Professor Emeritus Roy T. Black, who retired in 2022, laid the groundwork for today’s success, alongside longstanding adjunct professors including Lyle Fogarty 03MBA, Hussain “Moos” Moosajee 07MBA, Tom Evans 12MBA, and Conor McNally, among others. Students and alumni have been building on that momentum, bringing energy and enthusiasm to support the evolution of the program.

Case in point: Last year, two dozen former students, led by Randy Evans 79MBA, raised a transformative $3 million endowment to fuel additional leadership of the program alongside Sergio Gárate, assistant finance professor and director of the program. A national search is now underway for a Distinguished Industry Professor to lead the Real Estate program into its next era. Now, the program is accelerating toward the future, embracing fresh ideas, innovative research, and industry collaboration to redefine what’s possible in real estate education.

Building Momentum

A big magnet for all of this is Atlanta’s thriving real estate market, Emory’s leadership, and the school’s location in the Southeastern region, which is rapidly expanding with commercial and residential developments. Atlanta is home to 16 Fortune 500 company headquarters with 75% of Fortune 1000 companies holding offices in the city.

Adding to the momentum, the program has strong institutional support from Emory President Greg Fenves and John H. Harland Dean Gareth M. James, both prioritizing real estate as a key initiative for both Goizueta and Emory. In fact, Goizueta is currently laying the groundwork for a dedicated center, marking a new era of excellence in real estate education, thought leadership, and practice at the school.

“The energy and excitement surrounding real estate at Emory and Goizueta Business School are unmistakable,” says Robert C. Goddard III, chair of the Emory Board of Trustees.

With Goizueta’s expanding real estate program, the school is poised to become a premier hub for real estate education and thought leadership.

Robert C. Goddard III, Chair, Emory Board of Trustees

“Given Atlanta’s position as a thriving commercial and investment center—serving as the economic engine of the Southeast—our students and faculty have unparalleled access to a dynamic market, influential industry leaders, and a wealth of opportunities,” says Goddard. “We are building something truly extraordinary.”

A Conference Commands Attention

Undergraduates, MBA students, faculty, and Goizueta leadership have all stepped up to fuel the Real Estate program’s momentum and growth. One major source of that fuel has been the launch of the annual Emory Goizueta Real Estate Conference that now attracts more than 700 alumni, private equity, and developers from across the country and internationally.

The new Distinguished Industry Professor will lead the center, with the historically sold-out annual Emory Goizueta Real Estate Conference as its signature event. This year’s conference, taking place on April 17, features Tyler Henritze, founder and managing partner of Town Lane, as the keynote speaker in a discussion moderated by Brian Budnick 02C and managing director of Eastdil Secured. They will be joined by many other industry powerhouses throughout the day, including Joseph Zidle 95C, senior managing director and chief investment strategist in the Private Wealth Solutions group at Blackstone. 

While earning their MBAs, John Schellhase 23EvMBA—associate vice president of investments at Peachtree Group—and Bernard Clevens 22MBA—principal at Thematic Capital Group—wanted to test their entrepreneurial limits (and the patience of their spouses) by creating a world-class real estate conference.

“We wanted to create a school sponsored conference that would both magnify the school and the city of Atlanta,” Schellhase says. “The true opportunity was to pair the strength of the alumni network with the real estate community in the fifth biggest city in the United States.”

Schellhase and Clevens recruited alumni for panels and sponsorships. The buzz built as they secured CEOs of the “big four” Atlanta commercial real estate firms (Cousins, Jamestown, Portman, and T. Dallas Smith). Their pitch: Atlanta is an underrated national laboratory for real estate trends, and Emory and Goizueta graduates deserve to be recruited as hard as those from Columbia, Penn, and other top-ranked real estate programs.

Can You Get Me a Ticket?

Then, they went after the ungettable get as their keynote speaker, real estate tycoon Sam Zell.

“It’d be kind of hard to find anybody bigger than Sam Zell,” says Black, who calls the conference the most successful student-led real estate program in the country. “It was standing room only, and I had alumni calling and asking, ‘Can you get me a ticket?’”

In the 2022 conference keynote, Zell predicted that inflation pressures “would create generational opportunities for a cadre of new investors,” Todd H. Rollins 93C 99MBA recalls. “Sadly, Zell passed away roughly a year later, and that takeaway is what you’re looking for at a conference like that. You’re looking to glean little nuggets of data and wisdom, and his legendary stature was surreal.” 

Madison Williams 04MBA, now executive vice president of Investments at QTS Data Centers, believes the conference panels and organizers represent the servant leadership that differentiates Goizueta’s Real Estate program. Madison notes, “The Real Estate program at Emory is founded on integrity and helping your fellow classmates and alumni succeed. This comes across at the conference with exciting topics and great speakers for graduates, existing students, and industry veterans to learn from.” 

The 2024 keynote speaker was Chris Lee 00C, partner and president of KKR’s global real estate business. At Emory College he majored in economics with a focus in math; real estate was not a business offering then. “The keynote address was a full circle moment,” he says. 

“Atlanta is one of the top 5 largest MSAs [metropolitan statistical areas] and a major real estate incubator of what is happening around the country,” Lee says. “The conference we launched is a huge opportunity for Emory to be a leader in the national real estate community. It’s a great academic program and city, and if you want talented young people who know real estate, Emory has a lot of them. I’m excited about what this conference and the Real Estate program will look like in a few years.” 

Pizza Parties and Perfect Timing

Without highly motivated students and alumni, neither this pipeline nor this success would have been possible. In 1998, Todd Rollins 93C 99MBA, Dan Latshaw II 99MBA, and Arthur Lynn 99MBA started the Goizueta Real Estate Group (GREG).

“In our first few meetings, we decided next steps should include real estate programming, something more formal to develop our knowledge base,” says Rollins, now a portfolio manager for two flagship funds with Nuveen in New York. “That fledgling discussion evolved into finding a local professor to come in and teach us. Goizueta’s dean at the time, Thomas S. Robertson, embraced that idea.”

And so, the seed was planted.

“Looking back at this retrospectively, it is nothing short of amazing to see how this grassroots program has progressed with contributions from so many people over time,” Rollins adds.

Enter Roy T. Black who had a PhD in real estate and finance and practiced real estate law for 15 years.

“Timing is crucial,” Black says about real estate success, and the same was true of arriving at Emory. He devoted the next nine years to building the Real Estate program “like it was a nonprofit business” with reciprocal benefits for students and alumni. He recruited students to his classes by offering them free pizza and connecting them with alumni for jobs; he persuaded alumni to sponsor the pizza parties as a recruitment pipeline and speak about topics like multifamily housing. “No one ever turned me down,” he says.

Randy Evans 79MBA always answered the call, having graduated long before Emory named the business school in 1994. “There weren’t many of us who wanted to go into real estate, and I went to see the dean who was the past chairman of Georgia-Pacific, who made a few phone calls and that’s how I got my first job,” he recalls. Today, Evans is managing director at Eastdil Secured. “I made a promise to myself that I would pay that forward.”

