In Conversation with Joseph Fuller | Harvard Business School, Monitor Group – Edu Unlocked Podcast

Joseph Fuller

Guest

Joseph Fuller serves as a Professor of Management Practice in General Management and Entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School, where he co-leads two major research initiatives — the Managing the Future of Work project and the Harvard Project on the Workforce. A distinguished scholar and former global business leader, Fuller’s work explores the evolving nature of employment, workforce development, and the intersection between education and opportunity in a rapidly changing economy.
At Harvard Business School, Fuller leads the FIELD Global Capstone, the school’s flagship experiential learning program, which sends over 900 first-year MBA students to fifteen countries to collaborate with local companies on real-world business challenges. He previously designed and taught the Making Difficult Decisions course and served as head of The Entrepreneurial Manager, a core course in the MBA curriculum.
Fuller’s research examines the major forces shaping the future of work, including the skills gap, degree inflation, and barriers to upward mobility for lower-wage workers. His work has been pivotal in advancing the skills-based hiring movement, emphasizing practical competencies over traditional degree requirements. He co-created the American Opportunity Index, which ranks companies based on the upward mobility opportunities they provide for workers without college degrees. His Harvard Business Review article, The High Cost of Neglecting Low-Wage Workers, received the 2023 Warren Bennis Prize for best article on leadership.
In 2021, Fuller co-founded the Harvard Project on Workforce, in collaboration with the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Graduate School of Education, to promote upward mobility and equitable access to opportunity through multidisciplinary research.
Before joining the HBS faculty, Fuller co-founded and served as the first employee and Chief Executive Officer of Monitor Group (now Monitor Deloitte), a global consulting firm specializing in corporate strategy and national competitiveness. Over three decades in consulting, he advised senior executives and policymakers worldwide.
Fuller’s thought leadership has been widely featured in Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The Economist, The Washington Post, and many other global outlets. He has appeared on major media platforms including CNBC, NPR, PBS, NBC, and CBS, bringing data-driven insights to public discourse on work, education, and leadership.
A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College and MBA alumnus of Harvard Business School (Class of 1981), Fuller has served on the HBS Board of Dean’s Advisors, the Executive Committee of the Harvard College Fund, and several corporate and nonprofit boards. He currently chairs the Board of Trustees of Western Governors University, and serves as a Senior Visiting Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and Senior Fellow at the Burning Glass Institute.
Key Highlights:
1. Professor of Management Practice, Harvard Business School; Co-leads Managing the Future of Work and Harvard Project on the Workforce.
2. Former co-founder and CEO, Monitor Group (now Monitor Deloitte).
3. Research leader on the skills gap, degree inflation, and upward mobility for lower-wage workers.
4. Winner of the 2023 Warren Bennis Prize for The High Cost of Neglecting Low-Wage Workers (HBR).
5. Chair of the Board of Trustees, Western Governors University.
6. Senior Visiting Fellow, American Enterprise Institute; Senior Fellow, Burning Glass Institute.

Ashish Fernando

Host

Founder & CEO, EDMO
Ashish Fernando is the visionary founder and CEO of EDMO, a revolutionary educational technology platform that's transforming how people learn and grow. With over 15 years of experience in education and technology, Ashish has dedicated his career to making quality education accessible to learners worldwide. Before founding EDMO, Ashish held leadership positions at several prominent EdTech companies and worked as an educational consultant for Fortune 500 companies. He holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Master's in Computer Science from MIT. Ashish is a frequent speaker at educational conferences and has been featured in publications such as EdTech Magazine, Learning & Development Today, and TechCrunch. He's passionate about the intersection of technology and human potential, believing that the right tools can unlock extraordinary learning outcomes for everyone. Under his leadership, EDMO has grown to serve over 100,000 learners globally and has partnerships with leading educational institutions and corporations. Ashish continues to drive innovation in personalized learning, adaptive assessment, and educational analytics.
Key Achievements:
1. Founded EDMO in 2019, now serving 100,000+ learners globally
2. Named 'EdTech Innovator of the Year' by Learning Technology Awards 2023
3. Featured speaker at Global Education Summit 2024
4. Published researcher in educational technology and learning analytics
5. Advisor to multiple EdTech startups and educational initiatives