For the third year, more than 100 executive-level alumni returned to campus to simulate tense boardroom situations with Full-time MBA students as part of their Leadership Communications final exam.

The Executive Challenge invites senior alumni to role-play difficult cases with teams of students, who receive the cases in the morning and spring into action to prepare their arguments and put the skills they have learned throughout the semester to work.

“The Executive Challenge is an experience that our students never forget,” said Evelyn Williams, a teaching professor of management who began the Executive Challenge at McDonough. “Having the ability to practice what they have learned in the classroom in simulated boardrooms with alumni executives who have been in their shoes before prepares them to succeed at a whole other level after graduation.”

The students benefit from the experiential nature of the assignment, coaching from second-year Leadership Fellows, and the feedback provided by the alumni judges.

“It was amazing meeting so many executives, and the adrenaline rush and preparation with my teammates to do some really difficult cases... This was the capstone event for me,” said Timothy Ballenger (MBA’20).

“The Executive Challenge gave me the confidence to know that I could walk into a board room, walk into a conference room, and hold my own,” said Suzi Eckelman (MBA'19).

The alumni also enjoy networking with one another and returning to campus to give back to the student community.

“This is the real world. We're getting them as close as they can be,” said John Saunders (EMBA’17), senior vice president of OppenheimerFunds. “You're putting them in a room with a bunch of very seasoned people that are not afraid to challenge them — and have a little fun with it — but at the same time really put them on the spot.”

This year’s Executive Challenge also benefited from the sponsorship of Everfi, EY, and KPMG.

At the end of the day, students received individual, team, and cohort awards for their performance.

Case Winners

• Case 1: Gray 7 — Sam Mulroy, Killian O’Brien (Leadership Fellow - Kelsey Freeman)
• Case 2: Hoya 10 — Conner McMahon, Joe Parel (Leadership Fellow - Sophia Kerby)
• Case 3: Saxa 6 — Sebastian Schrell, Yasmina Hussein (Leadership Fellow - Collin Dickson) 

Cohort Team Winners

• Hoya 10: Saawan Bangur, Russ Bar, Conner McMahon, Joe Parel, Michael Symington (Leadership Fellow - Sophia Kerby)
• Saxa 6: Yazan AlGhabra, Kyle Angelos, Maria Ayers, Aakarsh Chaturvedi, Yasmina Hussein, Sebastian Schrell (Leadership Fellow - Collin Dickson)
• Blue 7: Ashwin Dakshinamurthi, Steve Fainer, Saloni Juneja, Megan Morrissey, Nick Quaglia, Shou Yang (Leadership Fellow - Jennifer Traul)
• Gray 5: Daniel Capriles, Elizabeth Fairchild, Rachel Grich, Lawrence Martin, Neil Singh (Leadership Fellow - David Merchant)

Overall Squad Winner

Gray 5: Daniel Capriles, Elizabeth Fairchild, Rachel Grich, Lawrence Martin, Neil Singh (Leadership Fellow - David Merchant)

Overall Cohort Winner

Hoya

MBA applicants to Georgetown McDonough now benefit from the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award, a post-service benefit earned by individuals who complete an approved term of national service in an AmeriCorps program.

“Our community has a deep commitment to serving the common good, and applicants from the AmeriCorps program have a demonstrated track record of living our values,” said Prashant Malaviya, senior associate dean for MBA programs. “We are excited to offer this fee waiver and scholarship opportunity to AmeriCorps alumni.”

Beginning in the summer of 2019, eligible Full-time and Flex MBA applicants seeking to start their program in fall 2020 and beyond will receive an application fee waiver. Full-time MBA students who receive the AmeriCorps Education Award can be considered to receive a minimum of $5,000 in tuition scholarship funding per year from Georgetown McDonough through the Education Award Matching Program. Flex MBA students who receive the award can be considered to receive a minimum of $5,000 as a one-time-only award.

Georgetown McDonough anticipates awarding one to three scholarships per year based on the strength of the applicant pool.

Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business announces the launch of CIRCLE, an alumni advisory committee that will work to elevate the school’s executive-level degree programs, including the Executive MBA and Executive Master’s in Leadership.

The Committee for Impactful Relationships for C-Level Executives (CIRCLE) will strengthen the engagement and networking capability of Georgetown McDonoughs’ executive degree programs and alumni while working to increase general awareness of the school’s degree offerings, alumni, and students. CIRCLE members are charged with advising the senior associate dean for executive degree programs on curricular, co-curricular, and alumni programs; promoting broader alumni engagement in admissions activities, curricular and co-curricular activities, and career services programming; and collaborating with the Office of Alumni Relations to increase alumni engagement.

“We are blessed to have alumni who have extremely successful careers and also take the time to give back to Georgetown McDonough and our executive degree programs,” said Bardia Kamrad, senior associate dean for executive degree programs. “I look forward to working with our distinguished members as we build upon our tradition of excellence.”

The CIRCLE is chaired by Robert Burger (EMBA’03), executive director and chief operating officer of Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox. The other inaugural members include:

• Peter Biche (B’78), CFO, Monumental Sports & Entertainment
• Andy Blocker (EMBA’02), head of U.S. government affairs, Invesco
• Cheryl Campbell (GEMBA’16), board director and global executive advisor, Kaiser Permanente
• David Chavern (EMBA’03), president and CEO, News Media Alliance
• Caroline Decker (EMBA’16), vice president, northeast corridor service line, Amtrak
• Gary Gadson (EMBA’05), assistant vice president for learning and development, AT&T
• Mark Gray (EMBA’03), president and CEO, ASRC Federal
• Tatiana Koleva (EMBA’01), senior vice president for service delivery, Exela Technologies
• Craig Pettibone (EMBA’02), national accounts credit manager, Wells Fargo Dealer Services 
• Keihan Sedghi (EMBA’97), DC specialist leader, Deloitte Consulting
• David Sena (EMBA’01), CFO, Export-Import Bank of the United States
• Matthew Shay (EMBA’11), president and CEO, National Retail Federation
• Joshua Siegel (EMBA’00), general partner, Rubicon Venture Capital
• Deven Verma (EMBA’11), senior director of digital transformations, TDC
• Rose Wang (GEMBA’18), managing director, GrowCap Ventures

Each year, our students spend their summers in Washington, D.C., across the nation, and around the world working in corporate, nonprofit, and government organizations. Meet a few of our graduate and undergraduate students in this summer's Internship Spotlight Series.

Matabe Akoachere (MSF'20)

Financial Analyst Intern, Voya
Atlanta, GA

What are you doing this summer?

This summer I had the pleasure of working as a financial analyst intern. This consisted of being a team-player and assisting Voya successfully meet demanding quarter end deadlines.

How does your internship relate to your professional or personal interests?

Understanding how the Financial Planning and Analysis Group (FP&A), Valuation, and Finance Controllership team collectively work together to achieve a smooth quarter end has been a rewarding and valuable experience that will be useful for me throughout my career in finance. On a personal basis, Voya cares about helping people retire better and make more wise and informed financial decisions. This resonates with my values and interest in using finance to positively impact people’s lives.

How did you find the internship?

I was constantly looking for new and elevating opportunities through Georgetown career services, Handshake and LinkedIn. I came across this internship on LinkedIn.

What's the most interesting or impactful aspect of your internship?

The summer internship program included lunch-and-learn sessions, a chance for interns to interact with senior executive leaders, face-to-face or via a video conference was the most impacful and interestnig! Voya has humble and charismatic leaders with a great sense of purpose, who took their time to give us genuine advice pertaining to our future. My greatest takeaway was from Voya’s executive vice president and chief HR officer, who emphasized the importance of surrounding ourselves with people who will help us grow. You don’t necessarily need to go through undesirable experiences or “touch the hot pots." Instead, learn from people who already touched those "hot pots." Last but not least, be willing to do more than what you are paid for because that is where you find true fulfillment in life. He offered such great advice!

Any advice for other finance students?