Lessons from Elvis and the Learning Lab

With props and costumes, Black vividly taught real estate principles by invoking Elvis and William the Conqueror.

To Black, experiential learning was key. Students didn’t just study real estate—they lived it. Atlanta served as a dynamic “learning lab” where students participated in site visits and hands-on projects, such as analyzing feasibility for new developments and tackling complex market research challenges.

“My favorite project was researching the perfect spot in Atlanta to build a new Dunkin’ Donuts franchise,” says Erica Goldman 18BBA, principal at Blackstone. “That was so fun and taught me the fundamentals of real estate market analysis. Professor Black was both an incredible teacher and resource with relationships across the industry.”

Energized students “started planning events on their own, like tours of the Beltline,” Black says. “They toured the old Sears Building when it was still being renovated for Ponce City Market, with Jim Irwin 07MBA, who was head of development and in one of the very first Emory classes that I taught. There was still dust on the floor about three inches high and he showed us where everything was going to go.” Irwin is now president of New City, LLC and directs the company’s real estate development and consulting operations, as well as new business pursuits.

“The students came up with the ideas, and that was an important part of their education,” Black adds. “You’ve got to be proactive to succeed in the real estate business.”

Links in a Chain

As Goizueta students explored new ways to learn and engage, they could see how alumni were shaping Atlanta’s skyline. From the panoramic window in Dolive, a large meeting room in Goizueta’s east building, Black would point to the horizon. “You see that building? A former student manages it,” he’d say and tap the glass. “And for that one over there? One of our alums does the leasing.”

For Lyle Fogarty 03MBA, managing partner at Clover Investment Properties and an adjunct professor at Goizueta since 2006, the alumni network represents a huge area of strength for students ready to enter the field.

I tell students all the time if there is a commercial real estate company you admire, there is an extremely high probability that there is an Emory alumnus/a already there willing to return your call if you reach out.

Lyle Fogarty 03MBA, Goizueta adjunct professor & managing partner, Clover Investment Properties

“I don’t think that one week has gone by in the last 15 years that I haven’t heard from at least one fellow Emory grad or former student,” says Fogarty.

As Lyle looks toward the future, he is encouraged by the prospects of the program. “Atlanta is at its core a ‘real estate town.’ There are many great real estate programs at other schools around the nation and they are focused on growing and improving as well. We can learn from them and grow with them as well. But compared to other programs, our secret sauce is Atlanta which has a seemingly endless growth story which provides exceptional teaching and learning opportunities for students.”

An Expanding Program

Today, the courses and offerings for students continue to grow. More than 260 students participated in real estate classes in 2024, up from 157 in 2022. Graduate students can earn a real estate concentration in the MBA programs, and undergraduate BBAs enroll in the real estate depth program in the Finance department that focuses on the real estate industry, including development, market research, REITs, and capital markets, among other areas.

Instructors in the Real Estate program work in the industry “so you’re going to get very hands-on information on working in commercial real estate,” says Gárate. “Our course offerings will help you get placed in pretty much any real estate private equity firm. Because of the branding, history, and quality of our real estate students, we have alumni now working at all the big real estate firms. Goizueta shows immense strength in capital markets, innovation, and development.”

Students have access to hands-on learning both in and outside the classroom that strengthens their skill sets and resumes. Last year, Goizueta started offering a Real Estate career trek to New York, providing students a unique opportunity to meet with top firms, explore career paths, and strengthen professional networks nationwide. Through the Real Estate Private Equity fund, students manage real-world investments. They look for opportunities to find undervalued REITs on the equity side and consistent returns to safely and consistently maintain the fund’s capital on the debt side.

For Tom Evans 12EvMBA, one of the founders of the Real Estate Private Equity Fund, it has been fulfilling to see the work he did in his student years paying off for a whole new generation. He is now managing partner of Toccoa Capital Management and an adjunct professor at Goizueta. “It’s rewarding to see that, over 13 years later, the fund is still going strong.”

As Emory’s Real Estate program enters its next chapter, the strength and enthusiasm of its current student base and growing network signal a future as expansive as the skylines its alumni help shape. With a dedicated center on the horizon, a transformative endowment, new course offerings, and the energy of a thriving city like Atlanta, Goizueta Business School is poised to take its place as a powerhouse at the forefront of real estate excellence.

Interested in getting involved? Register for the Emory Goizueta Real Estate Conference on April 17. If you’d like to discuss partnering with Goizueta, hiring our students, or contributing your expertise, please reach out to Sergio Gárate.

The post Shaping Skylines and Futures: Goizueta’s Real Estate Program Builds Momentum appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

Emory University’s Goizueta Business School offers insights into why and how we can use artificial intelligence to deliver educational content.

• + Early technological interventions can improve student outcomes, as long as human instructors are also involved.
• + Material that is delivered by AI tools can be quickly and easily updated. It also can be customized to provide more personalized learning experiences.
• + Many professors aren’t familiar with AI tools—and students are. So, schools need to encourage collaboration and provide support to faculty who want to experiment with the technology.

How would business education change if all instructors were assisted by avatars—virtual doppelgängers that look and sound just like them? More broadly, how would it affect student learning if every classroom included an artificial intelligence (AI) component?

The possibilities seem endless. When AI instructors are part of the classroom experience, it opens doors to many possibilities. Schools can deliver content in multiple languages, create hyper-personalized learning experiences, and easily update program materials. But how does an avatar’s communication of material compare to that of a human instructor?

To answer that question, Goizueta Business School at Emory University in Atlanta is exploring the best ways to deliver education through avatars, AI, and other developing technologies. Driven by curiosity, faculty and staff members are building on lessons learned during COVID-19, when curricula had to be adapted for online learning.

“In four or five years, AI technology will exponentially change. So, it’s up to us to embrace a more collaborative, technology-enabled education model,” says Gareth James, the John H. Harland Dean of Goizueta Business School and an expert on statistical and machine learning methodologies. He notes that faculty who use AI are not merely standing at the front of the classroom, presenting knowledge. They’re also learning from students, “because many students are independently learning about this technology.”

Through these collaborative efforts, Goizueta’s faculty and staff have developed five key insights about why and how to use AI in the classroom.

1. AI Can Improve Student Outcomes

Rajiv Garg wondered how the presence of human and AI instructors might affect student performance—whether separate or in some combination. An associate professor of information systems and operations management, Garg worked with student researchers to set up a small study. He and his team assigned 40 students to classes taught by a human, an AI system, or both.

The students who performed best on the final exam had learned with human-generated course content guided by an AI voice/avatar. The second-best performers learned from the completely human-generated course. Those in the completely AI-generated course did less well. The poorest-performing students were those in the AI-generated course led by a human voice/avatar.

Garg and his students are expanding this small-scale experiment this semester. So far, it suggests that a faculty expert still does a better job of generating a course than an AI system does. But an AI assistant or avatar can deliver content successfully. This means schools can save both time and money by having human experts generate new content and avatars deliver it. James says, “You could certainly imagine getting the best of both worlds: great research and great presentation skills.”

