Sustainability-minded master’s students expand networks, deepen industry knowledge through professional development opportunities
A scholarship from the Daniels College of Business Alumni Advisory Board (AAB) is helping two master’s students expand their professional networks, deepen their industry knowledge and prepare for new careers.
Elizabeth Mondo and Lexi Haskins both recently received the AAB’s Professional Development Scholarships to support them in expanding their professional networks and deepening their industry knowledge. Sustainability is a strategic professional priority for both Mondo, a student in the real estate and the built environment program, and Haskins, who is pursuing her full-time Denver MBA. Daniels is helping the women prepare for new careers.
Elizabeth Mondo
Studying sustainability on a global stage
Mondo is a former Army critical care flight nurse who made a career pivot at age 42.
“It’s been a wonderful challenge to do something completely new and different. I can pull in quite a bit from my nursing career,” she said. The biggest skills that transfer over are building relationships and being able to understand people’s intent, goals and mission.”
She began learning sustainability’s importance in her new career from her first class at the Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management.
“The class piqued my interest about how sustainability is being used in the real estate and construction realms. It covered some of the great things you can do and use within the construction process when you’re putting together a community,” Mondo said.
The AAB Professional Development Scholarship will allow Mondo to travel to Cannes, France, for a one-week conference focusing on sustainability and green building. The curriculum, which delves into past, present and future housing projects, attracts industry experts from all over the globe.
“I’ll be able to go see how other countries and systems are utilizing real estate, construction and the built environment,” she said. “I’ll learn about what is within their environment, what they’re doing with green buildings, and how they’re reusing and repurposing products and materials.”
This year, in addition to garnering the AAB Professional Development Scholarship, Mondo was an Urban Land Institute Etkins Scholar. She also traveled to Las Vegas with her DU teammates, where their plan for a modern housing community won the National Association of Home Builders’ graduate student competition. Mondo will intern with Swinerton Construction Co. this summer and plans to work with an architectural firm specializing in custom-built homes.
A whole new network
Lexi Haskins
Like Mondo, Haskins came to Daniels for a career change. She entered the Denver MBA program with a strong environmental science background, but no prior business experience. Haskins said the program’s four real-world challenges provided her with opportunities to interact with corporations and nonprofits and help them in their problem-solving efforts.
“The DMBA was instrumental in this aspect and has built my network and resume significantly,” Haskins said.
The AAB Professional Development Scholarship funded Haskins’ attendance at the MBArk Sustainability and Food Leadership Conference. There, she gained exposure to ideas and people she wouldn’t have encountered otherwise.
“Through the conference, I was able to find a network in the consumer product goods industry, which is competitive and challenging to get into. I gained significant insights about sustainable business methods in consumer products, agriculture and the supply chain,” she said.
Visiting Colorado natural food businesses, including Bobo’s, Rudi’s Bakery and Bon Bee Honey, was a conference highlight for Haskins.
This summer, she’s the sustainability and social impact intern at Rakuten, an e-commerce cashback rewards and digital marketing company. Haskins works as a graduate assistant for Daniels; next year, she will work for the College’s Corporate and Community Relations department. Ultimately, she plans to help businesses incorporate sustainable strategies through environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives.
Growing the scholarship fund
Jacqueline Battista (MBA 2010) chairs the AAB’s Ambassador Committee. In 2019, the committee began discussing creating an endowed fund for students’ professional development. Since its formal inception in 2022, eight recipients have benefited from the scholarship. Thanks to the generosity of Daniels alumni, the fund was endowed in just three years; in the last two years it doubled to approximately $100,000.
“We want to be able to help more students from a professional development standpoint with what we’re gifting each year,” Battista said. “It’s something we hold very close to our hearts and it’s something we want to continue to be able to do.”
She said scholarship recipients like Haskins and Mondo successfully tied their funding requests to the specific ways in which professional development opportunities could further their careers.
“We want to help students be able to take advantage of opportunities that may come up while they are in school. These opportunities could offer additional expertise or knowledge or help students make connections with people in their industry,” she said. “It’s important that applicants are able to explain how professional development opportunities could help them moving forward.”
To support students’ professional development through the Alumni Advisory Board Professional Development Scholarship Fund, give here.