Contents

PATHS 06

Landing the Interview: You Belong

Beyond Business:

Georgetown Business

Dean, William R. Berkley Chair

Paul Almeida

COVER STORY | 20

The New World of Work

Alumni experts offer tips on how to navigate big data and AI.

FEATURE 26

In The Clear Why transparency leads to stronger governments.

FEATURE 14 >

Purpose and Passion

Six Degress:

Giving Back by Paying Forward

Pitch Deck

Taking Our Shot

INNOVATIONS | 10

Buying / Selling:

How Do We Build From Here?

Making the Case:

Joining Forces

The Edge

Bright Ideas for Emerging Markets

Career Up:

Major Flex

CONNECTIONS 30

My Shot:

How Much Do You Make?

Pivot: On a Roll

My First Job:

Fork in the Road

My Feed:

Courage, Quest, and Love

Class Notes

Associate Dean, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer

Teresa Mannix

Director of Marketing and Communications

Samantha Krause

Director of Alumni Relations

Lauren Apicella

Creative Direction 2communiqué

Editorial Direction Dog Ear Creative

Staff Writers

Rachel Ellis

Abby Sharpe

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50 Years of Purpose

Business for Impact honored its founder and professor emeritus Bill Novelli as the inaugural recipient of the Purpose Pioneer Award for over 50 years of game-changing leadership in corporate purpose, environmental sustainability, and social impact.

Novelli founded the initiative in 2011 and paved the way for many years of purpose-driven and interdisciplinary work in social impact, advancing their mission of leveraging the power of business to benefit the common good. During his tenure at Business for Impact, the initiative developed partnerships with numerous business, government, and nonprofit leaders; launched innovative courses and programs grounded in principled leadership and social impact; and advanced important discussions on the world’s most critical issues, including sustainability, inclusive and equitable hiring, healthcare, and social justice.

Operation: Cura Personalis

As the world navigated ongoing disruptions from the pandemic, the preservation of McDonough’s renowned community was paramount—a mission Kerry Pace, associate dean of MBA programs, and her team took to heart. Their operation was clear: leverage the power of the Georgetown community to boost morale and care for one another in mind, body, and spirit. Cura personalis became the guiding principle. Within weeks, the team launched a series of activities to help students reconnect to the community. McDonough soon opened the programs to all students, faculty, staff, and alumni, welcoming hundreds of Hoyas to tune in for sessions to laugh with comedians, learn how to cook mindfully, discover the power of sleep, or to share their gratitude virtually.

The mission now continues from campus. “I hope all students feel they have been transformed when they leave Georgetown,” said Pace. “They gained business concepts and skills, but they also became better people through our community. That is the spirit of Georgetown, and that is the ethos of what we’re hoping to accomplish through Operation: Cura Personalis.”

Moving East: McDonough Launches Executive MBA in Dubai

Georgetown McDonough established a new Executive MBA (EMBA) in Dubai to help senior decision makers and executives advance their international business capabilities and gain a deeper understanding of how to lead public or private organizations in the in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia, and beyond.

Building on the success of Georgetown’s prestigious EMBA in Washington, D.C., the program will be taught by McDonough faculty in monthly class weekends over the course of 20 months. Students also will have the opportunity to engage in week-long residencies in both Washington, D.C., and in Dubai, in addition to ongoing networking opportunities and exposure to senior leaders, lifelong learning offerings, career coaching and mentorship support, and alumni engagement.

International Culture + Business

Undergraduate students interested in the intersection between international culture and business affairs can now pursue a joint degree in International Business, Language, and Culture, offered in partnership with Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business and the College of Arts & Sciences. Participants gain deep expertise in a specific region to explore how language and culture can affect change and innovation in the world through the lens of pressing global issues such as inequality, labor and human dignity, and issues related to technology, ethics, and the environment.

What Happens When D.C. Floods?

