A week ago, I had the privilege of competing in the final round of the Net Impact Case Competition with 3 of my classmates. The case centered around developing a Diversity and Inclusion program for a company that was receiving public backlash for how it recently responded to an executive’s insensitive remarks. In order to prevent events like this happening in the future, the organization was attempting to implement a D&I program for its current employees and future hires. The competition began last semester when teams had to submit an audio recording of their proposals, and to our delight, our team was chosen out of 60+ submissions to move on to the final round!
The final round of the case competition was held in the beautiful Boulder, CO. For this stage of the competition, the budget for the D&I proposal was cut by 50% and it was our task to address how to adequately allocate the updated funds. The case really challenged myself and the rest of my team to work outside of our comfort zone. Two of my teammates and I are students in the Brand and Product Management specialization in the MBA program at the Wisconsin School of Business. Therefore, we are not typically examining organizational structure, HR hiring practices or employee training and had to conduct copious amounts of research to learn more about the best practices to incorporate D&I into these initiatives.
Our 4th teammate was a student in the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin pursuing her Master’s in Public Affairs. It was such an amazing learning experience to work with someone outside of the MBA program who brought such a unique perspective to our presentation.
All of teams participating in the final round met the morning of 2/29 at the offices of a local Boulder company named Zayo. Each team was given 10 minutes to present their updated recommendations to 3 judges. It was an exhilarating experience to present all our findings in such a short amount of time!
Participating in case competitions such as this has been one of the most valuable aspects of my graduate school experience. Each competition has encouraged me to evaluate a situation I have never experienced prior to graduate school (such as developing a D&I program for a company) and challenged me to think in a different way. The Net Impact Case Competition also enabled me to interact with students from various universities, both growing my professional network and allowing me to learn from their presentations and proposals. It was encouraging to meet so many students dedicated to Net Impact’s mission of using business skills to support social and environmental causes and willing to take time out of their hectic grad school lives to participate in the competition.
I am so grateful to have access to events like the Net Impact Case Competition through the Wisconsin School of Business. It is also inspiring to be surrounded by classmates equally interested in participating in these competitions and using the knowledge gained through the MBA program for a worthy cause. Undoubtedly, the skills I have learned through these experiences will enable me to be successful in my future career.
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