News Roundup – Berkeley MBA on Solving Homelessness, Fuqua Dean on Immigration, and More
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest stories from this week, including a Berkeley Haas MBA alum approaching the California housing crisis.
Andrew Hening, MBA 17, On Solving Chronic Homelessness – Berkeley Haas Newsroom
Berkeley Haas recently featured an interview with Andrew Hening, an alum of the Evening & Weekend MBA (EWMBA). Hening has worked with great results to to reduce homelessness in the Marin County area of San Francisco.
Hening, who graduated from the EWMBA program in 2017, is the Director of Homeless Planning & Outreach for the city of San Rafael, California. Before receiving his degree at Haas, he considered pursuing a career in law. He returned to his hometown of Richmond, VA after college to take a job as a paralegal, but realized that his passion lay elsewhere.
“I started taking time off to volunteer in the community,” he says. “I’d done a lot with youth and tutoring, but then I participated with a Project Homeless Connect event, which is essentially a resource fair for people living outside. It was my first exposure to homelessness, and it had a huge impact on me.”
Through his involvement with AmeriCorps VISTA, he accepted a job as the Santa Clara County Project Homeless Connect Coordinator in 2010. Hening then moved on to his current position in San Rafael which he has held since 2016. Since he began his tenure, homelessness in Marin County has dropped by 28 percent. Hening credits a “shockingly simple” process of identifying those who are chronically homeless, then providing Section 8 funding for them and hiring capable landlords and property managers who were sensitive to the homeless problem.
Of the wisdom he gleaned from his time at Haas, Hening says, “Being in the EWMBA program was amazing because I was constantly bringing fresh ideas back to the team—so many things that seemed tangential to homelessness but weren’t. For example, from our operations class, I was seeing ways to apply supply chains and turnover to our housing placements and the speed at which people become and resolve their homelessness.”
You can read here for more on Hening, his time at Haas, and his work on the California housing crisis.
Two Michigan Ross Alumni Recognized For Their Outstanding Contributions to the Ross Community – Ross News Blog
Michigan Ross recently honored Mark Petroff, MBA ’98, along with Cathy Bessant, BBA ’82 last month for their achievements in their respective fields. The award ceremony took place during Ross’ annual Reunion weekend.
Petroff, who received the Bert Wertman Alumni Service Award, serves as a mentor to students via the Michigan Ross Alumni-in-Residence program. He is the president and CEO of OneMagnify, a marketing and analytics company, and was formerly a partner in the Financial Advisory Services practice of Deloitte in its automotive industry segment. Petroff was also a general securities principal in Deloitte Corporate Finance LLC, the company’s investment services group.
Cathy Bessant, BBA ’82, received the 2019 David D. Alger Alumni Achievement Award for her accomplishments in FinTech. She is the chief operations and technology officer at Bank of America. She has also been acknowledged as one of American Banker’s “Most Powerful Women in Banking” for the third year in a row.
Bessant received honor on Institutional Investor magazine’s annual Tech 40 list of 2017, along with the OUTstanding LGBT+ Ally Executives in the Financial Times list of 2018. She also appeared on Working Mother magazine’s “50 Most Powerful Working Moms” list of 2017. You can read more on Ross’ alumni honors here.
Smeal Teaching Support Specialists Pave the Way in the Online Classroom – Penn State Smeal News
The Penn State University Smeal College of Business announced the integration of Teaching Support Specialists (TSS) to assist students in its highly regarded Online MBA (OMBA) program.
Janet Duck, faculty director of the OMBA, sought to increase student engagement through employing the mentorship of these specialists. The purpose of the TSS, Duck says, is “to drive engagement in the online classroom, and to inspire learning through contemporary application of content … [Mentors are responsible for] facilitating rich online discussions, providing feedback for students on formative assignments, guiding team projects, and moderating live video sessions.”
The specialists are themselves OMBA grads, so they’re able to impart first hand wisdom on the value of their degree. One specialist, Cheryl Horten, worked in the pharmaceutical industry for fifteen years. She says:
“Having completed Penn State’s iMBA, which is the previous incarnation of the OMBA, I not only have a love for Penn State, but an appreciation and understanding of what it’s like for these students … I empathize with working all day and coming home to do school work, while taking care of your family—this is an opportunity for me to help these students be successful.”
Duck describes online education as a “team sport” that will soon become the norm in today’s increasingly digital environment. The TSS program, she believes, is the start of a trend for MBAs pursuing online or blended degrees. “Ongoing peer-to-peer sharing and identifying professional development needs will be key to growing and evolving a customized student experience,” she says.
You can read here for more on the TSS program.
Dean Bill Boulding Leads Business School Push Explaining How Immigration Benefits Economies – Fuqua Insights
Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business Dean Bill Boulding recently visited the nation’s capital with a strong message. The economic success of the United States, he says, is reliant upon an inclusive and responsible immigration policy.
