FOL-Sustainabilty

Aryana Y. Nakhai (MBA’24)

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 21:05:12 +0000

Aryana Y. Nakhai (MBA’24) Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 02/01/2024 - 14:05

Anna Bedell (Mktg’25) , Student Writer

Renewable Development Finance, Invenergy LLC

Aryana Nakhai always had her heart set on a career as an engineer. At the University of Pittsburgh, she received both a bachelor's and master's degree in electrical engineering, with a concentration in power and renewable energy driven by her passion for clean energy.

Nakhai, a Pennsylvania native, came to Colorado after graduation to be a research engineer at her dream company, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden.

Fusing two fields

Once settled into her new role, she realized a business degree would help enhance and accelerate her career in ways a PhD could not. So she enrolled in Leeds’ Hybrid MBA program to acquire an interdisciplinary skill set that will propel her career as a leader in the renewable energy industry.

“In my opinion, MBA degrees are designed for engineers,” Nakhai says. “Most engineers aren’t required to take any business classes as part of their undergraduate curriculum. But how can an engineer build, develop and try to sell an idea if they have no business background?”

Set to graduate this May, her emerging skill set is already helping her make a larger impact at work, where her knowledge of finance is helping her see an entirely different side of the industry. It comes in handy in her new role in renewable development finance at Invenergy, where she actively supports project development by managing financial models that contribute to the contracting, financing and development of solar farms, wind farms and battery storage facilities.

“I'm trained to think as an engineer and problem-solve,” Nakhai says. “The MBA program is helping me be more well-rounded and think about problems from different perspectives.”

“How can an engineer build, develop and try to sell an idea if they have no business background?"

Aryana Y. Nakhai (MBA’24)

Navigating a work-study balance

It’s not easy working full-time while being a student. Nakhai will log off her work computer and start working on school assignments, scheduling group calls at night if necessary. While managing both school and work can be stressful, she says that the Hybrid MBA program makes balancing both possible.

“I’m already so busy as it is; school just feels like another part of my day-to-day life,” Nakhai says. “It’s definitely doable, and everyone in the program is in the same boat.”

An advantage of the program is all the networking available to students. She’s connected with Sheila Duffy, the executive director of the Burridge Center for Finance, who has helped her navigate an unfamiliar industry and has provided her with valuable opportunities at Leeds.

Last fall, she was invited to speak on the Leeds Student Excellence Panel about her experience as an MBA student and is currently serving on the committee board for the Green Finance Summit, hosted by the Burridge Center this March.

“I just love being a student,” Nakhai said. “I am the type of person who is always trying to learn, and I think there really is no limit to education.”

As for her future, Nakhai wants to continue focusing on how she can merge both her technical and finance backgrounds to support the clean energy transition. Influenced by the incredible mentors she’s met through the program, a personal goal of hers is to become a strong leader and a strong mentor.

“I don't think there's anything I would have done differently. I feel like I'm exactly where I need to be right now in strategically positioning myself for an impactful career in clean energy.”

Aryana Nakhai always had her heart set on a career as an engineer. Now she's building an interdisciplinary skill set that will propel her career as a leader in the renewable energy industry.

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Renner Skidmore (InfoMgmt, BA’25)

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Renner Skidmore (InfoMgmt, BA’25) Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 06/30/2023 - 00:00

Co-President, CESR Fellows

Renner Skidmore balances life as a college student while being a professional skier—and that might not even be the most interesting thing about him.

Consider that last year, he elected to spend his summer traveling solo in South America because he didn’t feel like the Spanish classes he took in high school actually taught him the language. As you read this, he’s summering in Japan—part mountain climbing, part study abroad program, part global internship—before heading to Argentina to record himself skiing.

“Being on my own for the summer was incredible—I had nothing holding me back from just being completely curious,” he said. He even tried to teach English for a month in Bolivia, “but I think I learned more Spanish than they did English,” he said.

A studious skier

Talking to Renner, you might see a carefree world traveler and skier. But he’s actually intensely driven, choosing to study at Leeds for the access to skiing as much as for the academic rigor of the business program. Alongside his focus on information management and business analytics, he’s pursuing a certificate in social responsibility and ethics, a computer science integration and a philosophy minor.

