Non-profit professionals pursuing advanced degrees bring unique perspectives to the classroom, and eventually, the social impact sector. After graduation, they combine their mission-driven mindset with refined organizational leadership skills to navigate the interconnected spaces between public service and sustainable social change.
As a very passion-driven person, I sought out opportunities to be part of transformational work to address injustices in the world. For me, this came in the form of international development work in Africa and Europe, working with survivors of systemic injustice. I care deeply about cross-cultural engagement, and I wanted to live long-term in another culture to gain deeper understanding of the world, of people who are different than me.
One major pro for me was that I got to live overseas! In many ways it felt like I was living out a dream—doing work that felt very meaningful, meeting interesting people, and stretching myself and my comfort zone constantly. On the flip side, it was also extremely emotionally draining to be face-to-face with some of the darkest parts of humanity. I also felt like there weren’t clear paths for career growth, and as I looked ahead to the rest of my career, I wondered how I might build a family, buy a house, and retire within the limitations of a nonprofit salary.
When I started to think about how I might make the leap to the business world, I wasn’t sure how to translate my experience into terms that made sense in a business context. I thought that an MBA would give me practical education and open doors through the network. While doing research on universities across the U.S., I reached out to another nonprofit pivoter, Ellie, who was a Scheller MBA student and she really sold me on the value of a Georgia Tech MBA. It was my #1 choice.
Yes, but I had no idea what that would look like. During orientation, I was so clueless about possible post-MBA options. I imagined I would end up in a business role, but I was completely open to anything. I often talked about building out my toolbelt of skills, and I wanted to work in a new environment to practically grow in my business skills.
In what has now become somewhat of a cliche, I made the decision during 2020 during Covid-19 lockdown. I was living in Athens, Greece at the time, and during our strict lockdown, I had a lot of time to think about my future and reorient my goals. I was in my early thirties and felt like it was a good time to make a big career change!
One reason I chose an MBA over other master’s degrees, such as nonprofit management, is because I knew it would open all the doors. And that has really been true. I feel like my options are wide open for the future, which in turn, gives me the ability to create new, bigger goals. An MBA is so versatile, and I am gaining such valuable experience in the business world. I don’t know what the future will hold, career-wise, but I am also open to bringing this new toolkit of business skills back to the nonprofit world.
Absolutely! And I often have.