Meet the Ross MBAs

“Ross students are smart and adventurous.”

Diane Bouis
MBA ’12
Innovation Associate
The Inovo Group
Ann Arbor, MI

“Getting my MBA was about shaking up my entire career,” says this PhD research scientist and native of France. “Science has smart people, but not necessarily adventurous ones. Ross has both.” Diane spent six years as a post-doc at the University of Michigan Health System; today she brings the scientist’s view to business situations. That perspective came into play during her Multidisciplinary Action Project (MAP), when the client asked her team whether or not it should acquire a European medical device manufacturer. “I understood the mechanics of the device, but how do you value it? Fortunately, our team had a good mix of skill sets to approach the problem.” Diane’s team was successful, she says, because people took time to explain their expertise. “Everyone had humility about their strengths and weaknesses, and everyone had each other’s back.” Diane further studied team dynamics in her Managing Creative Teams class, a part of Ross’ management and organizations group. “I have always known by instinct how to work with people,” she says. “But the scientist in me was fascinated to see the body of research about what makes teams effective.”

“Michigan has an amazing number of top-10 graduate programs.”

Grant D’Arcy
MBA ’12
Associate, Business Ops and Strategy
Google Inc.
Mountain View, CA

Grant likes making connections. At Ross, he had a lot of practice — through the Community Consulting Club and the Nonprofit and Public Management Center’s (NPM) student advisory board, and as president of the Student Government Association. The experiences also developed the managerial skills Grant previously lacked. “I learned to lead teams and represent Ross students from all degree programs to the administration,” he says. “It gave me a confidence I didn’t have before.” Through NPM, a partnership between Ross, U-M’s School of Social Work, and the Ford School of Public Policy, Grant gained feedback on his style from non-Ross students, as well as face time with global nonprofit leaders. “My goal was to take advantage of all that U-M offered, not just Ross. Michigan has an amazing number of top-10 graduate programs, so why wouldn’t you explore the other interesting schools on campus?” Grant received a full Ross merit scholarship and participated in Domestic Corps, which places Ross students in high-level internships at nonprofits worldwide. He also created an independent study course where he helped a San Francisco-based environmental startup amp up its marketing and fundraising efforts. Says Grant, “You can do anything you want at Ross.”

“Ross helped me achieve my dream of working on Wall Street.”

Matteo Dominianni
MBA ’12
Investment Banking Associate
Citigroup
New York, NY

Italy native Matteo knew he would have to work hard to prove his commitment to living and working in the United States. An engineer by training, he fell in love with finance when he was asked to provide technical expertise to Telecom Italia’s mergers and acquisitions team. However, to make a full-time shift to the field, Matteo wanted more than finance training. “I needed a well-rounded curriculum and a strong network that could give me access to Wall Street,” he says. “And I wanted to learn with and from smart, outgoing, collaborative people.” Matteo tapped numerous resources to land an investment banking internship in M&A at Citigroup, where he returned after graduation. He attended Ross forums and career fairs in New York, Chicago, and L.A., and kept spreadsheets on key contacts. He also got resume and interviewing advice from Ross’ Office of Career Development (OCD) and the Finance Club. “By the time I was doing real interviews, I felt incredibly prepared,” Matteo says. Then, as an OCD peer counselor, he helped prepare others. “I’ll never forget the people who helped me. Ross is a network for life,” he says.

“Ross alumni are proud to be connected to the school.”

Lauren Foukes
BBA ’06/MBA ’12
Consultant
The Bridgespan Group
San Francisco, CA

After earning a BBA at Ross, Lauren connected with the Ross alumni club while living in Chicago. “Finding fellow Wolverines in a new city instantly makes me feel at home,” she says. When an AmeriCorps assignment launched her interest in impact investing, Lauren contacted alumni in the field to learn more. And as part of Ross’ Social Venture Fund, she engaged with southeast Michigan alumni and plugged into their connections. “Our alumni are very responsive to students.” Ross faculty deliver beyond the classroom, too, Lauren found. She co-authored and published a case study with finance professor Gautam Kaul for the NextBillion competition. They focused on Good Capital, a Bay Area social investment firm, and their contact was Wes Selke, BBA ’99, the investment manager. “U-M was an instant bond,” she says, “and now Good Capital is interested in the Social Venture Fund’s work. It was a very integrated learning experience.” Lauren went on to help develop a syllabus for Professor Kaul’s new Impact Investing course. “Gautam is excited about what the Social Venture Fund is doing and humble enough to say he doesn’t know everything. Co-creating the class with him really added value to my experience.”