Do not follow the crowd, follow your purpose and be ready to take on challenges and explore the unknown. This can help you reach your ultimate goal.

What else should we know?

I met great and inspirational people at Voya, and I’m humbled and thankful for the opportunity.

Feeling overwhelmed with learning about the more than two dozen Democratic candidates for president — the largest presidential field in history — three incoming first-year students at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business helped develop an app that profiles the candidates and aims to provide an unbiased look at their policy positions.

Julien Matrullo (B’23), Christopher Matrullo (B’23), and Cristian Smina (B’23) created PoliTalk USA with 10 other classmates at their Stamford, Connecticut, high school as part of a self-directed internship during their senior year. The free iOS app launched in June in the App Store.

“After watching the confusing and biased coverage of the 2016 primaries and election, I felt like people were focusing less and less on the policy behind each candidate, and more on their personas,” said Christopher Matrullo. “I was very concerned that this would happen again.”

The students combed through the candidates’ policy proposals, in addition to watching town halls, reading news articles, and reviewing voting records, to summarize the candidates’ positions on topics such as the economy, health care, immigration, gun control, and LGBTQ rights. The app also provides a snapshot of the candidates’ bios and a glossary of key terms.

While PoliTalk USA is meant to educate the public about the candidates, it also provided a learning experience for the students.

“One thing that became absolutely clear to me throughout the development of this app was the importance of teamwork. We had to be really honest with ourselves about what each of our strengths and weaknesses were so that when it came time to divide up the tasks of coding, designing, and researching, we were each producing our best work,” said Julien Matrullo.

“I also discovered quickly that being an effective leader is much more about exciting and galvanizing your team members than just simply telling people what to do and setting deadlines,” he added.

While PoliTalk USA was developed during a high school project, the Matrullo brothers and Smina are among six students who continue to work on the app, releasing updates every couple weeks and rolling out an Android version by the end of the year. The group also is considering broadening PoliTalk USA’s scope to a website, podcast, or newsletter.

Two new fellowship opportunities highlight how Georgetown McDonough continues to infuse its MBA program with opportunities to gain hands-on experience in a variety of industries.

This fall, the school will welcome its first two MBA Entrepreneurship Fellows, and next year’s class will include the first MBA Fintech Fellow. These opportunities build upon McDonough’s success in offering MBA Real Estate Fellowships with the Steers Center for Global Real Estate. As part of the MBA Entrepreneurship and MBA Fintech Fellowship program, Full-time MBA students receive a $20,000 per year scholarship for a total of $40,000 and become deeply engaged in the work of one of the school’s faculty-led centers or initiatives.

“As Georgetown McDonough continues to attract more competitive candidates, we have been focused on launching new scholarships in specific interest areas, including entrepreneurship and fintech, and for those aligned with our commitment to social impact like AmeriCorps alumni,” said Shelly Heinrich, associate dean for MBA Admissions. “By attracting the best candidates, we will continue to build diverse classes that add to the student experience.”

The MBA Entrepreneurship Fellows will take on a leadership role in Georgetown Entrepreneurship, an initiative that provides entrepreneurial education and experiences to all Georgetown students from the McDonough School of Business. The program offers many opportunities for MBA students to explore what it means to have an entrepreneurial mindset, whether they want to be innovative in an existing company, work for a startup, or launch their own business. The initiative has built strong MBA programming, including the MBA Venture Fellows program, the Bark Tank pitch competition, and international championships in the VCIC competition.

The MBA Fintech Fellows will engage with the Center for Financial Markets and Policy, which sponsors original research, provides thoughtful commentary, and hosts dialogues and conferences on key financial market issues. Fellows will have the opportunity to work on research with leading center faculty and the Digital Chamber of Commerce, a partner organization of the center. The fellow also will be placed in relevant internships with private or public organizations during the academic year and/or summer.

To be considered for one of the MBA fellowships, applicants should have a demonstrated interest in pursuing fields related to entrepreneurship, fintech, or real estate industry areas. All applicants who are above average in the holistic admissions review automatically are considered for scholarships and fellowships at McDonough.

