Leeds Class of 2022 Prepares to Create Impact in Sustainability, Finance, Real Estate and Beyond
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Leadership roles and internships prepareĢżstudents to make a splash at businesses in Colorado and beyond.
Thanks to her Leeds education, Amber Hughes is going from building dynasties to building real estate.
Graduation 2022
Complete coverage of the commencement ceremonies for the Class of 2022 at Leeds.
At ceremonies, a reminder that graduates' resilience will endure in the long term.
Michael Leeds awarded University Medal for his support of CU Boulder.
Curtis Sears honored with .
Hughes (MBAā22) came to Leeds after being steadily promoted up the ranks of the Chicago Blackhawksā marketing operations, and overlapped with the tail end of the teamās most recent Stanley Cup championship. But she wanted to give real estate a try, which brought her to the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder.
āThe smart people you get to work with and learn from at Leeds has given me a great network,ā she said. āEveryone has a diverse set of backgrounds and goals beyond the MBA, which makes the program valuable.ā
Hughes is off to RCLCO Fund Advisors after commencement. She joins a lengthy list of Leeds graduates poised to make an impact in business and society. Here are a few of their stories.
Emma Pearson (Fin, EBioā22)
Biology and business may seem like an odd pair, but Pearson has long been an advocate for marine conservation, and said her finance degree is about helping ensure industry has a seat at the table in discussing the big challenges confronting the world.Ģż
āHaving a business background is so essential to figuring out solutions to major environmental issues,ā she said. āThatās something that Iām excited to work on early in my career.ā
Itās something she hopes to get through her role as an associate with Boston Consulting Group, where she previously was an intern. She had a chance to connect with its CEO to learn about its commitment to sustainability.Ģż
āI think I gained a little bold confidence from my experience at Leeds, and from all the mentorship Iāve received,ā Pearson said.
Atul Raguveer (Finā22)
Raguveer is well-known around campus as Leeds Student Government president. His work with Global Platinum Securities is more low profileāthen again, so is the organization, an active investment management experience with only eight university members that include Harvard, Georgetown, MIT and Penn as well as Colorado.Ģż
āItās a lot of fun learning how to invest alongside some of the smartest people in the country,ā Raguveer said.Ģż
Itās been perfect training for Raguveer, who is off to Morgan Stanleyās New York offices after graduation. Heāll be working in its mergers and acquisitions team in the tech division after carving out time during his internship with the bank to do projects with that group.Ģż
āOn top of the other work I had to do, I built a fully operational merger model between two public companies,ā he said. āThat was something Iām really proud of. Iām really looking forward to going back.ā
Amber Hughes (MBAā22)
An avid hiker and explorer of national parks, Hughes moved to Colorado to pursue her MBA in order to both explore new trails and work in a red-hot real estate market.Ģż
āCommitting to something like a graduate program ensures you will follow through with your goals,ā she said. āItās so easy to say, āIām going to do this online course, or watch this video,ā but itās easier to follow through if youāre part of a robust program like the MBA.āĢż
Being part of a structured program also gave her leadership opportunities āshe is treasurer and a vice president of the MBA Association and president of the Graduate Real Estate Association, and also was part of a team that represented CU in winning the national Colvin Case Study Challengeāand prepared her for the challenges sheāll face as a real estate investment associate with RCLCO.Ģż
āI really want to dig more into the financials of commercial real estate,ā she said. āItās a vital part of the industry and I think thatās my next step.ā
Kai Suematsu and Samariddin Meliboev (both InfoMgmt, BAā21)
How did Suematsu and Meliboev both manage to graduate a semester early?Ģż
They were both devoted students, but were highly active volunteers, as well. After creating a food pantry as Denver high school students, the pair launched Kobu Foundation during the pandemic. Under their leadership, the nonprofit delivered 150,000 meals, thanks to the help of other student volunteers, while providing more than $15,000 in scholarships.Ģż
Their Leeds studies helped make the project a hit.Ģż
āBusiness classes taught us how to network with the community, which helped us quickly get started when the pandemic hit,ā Meliboev said.Ģż
Meanwhile, Suematsu said he learned to be flexible as they sought ways to create impact at a time when the pandemic was changing everything: āKnowing when to pivot, knowing what the big idea is and figuring out how to fill a needed role is something we learned about a lot.ā
Suematsu (a business and integration analyst at Accenture) and Meliboev (a clinical data analyst at Kaiser Permanente) already are creating impact at work, having jumped in after earning their degrees in December.Ģż
Connor Lacey (Mktg, BAā22)
Leeds students are no stranger to high-pressure internships. Even still, Lacey might be a special case.Ģż
While interning with LāOreal, Lacey found himself working on a new product that challenged him to use different disciplinary skills in creating an effective marketing strategy.Ģż
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āI secured an $11 million media budgetāwhich was really mine to loseābut I was pitching to the second-in-command of LāOreal USA, and sheās listening to me, asking hard questions that I had the answers to, and challenging me to fight for work I was proud of,ā he said. āIt was so rewarding.āĢż
He accepted an offer to work as a marketing management trainee at the company after graduating. Itās a natural fit for an aspiring leader who was very involved on campus, including serving as student business chair for the CU Conference on World Affairs and as a member of the Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity.