Emory alumna Sarah Arison, recently named board president at the Museum of Modern Art, stands as a powerful champion for emerging artists.

On a sunny afternoon in her native Miami, Sarah Arison 07BBA is directing movers carrying large paintings around her apartment. “I would say 90 to 95% of the work I own, I know the artists personally. I’ve worked with them — whether through YoungArts or MoMA. My collection almost ends up being biographical, which is really fun.”

Arison smiles as she remembers attending the Frieze Los Angeles art fair when she was seven months pregnant with her daughter. “I was putting together a nursery and had gotten to know an artist who made whimsical balloons that attach to the ceiling with a magnet,” she says. “I bought one to start my unborn child with a collection.”

Arison’s art collection embraces the abstract, but her motivation for supporting artists is direct and literal. She cites a public opinion survey showing overwhelming support for the idea of “the arts” but, at the same time, much less enthusiasm for direct patronage of artists.

It’s incredibly problematic to think of the arts as an industry without recognizing and supporting the artists behind the industry.

Sarah Arison 07BBA

At just 40 years old, Arison already ranks among the world’s most influential art patrons. This summer she was appointed president of the Board of Trustees at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City.

A recent feature in Town & Country magazine compared Arison to legendary arts philanthropist Agnes Gund, with whom she’s worked closely over the past several years. In fact, Arison has been part of MoMA since 2017, when she began serving as co-vice chair — with Gund — at MoMA PS1 based in Queens. She has served on the boards at the Brooklyn Museum, The Kitchen, American Ballet Theatre and many other arts organizations.

A PASSION ROOTED IN FAMILY TRADITION

Supporting artists is more than Arison’s life’s work. It’s a family tradition. She is the longtime chair of YoungArts, the National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists, created in 1981 by her grandparents, Ted and Lin Arison, three years before she was born. YoungArts supports artists across all disciplines with grants, professional development and a prestigious competition whose roster of winners over the past 40-plus years includes several noteworthy names — Viola Davis, Timothée Chalamet, Amanda Gorman, Kerry Washington, and Billy Porter, among them.

“My grandparents were always exposing me to the arts. Growing up, we were going to the symphony, the ballet, museums. If we were traveling together, we’d explore the cultural institutions where we were traveling.”

Looking back, Arison says she didn’t know when she was younger how meaningful art would become to her as an adult. In school, Arison thought of herself as a math and science kid. She laughs at the thought now and suggests turning to math and science was probably a form of youthful rebellion in a family so focused on art.

Arison chose to go to college at Emory, where biology served as her initial major. She envisioned a career in genetics. However, art began to reassert its primacy in her life during her sophomore year, when she attended a YoungArts gala with her grandmother. “It wasn’t that I was particularly knowledgeable about or even interested in YoungArts at that point,” she explains. “It was just a way for me to spend time with my grandmother.”

At the gala, she remembers, the mother of a past YoungArts competition winner thanked her for the organization’s work.

“She told me she used to yell at her son when he’d come from school and sit on the floor and draw instead of doing his ‘real’ work. YoungArts had offered him creative support and mentorship, and he was being offered college scholarships for art. With tears in her eyes, she said she realized that art was his ‘real’ work. The next day, I said, ‘Grandma, I want to help with YoungArts.’”

Arison returned to campus and switched her major from biology to a business and French double major with a minor in art history. She also joined the YoungArts board.

“Emory has a phenomenal business program, and I figured the skills I’d learn would be applicable whichever direction I ended up going in.”

LIFE-CHANGING FELLOWSHIPS

In addition to her role at YoungArts, Arison has also served since 2013 as president of the Arison Arts Foundation, through which she has provided financial support to emerging artists across the globe, including at Emory.

For the past four years, Arison has provided funding to the Emory Arts Fellows program, which seeks to cultivate artistic talent in a setting that allows fellows, faculty members, and students to reimagine the influence art can have on the world around them. This year, the Arison Arts Foundation’s initial support for two fellowships annually was expanded to three.

Arison says working with Emory on the program is fulfilling because it’s not typical for universities to understand the importance of arts fellowships and residencies. “I was thinking a lot about how to support artists at critical junctures in their lives,” Arison says. “The concept of a residency is hugely important for artists and can be life-changing. To be able to do that with Emory is very exciting.”

A fellowship offers artists time, space, and resources to develop their artistry and build their portfolios. According to Kevin Karnes, divisional dean of arts in Emory College of Arts and Sciences, the benefits go both ways. He says undergraduate creatives welcome getting face time with and mentorship from early-career artists whose experiences in contemporary art marketplaces aren’t far from their own.

Along with helping artists develop, the program is also a gateway for them to enter the academy. Karnes notes that four of the six Emory Arts Fellows have gone on to careers in college and university teaching.

That the fellowship program catalyzes career development alongside artistic development is no accident. The program was designed to help them support their art careers as well as develop their body of creative work. The fellows have access to mentorship from Goizueta Business School, where they can develop skills to advance their business acumen.

ART TOUCHES EVERYTHING

“I love that Emory is thinking about trying to break through the silos of ‘business over here, art over there,’” Arison says.

She rejects the widespread belief that art and artists operate in a world distinct from business or commerce. Art shouldn’t be confined to rarefied spaces, or what she dubs “ivory towers” of museums, galleries, and Broadway.

Look at the world around you. Everything has been touched by an artist.

Sarah Arison 07BBA

Everyday business, Arison says, is driven by artists and their art. “The car you drive had designers. The clothes you wear, that’s a fashion designer. The shows you’re watching, those are actors, screenwriters, cinematographers, costume designers, set designers. Art affects everything in our world. I think that once you understand that, you understand the importance of supporting artists.”

She hopes that people and institutions interested in supporting the arts will think about individual artists and not just galleries and museums. She draws from her art history education to point out that the Italian Renaissance relied on the Medici family’s support for a culture of mentorship and apprenticeship among individual artists.

“That’s something that’s been lost,” Arison says.

Her advice to people who want to support artists and art but don’t know where to begin: See as much as you can. “Take advantage of all the opportunities you have to see art,” Arison says. “The better your eye gets, the better your understanding will be. And when you go out, you’ll meet interesting, exciting people.”

Her other advice: Ignore art trends. “Go buy a poster you like,” she says. “Buy something that makes you feel something and you want to see on your wall. Something that you want to live with.” 

Read more from Emory Magazine.

Photography by Nick Garcia and Courtesy of Sarah Arison.

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Alumnus Josh Luber’s lifelong passions for sneakers, sports cards, and toys — plus his love of data — led him to co-found successful businesses StockX, Fanatics Collectibles and ghostwrite while placing him at the forefront of the “hype economy.”

At the same time that a young Kobe Bryant was hooping it up for Lower Merion High School in the mid-1990s, Josh Luber 99BBA 06MBA 06L ran point guard for Harriton High — located just down the road in the Main Line suburbs west of Philadelphia. “All the really good athletes got recruited to play for Lower Merion,” Luber says. “I was 5’9” and slow, but skilled enough that I had the chance to start at Harriton. Lower Merion won a state championship. We won something like three games in two years. I never fooled myself into thinking I was going to be a star like Kobe.”

Still, Luber absolutely loved everything about basketball. “I wanted to play 24/7,” he says. He relished joining the streetball-style pickup games at Narberth Playground, marveled at Michael Jordan’s dominance in the NBA, and fully embraced the sport’s culture — especially the music and fashion. Like so many kids of that era he obsessed over basketball sneakers and desperately wanted to own a pair of Air Jordans. “But there was no way my mom was ever going to pay $100 or more for shoes back then,” he says. 