Each year, our students spend their summers in Washington, D.C., across the nation, and around the world working in corporate, nonprofit, and government organizations. Meet a few of our graduate and undergraduate students in this summer's Internship Spotlight Series.

Jacob Werden (B'21)

Summer Fintech Consulting Analyst, The Floor
Tel Aviv, Israel

What were you doing this summer?

This summer I spent two months in Tel Aviv interning with The Floor, a financial technology innovation hub located above the trading floor at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The Floor has a client portfolio of six leading global banks including HSBC, Santander, Deutsche Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. The Floor provides these partners with a platform for collaboration in non-competitive banking areas to connect them with innovative firms existing within the Israeli fintech ecosystem. The firm also develops cybersecurity, encryption, and artificial intelligence technologies in-house by leveraging the expertise of several notable former IDF intelligence experts. As an intern, I had a number of responsibilities that allowed me to be a bridge builder between large and small companies as well as between individuals spanning the globe. I wrote a research report on banking automation, created a portfolio of investment opportunities for a large European energy company, connected the firm with potential partnerships in Europe and the US, and drafted a service expansion plan among other rewarding and challenging assignments. While I loved the internship, I also traveled around the country and visited Jerusalem, Haifa, the Dead Sea, and the Golan Heights, improving my cross-cultural communication skills and expanding my knowledge of the country.

How did your internship relate to your professional or personal interests?

As a Jewish American, I have always been mindful of the Israeli state and have sought every chance I could to learn more about this complex nation's people, history, and culture. After participating on a Birthright trip, I looked for opportunities to return for my sophomore summer to learn more about this fascinating country that gracefully balances rich history with emerging technologies. I figured this would be the perfect environment to have my first true taste of international business by immersing myself at the crossroads of old and new, east and west, and technical expertise and financial capital. After completing my internship, I realized that I am incredibly satisfied with my study plan in the MSB and am looking forward to continuing to be a bridge builder in the financial services industry!

How did you find the internship?

Back in October, Georgetown hosted a "Start-Up Nation Tech Fair" where a third party organization arranged for Israeli startups to visit campus and showcase highlights of Israeli entrepreneurship and innovation. This fair featured flyers about having a summer internship in Tel Aviv. I figured this was the perfect opportunity for me to not only return to Israel but to immerse myself in one of the world's premier start-up ecosystems. I submitted an application and had two rounds of interviews before being selected to participate in this unique program. Once selected for the program, I indicated my interest in financial technology and was matched with The Floor. After speaking with a representative from The Floor, I felt that it would be a great fit and accepted their offer! I am glad to report that my gut instinct proved to be true.

What's the most interesting or impactful thing you did or worked on?

One of my earliest assignments in the internship involved preparing an investment portfolio for a large European energy company interested in acquiring groundbreaking clean energy companies. This assignment spring-boarded off a unique humanities course I took in the Spring called "Introduction to Environmental Humanities." This course, instructed by Professor Nathan Hensley, underscores how society's slow response to climate change action is attributable to the way we have been trained to frame time scales by arts and literature. For my final deliverable for the course, I conducted a rhetorical and visual analysis on Chevron's 2008 annual report. Essentially, this report was written during a climate of oil scarcity, financial uncertainty, and bipartisan support for alternative energy. As a result, the report was highly green-washed and exaggerated Chevron's 2008 efforts to diversify beyond traditional oil and gas sources. That being said, recently large energy companies have been making serious diversification efforts and I feel satisfied in knowing that I had a small part in allowing an energy giant to establish a genuine clean energy presence.

What else should we know?

While I was anxious at the idea of spending an entire summer interning abroad, I am very glad I did it! I strongly believe there is no better way I could have spent this past summer. I was able to grow an incredible amount as a student, an aspiring businessperson, and as a human being. As I return to Georgetown for my junior year, I am very excited to see what the future has in store knowing that my educational, extra-curricular, and pre-professional goals seem to have found their alignment!

Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business welcomed 11 new faculty for the 2019-2020 academic year.