“Action-based learning is in everything we do at Ross.”

Tova Grunes
MBA ’12
Compensation Specialist
Google Inc.
Mountain View, CA

The setting was Bangladesh. The client was GE Healthcare. The goal was open-ended, the conditions were challenging, and expectations were high. Welcome to Tova’s Multidisciplinary Action Project (MAP), an experience she describes as a highlight of her time at Ross. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play the roles of CEO, CFO, CMO, and CIO in a short time frame — while working on a project that could save millions of lives,” she says. The project also played a big role in preparing Tova to land a gig at Google. “Companies want to see how we deal with ambiguity. Every candidate is smart. But great leaders handle the unexpected. I think MAP is one reason I got my offer.” On campus, Tova honed her leadership skills as co-president of Michigan Business Women and an organizer of the annual West Coast Forum. As a result, she met plenty of Ross graduates and got a clear view of her future network. “Alumni want to meet and recruit Ross students,” says Tova. “They know we’re the people they want in their companies, leading their teams.” Meeting alumni reinforced Tova’s conviction that Ross isn’t a place “where you just consume the education and leave. It’s expected you’ll contribute while you’re there, and that you’ll be engaged for a lifetime.”

“Classmates from all over the world enriched my experience.”

Hernán Jares
MBA ’12
Management Associate
Citibank
Bogota, Colombia

Coming from his native Buenos Aires, Hernán feared Ann Arbor would be too small and homogenous for his taste. A visit to campus changed his mind. “Everyone was so friendly. One student organized a dinner so I could meet other Latin students. That spirit is common.” As president of Ross’ Hispanic and Latino Business Students Association, Hernán appreciated how easily American and international students mingled. “I’ve been to schools where the Latin community just hangs out together,” he says. “At Ross, people from many different countries form friendships. People are interested in getting to know everyone.” Ann Arbor’s collegial and close-knit atmosphere facilitates such interaction. “After class in a big city, everyone disperses,” says Hernán. “At Ross, we hung out together, but Ann Arbor offers so many things to do that we didn’t get bored.” That said, Hernán found a way to engage on a global scale through a Multidisciplinary Action Project (MAP) in Taiwan and the WHU Summer Program in Germany. The two-week course offers Ross students intense immersion into European business, which broadened Hernán’s skill set for his post-graduation career. “I came to Ross because I wanted to solidify my business credentials and have diverse experiences. I couldn’t have asked for more.”

“Anyone can feel comfortable at Ross.”

Xan Lewis
MBA ’12
Associate Marketing Manager
General Mills Inc.
Minneapolis, MN

The idea of paying it forward drove a lot of Xan’s involvement at Ross, and it began at the UpClose diversity preview weekend. “I had never visited Ross, and that weekend was a huge difference-maker. I decided to co-chair the event the next year so I could impact others the way those students had impacted me.” Planning the details of the weekend stretched Xan’s big-picture approach to problem-solving. “I gained new appreciation for the tactical concerns behind a strategy,” he says. And the opportunity to conceptualize a weekend that would resonate with the prospective-student audience lent itself well to Xan’s burgeoning interest in brand management. “It’s crucial to any organization to really understand consumers. I love thinking cross-functionally and having a broad organizational impact.” Xan says interacting so closely with fellow students enhanced his ability to think across disciplines. “In class, in MAP, and in case competitions, I worked with people from all over who have experiences very different than mine. Understanding how to get results out of everyone helped me develop as a leader.”

“Ross is a welcoming environment for veterans.”

