From Business at Leeds 2022 |ĢżFull issue
The skills and perspective needed to lead in business keep changing. Leeds continues to evolve its MBA portfolio to stay on the cutting edge.Ģż
Colette Crouse has worn a lot of hats in the world of sustainability, including director-level roles in the technology and real estate sectors.Ģż
Prior to her MBA from Leeds, her roles were mainly in communications and engagement, including with the City of Boulderās climate initiatives department. At Leeds, she sought to expand her skillset and perspective, with the goal of repositioning herself as a change agent and leader in the corporate sector.Ģż
āFor me, the Leeds MBA was the ticket to working in a more strategic, analytical role in the private sector,ā Crouse (MBAā18) said. āI wanted to bring more quantitative rigor to what I was doing, to be able to understand the data and use it to make better decisions.ā
Crouse is now director of carbon services at Stok, which offers integrated sustainability and high-performance building services.Ģż
āMy role draws heavily on both my communications and business skills, which I love,ā she said. āFor many clients, we quantify climate impacts while also supporting communications and reporting, stakeholder engagement and financial planning.āĢż
Faces of Leeds: Meet Colette Crouse
Sheās using the skills she gained from her MBA to advise companies globally recognized as corporate climate leaders, as well as those āthat understand the value of climate work, but are relatively new to it,ā she said. āAmong other services, we provide value to clients by offering guidance in a complex space thatās quickly evolving.ā
And itās not just sustainability thatās changing. Work across industries is quickly evolving, as advances in technology, changes wrought by the pandemic, geopolitical instability and other forces require agility, flexibility and creativity, as well as leadership skills and business acumen.
Thatās true of MBA programs, as well.Ģż
Confronting the challenges of change
In the digital age, the MBA has found itself challenged by competing offeringsāfrom MOOCs (massive open online courses) like EdX and Coursera, to LinkedIn Learning and even YouTube. At Leeds, however, faculty have leveraged their close connections to industry to offer a more versatile credential thatās designed to encourage success throughout a career. Thatās taken the form of heightened emphasis on guest lectures as well as aggressively updated course content.
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āOrganizations have such a need for thinkers who have both breadth and depth in business expertise,ā said Kristi Ryujin, associate dean for graduate programs at Leeds and special assistant to the dean for faculty diversity, equity and inclusion. āIn redesigning our curricula, we met with 60-plus corporate partners, who told us about their long-term needs and how we could help meet them. The overarching theme was one of wanting students who are able to flexāwho are experienced enough to be confident when theyāre pushed in a new direction.āĢż
āIn redesigning our curricula, we met with 60-plus corporate partnersĢż... the overarching theme was one of wanting students who are able to flex.ā
Kristi Ryujin, associate dean for graduate programs and special assistant to the dean for faculty DEI
Learning how to think critically about problems, faculty and alumni said, is a major advantage of the MBA. Whereas online programs focus mainly on skill development, Leeds classesāand the co-curricular components, like guest lectures, cases, networking events, consulting opportunities and competitionsāemphasize the combination of skills and knowledge in ways that mimic the challenges students will face as leaders.Ģż
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āLeeds is known for entrepreneurship, so a lot of people who want to start businesses flock to our programs,ā Ryujin said. āBut whether you become an entrepreneur or not, thereās so much value in being able to look at a problem and figure out how to solve it in a creative and open-ended way, where youāre not constrained by the limits of a big organization. That kind of direction is just as important to a Fortune 100 as it is to a startup.āĢż
From Marines to MBA
New directions are why Michael Mendoza (MBAā22) chose an MBA instead of a different upskilling opportunity. Mendoza separated from the U.S. Marine Corps after nearly six years, ending his time as a captain stationed in Savannah, Georgia. He relocated to Colorado and began the Leeds MBA while transitioning out of the military.
āFor me, the MBA represented a way to transition back into civilian life while also polishing my business skills,ā said Mendoza, who won a nationwide case competition as a student and now serves as a partner at Philadelphia-based Forterra Investment Partners, founded by Daniel Markee (Finā80). āMy MBA has made me more confident in starting this next chapter with the new skills learned and projects worked on, first tested at my internship as a student. Itās refreshing to see that a lot of what Iāve learned in the classroom, Iāve been able to apply in the real world.ā
Crouse and Mendoza both completed the full-time MBA program, but as digital alternatives have sprung up and virtual work has become more mainstream, Leeds has added to its MBA portfolio. The school added hybrid and executive versions of the program last year to go with its full-time and evening programs.Ģż
While the hybrid MBA is designed to offer the ultimate in flexibility, it still includes on-campus components, including in-person sessions on select Saturdays.
āGoing to classes in person helps me create that network ... those Saturday sessions are pivotal in building lasting relationships.Ģżā
Jennifer Jamieson (MBAā23), co-owner, Personal Touch Landscape & Gardening
āAn important part of the experience is the relationships you developānot only your business network, but friendships,ā Ryujin said. āWe see students who share career opportunities with one another, but who are also in each otherās weddings. You canāt build relationships of such depth and meaning if youāre just watching a how-to video.ā
Thatās exactly what brought Jennifer Jamieson (MBAā23) to the hybrid program. She started at Leeds after her husband, a former military pilot, completed his own MBA. She didnāt want the fully virtual experience he had after COVID moved all his classes online, but when the couple bought a landscaping businessāwith an eye on future acquisitionsāJamieson wanted the perspectives and network that only an MBA can offer.
The hybrid MBA was the perfect solution, especially as the couple live in Colorado Springs with their four children, making regular commutes to Boulder impractical.Ģż
āItās easier to maintain relationships online than it is to start them,ā she said. āGoing to classes in person helps me create that network, and even though 99% of our interactions are online or over the phone, those Saturday sessions are pivotal in building lasting relationships.ā
Beyond relationships between peers, an MBA affords students relationships with mentors who offer invaluable guidance about how to leverage their academic work in securing jobs, but also in how to advocate for a promotion or negotiate salary at a new job. Crouse has stayed in touch with her mentorāin fact, they were residential and professional neighbors who often rode the bus to Denver together.Ģż
āI continue to reach out to her when Iām struggling with difficult decisions, or looking for strategic input,ā said Crouse, now an MBA mentor herself. āI want to be that person for othersāsomeone who can offer practical career or industry advice. Itās also important to me that I leverage my experience and position to support individuals from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds in advancing their careers in the corporate sustainability space, which hasnāt traditionally been diverse or inclusive.āĢż
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Breadth Meets Depth
Part of the MBAās versatility comes from the breadth of business knowledge the program coversāfrom accounting and strategy, to marketing and financeābut Leeds students also often seek industry depth to give them a head start on either a career transition or greater leadership responsibilities in their chosen field when they graduate.Ģż
The Leeds MBA offers a series of concentrationsācalled pathwaysāthat combine coursework with co-curricular programs, clubs and other exploratory avenues, ensuring that graduates speak the language of the industry theyāre entering and have a strong network of professionals they can tap in seeking opportunities and advice on the job.Ģż
At Leeds, MBA students can choose from pathways in clean energy and natural and organic productsāboth Boulder-area mainstaysāas well as high-growth ventures and real estate.Ģż
āWhat makes the pathways so valuable is how weāve built them alongside our industry partners,ā said Kristi Ryujin, associate dean for graduate programs. āThis benefits our students no matter what they do, because it further challenges them to apply their classroom learning in new ways and helps them forge important relationships.