Sam Spencer
"I was looking for a global MBA program that would go beyond the basic classroom learning. Traveling around the globe with my cohort has been an incredible experience. The Global Immersion professors in each region bring such a depth of expertise that we can dig into the nuanced topics that are so important, but often require years and years of study to address appropriately.”
Global Executive MBA
Industry:
Prior Education:
Whitworth University
BA, Economics, International Business, & Spanish, 2015
Reflections
MBA graduates talk a lot about the network they gained during their program, but my “network” feels more like family. With only 80 people in our cohort, I’ve able to get to know every single person. The connections are deeper than just cordial classmates who I can reach out to on LinkedIn someday. They’re friendships built on vulnerability and shared experience—people who I can celebrate life’s personal and professional wins with and bring my leadership and management challenges to. This Fuqua Family feels like a bonus to what I was hoping to walk out of this MBA with.
I’m an Investment Officer for the Oregon State Treasury’s investment division, investing on behalf of the Oregon Public Employees’ Retirement Fund. I invest in private equity real estate globally to help ensure there’s sufficient funds for pension beneficiaries to retire.
I love working as a public employee and investor. In any future role, I hope to continue investing what I call “meaningful money” — that is money that enables positive outcomes for society like employee retirement, philanthropic grants, community development, etc. I’m walking out of this program with newfound management and leadership skills that I believe will help me grow in this industry that I love
My Most Memorable Accomplishment
I had the immense privilege of helping found Fuqua’s first Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Club alongside my classmate Shelly Mittal. Working in private equity real estate investing, ESG is an important topic in my industry. While we were in Berlin for Term 5, I organized an opportunity for the ESG Club members to tour a recent apartment development project in Berlin that’s a great case study for how affordable housing can be sustainably built by the private sector, working in tandem with the local municipality. The project is a win-win for the community and the investors. Hearing my classmates ask questions about the project during our tour and seeing their curiosity as they tried to decipher if this type of affordable housing solution could be replicated in the US was incredibly rewarding to me. Sharing knowledge and our experiences is what this MBA is all about.