As a world-class competitive sailor, Barbara “Basia” Karpinska Hopkins (MBA ’02) is used to adapting to change. The outlook has served her well, both as an athlete and as a business leader.
Born and raised in Kraków, Poland, Karpinska Hopkins earned an MS in physical therapy from Kraków’s University School of Physical Education amidst major political and social upheavals in her country. Recruited by an American company, she immigrated to New York in 1994 with $300 in her pocket and spent years as a physical therapist. Her commitment to lifelong learning nd the onset of a sudden health challenge led Karpinska Hopkins to pursue a healthcare administration MBA.
“[Baruch] enabled me to continue to support myself while preparing to reinvent myself professionally—the program opened doors to opportunity that led me to where I am today,” she says. “I embody the social mobility for which Baruch is renowned.”
Karpinska Hopkins has become an executive, advisor, and educator in health and technology. She’s led business and digital transformation, financial turnarounds, and mergers at major academic medical centers, including Columbia University, NYU Langone, and Rutgers Health. She built a healthcare management start-up that was later acquired by Optum. Now an adjunct professor at Baruch, she teaches a population health course in the EMBA healthcare program.
Karpkinska Hopkins always embraces new challenges, even outside of her career.
She competes in multiple-day, marathon-style races on her mixed offshore double-handed racing team.
“Having raced on fully crewed sailing teams, where I was relegated to certain narrow roles, I was ready for something new,” she explains. “Besides fostering gender and age equity and sport accessibility, the mixed double-handed format offers the personal challenge of executing all functions with only two people—it’s anything but boring!”
She’s also a tireless advocate for the discipline’s inclusion in Olympic sailing competitions. The Covid-19 pandemic and logistical issues derailed consideration of the event for the 2024 or 2028 Olympic Games, though Karpinska Hopkins remains hopeful about 2032.
Since 2019, Karpinska Hopkins has represented both Poland and the U.S. in global mixed offshore double-handed championships. Recently, she was chosen by the U.S. Sailing Team to compete in the 2024 Offshore Double Handed World Championship, the capital of French short-handed racing, in a newly designed type of sailboat. The race, which took place in gale-like conditions, marked the first time that the U.S. team has competed in this vessel worldwide.
Karpinska Hopkins is preparing for the 2025 World Championship and processing lessons learned—some of which are as applicable on land as on the water.
“Persistence, resilience, teamwork, and humility are key,” she says. “The one that wins is the one who keeps on trying.”
– Sally Fay