“The more I learn, the less I know,” he said with a laugh. “What I’m trying to get out of school is a broad set of skills, especially with respect to data and computers, so I can make the case for businesses as they transition to more sustainable models and practices.

“I believe the business community will be a key tool in driving change toward a sustainable future.”

Renner Skidmore (InfoMgmt, BA’25)

At Leeds, Renner is both co-president of CESR Fellows—the student club of the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility—as well as a member of the center’s advisory board, where he’s had opportunities to meet professionals working in sustainability and ensure the younger generation’s voice is heard in those high-level conversations.

“I believe the business community will be a key tool in driving change toward a sustainable future—especially at a time when our government is so polarized,” he said. “That’s why I wanted to study business.”

Skiing meets sustainability

That drive for sustainability comes from his love of the slopes, where some of his favorite runs—especially Beartooth Basin, in northern Montana—have been unable to open on schedule due to changing weather in the mountains. Renner’s first time on skis came as an 18-month-old in Utah, but it truly became a passion in Montana where, as a 5-year-old, he went from the most beginner to most advanced groups within a week.

However, he admits to some frustration as his passion becomes a project. Representing Nordica and Sweet Protection, he said, “means I can fund my skiing with my skiing. However, it’s hard to dedicate so much time on my skis to creating media, instead of just skiing.”

Wherever his skis may take him, Renner said turning pro has made him a better business student.

“I took a gap year, when I kicked off being a sponsored athlete—and promoting myself, doing outreach, sending emails, all helped me gain a lot of skills for self promotion, creating a social media presence and marketing, which is helpful in a lot of my classes,” he said.

More Faces of Leeds Undergraduate programs CESR

The changing view from the top of the slopes has helped ignite Renner's passion for sustainability.

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Emma Kochenderfer (Mgmt’23)

Anonymous — Fri, 19 May 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Emma Kochenderfer (Mgmt’23) Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 05/19/2023 - 00:00

Management Intern, C3 Management

As far as pity parties go, the one Emma Kochenderfer threw for herself around Thanksgiving break of her first year at Leeds was pretty epic.

By her own admission, Emma was disappointed that she wasn’t attending an Ivy League school or a prestigious international university, and as a result, her first few months at Leeds were more solitary than she’d pictured college life.

“Finally, I just kind of told myself that sitting in my dorm room moping was only making things worse,” Emma said. “I thought, ‘Let me give this a chance, let me find one thing to join that I’ll like.’”

That one thing—Leeds Ambassadors—helped open countless doors for Emma. As she prepares to graduate, her list of extracurricular activities—Peer2Peer mentor, Women's Empowerment Initiative, Ralphie’s Closet, Alpha Kappa Psi, Kobu Foundation, study abroad in Dublin, plus part-time work and multiple internships—could fill its own résumé.

‘Where I’m supposed to be’

“I have really found my community at Leeds,” Emma said. “Even if I wasn’t necessarily excited to be here at first, this is where I’m supposed to be.”

One of the most visible responsibilities of a Leeds Ambassador is leading tours of the Koelbel and Rustandy buildings for prospective students and their families. Her mom actually encouraged her to apply, as Emma already was leading tours for Celestial Seasonings across town. Unlike the tea factory, a Leeds tour means connecting with different audiences who want different things—for parents, to be reassured the school is safe and a good investment; for students, that it’s a community they’ll want to call home while preparing them for the future.

“I have really found my community at Leeds. This is where I’m supposed to be.”

Emma Kochenderfer (Mgmt’23)

“It’s made me better able to connect with people on different levels,” she said. “On a tour, you have to be able to quickly find out where you have similarities with people, and use that to build a relationship with them. My networking skills have grown so much, and I feel I owe a lot of that to my work with Ambassadors.”

In tune with her future

Emma chose a fairly nontraditional course of study. When she tells people she’s studying talent management, she’s not talking about human resources. Rather, she’s pairing that with a minor in music to one day manage a different kind of talent—artists. She’s an avid concert-goer who sings and has played both piano and violin; after graduation, she’ll be relocating to New York in hopes of one day managing up-and-comers and helping them make it big time. Among her internship experiences was an incredible opportunity with C3 Management’s Denver team, which gave her opportunities to help with album releases and assist backstage at venues like Red Rocks and Mission Ballroom.