Now, some 30 years later, Luber boasts a closet full of some of the rarest and most expensive sneakers in the world (including a $310,000 pair of Air Jordans). He refers to this collection as his “sneaker portfolio,” because he firmly believes these shoes are no different than other valuable commodities — like sports cars and rare art or even stocks and gold — that are in high demand and can easily be bought, sold, or traded.

Sneakers became part of the new “hype economy” that formed over the past couple of decades. As Luber describes it, the hype economy is where culturally relevant goods have gained real value based on scarcity and buzz, often selling for much higher than original retail prices. In this market, limited-edition drops, celebrity endorsements, and social media hype can send shoe prices skyrocketing, turning everyday consumers into investors and serious collectors into market speculators.  

Luber recognized this trend early on and helped build not just one, but three successful businesses that capitalize on this dynamic. He’s become a leading force in the industry by proving that sneakers — and collectibles like sports cards and toys — aren’t just symbols of wealth or fashion statements, but legitimate financial assets.

CREATING A NEW KIND OF MARKETPLACE

This realization led Luber in 2016 to launch StockX, the stock market of things — mainly sneakers, streetwear, and collectibles — with business mogul Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and co-founder of Rocket Mortgage.  

“I was working at IBM but was doing a side project looking to create a buying guide for sneakers,” Luber says. “This startup was originally called Campless, and I spent months and months pulling shoe auction sales prices from eBay and cleaning massive amounts of Excel data.” 

The culture-savvy Gilbert heard about Luber’s work and met with him to see if together they could take this idea of a sneaker price guide to another level.

How? By building an online platform for not only selling basketball shoes, but also other high-demand, limited-edition products. 

Luber remembers a pivotal meeting in the early days of setting up StockX when he and Gilbert met with several industry leaders, including the founder of Under Armour, Kevin Plank. He felt nervous to have a literal seat at this exclusive table, but Luber was confident in his data.

Under Armour had recently released their first limited-market sneaker, the UA Curry 1 MVP — the signature shoe of basketball star Stephen Curry— which retailed in stores for $120 but in less than two months was reselling for more than $500 a pair on eBay. “It was Under Armour’s first cool shoe,” Luber says. “When I showed him this data, Plank was upset. He said that he knew they should have made more of the shoe.” 

But that’s when Luber gathered up the guts to tell Plank he was absolutely incorrect. “If you make too many, then the shoe won’t be cool anymore,” he explained to Plank. 

History proved Luber right. In subsequent iterations of the Curry MVP shoes, the company produced so many that they lost their luster with sneakerheads and wound up on clearance racks at discount stores across the country, he says. 

“Everything is priced wrong” is something of a mantra Luber frequently uses to explain his approach to business.

He believes too many goods and services come with fixed retail prices and that, instead, their real cost should be based on supply and demand. “Think Uber surge pricing or the way airlines charge for plane tickets,” he says. “These are efficient markets, and the same concept could be applied to virtually any hype economy good or service, like sneakers.”  

The goal for StockX was to set up a marketplace for collectible sneakers and other goods at the heart of the hype economy — streetwear, designer bags, watches, trading cards, and toys — that was both transparent and efficient, using a live bid/ask system that emulates a stock exchange. Buyers place bids (the highest price they’re willing to pay) and sellers set asks (the lowest price they’ll accept). When a bid and an ask match, the transaction happens automatically, ensuring fair, real-time pricing based on supply and demand. 

In fairly short order, Luber’s business philosophy was validated. The StockX buying and platform took off, reaching a peak market valuation of $8 billion in just five years — an achievement that brought him both industry recognition and personal financial success.

EMBRACING ENTREPRENEURSHIP

A serial entrepreneur and self-proclaimed hustler nearly all his life, Luber first got caught up in the thrill of making deals when he was a young kid. “I collected sports cards and was always on the hustle with my friends, negotiating and trading for the cards I really wanted,” he says. “I also used to sell candy at school. I hopped the fence behind my house to go to the store to buy Blow Pops and Bubbalicious and then sell them for a profit to my classmates. Trading cards and candy were the only two hustles available to a 10-year-old back in 1988, before the internet.” 

It’s no surprise that when Luber chose to go to college at Emory — he saw it as a top school and he had family living in the Atlanta area — he decided to study business. He did well in his classes, enjoyed collegiate life, and made tons of friends. After earning his undergraduate BBA degree from Goizueta Business School in 1999, he progressed through a number of jobs. “The first was working for my uncle’s furniture store business, literally selling couches and working on commission,” he says. “I worked my way up from sales to being a buyer and learned a lot about retail.” 

Unfortunately, his uncle’s business went into bankruptcy after a couple years and Luber was left collecting unemployment checks for six months. But it proved to be the perfect timing. He joined forces with a friend from Emory and in 2002 they launched an IT service, called Tech Experts. “It was like Best Buy’s Geek Squad before Geek Squad existed,” he says. “We’d go to people’s homes and fix their computers. We built it up, hired some employees, and ran the entire thing from our shared apartment. It was a small business but it paid the rent and gave me my first taste of being a real entrepreneur.” 

At the same time, however, Luber was considering going to graduate school and wound up selling his share of the business for $18,000. He returned to Emory in 2003 to pursue a joint JD/MBA degree from Emory Law School and Goizueta and thrived in the challenging environment. “I loved law school and soaked up a lot from faculty and classmates,” he says. “I thought my destiny was to be an attorney.”

After graduating, he landed a role as an associate at Alston & Bird, a prestigious Atlanta law firm. “I made good money and enjoyed it, but realized after eight months that I actually didn’t want to be a lawyer,” he says.  

Luber simply could not shake the call of entrepreneurship. 

He left and co-founded a restaurant staff-scheduling app called Servinity in 2007. “We found some investors and raised some money, but the economic crash of 2008 ultimately sealed our fate,” Luber says. “It was historically bad timing. But another one of my friends from business school reached out and recruited me to work as a management consultant at IBM in New York City. So I moved away from Atlanta after having lived there for 15 years and entered a new phase of my career, the one where everything finally clicked together.”

TAKING ON TRADING CARDS AND TOYS 

After Luber’s incredible success at StockX, he started to look for the next opportunity, the next challenge, the next hustle. As fate would have it, that opportunity came through another of his childhood passions — sports cards. 

In 2021, Luber joined another industry mover and shaker, Fanatics founder and CEO Michael Rubin, to start up a sports trading card and memorabilia business called Fanatics Collectibles. Serving as co-founder and chief vision officer, Luber helped negotiate exclusive-rights licensing deals with major sports leagues like the NBA, NFL, and MLB and oversaw the acquisition of legendary trading card company Topps.

“Trading cards, while they are cardboard and plastic, can be better protected over time than sneakers and can hold their value long term,” Luber says. For example, he notes that a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card can be worth millions of dollars, depending on its condition. “It’s mainly because people didn’t protect them back then and they are rare in that state,” he says. “Today, modern cards are much better taken care of by collectors.” 

And while they are mass produced at greater numbers than ever, Luber notes, the companies have built in limited-edition variations, as well as cards that contain autographs or pieces of game-used memorabilia that make them more unique and valuable. “In addition, they can be graded and put in protective slabs that are tamperproof and element-proof,” he adds. 

