“At Goizueta, we strive to create an environment where every person can thrive and grow without exception, allowing us to attract, develop, and engage the best talent and equip our graduates to be principled leaders in a diverse society. Increased access to scholarships based on merit and financial need is critical to this strategy.”

Learning begins with a single drop of inspiration, a longing to explore and acquire wisdom about new and interesting subjects, and a passion to sharpen skills and hone talents that open a world of professional possibility. Education, some say, is a wide-eyed quest to meet new people and explore the world through their diverse perspectives.

For many, the gift of scholarship triggers a ripple effect of personal and professional growth with limitless potential to reach, strive, and impact change in the world.  

Curiosity, Intellectual Courage, & Integrity

At Goizueta Business School, our school’s namesake championed a student’s right for transformational education. As a Cuban-born immigrant to the United States and former chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, Roberto C. Goizueta embraced education and the notion that curiosity, intellectual courage, and integrity were the cornerstones of growth.

With a focus on philanthropy that continues through The Goizueta Foundation today, he once shared, “We in business have an obligation to give something back to the communities that support us.”

Robert W. Woodruff was a renowned businessman and philanthropist who headed The Coca-Cola Company for many years and gave generously to Emory University. The founding and signature scholarship of the Emory Scholars Program is named in his honor. Woodruff’s personal creed read, “There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.” Woodruff Scholars leave a lasting imprint on Goizueta Business School and Emory University through their leadership, academic performance, and lifelong relationships.

With these philosophies held as guiding principles at Goizueta, and through the generous support of our partners, we have offered transformational scholarships to students—leaders who have become change agents in their own communities and beyond. 

A Safe & Supportive Space to Grow & Transform

As a native Brazilian, Willi Freire 19BBA immigrated to Florida at age six with his mother. “English was so hard at the beginning. I cried every time I got home from school for my first six months,” he recalls, but his mother instilled in him the critical value of education. Soon, fully bilingual in Portuguese and English, Freire set his sights on going to college. In high school, a guidance counselor suggested he investigate QuestBridge, a national nonprofit that matches talented first-generation and low-income high school students with 45 top-ranked partner universities.

To his surprise and delight, “Emory reached out in my senior year,” he recalls. In consideration for the Robert W. Woodruff Scholarship, “They invited me to interview on campus for a week, and I loved everything about it—the intellectually stimulating interviews and the conversations with faculty, staff, incoming students, and applicant peers. The universe took me to the right place at the right time.”

From the start, the Woodruff scholarship opened Freire to a world of peer scholars who helped each other stay accountable. Research opportunities, internships, alumni interaction, and work with the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation allowed him to immediately build community. “I had the chance to make my undergrad experience very intentional. At Emory, the opportunities are plentiful,” he says. Freire became the president and liaison for QuestBridge scholars at Emory.

When he became a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient in 2012, “I was suddenly allowed to work and live in the United States. It completely changed my life and ensured college was a viable opportunity.” Inspired to help other first-generation students experience the same intellectual and professional freedom, Freire worked closely with then Emory president James W. Wagner, then Emory University provost and executive vice president of academic affairs Claire E. Sterk (who later became Emory University’s 20th president), and a team of faculty and students to implement policy changes that allowed students to disclose by choice their documentation status. “They could be DACA or undocumented, and Emory gave them the pathway to receive financial assistance,” he says. “There is so much miseducation around undocumented communities. Theirs is not a one-size-fits-all story, rather one with so much more depth and diversity.”

Freire learned of two other DACA students in his class, and it sparked a personal mission. “We had never really shared immigration status before,” he remembers. “But at an event, I caught the energy in the room, and I shared my story. It was a critical inflection point in my undergrad journey, and this moment gave me my community.”

Through Undocumented Students of America at Emory (USA), “We created a pathway for community, faculty, advisory services, mentorship, and storytelling events,” he says of the resource. “These students need resources, help for family emergencies, guidance in the job market. DACA students are still living and breathing at Emory.” As the executive vice president of the BBA Council, Freire led “Undocumented Truth,” an intimate campus storytelling event that allowed students to share their stories in a safe, non-judgmental space. He also welcomed the opportunity to honor Nikki Graves, associate professor in the practice of management communications, for her work with undocumented students.

Now at PwC Consulting Solutions in workforce transformation and diversity, equity, and inclusion, he enjoys being an active alumnus who conducts workshops and provides opportunities for future generations of Goizueta students.

“The Robert W. Woodruff Scholarship provided me with the unimaginable ticket to attain higher education at a world-renowned institution with absolutely no cost to me or my family.”

I never had the means to attend a university like Emory. I had no college fund or savings from my family. It made the impossible possible and gave me the resources and confidence to thrive, and I am deeply grateful for the scholarship and the program.

Willi Freire 19BBA

Connecting with a Transformational Ecosystem

As a student athlete in track and field and a Goizueta Scholar, Casey Rhode 17BBA called Goizueta home for four years. During this time, he balanced athletics and education with precision, maintaining a perfect grade point average. “It was an incredible experience,” he recalls of his quest to engage in as much as he could while part of the on-campus community.

As a sophomore, he joined forces with the Emory Impact Investing Group (EIIG), started by classmates. The organization gives small businesses throughout Atlanta greater access to investment capital, student consulting services, and low-interest loans. “Leading this organization as CEO made a huge impact on me,” he shares. “I connected with students and the community and during my time at Emory started a board of advisors to tap into the incredible ecosystem of alumni in our area, a board that I continue to participate on today.