Boulding is chair of the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), and he made his statement on behalf of fifty business school deans from across the country.
“Economists have long studied the connection between immigration and economic growth. Beyond the academic research, we also have GMAC data showing a significant shift in where students want to study around the world, which is an early indicator of which regions of the world are winning the talent race,” he says.
The statement came in the form of a public letter to U.S. government leaders and published in the Washington D.C. edition of the Wall Street Journal. It also received headline status in The Washington Post, The Hill and on NPR’s Marketplace.
The statement suggested some tangible solutions such as increasing the number of H-1B visas for well educated international workers possessing specialized skills. “A combination of our outdated laws, artificial regional and skills-based caps on immigration, and recent spikes in hostility are closing the door to the high-skilled immigrants our economy needs to thrive,” stated the letter.
You can read more on the GMAC statement here.
The 99 Percent Economy – USC Marshall News
Paul Adler, Professor of Management and Organization at the USC Marshall School of Business, has some strong words about the need for a vast shift in the U.S. economic system.
“We are already over the climate-change cliff,” he says.
“We need to find a way to mobilize a massive, sustained green R&D effort and drive the resulting new technologies into widespread use and abandon many economic assets that are environmentally unsustainable and get us all to change our living habits … and achieve all this in time to avert the collapse of ecological and social systems.”
His book, The 99 Percent Economy: How Democratic Socialism Can Overcome the Crisis of Capitalism, was released by Oxford University Press in October. Adler’s basic argument is that capitalism has brought enormous growth and well being to the U.S., but that the costs are growing more rapidly than the benefits. Climate change, he argues, has pushed our society to a crisis point. One of the most viable solutions, he argues, is a democratic form of socialism.
He suggests a variety of systematic changes for corporate organizations to set the groundwork for a sweeping change in the way the country’s resources, both natural and economic, are allocated.
For more on Adler’s work, read here.
Friday News Roundup – Fox Alum Promotes Financial Literacy, Haas Hosts Conference on African Business, and More
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest stories from this week, including Temple Fox promoting new financial literacy initiatives.
Fox Alumnus Offers Affordable Financial Literacy Programs to Philly’s Small Businesses – Fox School News
A Temple University Fox School of Business MBA alumnus has made it his goal to promote financial literacy through a new non-profit startup.
Thomas McDevitt, MBA ’02, formed Philly Financial Planning to offer underserved communities the tools to make informed financial decisions – tools which have not been available to these communities in the past. Philly Financial will seek to partner with various organizations to promote their cause and to implement programs.
McDevitt said, “Philanthropists, faith-based organizations, local government officials, community and neighborhood leaders, … corporations, learning institutions, and financial [institutions] can all play a meaningful role in helping us to achieve our long-term strategic goals of closing Philadelphia’s wealth gap”. In conjunction with Philly Financial, McDevitt hopes to form ‘The Eagle’s Nest’, a Shark Tank style competition series geared toward inner city entrepreneurs.
Education on financial matters has been McDevitt’s focus since his time at Fox. He formed McDevitt & Kline, LLC, with another Fox alum, Dr. Bill Kline, to offer continuing education to attorneys and CPAs.
Programs like his are necessary, because, as he says, “The financial literacy programs that exist in Philadelphia today are definitely not addressing the root causes of generational poverty.”
Africa Business Forum to Focus on Opportunity, Innovation in a Growing Economy – Haas Newsroom
The University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business will host the 5th Annual Africa Business Forum, entitled “Africa on the Move: Enabling Homegrown Innovation,” on April 6, 2019.
The factors at work in Africa such as rapid growth and a youthful population make it appealing for existing companies and startups alike, as well as for investors.
Cheikhou Diaw, MBA 19, co-chair of the event, says, “There are billions of opportunities[in Africa]. Making people aware of those opportunities is something I’ve been trying to do since I joined Haas … It’s really important for us to make sure that people in the Berkeley community and the Bay Area understand that Africa is more than a place with safaris or a place full of poverty and disease.”
Of utmost importance to the chairs of the conference was focusing upon ways in which policymakers and leaders of business can support the growth of economies in the most beneficial and responsible ways. The conference will be comprised of panel discussions, keynote talks, and a hackathon on public policy innovation. Among the forum’s guests will be Andile Ngcaba, founder and chairman of the investment group Convergence Partners; Benjamin Fernandes, founder of fintech company NALA; and Nichole Yembra, founder and managing director of The Chrysalis Company.
Rutgers MBA in Supply Chain Management Leads to Opportunities to Work in Canada – Insights & News
Rutgers University Business School and the Supply Chain Management Association (SCMA) have joined forces to grant MBAs assistance in receiving their Supply Chain Management Professional (SCMP) designation.