To create AI assistants, professors first design avatars that are similar to themselves in appearances, voices, accents, and mannerisms. After professors feed scripts to the AI system, their avatars deliver the content in the form of videos. They can then use this content to supplement classroom teaching.

A faculty expert still does a better job of generating a course than an AI system does. But an AI assistant or avatar can deliver content successfully.

Garg encourages academics to be thoughtful in the material they provide to their virtual assistants. That’s because the AI is learning from all the content it consumes, and better inputs lead to more useful outputs. He also suggests that professors continually tweak the material the AI is using. Otherwise, both the avatar and the content could become stale and ineffective.

Creating an AI assistant is “not just a switch that you flip,” he warns. “You may be innovating content a dozen times in a semester to make sure the content is achieving the task of teaching students.”

2. AI Enables Quick Course Updates

AI is raising societal expectations that all deliverables—just like Amazon boxes—will arrive immediately. With the help of AI, faculty can swiftly create new material that reflects breaking changes across industries, explains Pam Tipton, Goizueta Business School’s senior director of custom executive education programs.

This flexibility is particularly useful for schools that offer customized education courses. Such programs often are delivered on demand to C-suite leaders in industries that are rapidly changing—sometimes because of AI itself. Many of Goizueta’s executive education participants come from Atlanta, a metro area of 5 million people that is home to 17 Fortune 500 company headquarters. AI allows professors to swiftly create and incorporate “new case studies, especially from within an executive’s own company,” Tipton says.

Her advice to professors who are unfamiliar with AI: Try a small experiment with free tools. “Set up free accounts and see what the output looks and feels like,” Tipton advises. “Play around in small ways to integrate AI into your classroom. When you experiment, you’ll find the AI tools that work for you and your clients.”

3. Faculty Need Support to Try AI

Stephanie Adams initially gulped at the disruption posed by AI. As the senior associate director of academic affairs and instructional design at Goizueta Business School, she supports faculty and students by helping them optimize their working relationships. While she knows AI presents growth opportunities in educational applications, she realizes that the learning curve can be steep for professors unfamiliar with the technology. She recommends that administrators provide accessible paths that encourage professors to try AI.

“We have folks who embrace innovation and technologies and folks who are more fearful, skeptical,” she says. “It’s important to build a space where they feel comfortable learning new things, comfortable exploring, and okay when something doesn’t work.”

Goizueta faculty have learned to use AI to develop slide decks, organize syllabi and course content, generate ideas, and comb through data. They also have discovered that some AI tools are better for text, while others are better for images or data. “When faculty feel empowered, it impacts learners in a positive way,” says Adams.

AI presents growth opportunities in educational applications, but the learning curve can be steep for professors unfamiliar with the technology.

The school held a gathering that allowed faculty and staff to share their AI experiences and teaching strategies. Adams particularly likes the scavenger hunt that a faculty member created using free AI tools. “There is an online link with a small prompt that helps professors learn to use the tool in a very basic way,” she says. “A scavenger hunt can be a brilliant, low-stakes way to learn and build confidence with AI.”

She adds, “Adapting to AI is a lot about teaching and learning with curiosity, because we’re never going to dip our toes in the water and learn something new if we let our fears hold us back.”

4. Students Must Learn the Ethics of AI

While faculty might find it difficult to master AI, many learners are already familiar with it. However, it’s often up to the school to ensure that students use the new technology in an ethical fashion.

“We don’t want students to violate the honor code. We want to uphold the integrity of our work,” says Adams. She believes it’s essential for the business school community to discuss its standards and agree upon best practices and guidelines for using AI.

“Rather than saying, ‘This AI tool is banned in my class,’ faculty could consider saying, ‘Let’s use this tool and really explore it,’” Adams suggests. Professors could have AI respond to a problem, then ask students to analyze its responses. What did it get right? Where did it go wrong? Students will learn not only how to use AI language models, Adams emphasizes, but also how to think critically.

Karl Kuhnert is one of the Goizueta professors who is exploring how AI can support ethical decision-making in the classroom and beyond. Using sophisticated AI software, he is “cloning” leading experts. To do this, he uses their judgment, intuition, and experience to create their digital twins. The resulting tools help individuals learn how to make subjective, time-critical, high-consequence decisions. It’s particularly useful in complex industries such as healthcare and insurance. For instance, doctors can use AI tools to determine whether or not to prescribe new weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic.

5. Be Strategic—But Have Fun.

Tinkering has its roots in play, and Goizueta Business School channeled some whimsy—and generated some buzz—by creating an avatar of its top leader. “Digi-Dean” stars in a brief social media video about how the school’s leadership is applying AI to business education.

“Emory may no longer need my services,” laments James, who is originally from New Zealand, in a post about his digital alter ego. “Anyone need a slightly used dean with an exotic accent?”

AI gives business schools another tool to expand their global reach, drive meaningful classroom exchanges with students, and respond to daily market changes.

More seriously, Goizueta faculty and administrators identify many benefits of using AI in the classroom:

• + Avatars allow schools to provide highly personalized education at a lower cost per student. For instance, faculty can use avatars to deliver content in any language to students from anywhere in the world.
• + Using AI, schools can customize core business courses for specific industries such as finance, real estate, healthcare, and technology.
• + If a professor leaves an institution, the school can use an avatar service to easily re-edit and rerecord supplemental materials.

Preparing for the Future

Today’s business schools are constantly seeking to expand their global reach, drive meaningful classroom exchanges with students, and respond to daily market changes. AI gives them another tool to achieve these goals.

In addition, when schools incorporate AI into the classroom, they are preparing students for the future. Goizueta’s namesake, former Coca-Cola CEO Robert C. Goizueta, put it this way: “Business schools today cannot just reflect business the way it is. They must teach business the way it will be.”

It’s clear that businesses will be relying heavily on new technology to support their future planning and growth. Business schools must adapt their educational approaches accordingly.

Goizueta’s teaching innovations have transformed the traditional classroom into a dynamic digital ecosystem with virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI), and holographic capabilities. Learn more about our unparalleled educational experience with unparalleled results.

The post The Avatar as Instructor appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

Proof of their commitment: the circled capital “B” belonging to companies that are Certified B Corps, more than 5,300 now and rising globally. The designation means that a company values people and the planet alongside profits, and B Corps range from solopreneurs to familiar brands such as Patagonia, Method, and Ben & Jerry’s. Similar to LEED certification for a building, B Corp status must be earned through a rigorous third-party certification process overseen by B Lab. For Khonso, that was a huge endeavor.

Enter Goizueta Business School students, who authored Khonso’s employee handbook and drew up a road map to assess and measure data points and policy across five areas: community, customers, environment, governance, and workers. “We are committed to quality, community, inclusivity, and sustainability, which includes fair wages, sustainable energy and water investments, and buying products from businesses with sustainable practices,” says Khonso Chief Marketing Officer William Teasley.

Because of the students at Goizueta, we’re not going to ‘get back to it in a couple of years.’ We’re doing something about it now.