In the span of a year, Fanatics Collectibles became the industry market leader and was worth $10 billion. 

However, Luber realized he wanted a different experience. He wanted to build up his own company from scratch. So he left Fanatics in 2022 and founded ghostwrite, a toy company that makes collectible figures called “ghosts” — think Funko Pops but far more exclusive. Each limited-edition ghost has the same shape, a kind of “blank canvas” that can be customized with different skins. These skins range from the iconic anime character Astro Boy to the WNBA’s revolutionary star Caitlin Clark, who was featured in the company’s first collaboration with the league in December 2024.

What’s different — and perhaps most satisfying — at ghostwrite is that Luber designed the product himself. It took the company several months to design the toy and come up with a shape that was appealing. “And then, before we officially launched, we tried a number of different skins and customizations,” says Luber, who serves as the company’s CEO. “We made dozens of ghosts, including ones for Tiffany, for Adidas, for the NBA and MLB.” 

In addition to producing the toy figures, ghostwrite operates its own selling platform that uses a blind Dutch auction system. It’s a market-driven pricing model where buyers submit blind bids, indicating the highest amount they’re willing to pay for a limited-edition product. Once bidding closes, the platform ranks all bids from highest to lowest and determines the clearing price — the lowest successful bid that sells out the available supply, Luber explains. 

“All winning buyers pay this same final price, even if they originally bid higher, ensuring fairness and preventing overpayment while allowing true market demand to dictate value,” he says. 

For Luber, ghostwrite isn’t just another business venture — it’s a sort of homecoming, a chance to build something special with the people who’ve shaped his entrepreneurial journey. 

“When I left StockX, there were over 1,400 people working there,” Luber says. “Here it’s just 10 of us, most of them people like my brother whom I have worked with across different stages of my career. These are people I love and trust — these are people I want to work with, and they are all superstars. To have a company where we can do this together is really a dream come true. I couldn’t do it without them.”

Ready to lead the next revolution? Explore Goizueta’s innovative business programs and start shaping the future today.

Josh Luber recently joined Emory President Greg L. Fenves on the One Big Question podcast to share his journey from sneakerhead to startup visionary. Hear more of his story — along with conversations with other remarkable alumni, faculty, staff and special guests — at the One Big Question website — read more on Emory News Center.

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This year, three individuals with ties to Goizueta Business School’s undergraduate Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) program made the list: Evelyn Duan 17BBA, Dumebi Egbuna 18BBA, and Clara Wasserman 26BBA.

What I love so much about these three women being recognized is that this list not only honors their efforts individually, but also shows the range and versatility of our amazing BBA students.

Andrea, Hershatter, Associate Professor in the Practice of Organization & Management and Senior Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education

“Evelyn was a finance superstar from the moment she entered the undergraduate BBA program and Dumebi was always insightful, creative, and people oriented, as I had the good fortune to witness firsthand when she took my entrepreneurship class,” says Andrea Hershatter, associate professor in the practice of organization and management and senior associate dean of undergraduate education. “It’s incredible that Clara is just starting out and has already accomplished so much. In addition to founding an important youth advocacy venture, she is completing a BBA depth in organization and management, a political science major in Emory College, and her Master of Accounting. It is such a privilege to have these wonderful women represent the undergraduate BBA program.”

Dumebi Egbuna: Social Impact

Dumebi Egbuna 18BBA launched Chezie with her brother, Toby, after they both faced the difficulties of navigating corporate America as Black, Nigerian immigrants. Although the pair’s original idea was a variation of Glassdoor, a company review website, the duo now works with people teams at companies to create a more inclusive and safe work environment by leveraging the impact of employee resource groups.

The company handles the data-driven, administrative side of DEI initiatives and employee communities so that the companies can focus on the bigger picture, filling any gaps that exist in the staff experience. Egbuna actually began the company while she was still working full-time at IBM.

“Building something from scratch has been one of the most challenging-yet-rewarding experiences of my life,” says Egbuna. “As founders, my brother and I are fully responsible for the success of this business. While that pressure is real, it’s also what makes the wins feel so meaningful.”

Egbuna says seeing Chezie recognized by Forbes has been on her vision board for years.

“More than anything, I want to look back on my life and know that I’ve left my mark on the world. This honor is a reminder that I’m doing work that truly matters. I want people who look like me to be able to show up authentically in any space, and knowing that I’m helping create safe, inclusive workplaces makes this recognition even more meaningful,” says Egbuna.

Evelyn Duan: Finance

Evelyn Duan 17BBA is the vice president at Sixth Street Partners, a global investment firm. In her role, Duan primarily works with software companies and has contributed $500 million in investments to major corporations, including Bloomreach, SnapLogic, Veracode, and Heap.

In response to her recognition by Forbes, Duan said on LinkedIn, “[I feel] incredibly honored to be named a Forbes 30 Under 30 in finance. [I’m grateful] to be part of the team at Sixth Street, where I’ve had the privilege to learn, grow, and contribute.”

Beyond her 9-5, Duan also serves as a mentor. She uses her experiences as a first-generation immigrant to help other international students through Ascend, a global network for Pan-Asian professionals.

Clara Wasserman: Social Media

In June 2020, Clara Wasserman 26BBA was stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic—and constantly online.

“I felt that my usage of social media was not benefiting my mental health,” recalls Wasserman.

At the time, she watched an interview by the YouTube channel Jubilee, interviewing a teenager named Emma Lembke. The conversation was about digital wellness and social media advocacy. After watching the interview, Wasserman reached out to Lembke, and the two co-founded LOG OFF.

The youth-led nonprofit provides children, teenagers, and young adults with the tools and resources to create healthier relationships with social media and online platforms. They also host events and campaigns, such as their recent “Forks Up, Phones Down” movement aimed at staying present when eating with friends and family.

“What I truly appreciate and value about my work at LOG OFF is that I can see a real-time difference in how our advocacy impacts people’s lives and their perspectives on social media,” says Wasserman, who assists with fundraisers, campaign conception, designing educational material, and facilitating marketing with other organizations as co-founder.

For Wasserman, the Forbes recognition is “surreal.” This partnership and project began when she was in high school. To receive such a significant honor while still in college has been gratifying.

“For the organization to receive such a nod from Forbes really propels our mission and energizes us to keep on moving forward. It shows that our work matters to people, and there’s still so much work left to do.”

Discover how Goizueta empowers the next generation of business leaders—learn more about our undergraduate program.

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“The goal of the summit is to educate, connect and empower,” said Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education & Professor in the Practice of Organization and Management Andrea Hershatter. “To that end, the greatest thing we can do for our current students and the alumni who attended is to bring in these powerful role models to share their insights and stories.”

Kickoff Conversation: A Fireside Chat with David Glattstein

To open the summit, Hershatter sat down with Glattstein for a fireside chat-style conversation in front of approximately 200 attendees. After his earning his Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) at Goizueta, Glattstein immersed himself in the investment and private equity world, where he gained experience investing in and helping small businesses grow. Along the way, he earned an MBA from The Wharton School and in 2017, joined forces with David Bessler, VMD, to co-found VEG ER for Pets.

Glattstein and Bessler have reimagined the veterinary emergency business model. With a customer-centered approach, trained emergency veterinary staff, and rapid response times, each of VEG’s locations is open 24 hours, seven days a week, holidays included. VEG locations are open concept so that pet owners can “see everything and participate in” their pet’s care, notes the VEG website. “We want to provide mind-blowing customer experiences that people would never imagine,” Glattstein said.