Tenured and tenure-track faculty

Jennifer Logg, assistant professor of management, examines why people fail to view themselves and their work realistically. Her research focuses on how individuals can assess themselves and the world more accurately by using advice and feedback produced by algorithms. Previously Logg was a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University. She holds a Ph.D. in the management of organizations from the University of California, Berkeley.

Michael O'Donnell, assistant professor of marketing, studies judgment and decision-making. His research focuses on how people express their preferences and how they impose constraints on how they think about and spend their money. O’Donnell received a Ph.D. in business administration, consumer behavior marketing, from the University of California, Berkeley.

Alberto Rossi, associate professor of finance, joins Georgetown from the University of Maryland. His research interests include fintech and machine learning, empirical asset pricing, and household finance. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, San Diego.

Non-tenured faculty

David Allen Ammerman is an assistant teaching professor of finance and director of academic operations for the Master of Science in Finance program. His research interests include household debt and the intersection of household and business finances for entrepreneurs and closely held businesses. He has a Ph.D. in personal financial planning from Kansas State University.

Ben Bronner is a junior faculty fellow for the Georgetown Institute for the Study of Markets and Ethics. He studies medical ethics and the ethics of war, along with business ethics, ethical theory, and political philosophy. He received a Ph.D. in philosophy from Rutgers University.

Melanie Demirtas, visiting assistant professor of accounting, researches the empirical analysis of capital market effects of changes in financial reporting standards as well as changes in banking regulation. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.

Scott Ganz is a visiting assistant professor of strategy. His research integrates organizational theory and political economics to better understand political processes within organizations and governments and the nonmarket strategies of firms and interest organizations. Ganz has a Ph.D. in business administration from Stanford University.

Christie Nordhielm, associate teaching professor of marketing, brings more than 25 years of experience as a marketing educator and consultant. She is the creator of the Big Picture Framework and author of Marketing Management: The Big Picture. Nordhielm specializes in marketing strategy, global marketing, marketing communications, and social impact marketing. She received a Ph.D. in marketing and behavioral science from the University of Chicago.

Joseph Podwol, visiting assistant professor of strategy, is an economist with the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division. His research interests include auction and bargaining theory, price dispersion, and forward contracting. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Cornell University.

James Reid is the Robert and Lauren Steers Chair in Real Estate and an executive in residence for the Steers Center for Global Real Estate. He worked at CBRE, a commercial real estate services firm and investment company, for more than 25 years, most recently as president of Americas Strategic Initiatives. Reid has an MBA from Harvard University.

Ella Washington, professor of the practice in management, is an organizational psychologist who studies the intersection of business, diversity, and leadership. Her research focuses on women in the workplace, barriers to inclusion for diverse groups, and working with organizations to build inclusive cultures. Washington also is a senior workplace consultant for Gallup. She received a Ph.D. in businesss administration from Northwestern University.

Students in the Master of Science in Finance program at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business consulted this spring for the One Economy Foundation, a nonprofit in Namibia that aims to bridge the country’s two economies, the formal market-based sector that produces most of the country’s wealth and the informal, or subsistence, sector that relies on natural resources.

As part of their global consulting project, the students worked with One Economy to improve the foundation’s microfinance loan process and to examine policies to reduce the high income inequality in the Southern African country. The consulting projects included a trip to the capital city of Windhoek — marking Georgetown McDonough’s first engagement in Namibia — where they presented their recommendations to the foundation’s leadership, including the First Lady of Namibia Monica Geingos, at the State House.

Microfinance Loan Recommendations Focus on Repayment

One group of students worked specifically with the foundation’s ONE Nation Fund, which provides collateral-free loans. The fund was seeking ways to improve the loan process and reduce credit losses. MSF students developed a strategy to increase repayment rates through new loan structures, credit underwriting, and client support services. 

The student team looked at successful microfinance operations for inspiration, including those with group loans to help clients build a credit history and leverage collective responsibility for repayment, and new technology that can generate efficiency and transparency, according to Lauren Leifeste (MSF'19). The students also recommended ways the fund can provide a clearer application process for customers as well as financial literacy training.