William Teasley

The timely partnership unfolded through B Corp Learning Lab, a directed study elective through Goizueta’s Business & Society Institute for undergraduates, MBAs, and students across Emory. “We are educating students about B Corps by taking part in the movement,” says B Corp Learning Lab instructor Brian Goebel 09MBA, managing director of the Business & Society Institute. “It’s a win-win all around.”

Through B Lab, Khonso and other local businesses connected with MBA and BBA students and others from Emory Law and Emory Master’s in Development Practice (MDP). The campus-wide interest doesn’t surprise Wes Longhofer, executive academic director of the Business & Society Institute, because students are clamoring for any chance to learn about issues related to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG).

“But the market is also changing quickly,” Longhofer adds. “Companies are looking to develop capabilities in this space as they respond to growing pressure from investors, consumers, and their own employees.”

The B Corp certification is a powerful and transparent way for companies to verify their social and environmental commitments. And because the assessment process is so tangible, students get hands-on experience on how companies can both measure their impact and set meaningful targets and goals. It also fits the educational mission of our Institute of putting theory into practice.

Wes Longhofer

Basis for a Better Business

The B Corp Learning Lab and a growing number of other social and environmental impact activities (such as the Start:ME accelerator program, Net Impact Club, Peachtree Minority Venture Fund, and Grounds for Empowerment) demonstrate Goizueta’s strategic belief that business and society together can deliver a more equitable and sustainable world. When businesses and business education shift, other stakeholders benefit, too.

In the investment community, “We see a greater awareness in society and financial markets of the dangers of too much focus on short-term shareholder value. Further, there exists too much of a bias by many that B Corps do not seek profitability,” says Professor in the Practice of Finance JB Kurish, who teaches social entrepreneurship and impact investing. “They do seek profitability. In fact, by focusing on stakeholders that include shareholders, customers, employees, and communities, it well could be that B Corps are doing a better job at long-term profitability. This, in turn, results in better long-term returns for shareholders.”

With a rapidly changing employment landscape, “In a moment that is so difficult to attract and keep talent, we have not had that problem,” says Maggie Kulyk 96MDiv, founder of Chicory Wealth, a B Corp financial services firm. “I want my company to be 100 percent employee-owned by the time I retire, and the B Corps movement inspired me to think about legacy, equity, justice, and engagement.”

It’s the right thing to do and incredibly good for attracting young, talented people who want to work in a situation that has meaning. The B Corps demonstrates that altruism can be beneficial for you, too.

Maggie Kulyk

Clout, Credibility, and Collaboration

Operating as Team Khonso, the students in the B Corp Learning Lab assigned to the brewery learned that B Corps are more likely to collaborate, even with competitors. Team Khonso turned to Creature Comforts, a B Corp brewery in Athens cofounded by Adam Beauchamp, a former Emory graduate student in genetics and molecular biology. Creature Comforts’ Community Impact Manager Ally Hellenga eagerly assisted the team.

“As an industry, craft breweries are community-centric, sustainable, and conscious businesses in our respective communities,” she says. “B Corp certification is our best tool to measure progress and put us all on a path to be even better for our people, our communities, and our planet. I was impressed by [Team Khonso’s] professionalism and mastery of the B Impact Assessment–especially in such a short amount of time.”

In the B Corp Learning Lab, Goizueta students became part of a growing academic community in Georgia providing brainpower to organizations large and small. B Corp Learning Lab students learned from guest lecturers Kelly Carter, an Atlanta business analyst who worked with B Lab and who now works with a sustainability-focused organization, and Nathan A. Stuck, co-founder and chair of B Local Georgia, an organization aimed at growing the B Corps movement.

“The B Corp Learning Lab brought a lot of really passionate people together, and I’m hoping that they’ll be able to take what they learned from the experience and apply it wherever they end up working or with their own startups,” Carter says. “The B Corp Learning Lab helps the students understand how social and environmental impact can be created through business operations and the business model.”

“Emory brings the Atlanta clout to B Corps,” Stuck says. “It helps give the B Corps movement more credibility.”

Goizueta students traveled to Athens for a Creature Comforts event in Fall 2021 to rally support for local B Corps.

“It is important to get our students off campus to see that this is part of a bigger movement of folks doing the work, to show that a more equitable and sustainable form of capitalism is possible,” Longhofer notes. “The event was held at one of the best breweries in the country that has decided to pair their excellence in craft beer with a commitment to people and planet. What could be more fun than that?”

Real-World Experience for Students

Another satisfied B Corp Learning Lab company was Roots Down Georgia, a sustainable landscaping enterprise. “The students delivered an easy-to-follow package of what Roots Down needs to do to get certified in 2023,” says Chief Marketing Officer Tres Crow. “It was one of the best consulting experiences I’ve had.”

Crow’s point of contact was Eric Rusiecki 10OX 13C 22EvMBA, who sought MBA training to transition to a purpose-driven company “doing more than selling widgets.” His target soon became B Corps, and Roots Down taught him “to connect the dots of leadership, profit, and efficiency with tough questions to help guide leaders on their journey in the workforce. B Lab gives a roadmap of how to be profitable and successful while still focusing on how to treat your employees, community, and environment well. These learnings will continue on the forefront of my mind in all my decisions in the workplace.”

Jasmine Burton 22MBA enrolled in B Corp Learning Lab as part of a larger goal to gain business acumen and lead more effectively in global, nonprofit sanitation efforts.

Her takeaway from the class: “Businesses can be held accountable to triple bottom line outcomes in a way that is rigorously validated and continuously monitored every three years. It is a movement away from virtue signaling and greenwashing and into large scale change.”

In a world that seems to be increasingly prioritizing stakeholder capitalism, the value proposition of certified B Corps is credible and clear on a global scale. I seek to use these learnings to join and grow truly values-based organizations.

Jasmine Burton 22MBA

Through B Corp Learning Lab, Jakob Perryman 17C 22MBA found an exciting career niche that aligns with his value in creating a more sustainable earth. Perryman sought his Goizueta MBA after working as an environmental consultant for companies that generally wanted the least expensive, minimal solutions to meet environmental regulations. He is joining PwC as a senior consultant in mergers and acquisitions, to help B Corps weather ownership changes.

“When a B Corps gets acquired, the bigger company might not care about the B Corps status or know how to navigate the recertification every three years, so a lot of B Corps lose status,” Perryman explains. “There’s a lot more I need to learn, but the B Corp Learning Lab class was a great introduction.”

B-ing Proactive in a Global Economy

What does it take to become a certified B Corp? The first step is to understand a few more of the Bs.

B Corp: A B Lab-certified and verified company that demonstrates high social and environmental performance, legally commits to changing corporate governance to benefit all stakeholders and exhibits performance transparency against B Lab standards.

B Corp Certification: With a B Impact Assessment score of 80 or higher and a stated focus on maintaining certain standards and visibility, a company may attain certification.

