Costello College of Business Graduate Student Spotlight

Mason grad took advantage of her opportunities

Colleen Rich — Wed, 11 May 2022 15:45:29 +0000

Mason grad took advantage of her opportunities Colleen Rich Wed, 05/11/2022 - 11:45

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Student Spotlight: Lauren Lundberg

Marianne Klinker — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 16:55:12 +0000

Student Spotlight: Lauren Lundberg Marianne Klinker Wed, 02/23/2022 - 11:55

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Lauren Lundberg

Lauren Lundberg, a deputy project manager for Northrop Grumman, spends her days overseeing a $30-million-dollar program for the Defense & Space based firm. We spoke to Lundberg, a ��AV School of Business MBA student on track to graduate in Spring 2022, and learned how her time at Mason pursuing an MBA helped put her on Northrop Grumman’s radar and prepared her for working in government contracting.

According to Lundberg, who worked in intelligence until November 2021, the MBA is the reason she was able to secure her current role. The combination of her prior experience in intelligence and her forthcoming MBA, flagged her in Northrop Grumman’s system, at which point representatives of the company reached out to her and offered her the position. “Without my MBA, I wouldn’t have this job,” Lundberg said.

In particular, Lundberg cites specific classes that have been very beneficial to her new job: “The concepts that I was learning in project management, including agile and work breakdown structure (WBS), are ones that I have been able to apply directly into my current role. This class has helped me to keep projects on time, on budget, and in scope. I can also diagnose issues quicker and fix them without bottlenecks or snowballing. Some of the tools, like MS Project and MS Access are what we use on a daily basis. I decided to take Advanced Project Management this spring. So far this class has helped me to see Project Management from the Enterprise level.”

When asked if she had any advice for current students, or those considering an MBA, she had a few things to say. First, she advises applying to jobs even if you aren’t sure you have the right qualifications, and not to be afraid of making industry changes and non-lateral moves. “I’m a huge proponent of education,” she added, “and making yourself more competitive with new programs and certificates. Now is the time of the employee; employees have the power right now. Don’t wait!”

The connection between Mason’s MBA and government contracting is especially strong—including a reduced accelerated application pathway for the MBA programs specific to organizations represented on the Center for Government Contracting’s Advisory Board.

“The industry and research centers, like the Center for Government Contracting, housed at the School of Business have been instrumental in allowing us to stay connected to current market needs,” says Ioannis Bellos, director of the MBA program. According to Jerry McGinn, executive director of the Center for Government Contracting, “The strong connections between the Center for Government Contracting and industry make this MBA partnership a natural way to help grow the GovCon workforce of the future.”

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MBA Fulbright to Develop Self-Sustainable Social Enterprise Model for Honey Bee Initiative

Marianne Klinker — Fri, 14 Jan 2022 19:36:21 +0000

MBA Fulbright to Develop Self-Sustainable Social Enterprise Model for Honey Bee Initiative Marianne Klinker Fri, 01/14/2022 - 14:36

For Guillermo Palencia, there is nowhere else he sees himself completing his graduate studies than George Mason School of Business. A Fulbrighter, Palencia says, “George Mason just was the right fit, for me. It wasn’t just about choosing a degree and University, but I was deciding what my cultural experience was going to be like once moving to the United States. George Mason has everything that I was looking for in a University: diversity, size, excellent professors, and proximity to the U.S. capital, just to name a few.”

Guillermo Palencia

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides grants for student-designed research projects, while also facilitating the cultural exchange between students and the people of the host country through the sharing of daily experiences. The hope is that the grantee gains an appreciation of others’ viewpoints and beliefs, the way they do things, and the way they think.

Since starting the MBA program this fall, Palencia has been working with the Business for a Better World center on its Honey Bee Initiative (HBI), focusing on the pilot project in rural Colombia and developing a self-sustainable social enterprise model for future funding and expansion in South America and beyond.

“He brings his industry experience, mature thinking and team work to the initiative,” says M. Rashed Hasan, executive-in-residence for the Business for a Better World Center at George Mason School of Business. “I am happy to have him on our team and look forward to seeing the results of his excellent contributions to this initiative and to our center.”

Palencia says that his most rewarding experience at Mason so far has been being able to collaborate with the Business for a Better World Center in the School of Business, specifically in the Honey Bee Initiative Program. His interactions with Hasan have had a great impact on him since starting in August. “Knowing that he once came to the U.S from a different culture clicked with me as to why he is passionate about the Business for a Better World Center. I would say he transmitted that to me and made me understand that sometimes we are more alike to others than we think we are,” says Palencia.

Palencia is looking forward to continuing to conduct his studies at Mason. “I’m very proud to be a Fulbrighter and a cultural ambassador from El Salvador, says Palencia. “I look forward to graduating and returning to my country to put all the knowledge and experience gained here to use to create better-living conditions for Salvadorans through innovation in the insurance field.”

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Mason grad took advantage of her opportunities

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Student Spotlight: Lauren Lundberg

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MBA Fulbright to Develop Self-Sustainable Social Enterprise Model for Honey Bee Initiative

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