Last Wednesday I returned from another successful Consortium Orientation Program (OP). This year's OP was held in Phoenix so we had incoming Consortium students travelling from all around the US to join us.
Here is a picture of our amazing incoming UCLA Anderson Consortium students.
If you are not familiar with The Consortium, "The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management is the nation's largest diversity network, linking top tier students, leading MBA programs and corporate partners, including Fortune 500 companies." The mission of The Consortium "is to reduce the underrepresentation of African Americans, Native Americans and Hispanic Americans in education and business."
Now let's get back to OP. OP, as the full name indicates, is the orientation program that takes place every June for incoming Consortium students who will begin their MBA program in the fall. OP is more than just an orientation program, it's an opportunity for all of the incoming Consortium students from the 18 universities to come together, get to know their classmates from their respective MBA programs, meet incoming Consortium students from all of the universities, and grow personally and professionally through a series of seminars, workshops, and networking opportunities.
I always look forward to OP because it is the first event where I finally get to meet all of our incoming Consortium students. It's great to see our students bursting with energy and enthusiasm as they prepare to begin their MBA. It's amazing to see how quickly they bond with one another and start building life-long friendships.
The overall OP experience is always memorable, but one of the really memorable moments of this past OP was meeting Mrs. Lonnie Ali. Not only is Mrs. Lonnie Ali a successful business woman and entrepreneur, a very active philanthropist, and an ardent advocate for Parkinson's Disease research, but she is also a UCLA Anderson Alumna who volunteered her time to meet with our students. It was an incredible opportunity for them to learn about her story, her passion, and also get some advice as they begin their own journeys.
We were even fortunate enough to take a picture with Mrs. Lonnie Ali.
I'm looking forward to many more memorable moments at next year's OP!
If you support The Consortium's mission and are interested in learning more about the organization, please visit their website.
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