The blend of hands-on experiences and strategic insights made the Capstone experience an unparalleled learning journey for me,” says Blessing Umoh (MBA/MIS ‘25), one of the 25 second-year MBA students from the University of Pittsburgh’s Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business who spent a week in Atlanta for their Capstone experience.
This trip, the culmination of an integrated management capstone course, provided insights into innovation and networking opportunities with influential executives, including alumni from Pitt Business.
Before visiting Atlanta, the week of January 6, 2024, the students spent the fall semester engaged in lectures and classroom discussions on innovation. During the trip, they toured companies and spoke with industry leaders to learn how innovation is fostered and implemented.
“This class ties together everything the students learn,” says Rebecca Badawy, associate dean for MBA and specialty masters. “The students learned about innovation, plus they learned about the powerful alumni community they will join once they graduate.”
Alumni Leadership, Executive Insights
The alumni network opened doors to the organizations and business leaders in Atlanta.
“I didn’t realize how big the University of Pittsburgh network is outside of Pittsburgh and how open the alumni are to meet, teach, and mentor current students,” says Tommy Leech, (MBA ’25). “I made many connections that I plan to keep up with from this trip. And I will make sure to treat future students the way I was treated when that time comes.”
The following alumni played an important role in this capstone trip:
- Roxanne Dye (MBA ‘94), an executive at Home Depot
- Rachel Colangelo (MBA, ’19), an executive at Coca-Cola
- Nicholle Wersland (EMBA ’08), an executive at Green Boom
- Joe Lamar (MBA ’87, A&S ’85) an executive at Bank of America
- Ananya Gupta (MBA ’19) an executive with Ford Motor Company
- Dan Mark (CBA ’14) an executive at 3B Scientific
- Daniel Gagnon (MBA ’97), an executive at UPS Global
- Sophia Brar (MBA ‘09), an executive at Delta
- Hua Ai, an executive at Delta (PhD ’09, SCI’06)
- Cory Black, (ENGR ’09)
- Daveen (Dawei Tan) Easterwood (A&S ’10)
Jayla Bradley from Accenture’s Atlanta office and Albrecht Powell, the managing director of Accenture’s Pittsburgh office arranged for the students to spend the final day at Accenture’s Client Innovation Services.
These visits showcased aspects of innovation in a variety of industries: How mergers and acquisitions have enabled UPS to expand their global healthcare logistics segments, how Home Depot uses innovation in cyber security, how Coca-Cola aligned business practices with environmental goals by focusing on sustainability in product packaging, how Delta Airlines takes an innovative approach to IT and sustainability, and how Accenture is innovating with Gen AI.
The students also visited the Metro Atlanta Chamber, and the Atlanta Braves to engage with subject matter experts in strategy, sustainability and ecosystem growth.
“The company visits and discussions with executives helped bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world application,” says Frances Ngoc Phan (MBA ’25). “Discussion with alumni brought academic concepts like finance, sustainability, and management strategy to life, making the learning process much more tangible and impactful.
Accelerate Your Career
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