Students Launch Mentorship Initiative for MBAs and Undergraduates

Georgetown McDonough students Elida Ruiz (MBA ’18) and Tiffany Huang (MBA ’18) have launched the “Learn More from Current MSB Students and Mentorship Initiative,” a program that will connect MBA students of various professional backgrounds with their peers and undergraduate students. The initiative will feature MBA students from a particular industry twice a month in a panel-style discussion open to Full-time and Evening MBA students and undergraduates. If students identify with a particular panelist, they may connect with them directly to establish a mentorship arrangement. Monitor slides throughout the Hariri Building will be used to promote the panel events and share highlights of the participating students’ backgrounds.

The first panel, which focuses on entrepreneurship, will take place on Feb. 22.

“The objective is to provide a safe environment and comfortable forum for all MBAs and undergraduates to network and benefit from each other’s experiences,” Ruiz and Huang wrote in an email. “For us, we’ve found over the years that the most beneficial mentorship relationships we’ve had in our careers came up naturally, instead of through a formal match-making process. We think that this casual panel and student feature style will make it easier for people to connect with others of interest.”

Ruiz, the vice president of diversity and inclusion within Georgetown McDonough’s MBA Student Government (SGA), was inspired by an event held by Georgetown McDonough’s Military Association last fall that featured student presentations about their unique experiences. Huang, the co-president of StartupHoyas, approached SGA at the beginning of the semester with an initiative to connect MBA students and undergraduates. Ruiz and Huang decided to combine their initiatives to create the “Learn More from Current MSB Students and Mentorship Initiative,” which will feature marketing, consulting, and finance industries in future panels.

–Lindsay Reilly