B Impact Assessment: A digital tool used by companies to achieve certification by measuring, managing, and improving positive impact performance for the environment and stakeholders. The assessment allows companies to evaluate their current status, compare their impact, and enable improvements.

B Interdependent: A standalone resource produced by B Lab for companies responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and the global uprising against racism.

B Lab: The international nonprofit network that developed a stakeholder-driven model that “creates standards, policies, tools, and programs that shift behavior, culture, and structural underpinnings of capitalism,” they write on their website. Their goal? To “support our collective vision of an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy.”

As Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright said, “I often wonder to what extent business can help society in its goals and alleviate poverty, preserve ecosystems, and build strong communities and institutions. B Lab has proven that there is a way.” For more information on B Corps, visit bcorporation.net

Goizueta’s Business and Society Institute pursues academic discovery and action to build a more equitable, prosperous, and sustainable world. Learn more about their programs, research, and events.

The post Certified B Corps: Students Explore Business as a Force for Good appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

His MBA classes began online as the COVID-19 pandemic spread.

“A very nebulous, scary, uncertain time period,” he recalls. “I came in knowing I wanted to do health care strategy. I had skills and abilities, but I didn’t have the frameworks or confidence to differentiate myself. I was trying to find the right fit and felt like business school would be the launching pad.”

His instincts proved correct. At Goizueta, Mirza developed leadership and structured approaches to innovating that gave him confidence, especially in his creativity.

“I think of Humza as a passionate, socially-minded student, who weaves the caring gained from his health care experience with a naturally extroverted nature to make meaningful connections,” says Robert Kazanjian, academic director for The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation and Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Organization & Management.

Faculty mentorship and student competition were keys to Mirza’s growth. The close-knit culture gave him working relationships with professors, “so I could see not only how they think but also how they act, communicate, and operate as consummate professionals and all-around amazing people,” Mirza says. “They’re offering guidance even when they may not come off like they are.”

Leading Opportunities for Innovation

Through a competitive selection process, Mirza became one of the first managing partners of the $1 million Peachtree Minority Venture Fund (PMVF), which made its first investments – focused on empowering underrepresented founders – a month before he graduated. It is the first student-run VC fund focused on equity investments into underrepresented founder ventures and ventures that expand venture funding for underrepresented business owners among U.S. universities.

Mirza also organized the Healthcare Futuring Competition 2040 in his role as Goizueta Healthcare Association’s vice president of conferences and competitions. In association with Reneé Dye, associate professor in the practice of organization and management, the competition tasked students with developing scenarios of what the U.S. health care system might look like in 2040.

“Going back to his first semester in August of 2020 when class delivery was largely remote, Humza was always among the most engaged students in my core finance class; his questions and contributions were extremely relevant,” says JB Kurish, professor in the practice of finance.

“Working with Humza in his role as a managing partner in the PMVF and my role as co-professor in the PMVF applied course, I have an enhanced appreciation of his skills. Humza is a great communicator who has the ability to bring his knowledge and passion together to move people and organizations forward. He has impressed both at the beginning and end of his time here at Goizueta.”

As an associate at DaVita, one of the country’s largest providers of kidney care services, Mirza is learning to lead within a company that promotes patient-centered innovations that are part of integrated care. “Being able to be creative and forward-thinking in an environment where I potentially can help people in need,” Mirza describes his role. “Healthcare innovation is everything that I love and that interests me.”  

His message to incoming students is one of encouragement.

Really swing for the fences. This is one of the few times in your life that you can
do that and have the safety net from your peers and faculty. You can pivot really quickly at Goizueta, so take the opportunity to challenge yourself and stretch your horizons and comfort zones. Beyond just the world-class education and opportunities you get from the school, you can develop tremendous internal fortitude, grit, and resiliency that will greatly benefit your personal and professional development.

Humza Mirza 22MBA

Learn more about Peachtree Minority Venture Fund and other innovative programming of The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation.

The post The Launching Pad: Humza Mirza 22MBA Finds Healthcare Career Solutions appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

To create a more engaging experience for employees, Goizueta Business School students created and shared educational TikTok videos for academic credit last semester in Bias in the Workplace. The course, a requirement for the school’s new DEI concentration, is taught by Associate Professor of Organization & Management Erika V. Hall, who also serves as faculty advisor in the Business & Society Institute.

“Reinvent implicit bias training or diversity training so it’s not boring or trite,” Hall told students. She chose the following four TikToks as best in class.

Stereotype Threat

In her two-minute video, Terri Martin 22BBA re-enacted studying financial accounting as a sophomore. Being the only Black woman in that class made her psychologically vulnerable to a form of workplace bias—stereotype threat.

“Others may see me as a diversity token, not intelligent, unapproachable, and not as accomplished,” Martin recalls in the video. “I don’t think it was my unpreparedness that caused me to perform the worst I ever had in my entire college career. It was the stress of trying to prove others wrong that I, in my mind, proved them right.”

She worked through this challenge with the support of faculty who promoted acceptance.

“It was the teachers with extensive diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in their syllabus, who vocally address their concerns and who really show their support for all students,” said Martin, who served as president of the Goizueta Black Student Association before graduating in May. “Those teachers allowed me to see the business school shift from a place of anxiety and stress to a place of community and growth.”

Martin’s full-time work in DEI starts in August with Mercer Consulting. In an interview, she said the TikTok project was a highlight of her favorite college class.

“Not only did I learn about the experiences of others, but the class was also very diverse, and we connected over different concepts that did not affect just one group,” she said. “These concepts affect everyone.” 

Hall’s review: “It illustrated the concept really well, and she’s very open about her personal experience. It was really honest.”

Bias in Recruiting

Like Martin, Dongju Son 22BBA brought his personal experiences to this project. He watched his parents get puzzled looks when they communicated. “There is nothing ‘broken’ about their English,” he said in an interview. “They moved from a country on the opposite side of the world and had to learn a whole new language to help me and my sister live our best lives. I wanted to create this video to spread awareness of the unconscious bias that often occurs when people hear a ‘foreign-sounding’ or ‘unnatural’ accent.”

He digitally cloned himself for his fast-paced, three-minute instructional video for recruiters. In the video, he plays an Emory marketing major from South Korea interviewing for a job at Amazon alongside a nameless Amazon hiring manager who botches the interview.

He also appears as John Smith, an antibias trainer with Amazon who points out all the mistakes: “I don’t ask to clarify the person’s name. I don’t even say the person’s name. At all. It’s because I’m too scared to mispronounce it. I don’t let the person finish because I’m already disengaged from his accent. I don’t really understand what he’s trying to say, so I accidentally cut him off. This is not the proper way we want to deal with our interviewees.” 

After his video clones re-enact the interview with cultural sensitivity, he praises what the hiring manager did right: “Asks and clarifies everything because they’re trying to combat their accent bias and trying to better understand what this person is saying. By doing this, you make the interviewee feel more comfortable and help them understand that you’re trying to get on the same page. The interviewer was very polite and respectful, and respect goes both ways.” 

Hall’s review: “Isn’t it cool? All the students were challenged to get a concept across in three minutes. This was really creative. So well done.”

