Alexia Brown could not have imagined where she would be at the end of her Two-Year MBA because when she arrived, a transformational opportunity didn’t yet exist.
She was a former attorney seeking an MBA to return to her entrepreneurial endeavors. A year ahead of her, MBA students in the Business & Society Institute were determining that local entrepreneurs had difficulty accessing capital. Out of this research grew the $1 million Peachtree Minority Venture Fund (PMVF). As a minority entrepreneur, Brown had some understanding of the gap or funding type. She became one of the first managing partners. “When everyone has access to be the best versions of themselves, we are all better off,” she says.
An integral part of The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, the PMVF is the first such student-run fund in the United States. Its first round of capital opportunities for U.S.-based Black, Latinx, and Native American entrepreneurs energized Brown. So did related opportunities beyond Goizueta.
My MBA is a step towards the greater goal of creating opportunities for minority founders to have access to capital and thus reducing the wealth gap.
Alexia Brown 22MBA
“My MBA has absolutely changed my career goals and trajectory,” she says. “The program helped me to realize one of my true passions: doing as much as I can to reduce the funding gap for minority founders. As such, I believe minority communities will be the beneficiaries of my MBA.”
Classmates fueled Brown when she most needed it during the rigorous curriculum. Bernard Clevens 22MBA, Breanna Spurley 22MBA, Bryan Shepherd 22MBA, and Carlos Vazquez 22MBA “have all spent time over breaks or during internships when they were busy and tired themselves to help me prepare for interviews, explain concepts, brainstorm, and most importantly, help ease my anxiety,” says Brown.
“This is one of the best communities one could be a part of. Goizueta is a place one can show up as themselves, feel supported, and thrive.”
This May, hundreds of Goizueta graduates will walk out of our doors ready for the workforce. Learn more about the celebration and register for Goizueta’s Commencement activities. Continue to check out the stories of our amazing students all month long.