Atlanta has some of the best and brightest people, and our students have access to them. These interactions can be formative in choosing a career.

Casey Rhode 17BBA

“My Goizueta scholarship opened doors for me within the broader community,” he says. The Goizueta Scholars Award, implemented in 2007, supports four years of undergraduate study, including study-abroad options, and ranges from one-half of tuition to full tuition and fees. Through the program, Rhode met another scholar who worked at global independent investment banking firm Perella Weinberg. He joined the firm to work in health care investment banking. “After a great experience, I made the career switch to OneOncology to work with 600 cancer care providers at over 180 community-based sites across the country,” he explains. “Community oncology is positioned to be the backbone of cancer care in the United States and to address skyrocketing costs,” he says. “To be senior director of strategic finance for a company that helps impact communities on such a high level is huge for me.”

Citing his undergraduate personal and professional development, he praises Andrea Hershatter, senior associate dean of undergraduate education and senior lecturer of organization and management. “She pushed me to do more and think more critically about what I wanted to do while I was in school. She really challenged me, and I appreciate that. She’s a great mentor to me, even today.”

Drive, Perseverance, & Bold Ideas

With explosive growth in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related businesses, many Goizueta students begin by nurturing both their love of science and their desire to understand the dynamics of business.

Arpita Gaggar 20Ox 22BBA received the Donahue Family Scholarship at Goizueta and pursues a challenging dual major of business and neuroscience and behavioral biology. With future dreams of opening her own clinic, Gaggar knows she needs more than scientific strength. “The business aspect is going to come into play.”

While the COVID-19 pandemic grew around the world, Gaggar’s interests aligned into sharper focus.

My scholarship was a blessing and offered me the time to explore the social issues that will shape my work in medicine. This past year, I’ve gotten more involved in social justice and opened my eyes to what’s going on in the world.

Arpita Gaggar 20Ox 22BBA

While studying from home, Gaggar researched more. “I developed an approach to thinking critically about the news media I consumed and delved deeper rather than accept statements at face value,” she says. “That’s helped me become a more knowledgeable global citizen.”

An active member of Bridging Medicine at Emory and an intern in Goizueta’s marketing & communications department, Gaggar is evaluating paths to achieve her clinic. She aspires to a dual MD/MBA degree or perhaps health care administration and consulting, along with world-expanding opportunities such as Doctors Without Borders that will enrich her relationships with the pediatric patients that she hopes to serve one day.

Like Gaggar, Goizueta Scholar Georgia Kossoff 18BBA has always been driven to uncover scientific puzzles and their impact on society. “Dean Andrea Hershatter advised me from the start that I could handle both chemistry and business majors.”

Being part of the Goizueta Scholars community provided a network of role models and mentols that shaped the course of my career.

Georgia Kossoff 18BBA

Setting sights on the intersection of health care and business, Kossoff sought for “literacy on both sides.”  She conducted student research on a relatively new corporate model, the public benefit corporation—or B Corp—that balances profit and purpose with a direct social or environmental impact.

Kossoff worked with professors Wesley Longhofer and Peter Roberts at Social Enterprise @ Goizueta, now known as The Roberto C. Goizueta Business & Society Institute. With classmates, Kossoff founded the Translational Research and Innovation Network (TRAIN), which formed multidisciplinary student research teams. Some TRAIN researchers went on to earn grant funding for their work.

A transformative experience for Kossoff came in her senior year. A Goizueta Scholars junior year seminar led by Professor in the Practice of Business Law Allison Burdette, in which students pitched the city of Detroit, Michigan, as a site for the Olympics, served as inspiration for a career-changing event. Using this previous Goizueta experience as a guide, Kossoff challenged herself.

“The location of Amazon HQ2 was under speculation,” she recalls. “A fellow Goizueta Scholar and I approached Dean Hershatter and Professor Burdette with the concept of launching a student campaign to showcase Atlanta from the student and young adult perspective. We knew it would create more opportunities for Atlanta students.” Multiple companies sponsored the initiative, and Invest Atlanta and the Georgia Department of Economic Development owned the corporate search project. With the involvement of more than 600 students statewide, “We aligned to create a video of students sharing their love for the city.”

Through the experience, Kossoff gained invaluable consulting, research, and presentation skills. Now as a consultant for Bain & Company, Kossoff is appreciative of the foundational skills her Goizueta education provided. “Outside of my core casework, all of my community involvement focuses on social impact.” 

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

As a pre-med biology major, Chis Anen 21MBA was headed for a career in medicine, but an innovative idea steered him in a different direction. With the concept blooming, the entrepreneur launched a marketplace to sell limited edition and vintage sneakers and streetwear. Fascinated by tech and encouraged by a professor, he joined an accelerator program.

At 23, Anen moved cross-country to Los Angeles, with company funding provided by famed venture capitalist Troy Carter. “At Throne, I really got to grow my business, and I managed people twice as old as me,” he recalls. With 10 employees, the company thrived until it ran out of money in 2017. “The experience was eye-opening. We tried to do too much too fast,” he explains of his learn-by-doing venture. “It was a good lesson on how to build and operate a company, and it taught me that I wanted to work in tech.”

A series of jobs with other startup ventures followed. When a boss encouraged him to seek an MBA, Goizueta made Anen’s short-list for its small class sizes and location in a city with a robust entrepreneur environment. Anen came to Goizueta through The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, where he received a fellowship. He became an Entrepreneurship Fellow and earned both the Michael H. Lee Scholarship as well as the Apollo Scholarship for Visionary Leaders, which honors demonstrated interest in entrepreneurship and visionary leadership. Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone 98JD/MBA funds the Apollo scholarship. “We spoke in a brief call,” Anen says, “and through that, we created a simple but valuable connection.”