Glattstein advised the students to think about the problem they’re solving for when they start a business. “For us, ER professionals—doctors and nurses—didn’t have a great place to build their careers, so we gave them that,” he said. To help existing veterinarians shift to emergency medicine, VEG provides a six-month fellowship program that offers mentorship and continuing education. VEG strives to create a culture that makes it “so obvious that that they would want to join us,” Glattstein said of employees, which are known as VEGgies. Glattstein admits that creating that environment took years.

Calling Glattstein amazing and “one of the kindest, most uplifting people I know,” Hershatter added that Glattstein is also “relentless and driven and expects his VEGgies to rise to the same level of commitment. He has built this into the incentive structure and into a culture of innovation.”

During his conversation with Hershatter, Glattstein also explained “IKIGAI,” the concept of combining one’s purpose and profession with one’s passion. “If I’m not going to be passionate about what I want to do and good at it, it’s going to be really hard to be successful,” said Glattstein. “You don’t just have to go into finance or banking or consulting to be successful.”

In addition to building a lasting, generational business and “genuinely doing something meaningful to drive positive impact,” Glattstein is committed to coaching and mentoring what he calls “the next generation of stars. I really want to be there for young people as they start their career and inspire them, help them, coach them,” he explained. “That’s something I really want to focus on.”

According to Glattstein, VEG ER for Pets’ revenues are growing 40% annually and are expected to top $1 billion in the next year. The company’s current investors include Fidelity Investors, Sequoia Heritage, and D1 Capital Partners.

Luminary Lessons: Breakout Sessions with Entrepreneurs

During two separate sessions on day two, after brief introductions, each of the luminary entrepreneurs went into breakouts with students to discuss pre-selected topics.

For the first session, Designing for the End User Experience, the entrepreneurs included Vanessa Jeswani 08BBA, co-founder of Nomad Lane; Adam King 09MBA, co-founder & CEO of 1587 Sneaker; Colin McIntosh 12BBA, founder & CEO of Sheets & Giggles; and Scott Roskind, Partner at R3 Venture Partners.

For the Venturing in Disruption & Technology discussion, the luminary entrepreneurs were Jeffrey Chernick 04BBA, the founder of several successful companies as well as an advisor and angel investor; Camerson “Cam” Duncan 17BBA, co-founder & CEO of Axle; David Gaspar 02BBA, co-founder & Head of Innovation at Gather; and Glen Surnamer, COO of Pensare LLC.

Students recorded their takeaways from their breakouts with the entrepreneurs. Those takeaways included: 

+ “A bad product with a good team can succeed but a great product with a bad team will never succeed.”

+ “You won’t change the status quo unless you ask why. Ask why five times to get the answer—then dig deeper.”

+ “If you want advice, ask for money. If you want money, ask for advice.”

“What these Luminaries share is a perpetual intellectual curiosity and cycle of continuous learning, an incredibly strong work ethic, resilience, and a strong desire to control their own paths and destiny,” explained Hershatter.

Pitch the Summit Competition

The Goizueta Emory Entrepreneurship summit concluded with the final rounds of the Pitch the Summit Competition, which provides Goizueta and Emory undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to learn to pitch an idea for a new venture.

The student teams competed not only for funding for their businesses in the form of cash prizes, but for access to the Emory Venture Mentoring Community. “This year featured perhaps the most competitive group of student-founder-led ventures in the competition’s history, all of whom are also participants in the 2025 Techstars Emory Founder Catalyst program,” explained Brian Cayce, managing director of The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Cayce adds that the luminary entrepreneurs had committed to mentoring the student founders as well.

The top teams were:

Undergraduate

1^st place $7500: Subscription Intern

2^nd place $3500: Commonology AI

3^rd place $1500: Safe Squeeze Headgear

Graduate

1^st place $7500: Workforce IQ

2^nd place $3500: Corridor

3^rd place $1500: moji

“Our panel of Luminaries was notably impressed by the caliber of innovation and drive they witnessed,” said Cayce of the student Pitch the Summit teams. “It is a powerful reminder that with the right support, Emory entrepreneurs are truly poised to lead transformative ventures,” Cayce added.

Discover how The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation is reshaping business and empowering the next generation of leaders.

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Which is why one might be surprised to learn that this all-star student-athlete didn’t make the cut in his first application to Emory.

“I took a unique path to Emory,” says Dinçman. “I didn’t get into Emory and went to Tulane University out of high school to play baseball. I thought that I would spend all four years of college there. However, I was cut from the baseball team at the end of my first semester there, and I immediately entered the transfer portal and landed at Gulf Coast State College for the following semester. I graduated Summa Cum Laude with my A.A. in General Studies and I was recruited by the Emory Baseball team as a transfer.”

Determination and adaptability are what carried Dinçman toward his destiny–skills he honed through his baseball career.

“Baseball has brought me some of the most valuable mentors and coaches in my life, and instilled values of diligence and devotion that can translate to any field.”

Dinçman also credits his homerun of an academic career to the collaborative and intimate environment of Goizueta Business School, the support of faculty and classmates there, and–especially–his family.

“I’m grateful for my parents Tolga and Holly, who gave me everything just to have the chance to be successful in my life.”

“Dinçman is quite extraordinary,” says Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education & Professor in the Practice of Organization and Management Andrea Hershatter. “His discipline, commitment, and engagement are unmatched. I don’t believe it is possible to do more than he has done as an Emory student.”

Post graduation, Dinçman is weighing a few offers, but will most likely be joining PNC Financial Services Group in Philadelphia, PA, as an Asset Management Group Development Program Analyst, where he hopes to make a tangible impact for societal good.

“The niche line of business I’ll be working with at PNC–called Institutional Asset Management–carries great societal impact in my eyes. Instead of being a strictly transactional business, we manage the relationships and investment accounts for Endowments & Foundations, Public Pensions & 401(k)s, and other private companies. For example, we get to see firsthand how PNC-advised investment growth leads to additional scholarship and grant opportunities for endowments and foundations, who often disburse funds to impactful social causes and exceptional individuals and students.”

Dinçman will miss his Goizueta community, and–surprisingly–finals week. Those grueling study sessions hunkered down alongside classmates with food and paperwork strewn across the table left him with some of his favorite memories. He credits both his Business Law grade and his close relationship with his senior baseball teammates to their hours-long roundtable review sessions before exams.

In the future, Dinçman dreams of founding a FinTech start-up, or managing a fund alongside his Emory Baseball teammates and Goizueta-peers Chris DiVito and Jonah Wronski.

“Given my upbringing in the Deep South and the emphasis placed on ‘Southern Hospitality,’ I hope to bring a unique perspective on relationship-building wherever I land.”

Ultimately, Dinçman hopes to be an involved alumnus and mentor who finds himself, one day, in a philanthropical position to help support the people and institutions that raised him.

“I took great pride in leading younger baseball teammates in all aspects of their college career, and I hope to become the kind of mentor that pushes others to realize their own potential. I always want to uphold a focus on service and social causes, as well as the importance of one’s family and faith in their life.”

For more Emory Commencement stories, updates, photos and videos, and celebration details, visit commencement.emory.edu.

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This year’s team included Saanvi Sood 25BBA; Catherine Ly 26BBA, chair of competitions; Sean Walsh 26BBA; and Yashonandan Kakrania 26BBA 26MAcc, team captain. They recently traveled to New Zealand to compete in the Champions Trophy Case Competition at the University of Auckland—and they won third place.