Confronting a Coworker’s Bias

Jael Medzagoh 23BBA aims for a career in the music industry and channeled that aspiration in her TikTok. Using the second person point of view, she imagined a video game posing a series of choices as you help organize the performance by K-pop megagroup BTS at the Grammy Awards.

When a coworker disparages the superstars’ language skills, you decide to offer a subtle lesson.

“You ask your coworker if they’ve traveled out of the country, and they say yes,” Medzagoh narrates. “You have as well, so you share your story: ‘I had a great time even though I know I didn’t speak the language well. I spoke with an accent. I didn’t feel limited, though, because no one judged me. They appreciated the fact that I tried to speak, and they helped me.’

You then explain that BTS’ success isn’t surprising ‘because they’re trying their best to communicate in their non-native language, so people are more appreciative of that and help them out as well.’

Your coworker does not apologize but accepts the message and tells ‘their own version of the story,’” Medzagoh intones. “You’re able to get back to work and focus on bringing the best BTS performance at the Grammys.”

In an interview, Medzagoh said that “biases manifest in all areas of our lives, even in places where we don’t expect or want them to be. I wish for viewers to understand how important it is to consider others’ perspectives in all situations.” 

Hall’s review: “Super innovative, out-of-the-box creative. A video game is engaging, and people understand it, which makes this a really nice platform.” 

Accentism

When a company requires employees to participate in DEI training or other programs, employees often react—they push back when the choice is taken away, even when the requirement benefits them. That’s one point made by Samantha Kass 23BBA and Jack Kelleher 22BBA in their TikTok tackling bias toward someone speaking with an accent.

“Accentism affects many international speakers and can manifest subconsciously in peers, bosses, professors, and friends,” Kass and Kelleher said in an interview.

Kelleher, from New Zealand, is one of those speakers. He narrates the TikTok along with Kass.

“It takes less than 30 seconds to linguistically profile a speaker and make assumptions about social class, economic status, ethnic origin, and education,” they point out in the three-minute video. “Why does this matter? There’s already a large amount of research on preventing biases based on skin color, ethnicity, and gender. However, accent biases appear to be more acceptable.” 

Kass is interning this summer with PwC’s Transformation Consulting Practice.

“I will interact with many people of diverse backgrounds when working in large companies and at Goizueta,” she said. “I can now be aware of subconscious biases, as well as stand up and be an ally for my peers. Learning about DEI is incredibly important for anyone entering the workforce.” 

Kelleher now works as an analyst in the diligence advisory group at Cushman & Wakefield in Atlanta. The TikTok project “holds a special place in my heart,” he said. “I could, in the future, be subject to unconscious bias in the form of accentism in the workplace.” 

Hall’s review: “Professional and engaging. The images and animation keep the viewer involved. I could really see this being something for a company’s implicit bias and DEI training.” 

Amplifying Awareness of DEI at Goizueta

Hall encouraged the students to use their TikToks to point out ways that Goizueta can improve its DEI efforts.

“As professors, you can help reduce stereotype threat in academic settings by building trust and creating safe spaces,” said Martin. “You can create a welcoming environment free of bias in your discipline. Honor multiple perspectives, and create opportunities for students to talk to each other and engage in difficult conversations. Be diverse in what you teach.”

“We specifically want to target on-campus recruiting,” Kass and Kelleher said. “Recruiters are often a student’s first impression of an organization. Learning about potential job opportunities or participating in interviews, students want to accurately represent themselves and put their best foot forward. When faced with a recruiter who subconsciously exercises their accentism, they’ll feel ostracized and consequently suppress their accent.”

Kass and Kelleher suggested that a business encourage (not require) on-campus recruiters to watch videos of real-life interactions involving accentism and to assess students’ abilities to perform work, rather than speak. “Helping recruiters develop personal connections will limit future instances of them enacting biases,” they said.

Learn more about Goizueta’s ongoing mission to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The post Student TikToks Creatively Counter Workplace Bias appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

An integral part of The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, the $1 million fund recently announced its first round of capital opportunities.

An award of $25,000 was granted to CommunityX, a mobile-first social app that unites like-minded change-makers around shared causes. The app leverages traditional social media algorithmic thinking to be able to connect people and calls to action, such as petitions, events, donations, and more. CommunityX also has received funding from TechStars.

“When our team found out that we were going to be a part of the Peachtree Minority Venture Fund portfolio, we were very excited for all the obvious reasons,” said founder and CEO Chloë Cheyenne, who describes herself as a multiracial young woman with Chicago, Ill. roots.

Hearing firsthand from all of the Goizueta staff, students, and founders about how much thought and intention went into building this fund, we are totally humbled to be a part of this community.

Chloë Cheyenne, CEO of CommunityX

Ecotone Renewables of Pittsburgh, Pa. earned a $15,000 award and is the maker of Soil Sauce, a liquid plant fertilizer organically produced from food waste. By making sustainable food and agriculture systems more accessible and prevalent outside the industrial scale, Ecotone is dedicated to building the tools necessary to empower communities to redevelop and grow through sustainable food practices.

“We produce renewable energy through the extraction of biomass, as well as an organic, sustainable fertilizer,” said Ecotone Renewables CFO Elliott Bennett. “That fertilizer is our main focus as we look to empower communities. This is part of a sustainable form of agriculture because it allows new plants to grow. And really, it gives people the ability to be sustainable in the way that they plant, whether it’s on a farm or the garden.”

Elliott Bennett, CFO of Ecotone Renewables

An award of $15,000 went to Atlanta-based FundStory, which helps finance teams access and manage non-dilutive capital. This type of capital does not require a business owner to give up equity or ownership and is often essential to launching a startup. FundStory offers all-in-one workflow management software to help finance teams evaluate risk, automate funding options, and manage financing into maturity.

“I’m really appreciative for the opportunity and the commitment, and we’re excited,” FundStory CEO and co-founder Bobby Gilbert said. “We like to think of it as the operating system for not a lot of capital. Entrepreneurs don’t wake up and decide they’re going to go into debt. It’s a process from start to finish. Prior to funding through us, they have to map out a plan, choose the right partner and manage financing into maturity. We set out to build a FundStory with a thesis of helping founders for each stage of their journey.” 

Bobby Gilbert, CEO and co-founder of FundStory

Students Reflect on Experiential Learning and Key Takeaways from Funding Award Process

The three entrepreneurs spoke at an April 20 reception to an audience of Goizueta Business School alumni, faculty, administration, staff, and the students who operated the fund as managing partners and associates. The reception was hosted by the five managing partners who operate the fund alongside teams of senior associates and analysts.

“We went through a lot of debate, and at the end of the day we made the most informed decisions we could,” said Humza Mirza 22MBA, the fund’s managing partner for marketing and recruiting. “Did we get the right answer? Only time will tell. We are all taking a lot of learnings from getting the Peachtree Minority Venture Fund started.”

