Alicia Lucero
When Daniels College of Business MBA student Alicia Lucero arrived in Las Vegas for the 2023 Prospanica Conference and Career Expo, she felt overwhelmed, a little unprepared, and tempted to use the time to rest from a busy schedule of work, school and parenting. But after just a few short days, she’d learn that the conference was exactly what she needed to reenergize.
Lucero attended the conference thanks to funding from Daniels. According to Lowell Valencia Miller, Daniels’ assistant dean of MBA programs, the College has placed a very intentional focus on helping graduate students attend affinity-based conferences like these.
“Networking goes well beyond the physical confines of the Daniels College of Business,” he said. “Supporting our students so they can participate in affinity conferences provides an environment outside of the classroom that enables each student to learn and grow in areas of professional interest, personal aspiration and individual identity.”
The conference did just that for Lucero, who is of Mexican, Ute and Pueblo descent, and also works at DU as an assistant director of graduate admissions. Prospanica’s conference is designed to connect top Hispanic talent with corporations, government agencies, universities and nonprofit organizations in a way that contributes to development and builds community. From the topics covered by speakers to the opportunities and people she encountered, Lucero said the experience was a game-changer.
“I just felt so much more energized after I started having conversations, meeting folks that I could connect with who look like me,” she explained. “The presenters, recruiters and professionals were mostly of Latine descent, so I was able to connect in a culturally significant way that was different from going to just a general MBA conference. For example, Spanish and Spanglish were used in casual conversations, while panelists and speakers proudly reinforced honoring our ancestors and family values.
“It was really empowering to visualize and experience being in the company of these presenters and professionals doing really cool, impactful work at their companies and organizations,” she said.
The October 2023 Prospanica conference in Las Vegas marked 35 years of advocacy for the advancement of Hispanic professionals. (Photo courtesy of Prospanica)
At the conference, Lucero discovered not only that she was a competitive candidate for a number of opportunities, including jobs, leadership development and PhD programs, but also that her education had prepared her well to join in on critical dialogues happening in the business world. Her favorite session focused on artificial intelligence, diversity and the role of humans in the future of work.
“I was able to learn more about tools that use AI to create presentations to help us as students and professionals; that was a big talking point throughout my consumer insights and business analytics classes: how to leverage AI and the power of diversity, humanities, critical thinking and people skills,” she explained. “I was able to contribute to the discussion at the conference because of my courses, and I was able to bring that back to my class, particularly in my course presentations and projects.”
Lucero wasn’t the only student who benefited from Daniels’ commitment to increasing access to affinity conferences. Several other students, including Nate Pallat, who is pursuing both an MBA and a master’s in accounting, were able to take advantage of this opportunity. In October 2023, Pallat attended the MBA Veterans Career Conference and Expo in Atlanta. The conference connects more than 500 MBA students, all military veterans, with 60 of the country’s top MBA employers.
Nate Pallat
Pallat, who served in the Army and is still a member of the National Guard, said he first learned of the conference back in 2022, just weeks into his first year of studies. Though he wasn’t ready to attend that year, he heard from his community of fellow DU veterans that it was well worth the travel. And for him, it certainly was. After hearing a presentation from Guidehouse’s COO, he decided to connect with the company’s recruiters and learn more. He had an interview set up by the end of the day and later received a job offer as a senior consultant, which he plans to start after his 2024 graduation.
For Pallat, attending a conference dedicated to veterans is particularly needed when it comes to matching candidates with jobs. That’s because many veterans are switching careers later in life, with unique experiences that might not exactly line up with the corporate world and might make receiving a fair salary increasingly difficult.
“Most of the recruiters there were veterans, and so you’re with people that understand your language,” he said. “There are a lot of people there who are back to being students for the first time, and the military may be their only serious job that they’ve ever had. It can be hard to translate that in a regular interview or recruitment process. I have a friend who was an infantry officer and just transferred into logistics. It’s been kind of hard to explain to an employer how those skills are transferable that they’re worth a salary that’s not just your base salary.”
In addition to helping himself and others along on their career pathway, Pallat said the conference also renewed the sense of camaraderie between himself and fellow DU attendees, who met up frequently for dinners and debriefs. That shared experience helped foster stronger, longer lasting relationships.
That’s not the only thing he’s bringing back to Denver though. Both Pallat and Lucero said they hope that in sharing their conference experiences with other students, more might seek out these opportunities with the support of Daniels behind them.