouraging them to reconsider intuitions as new evidence is presented.

02

Cultivate enjoyment

Adopting the perspective of CEOs and activists, to help students find professional paths as fulfilling as mine.

03

Success through rigor

Using numerical narratives to move from possibility to probability, so students can persuade others.

The scientific method is central to my teaching. I am currently running controlled experiments to evaluate the effectiveness of my own methods, treating pedagogy itself as a domain for evidence-based improvement.

Signature course

Equity Analytics

Inequality is generated through two mechanisms: allocations — access to opportunity — and valuations — assessment of worth. Students learn to separate privilege from merit using data from the NFL, Glassdoor, Airbnb, Hollywood, and U.S. venture capital.

Undergraduate and MBA · Featured in Poets & Quants and AACSB Insights · WDI cases on the NFL Rooney Rule, Elemental Systems, and Vail Resorts

The Equity Analytics of the NFL → — the framework worked through end to end, with interactive figures

PROCESS TREATMENT DIFFERENTIAL DISPARATE IMPACT ALLOCATION VALUATION Who gets the opportunity Assistant coaches of colour begin, and spend, careers in positions associated with lower odds of reaching head coach. Neutral rule, unequal access A policy that names no group but routes opportunity unevenly. How the same record is read White coaches promoted at twice the rate of coaches of colour with equivalent experience, qualifications, performance. Neutral criterion, unequal reward A standard applied to everyone that systematically values some work less.
The Equity Analytics diagnostic. The mechanism dictates the intervention — misclassify it and the intervention fails or backfires.
Courses

Startup Science

BBA / MBA · An AI-native venture lab.

Global Strategy

MBA / EMBA · Cross-border value chains.

Strategic Leadership

Executive · Unit economics to organizational systems.

Research Methods & Design

PhD · Mechanism-based theorizing and simulation.

Teaching cases

Published

All cases include data sets and detailed teaching notes. Instructors are welcome to email me for course slides and supplementary materials. Most are distributed through WDI Publishing and the Harvard Business School Publishing portal.

Equitable Downsizing at AutoNow (A & B)Rider & Rodriguez-Kolodkin, 2026 · Teaching note
Carbon Burden Sharing: The North–South DivideRider, 2026 · WDI Publishing · Teaching note
The U.S. Airline Industry in 2026Rider, 2026 · WDI Publishing · Teaching note
The Quest for Gender Pay Equity at Elemental SystemsRider, Choi & Kim, 2023 · WDI Publishing · Teaching note3rd place · 2023 WDI DEI Global Case Writing Competition
Lifting the Vail: Largest U.S. Snow Sports Resort Operator Takes on Climate ChangeRider & Bertrand, 2023 · WDI Publishing · Teaching note
Cyrus Mehri and the National Football League’s Rooney RuleRider, Lopez Rider & Black, 2021 · WDI Publishing · Teaching note1st place · 2021 WDI DEI Global Case Writing Competition

In progress

Making Place: Red Sea Global and Scarcity by DesignRider & Branch, 2026 · Under review
Space vs. Place: Riyadh Air, Emirates, and Gulf AviationRider, Branch & Bénaroya, 2026 · Under review
Alaska Air Group in 2026: Buying Loyalty ScaleRider · Under review
One Dataset, Many Truths: A Structured Advocacy Exercise for Teaching Equity AnalyticsRider · Under review · Global carbon-pricing dataset
Building a Class at UC OceanviewRider & Brown · Under review
Marriott and the Bonvoy Owner RevoltRider · Under review
Redefining Opportunity at India’s Axis BankRider & Swaminathan · Alternative models for a diverse and skilled workforce
Which Metric Governs? Teaching the Conditioning Reversal in Health-Equity AnalyticsRider · Calibrated simulation with an NHAMCS extension
Integration

Discovery scales through education

Rigorous research findings on strategic leadership and organizational equity inform organizational policy, and are also translated into teaching cases and exercises. Research on more than 1,300 coaches contributed to the 2019 expansion of the Rooney Rule. Work with a U.S. Olympic sport governing body redesigned athlete evaluation protocols.

“Moving equity and strategy research from scholarship to practice, so that merit — not privilege — governs opportunity.”

Recognition

2025 RSB Executive Education Impact Award · 2024 UM Provost’s Teaching Innovation Prize · 2022 J. Frank Yates Diversity and Inclusion Teaching Excellence Award · 2021 & 2023 WDI DEI Global Case Writing Competition, 1st and 3rd place

2013 Emory Crystal Apple Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Business Education · 2012 BBA Distinguished Educator Award, Emory Goizueta · 2007 YEAH Volunteer of the Year, UC Berkeley · 2004–07 Outstanding GSI Awards, UC Berkeley Haas