The 24 participating MBA, EvMBA, BBA, and Law School students received academic credit for their work in the semester-long class. The course, part of a new DEI concentration for full-time MBA students, focuses on understanding factors that contribute to the gap in venture capital funding to underrepresented minority entrepreneurs and how this challenge might best be addressed.

The students formed into six teams, each assigned to find minority-owned startups in one sector: consumer products and goods, energy, fintech, healthcare technology, information technology, and manufacturing.

“Each of our teams worked tirelessly to make sure we have a strong pipeline going forward,” said Jack Semrau 23EvMBA, the fund’s managing partner for deal sourcing and portfolio management.

“We worked through a very traditional process of what you see in other VC firms, to make sure that we find exceptional founders who showcased their know-how and their specific industry and product so that we could proceed to actually make an investment,” Semrau continued. “We couldn’t be happier to make the first round of investments that are part of the Peachtree Minority Venture Fund.”

The fund grew from the work of Brianna Davis 20MBA, Kristen Little 21MBA, Chis Anen 21MBA, Alan Quigley 21MBA, and Willie Sullivan 21MBA, who learned from local underrepresented entrepreneurs that access to capital was a major pain point, and they wanted to do something about it.

“As students, you can only do so much; you really have to have a faculty or staff member that really believes in the idea,” Sullivan said in reflection as the first three investments were announced.

Sullivan joined the current MBA students in thanking supporters “who really believed in this and believed in our ability to make this happen,” including but not limited to Professor in the Practice of Finance J.B. Kurish, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Accounting and Interim John H. Harland Dean Karen Sedatole, The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation Director Amelia Schaffner, and Asa Griggs Candler Chair and professor in Organization & Management Robert Kazanjian.

Kazanjian pointed out that the Peachtree Minority Venture Fund is one example of the school’s continuing commitment to DEI, which is one of its four strategic priorities. He noted that new opportunities await the incoming managing partners and associates, such as identifying resources for startups that are strong investment targets but did not yet receive funding.

We are really good at finding interesting ways to take what might be a straight theoretical issue in the classroom, and then having students experience it in a real setting. This is a big challenge for professional schools, how to manage that tension between theory and practice. I see this venture fund as absolutely working and think this is a great example of what Goizueta does well.

Robert Kazanjian, academic director of The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation

For more information and to get involved, visit the Peachtree Minority Venture Fund website. Learn more about Goizueta’s commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The post Peachtree Minority Venture Fund Makes First Investments appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

I’ve learned how to analyze terabytes of data, tell a story out of it, and take actionable insights. I love that it is not limited to just any industry, but offers value to any business, and empowers management to correct decision making. All of us benefit from people with degrees in business analytics.

Angela Tracy Guevarra 22BBA/MSBA

Two distinct Emory degrees were not in her plan when she arrived on campus as an undergraduate. “I was very set on pursuing an accounting degree, completing the master of professional accounting program, and getting a CPA license,” she said. But quantitative sciences (QSS) courses at Emory College inspired her to apply QSS methods and theories to what she was learning in business.

It was a short, natural step from her QSS/BBA double major to the MS in Business Analytics (MSBA) program. “I knew that I wanted to further learn about that intersection of data science and business,” Guevarra said. “The rest was history that led me to where I am today!” 

Three aspects of the MSBA program made her year memorable: supportive faculty members, a meaningful capstone program, and a close-knit cohort.

“They are intellectually curious people who created a great learning environment to return to after a long time of virtual classes,” Guevarra said. “I especially thank my spring teammates Paakhi Srivastava 20Ox 22BBA/MSBA, Santiago Suarez 22MSBA and Jent Lapalm 22MSBA; my constant collaborator Michelle Wan 22BBA/MSBA, and alumnae Neha Bansal 17C 21MSBA and Julie Wang 20BBA/MSBA, my biggest cheerleaders throughout this rigorous program.”

Under recruitment currently, Guevarra hopes to work as a data scientist or data analyst in Atlanta or her hometown of Chicago. Connect with her on LinkedIn to check out her unfolding story.

The MS in Business Analytics is a ten-month immersive degree program designed to create leaders who draw insights from data and implement creative strategy and planning to propel business forward. Learn more today.

This May, hundreds of Goizueta graduates will walk out of our doors ready for the workforce. Learn more about the celebration and register for Goizueta’s Commencement activities. Continue to check out the stories of our amazing students all month long.

The post Double Emory Graduate Multiplies Data Expertise to Help Maximize Business Goals appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

This curiosity grew into focused research and Barcellos has uncovered new findings that shed light on how leaders are perceived.

Barcellos found that investors who hear a CEO with a nonnative accent need to reconcile conflicting stereotypes to form coherent impressions. And they do so by attributing exceptional qualities to the leader—such as hard work—that carry over to the company as an investment.

These perceptions matter. Foreign-born chief executives oversee an estimated nine percent of all U.S. companies and more than 11 percent of Fortune 500 firms. How investors perceive these CEOs could have major implications.

Barcellos’ overall research investigates decision making that involves accounting information.  Kathryn Kadous, the Schaefer Chaired Professor of Accounting and director and associate dean of the PhD Program, has been his mentor.

“We first met when I was visiting Emory as part of a graduate program in Brazil. Sitting in on Kathryn’s PhD seminar completely changed my perspectives and ambitions,” Barcellos said. “I have no words to express my appreciation for all she has done as a mentor, scholar, human, and friend.”

As a first-generation student from Brazil, Barcellos challenged perceptions, too. Though no family had been in his shoes, that gap was quickly filled.

Goizueta Business School and The Roberto C. Goizueta Foundation have provided me with everything to exercise my creativity, take risks, and grow as a scholar.

Leo Barcellos 22PhD

“I’ve had the funding, mentoring, and inspiration for bold research projects that have been accepted for publication in the premier journal in accounting, and for presentation in prestigious conferences,” Barcellos said. “I will always be grateful.” 

Barcellos will pay his mentorship and experiential learning forward as he joins the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University as an assistant professor of accounting.

Goizueta celebrates a long tradition of courageous inquiry and academic scholarship, encouraging student and faculty research and collaboration on ideas that will propel business forward. Learn more about the Goizueta Business School PhD in Business program.  

This May, hundreds of Goizueta graduates will walk out of our doors ready for the workforce. Learn more about the celebration and register for Goizueta’s Commencement activities. Continue to check out the stories of our amazing students all month long.

The post First-gen PhD Graduate Takes on Bold Research and Prepares for Professorship appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

He stepped beyond his requirements to quickly establish the Goizueta African Business Club, and host gatherings for community members interested in making business connections in Africa.

Recently the club hosted Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, founder and CEO of fintech company Flutterwave, which had just raised $250 million in a Series D round. At $3 billion, Flutterwave is currently the highest valued African startup.

“It’s already in the unicorn status,” Isichei said. “There is a market in the fintech sector in Africa and hopefully that’s what the 30 students took away from this visit. A lot of companies can achieve that in a short time, but to do that in sub-Saharan Africa, there are challenges.”