“In the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) curriculum, our undergraduate students gather and analyze data, model outcomes, deconstruct multi-layered problems, think creatively and strategically, and make actionable recommendations. They also present with confident professionalism,” says Andrea Hershatter, senior associate dean of undergraduate education and associate professor in the practice of organization and management.

“I saw all of those capacities in action with the team, along with their resilience, drive towards continuous improvement, and superior sportsmanship. I could not have been prouder of the outcomes they achieved and, especially, the way they competed.”

The Story Starts in California

In the spring of 2024, a group of Goizueta undergraduate students traveled to the University of Southern California for the Marshall Case Competition: Jonathan Ross 24BBA, Harrison Coorey 24BBA, Michelle Li 24BBA, and Sood.

Unbeknownst to the team at the time, this event was a qualifier for the international event in New Zealand. In fact, it was one of only two qualifying events that exist in the United States.

The team flew to Los Angeles with the intention of having fun and doing their best—and they won first place.

“It was an incredible honor and such a privilege to win first place and represent Goizueta, especially as a newly established team,” says Sood.

Some teams prepare for months on end, often with professional coaches, but the Goizueta students had an advantage: The undergraduate business curriculum includes cases and presentations in class.

“Our success was a big testament to our Goizueta education because it’s so practical and hands-on,” says Sood, who used a skill she learned in a data analytics course to help the team win the Marshall Case Competition.

A Trip to New Zealand

As a result of the first place honor in California, Goizueta secured a spot in the Champions Trophy Case Competition in New Zealand. Since most of the team graduated in 2024, Sood was tasked with recruiting new members.

Her selling points were the opportunity to connect more deeply with Goizueta peers and meet students from programs around the world. Sood shared how valuable the experience is in putting the skills learned in class or through internships to the test in high-pressure, real-world scenarios that require collaboration. For younger classmates, case competitions are great talking points for job interviews.

The team also secured funding to fully cover the trip and all expenses through the Robson Program for Business, Public Policy, and Government and the support of Jeffrey Rosensweig, director of the Robson Program and associate professor of finance.

“The funding was a testament to Goizueta believing in our ability to do well, but also wanting us to have meaningful experiences, regardless of what the outcome is,” says Sood. “A lot of people in the Goizueta community came together to make this happen, and it’s something that I will be truly appreciative of when I look back at my time at Emory.”

The International Competition

The Goizueta team arrived at the Champions Trophy Case Competition surrounded by teams who regularly compete at the international level. What made the competition even more unique—in addition to the location and prestige—was that teams were not allowed to use the internet…for anything. Participants were forced to use the skill sets of their teams and even create paper slide decks for their presentations.

“I actually liked the fact that there was no internet allowed,” says Ly. “It made us really test our critical thinking in a straightforward manner, rather than worrying about how slides looked.”

Because of this added challenge, Ly says the key was a deep understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each teammate so that, together, they created a “strong dynamic.”

“No team is perfect, and no one is ever ‘fully ready,’ but as long as you’re willing to give your 110%, adapt, and be open to feedback, that’s all that matters,” says Ly.

For Kakrania, one of the exciting aspects of a case competition is problem-solving a real world business issue. An additional challenge the Goizueta team faced was thinking about New Zealand culture and companies for the cases, rather than approaching the competition from the U.S. perspective.

“It’s been incredible to witness the team’s rapid growth,” says Kakrania. “The chance to represent Goizueta at one of the biggest case competitions in the world filled me with immense pride. I wanted to not only compete at the highest level, but also showcase what makes Goizueta stand out as a top business school on the global stage.”

The team achieved that goal: They have since received numerous invitations to participate in case competitions at other universities in Europe, Asia, and Canada.

“Case competitions are one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences you can have as an undergraduate,” says Kakrania. “I’ve learned how to work effectively in teams, leveraging diverse backgrounds and skill sets while refining ideas through collaboration.”

The Future of Goizueta’s Case Competition Team

Kakrania says the team plans to start incorporating more outside-of-class practice to help prepare members for a wide range of business challenges.

“The case competition team welcomes all interested undergraduate BBA students,” says Hershatter. “Case competitions are a phenomenal learning experience and can provide truly transformational opportunities.”

Interested students can start in small, internal events before participating in intercollegiate and international events. Email Paula Zwillich to find out how you can join.

Ready to take on your own real-world business challenges? Learn more about Goizueta’s hands-on undergraduate business degree.

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Goizueta’s impressive showing in the admissions category played a key role in the rankings jump. The school scored 5^th in the nation for admissions, highlighting the outstanding quality of students recruited to Emory.

“This ranking reflects the remarkable energy and momentum within our undergraduate program,” shared John H. Harland Dean of Goizueta Business School Gareth James. “Our ability to attract and develop top-tier students, combined with our innovative approach to business education, continues to set Goizueta apart. We remain committed to fostering a dynamic learning environment where future business leaders thrive.”

A key component of the ranking is academics, as measured by survey responses of program alumni who graduated in 2022. Senior Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education Andrea Hershatter shares that “It is incredibly rewarding to see the ways in which our alumni reflect on their Goizueta experience. They particularly value the intellectual rigor, unique curricular pathways, and experiential learning provided through the BBA program, and they are dedicated to continuing to support the school. Our recent alumni are already serving as mentors, advocates, and sources of inspiration for the next cohort of BBA students.”

The Poets & Quants ranking is based on a comprehensive methodology that evaluates schools across three key dimensions: admissions selectivity, academic experience, and employment outcomes.

Goizueta’s rise in the rankings reflects a strategic focus on developing principled and impactful leaders and entrepreneurs, fostering innovation for a data and technology driven world, and growing a global presence fueled by local synergies. As the school celebrates this accomplishment, it remains dedicated to further enhancing the student experience and preparing graduates for lasting success in an evolving business landscape.

About Emory University’s Goizueta Business School

Business education has been an integral part of Emory University’s identity since 1919. That kind of longevity and significance does not come without a culture built on success and service. Emory University’s Goizueta Business School offers a unique, community-oriented environment paired with the academic prestige and rigor of a major research institution. Goizueta develops business leaders of today and tomorrow with a Bachelor of Business Administration, Full-time MBA (Two-Year MBA & One-Year MBA), Evening MBA, Executive MBA, MS in Business Analytics, Master of Finance, Master in Management, Master in Business for Veterans, Doctoral degree, and a portfolio of non-degree Emory Executive Education courses. Together, the Goizueta community strives to solve the world’s most pressing business problems. The school is named for the late Roberto C. Goizueta, former Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company.

For more information, visit goizueta.emory.edu.

The post Goizueta Business School’s BBA Program Rises to 8th in the Nation in Poets & Quants Ranking appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

“Our success in the competition would not have been possible without the invaluable lessons learned at the intersection of Goizueta’s undergraduate business degree and MS in Business Analytics programs,” says Andy (Khang) Dang 25BBA 25MSBA, a Data Swoop team member. “The Business Analytics program equipped us with the technical skills and methodologies to tackle complex challenges, while the undergraduate program prepared us to think critically about stakeholders and strategic decision-making. These complementary skill sets were instrumental in achieving this accomplishment.” Jason Evans 25BBA 25MSBA, Ian Poe 25BBA 25MSBA, and Zetao “Tommy” Pan 25BBA 25MSBA rounded out the Data Swoop squad.