“Picking my degree was hard, but I’ve been able to take classes in negotiation, leadership and DEI, and the concepts I’ve learned I know I’ll be able to use in the future,” she said. “The classes in my music minor have been some of my favorites at CU—they’ve really helped develop me creatively, which is a good match for the more practical business courses.”

Now that she’s graduated, Emma is preparing for a relocation to New York to search for a way to use what she’s learned to build a career in the industry. She feels eager to take on the city thanks to the support she’s received from her mentors, who she says gave her insights and connections that have her ready to go.

It’s something she’s tried to give to her mentees at Leeds, and Emma said she hopes to continue to be a mentor to others as she moves through her career.

“We have students who rush Alpha Kappa Psi who are interested in the music industry, and they always come up to me to learn more about it,” she said. “I love being a resource for others, because that person didn’t exist when I was in my first year. The industry is full of people who want to help you—you just have to know how to get connected with them.”

More Faces of Leeds Undergraduate programs Leeds Ambassadors

If you’ve been lucky enough to get a tour of Leeds with Emma, you know how deeply connected she is to the school. How it all came to be is somewhat unexpected.

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Christina Heese (Strat&Entrep, PolSci’23)

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Christina Heese (Strat&Entrep, PolSci’23) Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 04/28/2023 - 00:00

Intern, Colorado Attorney General’s Office

When she graduates from Leeds in May, Christina Heese will have checked off a lot of the same boxes as her classmates: Study abroad. Internship. Job offer.

But those experiences, and her journey to get there, have had their own unique twists. She studied abroad in three different European cities, is in a pre-law internship with the Colorado attorney general’s office and has accepted a job with Teach for America, which is sending her to Washington after commencement.

“The more I reflect on my experiences at CU and think about all it offered me, the more I appreciate how college was a safe space for me to make mistakes and have the opportunity to grow from them,” she said. “It’s been a supportive environment, and the people around me have helped me count my blessings.”

As you might expect of someone with such a diverse set of experiences, the journey for Christina wasn’t always easy. She fell ill early in her first year, which left her feeling shut out of extracurricular activities, and her path—a dual degree in business and political science—made her feel somewhat isolated from her peers.

What helped turn it around was watching that community have to take hold when the pandemic sent all of it online.

“COVID actually made me more enthusiastic about Leeds, because I really appreciated the professors who tried to build those connections and accommodate you,” she said. “They were learning how to manage this just like we were.”

Innovation in the justice system

She also enjoyed the major-specific courses she was taking in strategy and entrepreneurship, and is grateful that her current internship has challenged her to think about how the justice system can be more innovative.

“The opportunity to work in the attorney general’s office is giving me a perspective on business that you don’t necessarily get as a business student,” Christina said. “In my new venture creation class, we’re learning about agile engineering, and in my internship, we’re talking about entrepreneurial administration and the importance to think with a startup mindset when it comes to governance.”

She’s known she wanted to be a lawyer since she was in middle school—“a combination of my parents saying I’m super argumentative and my own motivation for advocacy and helping people,” she said with a laugh—so why Teach for America? She always saw her career ending as a teacher, to share the skills and perspective she earned along the way, “but why not start off like that?” she said. “There’s so much you can do as a teacher, so much you can give back to a community, especially at a time when there are such shortages out there.”

“The opportunity to work in the attorney general’s office is giving me a perspective on business that you don’t necessarily get as a business student.”

Christina Heese (Strat&Entrep, PolSci’23)

She’ll be teaching math when she gets to Washington, and hopes that this role will help her to continue developing the mentorship skills she honed as a peer mentor and member of the Diverse Scholars Program.

Helping others find their voices

“The mentorship program at Leeds is amazing, and really taught me how I can be there for other students in that capacity,” she said.

It’s the same driver that has her looking forward to law school and, she hopes, a career that lets her speak for those who don’t feel they have a voice.

“It would be really fun to help small businesses and entrepreneurs,” she said. “From my classes, I don’t think I’m an entrepreneur—I don’t always have the tolerance for risk—but I’ve found I really like working in these startup ecosystems, and I think I could help support those people who do have great ideas and plans.”

More Faces of Leeds Undergraduate programs Mentorship at Leeds

Many people say they’d like to teach one day, to give something back. Christina will do so right after graduation, to ensure she follows through with it.

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