Paul Moran
MBA ’12
Supply Chain Analyst
Intel Corp.
Santa Clara, CA

Ross’ team-based approach to learning was comfortable for Paul, an army veteran. “I talked to a lot of veterans on campus, and they told me how welcoming Ross is. I knew it was the best place for me to get a general management foundation that would build upon my military experience.” Paul did have extensive leadership training, but says he had to learn to shift from the army’s top-down style to Ross’ collaborative approach. “Leadership at Ross was more ambiguous. Everyone was equally capable of leading, so we had to agree on a plan using everyone’s input.” Paul appreciated the campus resources available to ease the transition into civilian and academic life. And he relied on Ross’ Office of Career Development and the Consulting Club to prep him for recruiting. “The military focuses on the accomplishments of the organization, so learning to highlight my own skills initially was a challenge. They helped me recalibrate my thinking.” The Armed Forces Association also provided support and a social network. “We had all gone through the same experience,” he says, “so we wanted to help each other out.”

“At Ross, amazing stories are everywhere.”

Selena Salazar
MBA ’12
Product Marketing Engineer
Intel Corp.
San Francisco, CA

Selena was the proud winner of the “I’m so excited I got into Ross” photo contest at Go Blue Rendezvous 2010, the preview weekend for admitted students. Talk to her today, and she’s still excited. The California native wanted to build her network in another part of the country, at a top MBA program with a college-town atmosphere. Ross delivered. “Everybody at Ross was really smart, really accomplished, and really humble,” Selena says. “People were more interested in finding out your story than talking about themselves. It became the norm to discover that someone was in the Peace Corps and launched their own business, while someone else played in the NFL. Amazing stories were everywhere.” Selena calls her fellow students in the Black Business Students Association and the Hispanic and Latino Business Students Association “my family,” and enjoyed the opportunity to bring others into that family as co-chair of Go Blue Rendezvous 2011. She says hosting nearly 500 admits was the pinnacle of action-based learning. “It’s about diving right in where you don’t necessarily have experience, but you have the trust and support of your classmates.”

“Ross is committed to helping students assimilate.”

Aditi Sawhney
MBA ’12
Consultant
The Boston Consulting Group
New York, NY

Aditi already had left her home in India to study and work in Singapore when she applied to Ross. She felt comfortable making the leap to Ann Arbor, in part, thanks to the school’s suite of transitional resources. Her M-Trek to Peru was one key. “Some of my closest friends are from that trip,” she says. “It was so helpful at the start of classes to have those relationships.” Aditi didn’t travel to U-M alone; her husband is a law student. “We were impressed with the town and University. Counselors in [Ross’ Office of Career Development] and mentors I met through student clubs took an interest in me both personally and professionally.” The Consulting Club gave Aditi valuable tips to land an offer from the Boston Consulting Group in New York; she went on to serve the club as its president. “I wanted feedback on my leadership style and figured a club full of accomplished people was an insightful way to do so,” she says. Aditi also worked with the Community Consulting Club to help Unión MicroFinanza (a nonprofit started by two U-M undergrads) establish ways to help coffee farmers in Honduras better distribute their product. “We had to adjust our thinking to make recommendations that would be feasible for our client,” says Aditi. “Consultants frequently are challenged the same way.”

“Ross provided business frameworks to explore sustainability.”

Allison Shapiro
MBA/MS ’12
Finance Associate Leadership Program
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
New York, NY

Finance and sustainability are not at cross purposes — at least not for Allison, who earned a dual degree through the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise. After completing coursework at Ross and U-M’s School of Natural Resources and Environment, she headed to New York for a rotational finance program at JPMorgan Chase & Co. The key challenge is finding a way to set a value for environmental concerns in a language that makes sense for finance professionals. The MBA/MS degree places Allison ahead of the curve, she says. “Michigan offers courses that push the envelope of sustainable business.” One such course is Competitive Environmental Strategy, taught by Andy Hoffman. “We discussed communicating risks of climate change in the absence of managerial support, incorporating social issues into sustainability, and identifying nonprofit partners. It was so interesting and relevant.” Exploring these topics with like-minded students enhanced the experience. “Erb is an incredibly strong, supportive community with a history of placing graduates into visible positions in sustainability. We have values beyond traditional corporate America,” Allison says. As co-leader of Erb’s student advisory board, Allison was at the center of that community. “The degree to which students help drive Erb’s strategic agenda is unparalleled across our competitor programs.”