His first venture—and the difficulty of raising capital for it—is never far from his mind. With 2021 MBA classmates Willie Sullivan, Alan Quigley, Kristen Little, and Chris Wolf, Anen has helped to launch the Peachtree Minority Venture Fund, a student-run venture capital fund focused on empowering underrepresented founders. It’s the start of a personal effort to create more such VC opportunities.

“For my previous company, this was one of our struggling points. It was hard for us to raise money,” Anen says. “Eventually we raised a million dollars, but it took a long time. A lot of underrepresented minorities face the same situation.”

Anen is now a project manager at Facebook, but still nurtures his entrepreneurial spirit. With classmate Lyndsey Fridie 21MBA, he is backed by a top VC firm to launch CampusTalk, a closed platform for MBA students to communicate and collaborate with peers at other institutions.

“I would like to express how thankful I am for receiving the Michael H. Lee Scholarship. Some of my biggest passions in life are business and entrepreneurship. By taking the road less traveled and starting a business early in my career, I realized how difficult and lonely the journey could be,” Anen says. “My biggest struggles were learning the best practices of entrepreneurship and accessing initial sources of capital to help spark my ideas. From these experiences, I vowed to always lend a helping hand to other underrepresented entrepreneurs while they’re on their own journey to drive change in their communities and bring new innovations to the world.”

I’m grateful that Goizueta Business School has provided me more access to founders in need and the opportunity to help create initiatives like a minority-focused venture capital fund to help embrace and grow the pipeline for future Black entrepreneurs.

Chis Anen 21MBA

Your Gift Today Truly Transforms

Pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree is a significant financial investment, and Goizueta is committed to making educational goals become a financial reality. Scholarships transform the student experience, creating opportunities for those who would not otherwise be able to pursue their degrees and relieving the economic pressures of funding tuition, textbooks, housing, and co-curricular activities. Gifts to need- and merit-based scholarships are critical as Goizueta works to attract and retain the most talented students with a rich diversity in experiences and backgrounds. Give to support the full potential of Goizueta and our students.

To support a student like Willi, Casey, Arpita, Georgia, or Chis, please visit here.

The post Scholars Making Waves: The Transformational Gift of Student Scholarships appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

Hair is president and CEO of Black News Channel (BNC), the nation’s fastest-growing news network in 2021 thanks to agreements that he negotiated with most major cable and satellite providers, which put BNC in more than 50 million homes. In March 2021, under Hair’s leadership, BNC’s programming lineup got a shakeup with a new daily morning show and primetime shows hosted by African American thought leaders including Marc Lamong Hill and Charles Blow. Nielsen started rating BNC, too.

“BNC is an emerging news network with a mission to provide multi-platform programming that is informative, engaging, inspiring, and empowering to Black and Brown communities,” says Hair. “It’s the only network of its kind to offer a perspective unique to those cultures.”

Hair built his broadcast career through a series of local news markets and positions, becoming vice president for CBS Television Stations Group. In 2003, he became the first and only African American to lead CNN as executive vice president and general manager. Overseeing 1,500 employees, Hair achieved substantial ratings growth and viewership gains during significant news events including national political conventions and election night coverage.

“An MBA was always a personal goal,” Hair says. “As I advanced through my career, I realized that I wanted to connect more with the business side of broadcasting. I would sit in high-level finance meetings, and we would be discussing ROI, CAGR, time value of money, etc. I wanted to better understand those concepts and how they impact business decisions.”

For Hair, the Weekend Executive MBA program at Goizueta Business School was “a perfect fit both personally and professionally,” especially given his limited schedule and ambitious timeline for achieving his degree. He also made valuable relationships.

“Several EMBA classmates have been great sounding boards over the years,” he says. Hair gives this advice to current MBA students:

Learn from each other. The hidden value of the EMBA program is the relationships you build and the knowledge you gain from each other every time you interact with your classmates.

Princell Hair 06EMBA

Before being named to lead BNC in 2020, Hair had supervised Comcast’s portfolio of sports networks in major markets; served as senior vice president of news and talent for NBC Sports Group; and excelled as senior vice president and general manager of NBC Sports Boston, a regional sports network that experienced audience growth across all platforms and generated several of the network’s most profitable years.

“The broadcasting industry is constantly changing. I’m consistently strategizing with my team on how to stay ahead of the consumer,” Hair says. “The critical business thinking I learned through the EMBA program helps fuel those discussions and my success as a leader.”

The post Launching a News Network During Turbulent Times appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

Prior to joining the MSBA program, the Pakistan native worked as a senior knowledge analyst in Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) digital marketing practice. Although her role included quantitative work, she wanted to expand her analytics skillset, business acumen, and skills.

“The Goizueta MS in Business Analytics program felt like the perfect fit with rigorous, challenging coursework that shapes students into data scientists while supported by faculty at an outstanding business school,” she says, appreciating the school’s focus on analytics and real-world business applications.

Today, as a project leader at BCG in Atlanta, she works closely with project teams to optimize marketing strategy, execution, and operations for corporate clients.

“I love being able to solve complex problems that unlock insight and value across a host of industries, while partnering with team members and clients who bring diverse perspectives and skills,” Haroon says. “I constantly find myself growing and stretching into new capabilities, whether they’re strategic, tactical, or quantitative in nature. It’s a lot of fun.”

Haroon credits the immersive MS in Business Analytics program for setting her up for success in her current role.

