Tag: EMBA 43



Photo, above: George Paletta, Jason English, Eric Willis, Patrick Fairfield, Garrett Ray, Kyle Sheffler, Dan Cohen, Tim Sims, David Moons, and Nick Lane.

Those who play together, stay together—that is the motto of the ten golfers in EMBA 43 who managed to carve out a long weekend to break away for a golfing adventure.

EMBA 43 played 84 holes over three days, three courses, and even some unfavorable rain. From Westwood Country Club in St. Louis to Frenchlick Resort and Victoria National in Indiana, these EMBA alums made their annual golf outing a true masters event.

Similar to their Executive MBA days, the golfers broke into teams of five, as Team Captains Garret Ray and Kyle Sheffler drafted their picks. Perhaps the captains even used some learnings from Business Analytics and Decisions to choose their teammates, assessing their handicaps and the likely variances to occur in their favor.

When these EMBAs get together they are “back at Olin,” with good friends and challenging terrain—discussing everything from the physical obstacles on the course, to career challenges, life’s curve balls, and everything in between. The “play of the day” went to Dr. George Paletta, who climbed into water to rescue a stray shot. George’s team, led by Garrett, came home with the green jackets. The fun didn’t stop on the golf course, as the group was able to use their knowledge of probability and odds—maybe even some game theory—at the casino in the evening. It was reported that Jason English was the overall casino king, as well as the golfing champion—one might call him the Beta Gamma Sigma of the trip. This tight-knit group spent 20 months together in Olin’s Executive MBA program—but that wasn’t enough. They are already planning their 2018 trip!

Click on image to expand photo.




When I was packing to leave for my Executive MBA Class trip to China, I started to feel a good amount of foreign travel anxiety. As a grownup who has taken international business and pleasure trips on my own, I was mentally preparing for one of those trips–where you do all the navigating, planning, and getting to the hotel on your own. That anxiety disappeared when I encountered a half dozen of my fellow students waving and cheering in the Starbuck’s seating area at Lambert Airport.  I had forgotten I wasn’t going alone!

When we arrived at the Shanghai Airport, Frank Wong and Mr. Chin, our World Strides tour guides, were carrying "Washington University in St. Louis" signs. We couldn't miss them, despite a gauntlet of taxi drivers eager to take us downtown.

When we arrived at the Shanghai Airport, Frank Wong and Mr. Chin, our World Strides tour guides, were carrying “Washington University in St. Louis” signs. We couldn’t miss them, despite a gauntlet of taxi drivers eager to take us downtown.

The whole class of about 50 are coming from  multiple directions–the Denver cohort on their routes, some of the St. Louis cohort on different routes, some arrived before today, some are coming tomorrow–but it turned out that my United flight from Chicago combined with a second United flight that left minutes after ours included about 20 of my fellow EMBA classmates, plus a couple of spouses. We got to the hotel about an hour ago.

Vamsi Inkollu, EMBA Class 43, getting on the bus at Shanghai Airport.

Vamsi Inkollu, EMBA Class 43, getting on the bus at Shanghai Airport.

We took a bus chartered for our group from the airport to the Shanghai Marriott Hotel City Center.

groupbus2It took a surprising amount of time to get to our hotel–about two hours. On the way, Frank provided some Chinese and Shanghai history as well as an overview of the agenda for the week.

I was relieved to reach my room in the hotel. We’ve been warned numerous times not to drink water from the tap, not to eat foods washed with local water, to beware of pickpockets and kidnappers.

It felt wonderful to walk into a lovely, well-appointed room. There are unopened bottles of water, western electric plugs, and TV in English.

 I didn't need to bring my robe or slippers--both were provided! When my room-mate Lindsay arrives, however, I think we'll need to lower the bathroom blind.
I didn’t need to bring my robe or slippers–both were provided! When my room-mate Lindsay arrives, however, I think we’ll need to lower the bathroom blind.
On the long ride to Shanghai.

On the long ride to Shanghai.




As the new Director of the Denver Office of Strategic Partnerships, Miriam Peña works as the city’s liaison to the nonprofit sector. Peña began her nonprofit career as an intern 11 years ago at the Colorado Progressive Coalition (CPC), a public policy advocacy nonprofit. By the time she left the organization this spring, she had held every position in the organization including grass roots fundraising coordinator and development director before her promotion to Executive Director in 2010. Her current challenge is to quickly learn the inner workings of local government so that she can more effectively collaborate and elevate the 3,400 nonprofits that exist in Denver.

Peña says that her decision to enroll in the EMBA program as part of the first Denver cohort was the best decision she’s ever made.  She says it has helped her think of new ways to do nonprofit work and kept her completely engaged while planning her transition to her new position.

Miriam Pena

Miriam Pena

“It’s really true that you use what you learn that weekend on the following Monday. More and more I’m convinced that nonprofit executives need to have more business training, after all they are running businesses with very important missions. It’s definitely changed my perspective on things and the way I go about solving issues. I’ve loved every second of the EMBA program.”

Born in Juarez, Mexico, Peña moved to Colorado as a baby and was the first in her family to attend college earning a Bachelor’s degree in Public Policy and Communications at the University of Denver. In addition to her work at CPC, she has served on numerous nonprofit organizations’ boards including Metro Denver Partners, New Era Colorado, Rights for all People, Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, Alliance for a Just Society, and El Centro Humanitario (Humanitarian Center for Day Laborers).

She co-hosts a weekly talk show, “Weekend Wisdom” in Denver and was appointed to the Denver Women’s Commission as chair of the Public Policy committee where she served for a year. In August of 2013, she became foster mother to three little girls.

Bill Bottom’s Team Development course has been one of the most useful applications of the curriculum for Peña. “We had a co-Executive Director model that we worked to restructure to a single Executive Director model. That type of restructure required a lot of trust, and the team assessments were very helpful in effective change management with my staff and board.”

She applied lessons learned in Microeconomics and cost accounting to CPC’s grant acceptance policies. “If someone offered us a grant to do a specific thing with specific outcomes that didn’t feel like the adequate price, I was able to create tools to calculate at what point it might cost us more to do it than it would to reject the money. Non-profits hardly ever reject money, but it helped us be more efficient, true to our mission and avoid killing my staff for a small amount of money.”

As one of 10 women in a class of 50, she would like to see more women in the EMBA program. “I think about how many opportunities for learning we are missing when there aren’t more women in the program. Different life experiences, perspectives and ability to take on different roles are what make women’s contributions unique. More and more women control the finances in the home and are the breadwinners. When we miss what they’re doing, we’re missing a lot.”

Peña’s last day at CPC was March 31st, and her first day with the city was April 1st. Since then she has also partnered on the formation of a nonprofit consulting LLC. She is excited for the new opportunity in local government, where she can bring nonprofit, for-profit and government together for effective cross-sector collaboration. Miriam Peña is just getting started.

Profile by Tanya Yatzeck (EMBA 43), a freelance writer and Senior Project Manager in Information Technology at Washington University.

Image:  Weekend Wisdom’s Facebook page