This partnership will benefit MBAs seeking opportunities in Canada, as the SCMP designation is frequently required by Canadian companies as they search for qualified supply chain professionals. Christian Buhagiar, President and CEO of SCMA, says:
“Rutgers is the first U.S. university with which we’ve partnered to develop advanced standing pathways into our SCMP designation. Immigration is a key economic driver for Canada, supported by the Government of Canada, and creating international pathways to Canada’s most sought-after supply chain designation will open opportunities for those wishing to emigrate to work in Canadian supply chain management.”
Under the agreement, MBAs from Rutgers’ program receive exemption from certain SCMA workshops and educational modules as they pursue a SCMP designation. Andy Gogates, Manager of Corporate Relations at Rutgers Business School, was a major player in forming the partnership. He says, “It’s a testament to the strength of Rutgers supply chain management curriculum to so closely match the requirements for the SCMP designation … This is a real advantage for Rutgers MBA graduates looking for career opportunities in Canada.”
Harvard Business School Joins Farm Forward’s Leadership Circle – Harvard Business School Newsroom
Harvard Business School recently joined the Leadership Circle of sustainable agriculture non-profit Farm Forward.
Farm Forward works to promote awareness and access to food options that support humane treatment of animals and responsible farming practices. HBS joins Villanova University, UC Berkeley, and 12 other organizations as an institutional partner.
Leadership Circle members, according to Farm Forward Executive Director Andrew DiCoriolis, “practice the kind of values-based food purchasing that all institutions should strive for. Through thoughtful procurement policies, institutions like Harvard Business School meet growing consumer demands for more ethical and sustainable food by decreasing their carbon footprint and improving the welfare of farmed animals.”
The relationship with Farm Forward is part of a growing effort by HBS to implement sustainable practices across campus. Its alignment with Farm Forward will result in procurement of food products that are from certified organizations, along with the introduction of more plant based foods on the menus of the campus’ dining halls. Both dining halls are certified by the Green Restaurant Association, and leftover food is donated to Food for Free, which donates to shelters or to others in need.
The University of Texas McCombs School of Business and Moody College of Communication Join Forces with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas – Newswire
The University of Texas McCombs School of Business and Moody College of Communication will partner with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas to conduct research on administration of adult vaccines in two Texas counties.
The $500,000 grant will help advance research on issues that result in the ever rising cost of healthcare. The study, “Improving Adult Vaccine Delivery by Optimizing Clinical and Health IT Processes in Austin/Travis County, Texas” will be led by Dr. Leanne Field, a clinical professor at the College of Natural Sciences and director for Digital Health Care Innovation at McCombs.
Dr. Vince Fonseca, a physician specializing in public health and community based medicine, will also be part of the team. He says, “Vaccines are some of the most cost-effective, high-value health services available, yet adult vaccine coverage is suboptimal in the United States.”
The research team hopes to implement their findings to improve access to vaccines and other interventions at a lower cost to the consumers who most need them.
Alumni Spotlight: Deborah Gallegos MBA (Berkeley Haas)
For this University of California Haas School of Business MBA, a solid education has paid off. And not just for herself but for those that can retire comfortably thanks to her.
Deborah Gallegos (Berkeley – Haas ’95) was the Chief Investment Officer of New York City’s pension funds in 2005, which possesses a combined total of $85 billion. It’s one of the most complicated retirement fund systems in the country. As the CIO for the City of New York, she was charged with handling the money that enabled some of the most vital groups of urban employees – firefighters, teachers, cops and civil servants – to have comfortable retirement years.
Berkeley-Haas Uncovers Cross-Sector Career Trend Among Executive Leaders
The Berkeley-Haas School of Business recently published an article written by James Daly about a new study that makes a case for the necessity of leaders with “cross-sector careers” — that span the corporate, public, and nonprofit sectors — to handle “the complex leadership challenges of modern organizations.”
Berkeley-Haas Research on the Rewards, and Costs, of a Cross-Sector Career
Two noted researchers from the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business (Berkeley-Haas) recently published a study on the advantages of a cross-sector career.
Paul Jansen and Nora Silver, both professors and members of Berkeley-Haas’ Center for Social Sector Leadership, studied the career paths of over 2,000 executives.
Top Employers in the San Francisco Bay Area
While it’s no secret that the Bay Area’s climbing job market is one of the country’s richest destinations for MBAs, recent news from global consulting firm A.T. Kearney only strengthens this fact. San Francisco recently received the title of the world’s leading international city, in a tie with London.
Poised at the forefront of the United States’ knowledge-based economy, the top employers in the San Francisco Bay Area offer a wide landscape of opportunity for those who wish to put their MBA degrees to work.
