This past weekend, 5 students participated in the 2017 edition of the MBA World Summit in Berlin. The event brings together the 100 most inspiring MBA students and executives to exchange ideas and share best practices in an inspiring atmosphere.
With 2600 applications this year from 41 business schools, it’s safe to say that the competition was stiff! We talked to 4 of the students who attended to find a little bit more about them.
I am currently participating in the GMBA program at IE Business school. I chose this blended program because of its strong, international focus on leadership of diverse teams as well as the particular interest in entrepreneurship. Aside from being a student in the GMBA program, I am working full time for the Ministry of Defense in Germany. In my profession, I am responsible for several reconnaissance teams. The commonalities between my current position and corporate endeavors, while not obvious still are tremendous. In a nutshell, this is leading teams of specialized people with individual goals and dreams by giving common purpose and be a catalyst for their commitment. My primary driver for the GMBA program is to sustain the significant career change from a governmental organization to the corporate world that I will conduct 2018.
Networking was the other reason for choosing IE Business School and specifically the GMBA program. Even though expectations were high I am surprised day in and day out by what a great group of people gathers in the program. Talents and diversity combined with an entrepreneurial spirit and the knowledge that the sum is greater than the single parts make me proud to be part of this IE family.
Why the MBA World Summit?
I applied for the MBA World Summit not only because of the perfect fit into my calendar and the convenient placing in one of the most pulsing cities of the world, Berlin. For me, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Participating in workshops, lectures and think tanks together with 100 hand-picked MBA students from the best universities of the world is a challenge and even more enrichment. At the Summit I am looking forward to meeting great, inspiring people, and I am especially keen on participating in the Big Idea Lounge, a unique forum for entrepreneurs. I am sure I will not only broaden my horizon but also bring new ideas and input back to my IE class.
Prior to completing the International MBA program this past December, I spent 8 years in brand strategy and global marketing roles at Fortune 500 multi-nationals in the the U.S.
After pulling together a cross-regional team to take part in the Financial Times 2016 MBA Challenge, I led the team in developing a business plan that won 1st place, beating out over 50 MBA teams from around the world;
I was one of several students selected to be a social media contributor for IE’s Facebook page and corresponding social channels;
As a co-founding member of a fintech start-up, my team and I were accepted into IE’s Venture Lab accelerator program and later competed as a finalist team at Venture Day Madrid, an event that showcases IE’s entrepreneurial talent and connects start-ups with investors and key players;
I graduated in the top 15 percent of my class by GPA ranking and was inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma (BGS) Honor Society for outstanding academic achievement
Why the MBA World Summit?
– I will be interviewing with Amazon and visiting their Berlin campus
– I’m excited to network with some of the most talented MBAs from all over the world! It will be a great experience to mix with other schools.
– I’m also excited to get to know IE students from other intakes and programs outside the IMBA
I’m an enterprise B2B tech professional (formerly IBM, Cisco Systems & Glassbreakers in Silicon Valley), and angel investor, interested in artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. I enjoy writing for the Huffington Post, speaking at TEDx, and advising startups on sales and strategy. I love meeting interesting people and being involved in activities focused on closing the gender gap in the tech industry – right now I’m working on two projects with UN Women Empower Women and Technovation Challenge.
Why the MBA World Summit?
My goal for the MBA World Summit is to represent women-in-tech MBAs globally and the IE Business School community, connect with inspiring global MBA leaders, and find synergetic collaboration opportunities. I look forward to interacting with Amazon, a summit sponsor, participating in their corporate expeditions, and rubbing shoulders with investors. And I’m very excited to sit in on the amazing series line-up, including a talk on “Secrets of a Networking Ninja” by IE alumni Roman Fernandez, and the “Art of Storytelling: The Secrets that the C-Suite know but School won’t teach you” by Alexis Jeffries, an MBA from my alma mater, the University of Southern California.
I am a January IMBA candidate from Egypt who is passionate about entrepreneurship and improving the quality of education in Egypt and the MENA region.
I moved to Montreal, Canada for my Civil Engineering Bachelor’s degree and upon graduation I worked for AECOM and SNC-Lavalin as a Cost Engineer where I managed the budget of projects totaling over $1 Billion. Afterwards I moved back to Egypt to work in the family business where we represented European and Asian suppliers such as ThyssenKrupp and FLSmidth in the cement industry and connected them to clients to sell their equipment or build complete cement plants.
During my time in Egypt, I was asked by several friends and family members to tutor their kids and I realized the need for a platform where parents and students can get one time or continuous help through qualified and trusted tutors. I started a website – www.darresny.com – where students can upload notes and review their professors and right now we are working on an app where students can find, book and review tutors. We were selected as one of 5 startups for the Uber pitch event at RiseUp Summit 2016 which took place in Cairo, Egypt.
Why the MBA World Summit?
At the summit, I will be participating in the entrepreneurship workshop where I have been selected as 1 of 13 entrepreneurs to present their startup at the iconic Axel Springer HQ in Berlin to a number of investors and VCs. I am also invited to be a panelist for the E-learning Ideation panel where I will be discussing the topic with several experts.”
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