Four of the six recipients of the Graduate Business Distinguished Achievement award at the San Francisco State College of Business in 2015 were MBA students, according to a press release from the school. The honorees will receive special recognition during commencement week.
Ashly Collins, MBA with an emphasis in leadership, was one of those honored by the award. Collins’ culminating achievement was her strategic analysis of Pulpworks, a startup company dedicated to replacing toxic plastic packaging used in consumer products. She served as the co-leader for Net Impact from 2013 to 2014, an organization that provides students with opportunities to create positive social and environmental change in the workplace. She also interned at Kaiser Permanente, working to help improve engagement in their Accounts Payable team. Collins is also a 2015 graduate hood recipient.
Mark Austreich, MBA, worked on a strategic analysis of Airbnb.com for his final project. He identified several important challenges facing the company and provided some possible solutions for overcoming them while also deterring competition. Having spent five years working for Ebay in various departments, Austreich currently works as part of the Financial Planning and Analysis team at Facebook.
Terra Baykal, MBA with an emphasis in marketing, created a strategic analysis of Belcampo Meat Co. for her final project. Looking at Belcampo’s internal strengths and weaknesses and the external environment, Baykal created suggestions to help them gain and sustain a competitive edge. Baykal also boasts time tutoring undergraduate courses, volunteering with the homeless and interning at Zerve.
Aliceth-Jingya Liang, MBA with an emphasis in finance, analyzed the practices of the Exploratorium for her final project. She made a number of recommendations for them on improving business intuition and revenue through using pricing and promotional strategies to increase attendance. Liang currently interns at Lighthaven Capital Management as an Investment Analyst.