Preparing tomorrow’s leaders

Andy and Marie Unanue

Miami Herbert Business School prepares principled leaders to succeed in a rapidly changing business world. A commitment from the Carmen and Joe Unanue Family Foundation will help strengthen those efforts.

The business world of the future will be driven by those who excel at innovation, entrepreneurship, sustainability, principled leadership, and marketing insights. The Miami Herbert Business School prepares this next generation of business leaders to succeed in a rapidly changing world.

Now, thanks to the generosity of the Carmen and Joe Unanue Family Foundation, Miami Herbert will strengthen the career support it provides its M.B.A. graduates. Led by Andy Unanue, B.B.A. ’91, the Foundation has pledged $3.3 million to Miami Herbert in honor of Unanue’s late parents, who led philanthropic initiatives in education and health care through the foundation that carries their names.

The commitment, matched by the Herbert Challenge Endowment Gift Match for a total of $5 million, will strengthen the school’s capabilities to prepare graduate students to successfully enter the workforce or advance their careers upon graduation.

Funds will be used to increase networking opportunities, specialized training, and participation in more national and international case competitions and student conferences. Added resources will also enable continued innovative responses to a rapidly changing hiring climate fueled by technology and a trend toward work-life integration.

For Unanue, who is president of the Carmen and Joe Unanue Foundation, the goals align with his parents’—and now his own— dedication to elevate job opportunities for students.

“My parents always wanted to help educate people and prepare them for the real world so that they could get good jobs with which to provide for their families,” he said. “The gift will hopefully help prepare the students to get the jobs that they want and that they will be happy in, whether entering the workforce or creating their own businesses.”

The New Jersey native recently established the headquarters of his firm AUA Private Equity Partners in West Palm Beach, bringing him back to South Florida after living in several cities around the country and abroad since graduating from Miami Herbert in 1991. Unanue also serves as a member of the dean’s advisory committee at Miami Herbert and as the Miami Herbert chair of the University’s Ever Brighter campaign.

Unanue said that he “learned from my parents that we should never forget where we came from, that there are always people who help us along the way, and that we need to help and give back in return. The University of Miami helped me with my education, along with my niece and nephew, and was one of the building blocks to make me who I am. And I am now in a position to help the students at the University through a helpful hand up, not a handout.”

Miami Herbert Dean John Quelch acknowledges Unanue’s growing impact on the University and Miami Herbert, especially as his pledge to the Ever Brighter campaign will fund an endowment, which enables its charitable objectives in perpetuity.

“We cherish the generosity of the Unanue family,” Quelch said. “Andy Unanue is continuing his parents’ legacy graciously, and we honor his contributions to help develop the next generation of principled leaders.”