Isichei’s journey began in his home in the capital city of Abuja, Nigeria, where he had been working for a Greek energy company.

“I researched top MBA schools with small class sizes, strong alumni networks, and success rates for recruitment,” he said. “The one-year program interested me very much because I didn’t want to be away from family.” He chose the only top-25 Full-time MBA that delivers intimate learning in a global U.S. city.

With commencement in sight, Isichei is interviewing in global consulting. His most influential faculty were Klaas Baks, professor in the practice of finance, and Charles F. Goetz, senior lecturer of Organization & Management.

Isichei also thanks the Goizueta community for its eager support of his new club and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. He felt comfortable wearing clothing from the Ibo culture on campus, as a visible reminder to fellow students of African connections. His message: “Be open-minded when it comes to Africa, and feel free to reach out.”

Through strategic, structural, and sustainable action, we commit to expanding cultural knowledge, reflecting the broader society, and improving equity in business. At Goizueta, diversity is a commitment to nurture and challenge the unique perspectives that will shape the future of business. It’s a commitment to innovate in traditional fields and embrace emerging insights. It is the foundation of our intentions and actions. It is one of the core values by which we lead. Learn more.

This May, hundreds of Goizueta graduates will walk out of our doors ready for the workforce. Learn more about the celebration and register for Goizueta’s Commencement activities. Continue to check out the stories of our amazing students all month long.

Interested in pursuing your MBA? Learn more about the unique programs Goizueta has to offer.

The post African Entrepreneur and Student Leader Connects Business Leaders Across Cultures appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

This advice comes from Akshita Angra 22EvMBA, who transformed herself into a confident leader through the Evening MBA program at Goizueta Business School

She entered at 24 as a product analyst at a mid-size firm who felt stuck in her career. “I did not know how to identify opportunities for growth or advocate for myself,” she recalled. “I also was not sure who I really was in terms of being a leader and if I had what it took to become a successful manager one day.”

One by one, she checked off those uncertainties by diving deep into her coursework and extracurricular resources: the Delta Leadership Coaching Fellowship, Leader’s Reaction Course, student government, Goizueta Ambassadors, and alumni mentorship program. She is forever thankful to Ken Keen, Lieutenant General, USA (Retired), who is associate dean for Leadership and senior lecturer of Organization & Management, for “spearheading some of the most amazing leadership experiences that also helped bring fun to our cohorts.” 

Now 27, Angra leads two teams dedicated to improving daily operations at The Home Depot through advanced technology integrations. At Goizueta, she learned how to build structures for improving operations and financial results.

“Emory provided the change needed within myself to take calculated risks and go through a job change during a pandemic,” she said.

The best thing about the Evening MBA program is that you can directly apply your classroom experiences at your workplace. The curriculum and support from my cohort, tenured professors, and admissions team have buttressed my success at The Home Depot, and I hope to empower and inspire my team and peers through the leadership values I have formed through this MBA journey.

Akshita Angra 22EvMBA

This May, hundreds of Goizueta graduates will walk out of our doors ready for the workforce. Learn more about the celebration and register for Goizueta’s Commencement activities. Continue to check out the stories of our amazing students all month long.

The post Former Product Analyst Now Leads Business Operations Teams Leveraging Advanced Technology appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

“I never thought I would get a senior consultant job at a top consulting firm, Deloitte, and in a niche area in anti-trafficking and ethics in the supply chain,” she says. “I couldn’t be more excited.”

I would not have been able to balance everything in this season were it not for the community here. They have been so supportive and helpful of me and of my dreams.

Margaret B. Kuester 22MBA/MDiv

Kuester joined Goizueta’s Social Enterprise Fellows in the Business & Society Institute who seek to make the world better with their MBAs. For her directed study, she trained with a nonprofit startup and learned new communication skills for advocacy. Her MBA has helped her think about how to use her MDiv skills in justice, peacebuilding, and conflict transformation effectively in the professional world.

Faculty, staff, and classmates helped Kuester thrive. Renee Dye, associate professor in the practice of Organization & Management, supported Kuester as she set clear goals and built confidence. Harriet Ruskin 90MBA, Goizueta’s director of international and joint degree MBA programs, and Shelly Hart, Candler senior director of academic administration and registrar, showed her how to plan and complete both degrees in three years.

Courtney Hacker 22MBA and Chris Awad 22M 23MBA “pushed me and held me accountable to becoming better,” Kuester says. “They helped me when I was confused, and they were quick to include me socially. I would not be where I am today without them.” 

Today she looks back in gratitude for all of the above and more. “When I began this journey several years ago, I never would have dreamed that I would get here,” she says. “I cannot wait to see where this dual degree takes me in the future, and I am so thankful for all I have learned at Emory.”

The Business & Society Institute generates research insights that it employs in its teaching and programmatic work on the critical challenges that businesses and their stakeholders can address together, including climate change and energy systems; inequalities in organizations, markets, and communities, purpose-driven entrepreneurship and innovation, transparent trade, impact investing, and reimagined corporate responsibility. Learn more today.

This May, hundreds of Goizueta graduates will walk out of our doors ready for the workforce. Learn more about the celebration and register for Goizueta’s Commencement activities. Continue to check out the stories of our amazing students all month long.

The post Business and Theology Graduate Secures Senior Position Tackling Trafficking and Upholding Ethics appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

She was a former attorney seeking an MBA to return to her entrepreneurial endeavors. A year ahead of her, MBA students in the Business & Society Institute were determining that local entrepreneurs had difficulty accessing capital. Out of this research grew the $1 million Peachtree Minority Venture Fund (PMVF). As a minority entrepreneur, Brown had some understanding of the gap or funding type. She became one of the first managing partners. “When everyone has access to be the best versions of themselves, we are all better off,” she says.

An integral part of The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, the PMVF is the first such student-run fund in the United States. Its first round of capital opportunities energized Brown. So did related opportunities beyond Goizueta.

My MBA is a step towards the greater goal of creating opportunities for minority founders to have access to capital and thus reducing the wealth gap.

Alexia Brown 22MBA

“My MBA has absolutely changed my career goals and trajectory,” she says. “The program helped me to realize one of my true passions: doing as much as I can to reduce the funding gap for minority founders. As such, I believe minority communities will be the beneficiaries of my MBA.”

Classmates fueled Brown when she most needed it during the rigorous curriculum. Bernard Clevens 22MBA, Breanna Spurley 22MBA, Bryan Shepherd 22MBA, and Carlos Vazquez 22MBA “have all spent time over breaks or during internships when they were busy and tired themselves to help me prepare for interviews, explain concepts, brainstorm, and most importantly, help ease my anxiety,” says Brown.

“This is one of the best communities one could be a part of. Goizueta is a place one can show up as themselves, feel supported, and thrive.”

This May, hundreds of Goizueta graduates will walk out of our doors ready for the workforce. Learn more about the celebration and register for Goizueta’s Commencement activities. Continue to check out the stories of our amazing students all month long.

The post Peachtree Minority Venture Fund Managing Partner Seeks to Empower Underrepresented Founders appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.