Each course in the program pushed me to get to the ‘so what’ of data science problem-solving through final projects that focused on the business value of analytical solutions.

Sameen Haroon 19MSBA

This included her Capstone project with Carnival Cruise Line that enabled her to obtain real-world experience by “working closely with teams and clients to frame analytics problems, develop solutions and communicate the value of those solutions.”

In addition to learning from exceptional faculty, the program offered her opportunities to learn from cohorts in an intimate learning environment. “I loved being a part of a small class where we learned with and from each other, which made even the occasional late nights in the library fun. I never felt like I was on my own.”

To future data scientists, Haroon offers this advice: “Be enthusiastic and willing to learn from those around you. Some of the best moments in the program happen outside of the classroom–by learning different ways to solve the same problem from your teammates, by enriching your understanding of the world through the diversity of those around you, and of course, by striking up conversations with faculty and staff who can help answer questions you didn’t know you had.”

From data visualization and machine learning to social network analytics and business analytics, our MSBA program equips students to be effective data scientists in many of the fastest-growing fields in the world. Support our data analytics programs.

The post Building Future Data Scientists appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

As senior director of alumni engagement, Topping delivers answers with a strong personal connection of her own. Her father Peter Topping is a professor in the practice of Organization & Management.

“He encourages me to be my authentic self and transparent,” she said. “I am direct with alumni, students, and faculty, not overpromising and showing them how we can add value and facilitate a meaningful relationship with the school.”

She eagerly responds when alumni want to tap the 23,000-strong Goizueta network (including 2,000 international alumni) because campus connections have meant so much to her.

From 2004 to 2011, Topping worked at Emory Executive Education, the Emory Alumni Association, and the Office of Annual Giving before embarking on a decade-long career in advancement from Rochester to Raleigh.

Mentored by her father, she learned to rely on integrity and compassion to rebuild teams that connect genuinely with alumni, donors, and faculty.

In early 2021, she left North Carolina State University and re-joined Goizueta Business School and the revamped alumni and advancement staff led by Chief Development Officer Reshunda L. Mahone Ed.D., CFRE.

“Being away from Emory made me appreciate it much more,” Lindsay says. “Because our team is new, alumni will see great programming and engagement opportunities start to roll out. We are committed to preserving the long-standing traditions such as the student-to-alumni mentor program and bringing back Goizueta@Work and alumni awards.”

Real estate near Emory is so scarce that she bought a house sight unseen to be close to three generations of Toppings, including brothers Carson Topping 09Ox 11C and Jason Topping 07Ox 09C, sister-in-law Kristel Topping 08Ox 10C and stepmother Therese Techman 85MR 86MR 94MR.

“I love to be challenged, and it’s been exciting to come back during a time of change and rebuilding,” she said. “With a new president at Emory, a search for a new dean at Goizueta, and a new fundraising campaign launching this fall, it’s a new day.”

Your feedback is important to Topping and her team. Contact lindsay.topping@emory.edu or gbsalumni@emory.edu.

The post Another Topping Advances Goizueta’s Growth appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

From 2013 to 2018, Perantoni acted as a Goizueta@Work ambassador at AT&T, helping to foster an alumni community at AT&T. She joined the Goizueta Alumni Board in 2017 and was elected vice president in 2018. Her tenure as president ended in August.

Perantoni began her career at AT&T (then BellSouth) in the late 1990s. While she never envisioned staying for more than 20 years, her roles have varied. “The MBA helped me accelerate my career as well as do things I wouldn’t have considered,” she says. This past April, Perantoni moved from product management in international roaming and long distance to her role as director of consent and preference management.

Being on the board has given Perantoni “a new infusion of people into my life that makes it more fulfilling,” she says. It also strengthened relationships with Goizueta faculty and staff. In addition to board duties, Perantoni has acted as both a judge and as an AT&T sponsor for Goizueta IMPACT projects. “We encourage alumni to share their time, talent, or treasure with Goizueta,” says Perantoni. “Through their engagement, they strengthen Goizueta’s reputation and brand, which in turn makes their degree more valuable.”

The most memorable part of her MBA experience, Perantoni recalls, was “the level of camaraderie” she gained with classmates. She admits she might be biased (she met her husband, John Perantoni 00EvMBA in the program), but Perantoni believes that the three-year timeline for the evening MBA cohort creates unique opportunities to connect.

That camaraderie and collaboration are what stay with me. I’m still in touch with a lot of people in my class. It’s a lifelong bond.

Debbie Perantoni

Speaking of lifelong loyalty, Perantoni is a founding member of Atlanta United, the city’s Major League Soccer team, and she, her husband, and twin 16-year-old boys are big fans.

The Goizueta Alumni Board actively engages with the school’s network of nearly 20,000 alumni through programs including Goizueta@Work and the Goizueta Mentor Program. Alumni engagement gives graduates the opportunity to be part of a vibrant community, as well as supports the ongoing education of principled leaders who are changing the future of business and society. For more information on ways you can give back, contact Lindsay.Topping@Emory.edu.

The post Goizueta Alumni Service Offers Lifelong Bonds appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

Goizueta nurtures leaders to take on multifaceted challenges that impact business and communities. We asked, “As a female leader, what would you tell other women in positions of power when the time comes to lead through a crisis?”

Share Your Voice

Be confident in sharing your voice and perspective in leadership forums. You’re in the room because you bring a distinct expertise and unique vantage point.

Lean into your strengths and solve for your gaps. Know your strengths and how they help you navigate the situation. This also requires you to know your growth areas. Find colleagues who can fill your knowledge gaps to ensure you’re solving the problem holistically.