“U-M has great resources for entrepreneurship and a strong community spirit.”

Ryan Stenson
MBA ’12
Entrepreneur
San Francisco, CA
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As managing director of Ross’ Wolverine Venture Fund (WVF), Ryan evaluated startups in which the student–led fund might invest. With some $5.5 million under management, the WVF gave him the opportunity to dive into his passions. “Venture capital needs an apprentice model,” Ryan says. “You have to learn by doing. Our decisions affected real people’s lives because we were putting real money into their businesses.” The venture fund is just part of Ross’ flourishing entrepreneurial community, which is centered around the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies. Ryan was a Zell Scholar and received one of the institute’s Dare to Dream grants for a business concept that sprang out of his New Venture Creation class. But he stresses the entrepreneurial spirit is alive University-wide. “The cross-pollination between Ross and the College of Engineering is key to Michigan’s success,” he says. “I developed a lot of good relationships that led to great opportunities.” Ryan knew that recruiting and campus involvement aren’t everything, however. He appreciated Ross’ general management training and focus on leadership. As a McGowan Fellow, Ryan belonged to an elite group of students from top business schools who received a full year of tuition based on academic achievement. “Academics were a priority for me,” he says. “I can leverage everything I learned at Ross to accomplish my goal of being an ethical leader in the entrepreneurial space.”

“At Ross, you can choose your own adventure.”

Ned Tomasevic
MBA/MA ’12
Principal
Toma Capital Management
Los Angeles, CA

Ned is one of those people who redefines “global perspective.” Before entering Ross, he spent five months touring Asia, connecting with alumni and fellow students along the way. Once enrolled, he decided to pursue a dual degree in Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies through the University of Michigan’s International Institute. Then, when it came time to do his Multidisciplinary Action Project (MAP), Ned set his sights on Cambodia, where he worked with the Grass Roots Business Fund. He returned that summer for an internship with a social venture capital firm that he sourced himself. His master’s thesis sent him across Eastern Europe, exploring how universities spin off new technology. But the budding entrepreneur developed connections close to home, as well. Ned enjoyed being “one degree of separation from some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs” through Ross’ Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies. He co-created Mix + Pitch, where students traveled to Texas to meet VCs attending South by Southwest Interactive. The trip came with a unique twist: Students agreed to conceive and hone business ideas during the 24-hour bus ride from Ann Arbor to Austin. Upon arrival, they pitched their plans to a who’s who of tech investors. “Business school should be about taking risks and pushing limits,” Ned says. “Ross and U-M provide great forums for that.”

“Ross developed my leadership skills in non-typical ways.”

John Zhang
BSE ’06/MBA ’12
Consultant
McKinsey & Co.
Chicago, IL

“I chose to participate because it’s stressful.” So says the winner of the 2011 Leadership Crisis Challenge (LCC), when asked why anyone would volunteer for a competition with the word “crisis” in the title. “I wanted to go outside my comfort zone in an environment without huge repercussions for failure.” The annual challenge, part of the Ross Leadership Initiative, casts students as executives managing a corporate crisis in real time. He played the team’s operations chief, and struggled to tackle what his team considered the toughest part of the case to present. “LCC taught us to understand our audience, and we had to sacrifice some of my work to ensure our team’s message was strong,” he says. Learning to keep his cool under pressure served John well a few months later during his Multidisciplinary Action Project (MAP) at Amazon. His team was asked to analyze a new service with little guidance. “Our initial client meeting lasted five minutes,” he says. “They explained the service and said, ‘Go with it.’” All the pieces fell into place, and John went on to a successful internship at McKinsey & Co. in Chicago, where he returned after graduation. “The biggest feedback I got was that I did an excellent job relating to the clients and convincing them to take on McKinsey’s initiatives — skills I learned at Ross.”