GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini Wharton Executive MBA Commencement Address May 17, 2014 Ladies and Gentlemen, it is an honor to be here today at the graduation of the Wharton Executive MBA Program, Class of 2014. Before I go any further, I would like to thank Dean Robertson, Vice Dean Bishop­Lane, and the faculty and staff here at Wharton for inviting me to join you this afternoon. I also want to commend them for all the support and guidance they have provided you over the past two years. These women and men are custodians of a long and proud tradition here at Wharton, one that goes back to 1881 when America was in the midst of what has been dubbed the second industrial revolution. That was a period, not unlike today, of turbulent change. Captains of industry took the advancements of the first industrial revolution, refined them, and turned this country into an mercantile juggernaut. It was during this time of upheaval that Joseph Wharton made the then sizable donation of $100,000 to the University of Pennsylvania to be used to create a school to prepare young men to assume control of the unprecedented complexity of that economy. Prior to Wharton, the ways of business were taught through the practical experience of apprenticeships. Now, at Wharton, rather than relying on learning by anecdote, young people could be systematically prepared to both understand and lead the evolution of this complex economy through theory, research, and data. Wharton helped prepare me in this way 13 years ago. And I consider myself fortunate to have been invited back to speak to students here many times in the years since. The most recent time was earlier this year, when I was accompanied by my daughter, who was looking at the University of Pennsylvania for college. ­­ Let me just stop here and mention that my oldest daughter, Cassie, was two when I started the WEMBA program. She was joined by a little sister, Francesca, less than a year in. While it is completely crazy to imagine Cassie old enough to be looking at college, it is crazier still to imagine going to WEMBA with a toddler and a baby at home. I am certain that some of you understand. ­­ During the admission talk, the presenter mentioned a quote by UPenn's founder, Ben Franklin, that had been used as an admissions essay topic for many years. Ben Franklin said: “All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.” It is that third category that Joseph Wharton wanted to foster, and 133 years later, Wharton graduates are still living up to that standard and moving the world. For the past two years, this school has not simply taught you to understand today’s complex economy, but to navigate its ongoing change in a world that could teach a thing or two about challenges and complexity to the era that inspired Joseph Wharton.

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Take a moment to consider this: when you began this program just two years ago, no one knew what an instagram was or why asking Siri dumb questions would be so funny. And no one had a phone that could be unlocked with a fingerprint. If you think that’s dramatic, consider the changes that have taken place in our lives and our workplaces since I graduated from Wharton in 2001. I got my iPhone when they first came out in 2007 and at the time I thought that I had mugged an alien. To say this thing was different from the cell phone it replaced would be a bit of an understatement. At the time I had no idea what I would really do with Apps, but that little phone’s incredibly intuitive meshing of so many different services soon made it something that barely any of us could live without. And I am pretty sure that both of my teenagers would “die” without theirs, at least, that’s what they tell me. Before everyone else had one too, for nearly six glorious months, I was the most interesting person in the room wherever I went, allowing people to swipe its screen and perform the now mundane magic­trick of Googling the answer to any random question. But the now­trivial “coolness” of the smart­phone is only the tip of an iceberg of disruptive change that is reaching to every corner of the world. The way we communicate, relate, share and shop have all been permanently changed. Video rental stores? Remember those? In 2002 Blockbuster hit a peak of $30 per share. By 2012 each share was worth less than 2 cents. I hope that you didn’t take that ride. But, what market hasn’t been altered in the last thirteen years by the relentlessly changing face of technology? We are living in a world where the ground is shifting beneath our feet almost every single day. And this is what makes what you have learned so important. This degree has done more than teach you about statistics and financial accounting, it has taught you how to be a leader. Just as Joseph Wharton wanted, it has trained you to recognize and respond to change. At a time when the way Americans work and live can be significantly altered on any given day, you have acquired a unique skill set. What you have learned and done at Wharton has prepared you to help organizations of all shapes, sizes, and missions navigate the unsettled waters of the economy of our shrinking world. But as you leave this school and go forward, I ask that you remember how you got here in the first place. Yes, you earned this degree and it would not have been possible without a lot of hard work over a long two years, often with only a relaxing train ride and a cold beer after a test as your only reward. It was not easy, and at the risk of rekindling a partisan fire storm: you didn’t do it alone. You have been supported by your families, your friends, your spouses, your partners, your colleagues, your children, and your communities. They have guided you and cared about you and made you the extraordinary women and men that you are today. They have listened to you complain about your classes and tolerated you leaving the lamp beside your bed on as you read one more chapter. They stood with you when you were making the tough decisions about your future; covered for you when you were traveling here on weekends for class; understood when you couldn’t make it to a game or a recital; and although you won’t be able to see it, their name will be on that degree as well.