Lead with empathy. While a strong leader may tactically get a team through a crisis, a leader who demonstrates empathy and care along with solutions will engender trust and confidence, and ultimately long-term business value.

I reflect on this Maya Angelou quote when considering how I show up for my team during crises: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Foster Humanity and Understanding

In a crisis, you come to understand more of what you’re made of—not only as a leader, but as a person.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned during these times is to seek out opportunities to advance connections that foster humanity and understanding throughout our culture.

Learn more about leadership initiatives at Goizueta, including training and crisis simulation opportunities.

The post Alumnae Take the Lead appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

•   Leadership Coaching Fellows—Through one-on-one executive coaching, students learn how to coach and be coached

•   Leader’s Reaction Course—Leveraging the U.S. Army facilities at Fort Benning, Georgia, students build team-based problem-solving, decision-making, and effective communication skills

•   Goizueta Advanced Leadership Academy—Students put their burgeoning leadership skills to the test by sailing open waters in an intense team-based leadership scenario

“Our students leave Goizueta understanding how to improve individual and team performance, flex their problem-solving and team-building skills, and cultivate their personal leadership styles,” says Lieutenant General (Ret.) Ken Keen, senior lecturer of organization and management and associate dean for leadership. “Goizueta leaders are nimble and responsive to changing conditions in the workplace.”

Read more about the future of crisis leadership training at Goizueta.

The post Building Nimble and Responsive Leaders appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

That’s the news a corporate leadership team receives one Tuesday morning, interrupting their quarterly review and strategic planning meeting.

The room falls silent as the executives absorb the severity of the crisis. One by one, these critical leaders begin to recognize the role each will play in dealing with the tragedy. Accurate information will need to be gathered for press releases, communicated internally with factory management and the company’s board of directors, as well as externally with the families of the employees who died and with those customers affected by a factory shutdown. Media will need immediate and frequent updates. The community will demand assurances. The list goes on and on.

Each action these executives take—or do not take—will result in vastly different financial and reputational implications for the company. Time is of the essence and their well-organized response is critical to the company’s success.

What will these leaders do? Better yet, what should they do to ensure effective leadership through crisis?

Real-World Stakes

In our recent history marked by an unpredictable pandemic, social unrest, and political upheaval, crisis leadership has become an even more important component of a leader’s overall business plan.

“Classroom lectures and reference materials are great prep for understanding academic concepts, but nothing prepares a leader more than having experienced decision-making based on well-informed, timely, and critical information,” notes Lieutenant General (Ret.) Ken Keen, senior lecturer of organization and management and associate dean for leadership.

“With real-world stakes, leaders need authentic practice in managing business crisis response. Goizueta builds this credibility in our graduates.”

Ken Keen

Currently, Keen and his team are designing a crisis leadership simulation with funding from The Goizueta Innovation Fund’s Advances in Teaching Experimentation Zone, which encourages and provides funding for faculty and departments seeking to leverage advanced technology-based educational tools that support the cognitive engagement experience for students.

According to Stephanie Parisi, associate director of instructional design, the simulation will allow participants to have “the opportunity to play unique roles where their actions and decisions impact the crisis experience and their team performance,” she says. A leadership decision in an earlier round will affect later rounds—including what information is given to players and/or the intensity of a situation. “We are spending a lot of time linking the different scenarios and outcomes so that participants can experience leading during a crisis as close to the real thing as possible,” Parisi adds. In addition to offering participants an impactful experience, Keen and his team are striving to push the envelope of leadership simulation by including meaningful innovation.

“Goizueta prepares its leaders to guide businesses through the problems we face now, and those that we have yet to anticipate,” says Karen Sedatole, Interim John H. Harland Dean of Goizueta Business School. “If the pandemic has taught us to be prepared, simulations like these are crucial to prepare responsive leaders to face unforeseen challenges tomorrow.”

Innovation through Adversity

As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, attending class took on new meaning. Several of Goizueta’s experiential learning programs, such as the Leader’s Reaction Course at Fort Benning, had to be re-imagined or put on hold when classes began to meet virtually. When Keen couldn’t put groups of students through this course, he looked for alternatives that delivered the same learning objectives, but that could be delivered online. Keen had used simulations before and decided they could play a bigger role. 

Throughout 2020, student teams virtually climbed Mt. Everest, mitigated wildfires in the western U.S., and fought to stop a pandemic spread by zombies. While the simulations helped students deal with team building and crisis leadership issues, they lacked a basic component: the multi-faceted impact of a business crisis. “The simulations we used were very effective to attain learning outcomes, but what we were really looking for was a business simulation where we place students in executive leadership positions within a company,” Keen explains.

A Proprietary Crisis Leadership Simulation Platform

Keen spoke with multiple vendors in pursuit of a “dynamic online simulation centered on business crisis leadership,” but couldn’t find one. He thought—why not design it ourselves?

With the help of Parisi and Nicola Barrett, chief corporate learning officer, Keen is doing just that. “We’re bringing in expertise and thought leaders to help us build a unique platform simulation for our students,” Keen notes.

“We all face business crises at some point in our careers, whether it is the shared experience of the COVID-19 pandemic or other business crises that impact the financial strength, reputational integrity, or legitimacy of our businesses. The more we can do to help professionals prepare themselves, their teams, and their companies to avoid, reduce the impact of, or handle a crisis, the more resilient they will be,” says Barrett. In her role, she was instrumental in helping the program secure funding from The Goizueta Innovation Fund.

