When military veteran and recent MBA graduate Roxan Castro (MBA 2025) was looking for a few good employees to join him at the United States Property and Fiscal Office for the Army National Guard, he knew just where to look: the pool of soon-to-graduate students at the Daniels College of Business.
Roxan Castro
“I went to Daniels, and I know the talent and the skills that Daniels produces,” said Castro, a comptroller for the Army National Guard who served for more than 22 years in the Army before coming to Daniels for his MBA. “I was confident that they could fill the positions that I needed.”
After spreading the word about the open positions through the College’s career services counselors, attending career fairs and posting on Daniels’ internal job boards, Castro received several applications.
In the end, he hired Austin Lippert (MS Acct) and Caleb Smith (BSBA Analytics), both of whom graduated from Daniels this spring. The hires came through the Federal Pathways Program, a government program that provides paid internships to current high school, undergraduate and graduate students so they can explore federal careers while they’re still in school.
“Rather than waiting until graduation to recruit talent, the Pathways program allows us to develop future leaders while they’re still in school,” Castro said. “They gain hands-on experience managing real-world financial challenges, and the benefit to us is that we gain a pipeline of highly capable students.”
Military environment
For Smith, a veteran who served four years in the Air Force and two years in the Colorado Air National Guard, the chance to work with Castro at the Army National Guard was a way to return to the military environment he knew so well.
“Veterans have an advantage—we all have that experience, so that’s something that we can relate to, and it builds trust,” he said. “I’ve been in this environment for the past six years, so I’m familiar with how everything works and how to move my way around.”
Caleb Smith
Smith worked in DU’s Veterans and Military Resources Center while earning his degree, and he met Castro when Castro and his team came to the office during their time on campus recruiting for the open positions.
“They had some questions for us, and Roxan also had the application for the job that I ended up applying for,” Smith remembered. “He said, ‘If you have students who are looking for a job, send them my way,’ and I was like, ‘Well, yeah, I am looking for a job.’ I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”
Currently working on a four-month contract through the Pathways program, Smith is putting his Daniels education to use working on process optimization and refining analytics dashboards. He plans to reapply for his position in September and find a schedule that works with the Daniels MBA program he will enter this fall.
“I’m just excited to start somewhere and to have some experience coming out of my undergrad,” he said. “I feel very fortunate to be able to be here. I think it’s great that Roxan is doing this for student veterans. It’s good to have those connections and to build that community and to help each other along the way.”
Valuable experience
Lippert, who graduated from Daniels’ 4+1 dual-degree program that allow students to receive a bachelor’s and master’s degree in five years, is not a veteran, but he is happy to bring his experience to the Army National Guard nonetheless.
“The Pathways program is an opportunity for veterans, as well as people like myself, who have experience with finance, accounting and business analytics, to bring value to the National Guard,” he said. “And in return for providing your knowledge, the National Guard gives you experience in a completely different realm of business.”
Austin Lippert
Encouraged by his experience in the Pathways program, Lippert recently applied for a full-time position with the Army National Guard.
“I feel like my time there isn’t up,” he said. “It’s a great place to start a career, especially with how the government is involved with private business. It’s a good opportunity for someone like me, who’s 23 and fresh out of college, to get exposure to the federal side of business, and then bring that experience to the corporate side once my feet are on the ground.”
Lippert says he also appreciates Castro’s guidance as he progresses in the Pathways program.
“I’ve been working there for four months now, and I’ve learned so much through asking him questions and picking his brain about the soldier side of things,” Lippert said. “One of his biggest objectives with this program is helping you grow and learn and become better at whatever you want to do.”