“This win is a testament to the quality of our students and the market-relevant skills they acquire through the undergraduate BBA program and the MS in Business Analytics program,” says Zuzana Hlavacova Gurung, associate dean, specialized masters programs. “We are excited to see students apply their business and analytics skills to real world business problems and triumph in the competition.”

Data4Good: The Case and The Cause

The client at the center of the case competition was Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors—TAPS—a non-profit organization that, according to its website, provides “compassionate and comprehensive resources to all those grieving a death in the military or veteran community.” As part of its mission, the organization has developed a “survivor journey map” to guide staff in how best to care for bereaved families and help survivors navigate their grief journey. However, creating and updating the survivor journey map is labor-intensive. As a result, the organization’s ability to use the map to connect survivors with the most relevant care is limited.

For the competition, the teams’ task was to leverage “interaction data” between the survivors and the program to improve how the organization offers support . The teams developed an AI-powered solution that would automatically map survivor survey responses to the existing survivor journey map. The teams also created an innovative methodology that would aggregate and analyze survey data to generate improved versions of the journey map over time. Data Swoop’s strategy focused on creating customized support programs tailored to the unique needs of survivors and their loved ones.

As part of the competition, teams received free expert training for AI-900: Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals Certification, access to DataCamp courses, and INFORMS Job Task Analysis (JTA) Training. “This holistic experience not only provides an opportunity to use data, technology, process, and research-based methods to make good decisions for good problems, but also connects participants to leading data analytics organizations through credentialing and networking,” states the Data4Good’s case competition webpage.

Following the win, Dang thanked the organization for “the opportunity to solve a meaningful problem.”

“The competition broadened my perspective on the transformative potential of data science to drive positive societal change, while reaffirming my passion for combining data-driven insights with strategic decision-making to create lasting impact,” says Dang.

A Powerful Academic Combination

Andrea Hershatter, senior associate dean and undergraduate program director considers the Data Swoops victory a terrific example of the educational scope of the dual degree program. “The MS in Business Analytics program is built at the intersection of business, data, and technology and shapes cutting-edge business data scientists. Our undergraduate BBA students enter the Business Analytics portion of the program already equipped with foundational core business knowledge and contextual, strategic understanding of data-driven decision analysis,” explains Hershatter.

The joint degree is an incredibly powerful academic combination that clearly prepares students quite well, not just for competition in this instance, but also in making deeply informed and actionable recommendations in a business environment.

Andrea Hershatter, Senior Associate Dean and Undergraduate Program Director

The dual degree allows Goizueta undergraduate business students to complete both degrees in four and a half years rather than the typical four-year undergraduate degree followed by the one-year MS in Business Analytics program. Admission into the program is reserved for current Goizueta undergraduate students who are encouraged to apply during their junior year. The dual-degree students devote their senior year to the business analytics curriculum, after which they return to the undergraduate program to complete their final semester.

Discover how Goizueta’s dual degree programs can equip you with the skills to make an impact. Learn more.

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From the effects of the pandemic and the great resignation to both the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence (AI) for business, the job market of the last few years has been one of the most exciting, but also the most unusual in my 20-plus year recruiting career. The way we work has changed and will continue to change. Now more than ever it’s critical to hire leaders, and to be a leader, who will embrace change, lead through change, and proactively drive change.

So, whether you are looking for a new job in the spring or hiring for key leadership and development roles, it is important to be able to recognize the type of person who thrives in the current environment. Transformational leaders distinguish themselves through several key attributes. Here are some of those Sudduth Search seeks when hiring: 

Collaborative Communicator

Transformational leaders have strong communication and interpersonal skills. They can put themselves in other’s shoes and see things from their perspective, showing them how they can work together to find solutions that benefit everyone. They are listeners first, then talkers. If a candidate is not listening as much as they are talking, or is talking over the interviewer, it’s a red flag. Possessing social awareness to know when it’s time to talk is critical for effective leaders.

Humble and Open

Transformational leaders will compliment others before accepting a compliment themselves. They are humble about what they do and often credit the team rather than taking credit themselves. Look for candidates who admit when they don’t know things and talk about how they solved the situation regardless.

Proactive and Takes Initiative

A great leader will always look for what needs to be done and just do it. They’re always ready to jump in and put in that extra effort to save a project or to land a new client. They are servant leaders.

Steady Demeanor

Transformational leaders talk through difficult topics and conversations without getting upset or emotional. They approach differing opinions with an inquiring mindset in order to understand and learn from other perspectives. They encourage constructive communication that fosters growth, innovation, and progress.

Prioritizes Ethics and Principles

Exceptional leaders are trusted and respected for the decisions they make. They stand by what they believe. They can be trusted to put their employees and clients first. Ask candidates about difficult situations they’ve been in, and how they prioritized their principles.

Curious and Innovative

Effective leaders are curious. They’re great at looking at an issue and finding a simple or alternative solution. They improve existing processes or create new processes if needed. They ask about pain points and then develop creative, often unique solutions.

Caring and Empathetic

Transformational leaders genuinely care about the people around them. They engage others to learn about them and from them, and they are quick to recognize others’ accomplishments. They have a high ability to influence because of their high level of empathy. They put themselves in the other’s place and see things from their perspective. This enables them to not just sympathize but to connect on a deeper level and, in many cases, see that solution or opportunity the other person hasn’t seen.

Emotionally Intelligent

Transformational leaders maintain high emotional intelligence and self-awareness, and an ability to self-regulate.

Drives Change

The best leaders drive change. They aren’t afraid to push the boundaries and challenge the status quo to improve it. Transformational Leadership is all about encouraging employees to think outside the box. It is about recognizing that change is hard for a lot of people and expecting resistance, but treating it as an opportunity to be empathetic and help others grow. Transformational Leaders encourage difficult, but important conversations. They encourage people to think beyond their roles and think about the company as a whole. They include employees in important conversations, they admit when they don’t know something, and they welcome feedback.

By embodying these traits, transformational leaders encourage dynamic, engaged, and innovative workplaces that embrace change.  

Over the past two decades, I have witnessed the cost of mis-hires and have seen the value of transformational leaders. These key traits are important in identifying transformational leaders and equally important is one additional item; knowing a cultural fit when you see it. Will you work well together? Do you have a good rapport? Are you aligned on ethics and values? Dig into this as you interview and address any questions to ensure strong alignment.

About Hazel Kassu

Prior to joining Sudduth Search in 2022 as a managing director, Kassu was president of BIC Recruiting, an executive search firm focused on the energy industry. She joined BIC Alliance in 2010 as an executive recruiter to help develop BIC Recruiting as a standalone business, was promoted to director in 2013 and president in 2016, and grew the business more than tenfold during her tenure.

Ready to develop the skills that define transformational leaders? Learn more about how Goizueta’s programs can prepare you to lead with impact.

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That’s what happened for Kali Arnold, owner of Sati Yoga & Wellness, located in the heart of Kirkwood in Atlanta.

“My collaboration with Emory Impact Investing Group has been instrumental in helping me reach my personal and professional goal of creating a Yoga Teacher Training program,” says Arnold. “This would not have been possible without the funding and support I received. Through the Yoga Teacher Training program, we have developed our studio. We now have nine students who will soon become yoga teachers. They will continue to share the healing benefits of yoga with the community. These students will begin to offer free yoga classes this spring, providing accessible yoga for the community.” 

Arnold is one of the latest entrepreneurs to benefit from the robust organization comprised of students from Goizueta Business School’s undergraduate BBA program.