“A simulation like the one we are creating will put professionals in realistic crisis situations that will stretch their skills and build their capacity to shape the outcomes of whatever future crises they will face.” 

Nicola Barrett

Sudden and Smoldering Crises

Keen has worked on the project since the end of 2020, but he and his team began to build the simulation platform in late spring 2021. The team is working with Forio, a software company based in San Francisco, to create a simulation capable of offering a breadth of crisis scenarios, from sudden events—an earthquake, a massive cyberattack, a significant product failure—to smoldering events, “those that create disturbance in the company, but if dealt with could be overcome fairly easily,” explains Keen. “If you don’t pay attention to these types of events, or if you react to them in an inappropriate way, they could spiral out of control and lead to a crisis.”

Keen hopes to roll out a pilot by the end of this year, gather feedback, and iterate. The plan is to begin running the simulation by late spring 2022.

The intent is to develop crisis leadership simulations that are as multidimensional as the real world in which an actual crisis might play out—integrating business decisions, leadership behaviors, change management, and communications strategies with the ability to assess learners against defined competencies in these and other areas. The simulations may replicate a particular market environment (such as a global health crisis that affects the entire economy) or present something more esoteric (a product failure that opens the door to competitor advantage).

“We plan to make these simulations adaptable and agile,” Keen notes.

Leadership Built on Experience

Over the course of his military career, Keen has experienced firsthand his share of crisis leadership. As part of the U.S. Southern Command, Keen was stationed in Haiti in 2010 when a devastating magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit, affecting more than three million people. The quake destroyed almost all of Haiti’s government ministries, and Keen was tasked with mobilizing a multitude of support efforts.

While he plans to draw on personal experiences like this to develop the simulations, Keen recognizes the need for thought leaders to provide a business-centric perspective. “We want to develop storylines that are realistic, challenging, and forward-looking,” Keen says.

In addition to his Goizueta colleagues, Keen will consult with experts within Emory about the physiological impacts of stress on human behavior that will add a critical dimension to the leadership simulation.

“These types of simulations allow students to be immersed in real-world experiences to strengthen their leadership skills,” says Jaclyn Conner, associate dean, Executive MBA. “We are ecstatic to offer this experiential learning in our classes as it will provide a realistic leadership environment for students to practice and shape their skills.”

Onset of a Virtual Crisis

The crisis simulation will run three to four hours and can be completed in a half-day or incrementally. The simulation will integrate virtual reality (VR), videos, and “cross-functional responsibilities, situational awareness, team dynamics, and other real-world issues,” Keen says.

Because the simulation is still in development, the team can’t reveal too many specific details. “Our simulation is unique in that it will offer interactive video components and immersive opportunities for learners to experience real-world crisis leadership situations through the use of virtual reality in targeted areas that support learning outcomes,” Parisi explains. “What we’re not doing is just throwing in virtual experiences for flash. We really care and are being very thoughtful about how we include VR and how it impacts the learning experience.”

Key focuses will be on-brand messaging development that reflects core values, timely public and internal responses, empathy, personnel concerns, corporate financial repercussions, service interruptions, logistics changes, supply chain needs, communications delivery, governmental agency interaction, communication engagement, media relations, and much more.

Each player will be designated a different role, such as chief executive officer, chief people officer, chief financial officer, media relations director, head of human resources, and more. Coordination of on-brand messaging is key and should reflect a unified response.

For instance, in the previous example focused on an industrial accident with fatalities, the chief executive officer would deliver a message to the board that may not reflect what the chief people officer wants to communicate to employees, as well as to the families of the employees that died. And the chief operating officer may have a completely different message he or she wants to deliver to customers and supply chain partners. Response organization is paramount. The biggest questions to be answered before anyone responds are, “What is the chain of communications command, who does which task, with whose approval, and in what sequence?”

Keen says that through the simulation, “You send the players off and they craft their statements independently. Then you ask, ‘Are the talking points synchronized? Is one person suggesting saying one thing that contradicts another statement? Did the executives talk before they finalized their statements? Did they compare notes?’”

As he did when he ran the out-of-the-box simulations during the pandemic, Keen will enlist business coaches to assist the players as they go through the game, albeit with a twist. “Coaches will be able to observe what the players are doing. That capability doesn’t exist right now,” says Keen. The simulation will be run on computers, but as in a true crisis, players don’t have to be in the same location. They could be together in one room, meeting virtually, or a mix of both.

“Regardless of how you run the simulation, the coach will witness what the players are doing and how they’re communicating with one another,” Keen adds. While coaches won’t manipulate the simulation in any way, having them observe in real time will allow coaches to better facilitate an after-action review.

Keen envisions the simulations being offered across many of Goizueta’s programs—MBA, BBA, Executive Education—and as leadership development opportunities for faculty, staff, and other organizations within Emory University, such as the Rollins School of Public Health. According to Keen, it’s conceivable that Goizueta could design a simulation platform that would fit almost any curriculum/cohort at Emory. “If you’re training at the university for crisis events like contending with an active shooter, for example, you can use a simulation to deal with the crisis as part of your training,” says Keen.

It’s a fact. Crises happen. “It’s not a matter of if—but when—you will be faced with a crisis, so the more we can help prepare business leaders and the more realistic that learning preparation is, the better they will handle these situations,” says Barrett. “The bar has been raised, and at Goizueta, we are raising it further by investing in advanced simulations like the crisis leadership simulation.”

Learn more about Goizueta leadership programs. Gain insight from alumnae who take the lead.