“One Economy is extremely passionate about financial inclusion, so we wanted our recommendations to focus on driving repayment without creating processes or barriers,” Leifeste said.

Closing the Economic Inequality Gap and Encouraging Growth

Namibia has one of the highest rates of income inequality in the world. A second team of MSF students was tasked with recommending policies that might reduce this gap and, based on the team’s experience and expertise, focused on three areas: land reform, cash incentives, and educational resources. 

The students analyzed Hawaii’s history to recommend similar laws and tax incentives to promote land reform, advocated for conditional cash transfers for citizens to use on children’s medical care and education, and advised ways that computer-based learning can reach students regardless of their physical location or availability of qualified teachers, according to Fei Cheng (MSF’19).

Embracing a Global Perspective

While the consulting projects provided students with an invaluable hands-on learning experience, traveling to Namibia and learning about the country and its culture also was educational. 

“There is so much I didn't know about the history of Southern Africa and how that history has shaped the economy today,” said Leifeste. “Everyone really embraced the experience, from the client work to trying different food at the market, seeing lions and leopards at the animal sanctuary, and being confronted with poverty and inequality.”

Leifeste and Cheng noted that working with the One Economy Foundation was the perfect capstone to their MSF education and preparation for their own finance careers.

“One of the reasons I chose the MSF program was because of the global consulting project. The academics during the program are challenging, but the consulting project challenges you in other ways, and I think ultimately makes us better professionals,” said Leifeste, who now works in impact investing in Thailand, where she sources and manages debt investments in microfinance institutions across Southeast Asia.

“The MSF program emphasizes cultural awareness and promotes global thinking. Being able to think from a different perspective, forecast the next growth point, and identify new sources of economic growth is so critical to today's businesses,” said Cheng.

Learn more about the MSF global consulting project. 

U.S. News & World Report has listed the Georgetown McDonough Undergraduate Program 15th overall for the sixth consecutive year and 4th for international business.

“Our undergraduate community continues to be engaged in the world around us, from students eager to make an impact on society to faculty who provide experiential learning opportunities throughout Washington, D.C., and across the globe to advisors who provide individualized attention to ensure student success,” said Patricia Grant, senior associate dean for the Undergraduate Program. “We are committed to educating principled business leaders who can manage change and uncertainty. This ranking recognizes our program's excellence and distinctiveness in the marketplace.”

The 2020 “America’s Best Colleges” business school ranking is based on a peer assessment score from a survey of deans at AACSB-accredited institutions.

Starting October 1, applicants to the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business Flex MBA program with seven or more years of work experience and a 3.3 undergraduate GPA or greater may submit the Executive Assessment (EA) test in lieu of a GMAT or GRE exam. Georgetown McDonough is the first part-time MBA program in the Washington, D.C., region to accept the EA exam.

“Our Flex MBA program offers our rigorous global business curriculum to part-time students who also are balancing demanding careers and active personal lives while earning a degree. Students who are more advanced in their careers bring a wealth of professional knowledge to classroom discussions which enhance the learning experience for their entire cohort,” said Shelly Heinrich, associate dean for MBA Admissions. “One of the best values from more experienced applicants comes from their professional background rather than the academic discipline they chose at the undergraduate level or their GPA.”

The EA exam, which is administered by the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), targets experienced executives and includes sections on integrated reasoning, verbal reasoning, and quantitative reasoning. It takes 90 minutes to complete. According to GMAC, the EA exam requires less preparation time from candidates, shortens the time needed to complete graduate program applications, and provides a more diverse pool of candidates for consideration by graduate business programs.

“At Georgetown McDonough, our goal is to create the best learning community for our students, and reduce barriers from attracting and admitting the best students to our Flex MBA program,” Heinrich said. “By accepting the EA, we want to provide more flexibility in how we assess academic preparedness and believe this exam better aligns with our experienced populations.”

Learn more about applying to the Flex MBA. The next application deadline is January 6, 2020.