The Steers Center for Global Real Estate convened leading environmental, financial, and governmental stakeholders to discuss the issue of flooding and rising sea levels as it pertains to the future of real estate infrastructure in the Washington, D.C., area. The event featured a flash flood simulation to showcase the physical and social implications of climate disasters in D.C. neighborhoods, focused primarily on vulnerable citizens and critical citywide services.

Participants discussed how resources could be prioritized to mitigate risks and how various stakeholders can work together to proactively identify solutions to impending climate challenges in the region.

—ANNETTE SHELBY, GEORGETOWN MCDONOUGH’S FIRST TENURED FEMALE PROFESSOR AND FEMALE EMERITA PROFESSOR, WHO RECENTLY DONATED $4 MILLION TO FUND THE ANNETTE N. SHELBY ENDOWED CHAIR IN BUSINESS & LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION

The Interviewee

You Belong

How can individuals and organizations become more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible?

Mackenzie Meadows (MiM’23) speaks with Shanita “Shani” Wilkins (EML’18), the chief diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) officer for the Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Inspector General.

Behind Shanita “Shani” Wilkins’ impressive title is the tale of an impressive life. Having grown up on a family farm selling fruits and vegetables roadside and an immense love for dance and choreography, the horticulturalist-turned-executive once dreamt of a career as a dance choreographer. However, her mother and grandmother recognized and nurtured her budding leadership qualities, preparing her for her first job, at the age of 16, with the Secret Service.

After spending 28 years with the Secret Service, eventually serving as the acquisition program manager for the Technical Security Division, Wilkins briefly worked for the National Football League before joining the DOJ to actualize her passion for DEIA.

“People have their own definition of DEIA, and it revolves primarily around race,” Wilkins says. “However it includes not only recognizing racial differences, but also other aspects of these individuals—their physical abilities, thought processes, and backgrounds. Really the whole person and what they bring to the community that may not be considered in spaces.”

She draws her passion from her own childhood experience, not as an African American girl, but as a girl born with an underdeveloped ear. The difference in size was so prominent, she says, people often stopped, stared, and asked questions.

“Everyone at some point in their lives has felt like they didn’t belong, or didn’t matter, or weren’t accepted for who they really are,” she says. “It wasn’t until I went to school that I was confronted with feeling inadequate, not accepted, and not a part of a group. I recall how distanced that made me feel. How horrible it was to be othered,” Wilkins explains.

“It wasn’t until middle school that my hair grew long enough to cover my ear. And even though it did, I always felt like an imposter. I never ever forgot that. It would be awesome to say that the story of discrimination ended there, but those experiences were just replaced with being treated differently as an African American woman.”

Wilkins’ work focuses on how people are treated in organizations and how to institutionally repair justice. Her role includes providing resources and education to the community workforce and examining the systems that define the organization’s culture.

“My job is to expose that tendency of not examining your mindset and behavior. To get people to look beyond themselves and see people for who they are,” she says. “It’s my responsibility to provide training, resources, and dialogue to facilitate those thought changes. And to assess practices, systems, and culture that perpetuate the same notion. No one should have to work twice as hard to get what is available to everyone. They shouldn’t have to feel left out of opportunities or feel like they can’t contribute because of a difference they have.”

As chief diversity officers increasingly are becoming members of the leadership within institutions, Wilkins also looks back to her dancing days and the importance of the choreography of DEIA as the position and its responsibilities evolve and grow.

“My work incorporates people of different walks of life, experiences, and personalities, just as a dance choreographer utilizes dancers of varying sizes, abilities, and talent to present a dance of diversity that still works in unison,” she says.

“Building an organizational culture of community where people feel valued, supported, respected, and whole is the overarching goal of CDOs,” she adds. “Creating an environment where justice prevails gives everyone a chance to be successful. The little girl who didn’t feel accepted or valued, and felt like she didn’t belong, is here to make significant changes to turn that around, one organization at a time.”