Briana Evans, Kogod School of Business PMBA ’15, is a senior enterprise marketing associate at Cvent, an industry leader in the meetings and event management software market. In 2013, Evans was named “Top Performer for Enterprise Sales,” and was nominated for both “CVENTer of the Year” and Cvent “Game Changer.”
Evans joined Cvent after graduating in 2011 from the University of Virginia with a double major in foreign affairs and anthropology. But after a year and a half in sales, she was ready for a change.
“I wanted a deeper understanding of business,” she said. “[My current] position opened up a couple of months after I got accepted at Kogod, now my job goes hand in hand with what I’m learning.”
Evans said she paid special attention to the overall “feel” of her prospective graduate schools and prgrams. It was one thing in particular that allowed Kogod to stand out from her other opions— the community.
“The students [at Kogod] had a [deeper] bond and connection with one another than I’d ever seen at a business school,” she said. “Everyone wants to do well, but everyone also wants you to do well, and that is evident.”
Along with her “Game Changer” abilities, Evans’s effortlessly stands out among her in her role as a student ambassador. Executive-in-Residence Jill Klein, faculty program director for the Professional MBA, selected Evans for the role based on her leadership skills.
“Briana sparkles. This must be what [her employer] sees in her as well. When she commits to something, she commits to it completely,” Klein said.
Evans gives prospective students an insider’s look at the PMBA experience—often telling them her initial assumption about graduate business school culture was wrong.
“I assumed in the part-time program I might not make connections [with other students], because everyone has work, families and personal lives,” Evans admitted. “But it is really refreshing to see that people bond with one another by getting together outside the classroom.”