The Power of Microloans

Since its inception in 2014, Emory Impact Investing Group has awarded 24 microloans ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 and helped a bevy of local, early-stage entrepreneurs from historically underserved communities, create strategic moves that have a tangible impact on their businesses and their community. Entrepreneurs who apply go through a rigorous due diligence process for an average of three-to-four months. Then, if approved, it takes a month for funds to be disbursed. Recipients have three years to repay the low interest loans.

From the beginning, research conducted by Peter Roberts, professor of organization and management and founding academic director of Social Enterprise at Goizueta, has influenced the group’s intent to bridge the microbusiness gaps in lower income areas that, historically, don’t have access to resources or financing. “His research showed the importance of small businesses in communities and the impact these businesses can have on the economic prosperity of communities,” says Saanvi Sood 25BBA, the group’s 2024 CEO. “Inspired by this research, a few students started Emory Impact Investing Group and they fully fundraised by themselves, with money from family and friends, to get their first $5000 loan disbursed.”

Building a Lasting Legacy

To celebrate this 10-year milestone, the group’s leadership team made a series of strategic moves of its own.

“We engaged in an extensive fundraising campaign to grow our fund. Then, we fundraised close to $160,000 with a few commitments on the way,” notes Sood. “We were able to go from a $200,000 fund to $360,000 fund.” This total includes a matching gift from Emory, which was supported by Gareth James, the John H. Harland Dean at Goizueta, and spearheaded by Andrea Hershatter, associate professor in the practice of organizations and management, senior associate dean of undergraduate education, and the group’s academic advisor.

Thanks to Goizueta’s strong network, monies raised will allow Emory Impact Investing Group’s fund to sustain in perpetuity. “There should not be a need to ever fundraise again,” Sood says.

In addition, the group hosted a 10-year celebration in November, which included panel discussions with new entrepreneurs who just received loans, and a networking event on Patterson Green, where close to 150 people, including entrepreneurs, advisors, alumni, students and donors, gathered to celebrate.

Student Leadership: The Driving Force

While some things have changed over the years, the group’s team approach to empowering entrepreneurs remains.

“What’s unique about the support Emory Impact Investing Group gives, goes beyond the microloans,” notes Sood. “First, our relationships are long lasting. We help entrepreneurs throughout those three years of repayments. They have a team of students for the entire step of the process. Second, we help them with implementation. We don’t devise a strategy then hand it off to an entrepreneur. Instead, we go further, and make it come to life by applying the strategy to their business and being able to see that tangible impact,” she says.

James Carr can attest to the benefits of working with Emory Impact Investing Group. Carr is founder and CEO of Farmers Jam, a company that makes all natural, fruit-forward cocktail syrups.

Working with Emory Impact Investing Group reinforced our strategy. Explaining it to curious, intelligent students who brought fresh eyes to our business and receiving their buy-in gave me confidence we were moving in the right direction.

James Carr, Founder and CEO, Farmers Jam

“If anything, they helped to enhance and shape our existing strategy and enabled me to focus on what I do best for the business,” says Carr.

In addition, notes Carr, his team urged him to embrace the company’s beginnings. “We started as a jam band of local farmers. Music has played a smaller and smaller part of our business as we’ve grown, but the group encouraged me to highlight the musical elements more often because it is the root of our company, and more people are interested in music than agriculture,” adds Carr. “It opened a new avenue for creativity that we look forward to expanding on.”

A Growing Network

Such strategic insight is why the group has not only grown in influence but in membership. Students apply to join and, if accepted, begin their journey in one of the group’s four branches: Due Diligence, Research, Consulting, or Development. The latter group sources the socially impactful entrepreneurs that eventually join the loan program and builds connections with accelerator partners like Goizueta’s Start:ME Accelerator program as well as other consulting clubs at Emory and local agencies. Last year, the group numbered 240 members strong, making it the largest club at Goizueta and one of the largest at Emory. So far this year, the group totals 140 students.

A fact that brings a chuckle from Brandon Walker 16BBA, an analyst at Coatue Management in New York and co-founder of Emory Impact Investing Group. “We had to beg people to join,” he recalls. On a serious note, Walker, who welcomes the opportunity to advise CEOs when requested, sees the group’s evolution as a testament to the leaders who came after him.

The thing we were really trying to do, beyond the core mission of attacking the small business gap in Atlanta with inexpensive debt, was to establish a group on campus where the most entrepreneurial and high-potential students would want to join—where they had license to make an impact on the group. I think that has been the coolest part of watching the group grow.

Brandon Walker 16BBA, founding member, Emory Impact Investing Group

Walker adds that while the founders “had some good initial success, what has allowed the group to stand for over 10 years is that every year the baton of CEO has passed to an incredible student, and they have driven it to the next height, and the next height, and the next height.”

“That’s why Emory Impact Investing Group is what it is today,” adds Walker. “Not just because there was a group of great founders, but more so because there’s been a cascade of awesome student CEOs.”

Walker also notes that the impact of building the group as they tackled real-world problems continues to pay dividends. Not only did his experience give him confidence in his own ideas and ability to execute, but he learned “the simple Xs and Os of a business model,” which, as a hedge fund analyst, “is very valuable for evaluating the quality of a business and whether or not the business is failing or working or anything in between.”

Indeed, Gina Wang 26BBA finds great value in leading the due diligence process for Emory Impact Investing Group last year. Not only did working with entrepreneurs strengthen her ability to assess a business, but it enhanced her skillset, enabling her to lead the group as its CEO for 2025.

“Over the past three years, I’ve definitely strengthened a lot of skills like communications,” Wang says. “It’s vital to constantly keep your audience in mind and be able to switch viewpoints. When you are talking to entrepreneurs, they have different backgrounds and experiences than where you come from. This is something I learned throughout the experience.”

Similarly, Sood’s four years with Emory Impact Investing Group have provided an incredible experiential learning opportunity that’s resulted in a depth of understanding in finance, business, and leadership. She’ll use this knowledge as an associate with Boston Consulting Group upon graduation.

From the beginning, Emory Impact Investing Group has attracted outstanding student leaders. In turn, their real-world experience with the organization has enhanced and informed their careers. Among the BBA alumni who helped shape the group are Casey Rhode 17BBA (CEO 2017), chief strategy officer at OneOncology; Jonathan Ross 24BBA (CEO 2023), business analyst, McKinsey & Company; Jonathan Moore 18BBA (CEO 2018), advisor for TCG; Christopher Kusumonegoro 22BBA (CEO 2020-2021), program assistant with Arabella Advisors; and Priyanka Desai 20BBA (COO 2020), senior manager strategic finance at Nexus Circular.

Looking Ahead

Today, Sood notes that extending the group’s impact remains a strategic focus. Last year, she and the executive board worked to find ways to help applicants who were denied a loan. This included tapping community partnerships with organizations both within Emory—like Consult Your Community, a Goizueta club that offers pro bono consulting for small businesses—and beyond, to accelerators in Atlanta or government entities and organizations, to offer resources to the entrepreneurs.

“If we reject an entrepreneur, we will refer them to those resources. It improves their chances of receiving a loan,” she says.

Sood adds it’s very common for entrepreneurs to be denied loans, referred to resources, then return to apply again. “Even after being denied a loan, people still have faith in the program. They are willing to apply again and feel comfortable making that decision again.”

