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More than anything else, our students learn to follow their own paths. Many of our alum have found undeniable success by unexpected routes. Here are just a few. Stay tuned for more stories in the coming weeks.
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When A Classroom Project Becomes A Real World Ambition
Christopher Burch
Christopher Burch is one of the original organizers of Babcock's Project Nicaragua. He is also one of five students who took the business seminar model he helped develop for small business owners in Central America to Benin, Africa. Burch spent two weeks in June with Sylvain Boko, the Zachary T. Smith Associate Professor of Economics at Wake Forest, in Boko's native Benin, retooling the business seminar to make it applicable to local businesses.
But Burch's international interests didn't end there. For the next 15 months, he will be living and working in Angola with the MBA Enterprise Corps. In addition to becoming fluent in Portuguese, Burch will be working for BP to help train local suppliers so that they can win contracts and keep some of the oil-rich country's money in Angola.
To find out more, read the blog about his experiences.
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How Dan Moves The Bottom Line Three-Fold
Dan McCabe - Class of 2006
As a Senior Director for Gifts In Kind, the nation's 8th largest charitable organization, Dan oversees a team that constructs philanthropic programs for several Fortune 100 corporations, including GM, Dell and IBM. He brings them the Brand Management and Process Improvement knowledge that he learned as a Wake Forest MBA, practiced in his instruction at Break Away, a leadership training organization, and honed in The Home Depot's Business Leadership Program. In the process of raising funds to help some 13 million people each year, Dan has helped improve companies' efficiency, culture and reputation with his Triple Bottom Line mentality. He promotes reducing waste, improving employee morale and giving excess inventory to the community — a path that leads to better profits. |
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How To Get From The Tennis Court To The Sandbox
Amy Maguire and Desiree McClimmon - Class of 2004
Between rounds of a friendly tennis game Amy and Desiree came up with the idea for Sandbox Learning — a publishing boutique that creates personalized education materials for teaching young children vital social, communication and safety skills. Together they used the resources of the Babcock Incubator to house their startup and develop their products. Today, their path has led them to create over 40 customizable children's books that have found their way into the hands of countless eager children. |
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How Chris Got Down To Business In Nicaragua
Chris Yuko - Class of 2009
A desire to heal has been a driving force throughout Chris Yuko's education. In fact, he came to WFU pursuing an MD/MBA path. That took a turn when he co-founded Project Nicaragua, an international entrepreneurship program that is establishing a successful business model for a Central American village industry. Chris decided that if he could give his time to healing the economy of an entire town, he could forego medicine and a year at Babcock while he worked to get the project off the ground. Now he is back completing his MBA and working to replicate Project Nicaragua's success in the African nation of Benin. Chris is setting his eyes toward the future of poverty relief, not just his personal success. Wake Forest is happy to supply him with the skills and tools he needs to follow that path.
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Where Neela Got Off The Elevator
Neela Rajendra - Class of 2008
As Co-Chair and firm believer in the Wake Forest MBA Elevator Competition — a contest that gives students the length of an elevator ride to convince investors in the strength of an idea — Neela is now seeing those skills pay off. She found her calling in the event's Social Entrepreneurship section, and today she works with nxtMOVE, a consulting firm that advises on corporate growth strategy. In her work at nxtMOVE, Neela is starting a Corporate Social Responsibility and nonprofit consulting initiative. Now she rides elevators to the top floors of businesses such as Rubbermaid, Bombardier and Dell and hopes to one day advise them that social involvement can help bolster their bottom lines.
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What Led Jorge From Bank To Bank
Jorge Rodriguez - Class of 1983
When students come to Wake Forest with a seed of ambition, they leave with the capability to grow their ideas anywhere. Jorge Rodriguez came to us from Mexico. Having worked for Banamex for three years prior to attending Babcock, he had a deep interest in banking. His Masters in Business Management allowed him to go on to Citibank, Banco Mexicano, Bank of America and ING — helping each structure their international growth. Today he is Managing Director with Credit Suisse and a member of the school's Board of Visitors, working closely with many international MBA students. Jorge's path followed his love of international banking, and along the way he has helped financial institutions to grow the potential of entire communities.
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How Lazetta Helps Families Attain The American Dream
Lazetta Rainey Braxton - Class of 2004
Since early in her time at WFU, Lazetta felt called to use her MBA to give back to the community, and now her path has led her to do just that. After an internship in the Charitable Services division of Wachovia Bank she accepted a Vice President position at Diversified Trust Company in Nashville, TN. There she built on her wealth management training and became a Certified Financial Planner™. Through her work handling high net worth and institutional accounts at DTC she gained the tools to pursue her original goal, launching Financial Fountains, LLC. This emerging firm will provide fee-only financial planning to low and middle-income families, giving them a better opportunity to reach the American Dream. |
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