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The lens through which data scientists interpret data is also crucial. “The same dataset may be interpreted in multiple ways: marketing, governance, compliance, or other areas,” says Ramnath K. Chellappa, associate dean, and academic director, MS in Business Analytics, and Goizueta Foundation Term Professor of Information Systems & Operations Management.

China native Frank Li 18MSBA, who came to the program after pursuing financial engineering at Shandong University of Finance and Economics, says, “The business analytics degree makes me a much better problem solver than I was previously. Now I not only have the data skills but can also speak the language with clients.”

“We teach our students to understand the difference between business models and what ends up actually happening in the real world,” says Chellappa. “When dealing with data, it is critical for students to realize that unintended consequences can occur. For example, a bank might have a goal of nondiscrimination based on race. However, if that bank ran a model that used zip codes instead of race, it could be semi-legal but can end up being discriminatory if those zip codes skewed toward a particular race as primary residents.”

He concludes, “Interpreting data comes with great responsibility.”

Read more in Big Data, Big Risks. Learn more about the Master of Science in Business Analytics.

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Goizueta’s Common Read program provides a forum for self-education and a safe space for honest dialogue for those seeking to be allies. Through books, faculty, staff, alumni, and students explore a range of topics including understanding stereotypes and unconscious bias, becoming effective allies, and developing anti-racism mindsets. The current common read is “The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together” by Heather McGhee who will join an Emory-wide virtual community event on November 10, 2021. The Common Read program is managed by Goizueta’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. 

Ash Meenakumari Shankar 23BBA chose Goizueta Business School to prepare himself to create more equity for people of color in business. In his view, business leaders have been too comfortable with the status quo and look for convenient solutions to problems.  

“I fundamentally believe that businesses have the ability to create lasting equity,” Shankar said. “This book brings up the uncomfortable and inconvenient questions that we in business need to confront.” 

Shankar is among the 300 Goizueta students, staff, and faculty who are reading and discussing the bestselling The Sum of Us.   

“This shared reading has only reminded me of why I chose Goizueta,” Shankar said. “I am so glad that McGhee’s message has been received positively here. The classes and resources we have at Goizueta are working to remove these barriers. With greater knowledge and dialogue, we can create permanent equity at Emory and in the Atlanta community.” 

McGhee’s book explores themes that demonstrate the communal, global benefits when people come together across race to build an equitable future. The November 10 event, “The Sum of Us: An Emory Community Conversation with Heather McGhee,” is free and open to all in the Emory community including students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community partners. 

Common Read Program Draws Campus-Wide Participation 

Lead organizer Allison Kays, assistant professor in the practice of accounting, said 100 Goizueta students, professors, and staff are in the small groups, and another 200 are reading the book on their own. Of the 300 readers, 32 are faculty, 61 are staff, and the rest are students. 

“I’m encouraged and excited by the response across the business school, from BBAs to the deans,” said Ama Ampadu-Fofie, director of diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

“We’re having discussions as a family, treating each other as family, and creating spaces to have sensitive conversations together. That’s what I wanted us to walk away with: open gateways to have difficult and uncomfortable experiences with people who look different from each of us. I want you to know about my experience and I want to know about yours.” 

Ama Ampadu-Fofie, director of diversity, equity, and inclusion

Principled leadership, diversity and equity were priorities when Jesse Conyers 24EvMBA chose her graduate program. Her most meaningful experience with her student cohort has been the book and discussion group.  

“Participating in this common read on racial injustice in America affirms my decision to choose Goizueta,” said Conyers, an Emory physician radiologist. 

“I have gained a deeper understanding of the history of structural racial hierarchy in America, the zero-sum mentality that frames and perpetuates these systems and the impact on contemporary racial inequality. I have learned from the unique and shared experiences of my colleagues and gained an understanding of the systemic impact of racism and discussed potential solutions. We consider how, as McGhee writes, to become strategic partners in the fight for a racially just America.” 

Jesse Conyers 24EvMBA

Discussions Deepen as Perspectives are Shared 

For Goizueta faculty and staff, The Sum of Us follows their fall 2020 reading of Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do. Kays teamed with Brian Goebel, managing director of The Roberto C. Goizueta Business & Society Institute, Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Ken Keen, senior lecturer of organization and management and associate dean for leadership, Brian C. Mitchell, associate dean for full-time MBA programs and Goizueta Global Strategy and Initiatives, and Melissa Rapp, associate dean of MBA admissions, to choose The Sum of Us, and secure sponsorships from Emory Advancement and Alumni Engagement, Emory Global Health Institute, Emory Law, Laney Graduate School, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, and Emory School of Medicine.  

The zero-sum paradigm was a key discussion point for Maya Caron 23BBA. “Just because one government program helps a certain population does not mean that it takes away any opportunities from someone else,” she said. “It was insightful hearing from everyone in our diverse group. We all valued and acknowledged our differences.”  

Chris Weakley 22BBA, a former Army explosive ordinance disposal officer, shared his experiences growing up in southern California.  

“Being a little bit older than most of my classmates, I’ve been exposed to a little bit more of history,” he said. “I specifically talked about the 1992 riots after four policemen were acquitted of beating Rodney King. For me, the discussion was an eye-opening juxtaposition between Jim Crow era laws, the Los Angeles riots, recent police brutality headlines, and reading The Sum of Us.” 

The discussions have helped Kegan Baird 22MBA to his goal of personal growth in business school by meeting people from around the world.  

