From Malta to Stanford: Two Sisters Who Refused to Think Small

Pujit Siddhant

Aug 10 2026

<div class='bc_element' id='bc_element1' style='width:auto;padding:5px;max-height:100%;'>Growing up on the Mediterranean island of Malta, sisters Simran and Krsna Mohnani didn't have many examples of people who looked like them doing the kind of work they dreamed about. Their parents had immigrated from India, and while they were encouraged to dream big, finding women in engineering, medicine or entrepreneurship whose journeys they could relate to wasn't easy. As Krsna recalls, "You can't be what you can't see." Instead of accepting that limitation, the sisters made an unusual promise to themselves: if they couldn't find those role models, perhaps they would become them. That promise would eventually take them nearly 6,700 miles from Malta to Stanford Graduate School of Business, but their journeys couldn't have been more different. Simran pursued chemical engineering at the University of Bath before leading Circular Economy Innovation projects across Europe at Deloitte, driven by a desire to make industrial innovation more accessible and tackle climate challenges facing island nations like Malta. Krsna chose medicine, becoming a frontline doctor in London's NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic before moving into healthcare consulting at McKinsey. Despite choosing completely different careers, both arrived at the same conclusion: they wanted to create impact at a much larger scale, and they believed business education could help them do it. <h2 data-start="1556" data-end="1575">More Than an MBA</h2> It's tempting to think the story is about two sisters getting into one of the world's most prestigious business schools. But what makes their journey interesting isn't the Stanford acceptance letter, it's what they discovered after arriving there. Krsna says she chose Stanford for three reasons: its location in Silicon Valley, its focus on social impact, and, perhaps most importantly, its culture. She describes it as a place defined by vulnerability, openness and inclusivity, where ambitious people don't compete by hiding ideas but by helping one another make those ideas better. Simran echoes that sentiment. She recalls that whenever she shared an idea, people rarely responded with reasons it wouldn't work. Instead, the response was often, "I know someone you should meet," followed by introductions to mentors, founders or investors who could help move the idea forward. That willingness to open doors for others became one of the defining parts of their Stanford experience. Krsna calls it "the culture of possibility." Not because Stanford convinces people to dream bigger. But because it quietly changes what they believe is possible. <h2 data-start="2817" data-end="2852">Service Was Always at the Center</h2> Although the sisters chose different careers, both were shaped by the same family value: seva, the idea of selfless service to the community. For Simran, that meant using engineering and climate innovation to create technologies that improve everyday lives. At Stanford, she focused on climate ventures, investing and entrepreneurship, with plans to help scale climate-tech companies after graduation. For Krsna, medicine was never just about treating patients. Working during the pandemic and researching mental health among asylum seeking children made her increasingly interested in the broader systems that determine health outcomes. That curiosity eventually led her toward healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship, where she hopes to improve care at a much larger scale than clinical practice alone could allow. Their ambitions even extend beyond their individual careers. Together, they hope to one day launch an investment fund focused on women, with Simran concentrating on planetary health and Krsna leading investments in human health. <h2 data-start="4025" data-end="4053">Why Their Story Resonates</h2> For many immigrant families, success is often measured through stable careers, professional qualifications and financial security. The Mohnani sisters certainly achieved those milestones. One became an engineer, the other a doctor. By many standards, they had already "made it." Yet their story reminds us that career growth doesn't always end once you've reached a respected profession. Sometimes success creates the confidence to ask even bigger questions. "How can I create more impact?" "How can I solve problems at scale?" "How can I use what I've learned to help more people?" Those questions pushed both sisters beyond the careers they had already built and toward entirely new opportunities. <h2 data-start="4767" data-end="4784">Final Thoughts</h2> The Mohnani sisters' journey isn't really a story about Stanford. It's a story about what happens when curiosity, service and ambition come together over many years. Growing up in Malta with Indian roots, studying in the United Kingdom and eventually finding themselves at Stanford, they never followed identical paths, yet both remained driven by the same belief: that education is valuable not simply because it advances your own career, but because it expands your ability to make a difference. Perhaps that's the biggest lesson from their story. Sometimes the people who inspire us most aren't those who followed a perfect plan. They're the ones who kept saying yes to opportunities that stretched their thinking, stayed true to the values they grew up with, and, in doing so, became the role models they were once searching for themselves.  </div>

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