Moving forward, Sood and Wang are united in their vision for the future: staying true to the group’s mission and ensuring the organization remains accessible to all students.

Wang stresses the importance of “reaching more of our community and maximizing our impact within our membership.” Specifically, “We want to ensure we provide a great experience for every student. Regardless of assignment, we want to make sure they all work well together. I would love to see this sustained and carried further in the next 10 years.”

Join Emory Impact Investing Group in empowering small businesses and fostering lasting community impact. Learn more about EIIG’s mission and how you can get involved.

The post Emory Impact Investing Group: Celebrating 10 years of Influence and Impact appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

Designed to introduce Goizueta BBA students to the skills necessary to prepare and deliver effective client presentations, Bcomm 365 culminates in a professional communication strategy case competition. During the month-long competition, students put their new-found communication skills to the test as they work with a company—in this case, UPS—to address a real business challenge.

In late October, UPS representatives explained its project to 18 student teams. UPS’s ask: create a strategy that increases use of UPS self-service options from 70 percent to 80 percent. UPS allotted the teams a hypothetical budget of $900,000 to come up with their strategies. “UPS presented a real challenge for our students through this highly ambiguous and open-ended problem,” noted Steve Savage 21EvMBA, assistant professor in the practice of Organization & Management.

Three weeks after the initial meeting, the teams presented their plans to their Bcomm professors—Savage, Molly Epstein, professor in the practice of Organization & Management, and Nikki Graves, associate professor in the practice of Organization & Management. Following those presentations, each professor selected two student teams to present their strategies to the UPS team.

“All six of the teams who presented to UPS executives exceeded our rigorous expectations,” said Graves. Those teams were Team Charlie, Unstoppable Problem Solvers, Beyond Boxes, Sammy’s Team, Savage Consultancy and Tobinators.

“As a Goizueta alum, it is great to see the continued excellence that these students bring to the challenges put before them with their creativity, executive presence, and rigor of their final presentations,” UPS Experience Strategy Senior Manager, Neal Marshall 21MBA wrote in an email.

Charlie the Chatbot Takes First Place

During initial brain-storming meetings, the members of Team Charlie, Erin Koo 27BBA, Ishaan Attal 27BBA, Ashmit Dua 27BBA, Jezmin Chavarria 27BBA, Kaitlyn Furbay 27BBA, Ellis Whiteson 27BBA, and Zhuyue “Julie” Jiang 26BBA, decided the best strategy would be one that cut costs versus one that would increase revenue. Research done by Team Charlie indicated that customer service calls cost UPS $20 million a year. But when the students went through the UPS My Choice app, they encountered a less-than-optimal user experience. “We realized that creating a super-functional and convenient app would be a key strategy and really effective in pushing consumers to utilize self-service,” noted Ellis.  

Team Charlie’s winning idea was anchored in what Graves called “an interdisciplinary approach:” the creation of Charlie—an AI chatbot that would guide users through the UPS’s My Choice self-service platform as well as the creation of a rewards campaign encouraging users to download the app.

While Team Charlie was not the only team to suggest a chatbot, Team Charlie did have an advantage—Chavarria, who Furbay described as “a pro at graphic design.” Chavarria was able to utilize her graphic design and coding skills to create a workable mockup of Charlie. “That was probably one of the things that put us over the edge,” said Attal. “Showing them what a prototype could look like.”

During their presentation, Team Charlie incorporated a slide demonstrating how the chatbot would respond to voice commands. The task was assigned to Dua. Getting the mockup to work “was an amazing feeling,” Dua said. “Seeing everyone—our professors, the UPS reps—in the room smile when we did that slide, it was honestly surreal.”

Ellis called the team’s focus on Charlie’s implementation rather than a typical communications campaign “a very calculated risk.” Attal added that the team decided it wasn’t “a productive use of our time” to go into detail when they defined demographic groups. “We [decided] to say, ‘We’re targeting Millennials.’ We thought [the UPS executives] knew what a Millennial was,” he said.

Team Charlie recognized that other teams would have similar ideas and that they needed to do something to stand out. “We were competing with a ton of smart business school students who were going to come up with great ideas,” Furbay explained. She added that the team’s dynamics led to constructive conversations. “None of us were afraid to speak up when there was a mistake or provide each other with constructive criticism,” Furbay added.

“As someone who is working on UPS chatbot technology, Team Charlie did their research and highlighted current trends, cutting edge technologies, and packaged their insights for their UPS clients superbly,” said John Mccauley 21MBA, UPS Experience Strategy Senior Manager.

Team Charlie’s second recommendation called for the integration of a rewards program. Customers would earn points for downloading the UPS MyService app, for interacting with Charlie to address quick fix issues, and for completing short surveys. Team Charlie also recommended that UPS establish a “quid pro quo” campaign with some of the corporation’s most visible partners, including integrating Charlie into its partner’s branding.

“We were so impressed with all the teams and especially with Team Charlie,” said Kelsey Lindsey, UPS Experience Strategy Senior Manager. “It was clear they understood our customer pain points and their ‘Charlie’ AI chatbot solution effectively demonstrated how it could assist customers digitally while improving the user experience.”

Team Unstoppable Problem Solvers also chose to tackle UPS’s digital experience, recommending a reorganization of the existing UPS app as well as clarification on how to access the app’s self-service options. The team—Sara Larson 26BBA, Ashima Girdhar 26BBA, Oliver Hutchison 26BBA, Abel Zurita 26BBA and Sean Baik 27BBA—also suggested UPS engage with micro-influencers to extend the company’s existing “Be Unstoppable” campaign, which was created to empower diverse-owned small businesses and help them recover from the global pandemic.

“This team was special. Driven, dedicated, and highly communicative with each other— in both the easy and more difficult conversations,” said Savage. “The depth of research they performed and the level of integration they brought from their other majors at Emory (including psychology), added that extra layer to their deliverable in the most compelling way. I couldn’t be prouder of what they achieved this semester.”

UPS’s McCauley was impressed with all the finalists’ presentation skills. “Generous eye contact, appropriate hand gestures, confident tone, excellent pacing, and overall professional demeanor way beyond an early career level,” he said.

Alumni Judges Passing the Torch

Of the UPS executives that served as case competition judges, two—McCauley and Marshall—were alumni. “Our alumni see these opportunities as vehicles for repaying the support they received when they were students,” Savage said. “That fosters the attitude in our current students to do the same one day. It’s a real hallmark of the enduring community and support that our school is known for.”

Real Solutions for Real World Problems

Graves described experiential learning as “the backbone of Bcomm 365.”

“Working with a corporate client on a live business problem equips students with critical thinking, teamwork, and presentation skills essential for success in the workplace,” said Graves. “Students thrive on the real-world challenges that the case competition provides, and our clients benefit from the innovative recommendations that our students provide.”

Going through the class often causes students to adjust their thinking. “At first, I wasn’t sure how much I could gain from the class, but it completely shifted my perspective—even inspiring me to become one of Graves’ teaching assistants this [spring] semester,” said Dua. “The class stood out from all my others because it focused on real-world application rather than just theoretical concepts.”

Taught during the first year of the BBA program, Bcomm 365 is often a BBA student’s first foray into experiential learning. In their final year, BBA students are required to enroll in an immersive project-based elective where they address and analyze a real-world organizational or societal need.

Goizueta’s undergraduate business program empowers student to make significant positive contributions to the organizations they serve and to society as a whole. Learn more about pursuing a BBA at Goizueta.

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