“This initiative shows why Emory is such a great place to grow,” said Baird. “The book and corresponding discussions have taught me that it is important to dig deeper and understand the root causes of societal issues to ensure you aren’t unknowingly perpetuating any issues and are equipped to solve these issues and better society as best you can. It has been great to learn and hear the perspectives of others that have experienced these issues in different ways than I have.”   

Sustainability over Shortcuts? 

For Kays a main takeaway from the book is the powerful business choice of sustainability over shortcuts. She teaches two theories of the firm: shareholder theory and stakeholder theory. The former is the more widely recognized theory and states that the purpose of a firm is to maximize returns to shareholders. The theory relies on a zero-sum mindset and argues that if a corporation focuses on any other stakeholders, it is taking away from shareholders’ returns. Stakeholder theory, however, ties in well to McGhee’s book, which argues that there can be a powerful solidarity dividend for all when returns are maximized to everyone connected to the firm, including the employees, suppliers, customers, and the communities in which the firm operates.  

“When you invest in employees and the communities you serve, that may reduce profits in the short term, but long term it should lead to higher profits because you are building more loyalty and allowing space for development and creativity.” 

Allison Kays, assistant professor in the practice of accounting

“Business has a really important role to play in reducing inequities,” agreed Omar Rodríguez-Vilá, the academic director of education for The Roberto C. Goizueta Business & Society Institute. “Not just as business leaders in our companies, but how we look at the marketplace and to what extent are we paying attention to the needs of the communities we are serving?” 

His discussion group worked on identifying ways to take action.  

“There is definitely a point in the dialogue where it’s easy to feel that you don’t have power; the issue is so complex and pervasive, what can I do?” he said. “We discussed making that very micro: What can I do in my class? Do I speak up when I see issues? What types of leaders and cases are we learning from? When we left the room, I feel there was a collective sense that there is power in our individual actions.” 

Register today to take part in this important conversation.

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“Unleash your inner innovator and empathize with your team,” challenges Scott Sanchez, affiliate faculty member for Emory Executive Education at Goizueta Business School, who brings a customer-driven approach to innovation to organizations of all sizes. As he leads this new three-day course, Disrupting Your Business Strategy, he draws on extensive experience in innovation, product management, and design. 

“To transform, it’s vital to understand the basics of design thinking, a human-centered approach to innovation. This methodology will guide you to reinvent strategy as a business discipline and think beyond the short term.”

Scott Sanchez, affiliate faculty member for Emory Executive Education

Through Emory Executive Education, senior executives, general managers, innovators, socially responsible leaders, and executive teams are invited to register for Disrupting Your Business Strategy, a short course offered for lifelong learning and professional development.

Using real-world case studies, class discussions include how innovative thinking will lead to reinvented missions that can reframe an organization’s place in the world. This course is designed to challenge status quo thinking and prepare leaders disrupt their own business before someone else does.

The Disrupting Your Business Strategy online course is applicable to the Strategy & Innovation Certificate and the Certificate in Business Excellence. Explore the wide array of courses, programs, and professional certificates available through Emory Executive Education. Read more at emory.biz/eee.

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Applications are now open for Goizueta Business School’s second John R. Lewis Racial Justice Case Competition. The competition seeks student leaders to investigate how companies can address racial injustice within their organizations. The 2022 competition expands its leadership by including students from prominent universities across the country to organize the event and host the semifinals. The application deadline for student teams is November 19, 2021.  

Partner universities include Cornell University SC Johnson College of Business, Rice University Jones Graduate School of Business, Yale School of Management, and Howard University School of Business.

“At Goizueta we know the issues of injustice and inequality are so big that we can’t be territorial,” said faculty sponsor Lynne Segall, associate dean for management practice initiatives. “We need to lock arms and be in this together, leading a broader coalition of university students to make a difference.”

This year, volunteer judges will select 20 semifinalist teams that will be assigned to one of five corporate partners. In December, each team will be given a case prompt specific to their corporate partner’s racial justice and equality goals. The students will then work to create bold, innovative and actionable racial justice and equity initiatives targeted to create lasting change.

“At Goizueta, we prepare principled leaders to have a positive impact on business and society,” said Karen Sedatole, Interim John H. Harland Dean of Goizueta Business School. “I am so proud to see our students and partners coming together to push for critical change to strengthen business and communities alike.”

The John R. Lewis Racial Justice Case Competition was started in 2021 by MBA student Willie Sullivan. He saw dozens of businesses releasing statements on racial injustice and wondered what actionable steps were being taken. With business representing the most trusted institution throughout the country and globally, he asked, “What are companies doing to address issues of racial injustice?”

In its inaugural year, the first-of-its-kind competition had more than 500 students from 52 universities participate. 

• The winning team from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business created a plan for Johnson & Johnson to use products and incentives to inspire one million Black girls to study STEM. 
• Other companies that participated in the 2021 competition include Walmart, Salesforce, HP, Southern Company, and Truist. 

The competition is part of The Roberto C. Goizueta Business & Society Institute. The institute represents an elevated commitment by Goizueta Business School to explore how businesses can create long-term value, while addressing the social and environmental challenges of our time. The goal is to reimagine business to solve society’s biggest problems.

“Cornell, Rice, Yale, and Howard will help extend our reach to more applicants, new sponsors, and more people interested in the finals,” says Kegan Baird, Goizueta Business School 22MBA, who serves as managing director of the case competition. “It’s incredibly unique to have the opportunity to participate in or lead something like this in an MBA or academic career. It feels wonderful to take action and make something meaningful happen.” 

To learn more about how you can get involved with the John R. Lewis Racial Justice Case Competition, visit emory.biz/jlcc.

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