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I ask that you not look at this accomplishment as three more letters you can add to your business card or your Linked In profile. Your new degree is a chance to honor all of those who make you the person you are today. This is your chance to live up to the vision that Joseph Wharton and Benjamin Franklin had for the University of Pennsylvania. A vision of using the incredible skills you have learned to move the world. And at the end of the day, that is a fundamentally American vision. This is a country founded on optimism and by individuals, such as Ben Franklin, with extraordinary talents. Franklin could have used those talents to simply make himself a fortune. Instead he chose to take his incredible mind and focus it on the task of helping his young country and fellow countrymen. He and his contemporaries were patriots, who used their considerable skills and insight to create a stronger, better world for those around them. And that is what we need you to be today: patriots. When I say that word, I am talking about the patriotism once described by Adlai Stevenson; a patriotism that is not “... short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” At a time when budgets are tightening for governments at every level across the country, and the demand for government services is only increasing; if we are to move the world, to make it a better place, we need patriots. And we need you to be among them. I assure you, through my personal experience, what you have learned in this program makes you uniquely qualified to address some of the most difficult problems that face our communities today. For example, when I worked for the District of Columbia, we were challenged to reduce homelessness. It was, and remains, a significant problem and we had limited resources to combat it, resources that were not making a dent in the number of homeless people using the beds in our shelters. We were finally able to make some progress on this issue by applying some of the principles that I learned here at Wharton. My marketing professor Stewart DeBruicker divided consumers into three groups ­ choosers, users, and influencers. By understanding this marketing hierarchy, it helped us completely rethink our approach to homeless services in DC. Our mistake was assuming that all the homeless people in DC were the same, rather than seeing them through a marketing lens as people with their own unique needs and interests. Professor DeBruicker’s marketing hierarchy made us understand the different types of customer we were dealing with. We had been making a mistake and focusing on the wrong customer segment in our efforts to address homelessness. We were working with those it was easiest to help, instead of those who needed the help the most. Chronic homeless individuals, those with shelter stays over 6 months, were consuming a disproportionate share of beds. This 11% of the population was using more than 50% of all “bed nights”. In order to maximize the effectiveness of our resources we needed to think like a

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hotel chain and ask who was staying in our rooms. We figured out we had our own equivalent of the “road warrior” and we needed a whole new “offering” for them. By understanding the basic fact that the homeless were people without homes, not people without shelters, we could begin to really attack the problem. We focused on housing the hardest cases, not the easiest. We de­emphasized shelters and housed more than 800 chronically homeless individuals with permanent, supportive housing that recognized their myriad social, mental health and substance abuse challenges. In one case, we closed a sad, prison­like shelter that cost $8,000 per month per family occupant, replacing the shelter with homes, help, and a future. This is what the past two years have prepared you to do. The education you have received has not simply taught you to find savings and efficiencies, grow revenue, or price discriminate, it has taught you to serve your communities in ways that make a real, tangible difference in people’s lives. Through years of studying and hard work, you have gained an incredible skill set. In the strongest, most dynamic democratic society the world has ever seen, you have a chance to make a difference. You have a chance to give back and repay the sacrifice and support of all those who did so much so that you could walk across this stage today. I challenge you to be patriots and to get involved. Whether you do a stint in the federal government, work with a non­profit, or run for dog catcher, you have a chance to give back to everyone who made you the person that you are. That was the intention of the founders of this school. They built this institution so that women and men like you would be able to meet the most difficult challenges of their time and make a difference. As you go forward, you have a responsibility to follow in their footsteps as patriots. Be a patriot and take your knowledge and use it to influence and guide your communities through a tumultuous and unstable world. Be a patriot and take your experience from the long road that led you to this degree and live up to the expectations of Benjamin Franklin, Joseph Wharton, and everyone who has come before you at this great school. Be a patriot and take the skills that you have worked so hard to acquire, and in an era that shifts and changes almost every day, be a patriot, and use them to move the world. Congratulations!

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