Preparing You to Lead Anywhere


Michael S. and Alexa B. Chae Initiative in Private Sector Leadership

Michael Chae and Alexa Chae

The Chae Initiative in Private Sector Leadership was founded by Michael Chae '97 and Alexa Chae '97. Read more about our Founders.

Part of The Tsai Leadership Program at Yale Law School, the Michael S. and Alexa B. Chae Initiative in Private Sector Leadership provides focused educational and professional development to Yale Law School students who aspire to nontraditional careers and leadership roles in the private sector. The Chae Initiative helps prepare students for careers in areas such as business, finance, investing, management consulting, and entrepreneurship.

Many Yale Law School alumni enjoy careers in the private sector outside of traditional lawyering. The Chae Initiative advises students as they master the intellectual foundations of numeracy through courses such as financial modeling, statistics, accounting, and data science. The Chae Initiative also supports professional development through programming on the values, ethics, skills, and theories of management and leadership across a wide spectrum of private sector organizations.

The Chae Initiative's core philosophy is to empower Yale Law students to be professionally ready and capable of translating theory into practice, to obtain a firm grasp of business principles, to be nimble in the face of complex business issues and innovation, and to engage in ethical decision-making within a global business environment. The Chae Initiative is premised on the notion that a law degree is an all-purpose thinking and problem-solving degree and provides a crucial foundation that will serve graduates for many business leadership roles. The Faculty Director for the Chae Initiative in Private Sector Leadership is Professor of Law John Morley '06.

Become a Chae Fellow

Yale Law School J.D. students may apply to become Chae Fellows of the Chae Initiative in Private Sector Leadership. Fellows will embark on uniquely devised plans comprised of curricular and extracurricular offerings that are suited to their individual interests and goals in private sector careers and leadership, developed in consultation with the Faculty Director, John Morley, and Executive Director, Mary Herrington. Chae Fellows will also have access to professional skills-training workshops directly relevant to careers in finance, management consulting, entrepreneurship, and other private sector professional roles, mentorship opportunities with leading alumni professionals in the private sector, and career advising sessions to address their goals.

To learn more see Chae/Ludwig Fellows page.

YLS Students at Desk

Alumni Leaders

Alumni Leaders
Gene Ludwig

“Yale Law School has been the cornerstone that has allowed me to do everything I’ve done in life, from becoming a lawyer to government service to building businesses and pushing for positive change for low- and moderate-income communities.