Before even stepping foot on BYU campus, global supply chain management (GSCM) senior Kennedy McMullin knew she was interested in business. What she didnt know was the complexand sometimes comicalsituations she would find herself working in.

As a high school student in Durham, North Carolina, McMullin found ways to not only streamline operations and improve processes during her shifts as a manager for the local Crumbl but also apply business principles in her home life.

I would make PowerPoints for my parentswhether it was wanting to get a phone earlier or to stay out later with my friends. I was always negotiating with them, McMullin recalls. That's a big part in supply chain: You are connecting and negotiating with a lot of organizations to make one value stream that flows smoothly.

Taking business classes at the BYU Marriott School of Business shifted McMullins interest from general business to supply chain. I had been doing supply chain my whole life, and I didnt even know it, McMullin says. With the assistance of a GSCM program student guide, she strengthened her application to the program and was accepted.

One thing I love about supply chain is you have the most extraordinary problems. I never really considered myself a creative person, but there are ways in supply chain where I can solve problems creativelythink outside the box about how to make a process better, McMullin explains. You end up doing the craziest things.

In one of her classes in the junior core, she and her team had to route a logistics network for a company and figure out how to move 22,000 tons of oranges. There are so many things in supply chain you would never think you would need to worry about, McMullin says, like pirates disrupting maritime logistics, negotiating high stakes contracts, and just the volume of the product you deal with.

McMullin put those problem-solving skills to the test during an internship at Walmart in the summer after her junior year. "It's definitely not just looking at a spreadsheet; I got into all kinds of fun situations, McMullin says.

One day at the Walmart office, she saw a man struggling with his visitors pass and two suitcasesand as she helped him with his bags, she noticed how heavy they were. During their conversation, she found out that the man was a lab-grown diamond supplier. The suitcase was full of diamonds, and he was just letting me tote it along, McMullin laughs.

Now as a senior at BYU Marriott, McMullin works as a GSCM program guide and a teaching assistant for GSCM 403: Purchasing/Supply Management and GSCM 412: Operations Analytics. Through these jobs, she is able to work with every GSCM student coming into the program, and she says she cant imagine anything more fulfilling.

I'm very grateful for everyone who's helped me, and I'm just trying to do what I can to help all the people who will come after me, she says. I'm a big believer that once you climb a mountain, the best thing you can do is turn around and help other people get up.

McMullin accepted a full-time position at Walmart in Arkansas following her graduation this April, and she says she looks forward to a future of solving logistical puzzles and worrying about pirates.

BYU Marriott School of Business finance alumnus Taylor DeHart says that investing in emerging restaurants might not be viewed as the most exciting job, but helping founders build their own version of the American dream makes it deeply fulfilling. We are able to help build something truly special that can transform lives, he says. And thats the cool part.

The desire to build something drove DeHarts decision to turn down a full-time offer out of college from Apple to instead join Four Foods Group, a small, growth-stage restaurant operator organization based in Utah. I had the assurance from the founder of Four Foods Group that he was going to intentionally invest in my development as a professional, and he was going to invest in me personally, DeHart says.

According to DeHart, that promise was fulfilled from the minute he walked into the organization. He was given responsibilities that he says he had no business doing as a young professional, including stepping into board rooms and advising restaurant founders on their next business decisions.

A few years into DeHarts time with Four Foods Group, the firm rebranded as Savory Fund, a private equity fund that invests in emerging restaurants to scale them into larger brands. As an associate, DeHart collaborated with the founding team to raise two separate $100 million funds and now works with the team as they raise a third fund. DeHarts role has grown along with Savory, and in 2025 he was promoted to director.

As DeHart manages Savorys investment portfolioincluding Swig, Houston TX Hot Chicken, and Via 313 Pizzahes also made sure to invest time into his family. A mentor once told me that your career will rise no higher than the happiness of your spouse, he says. I take that very seriously.

DeHart says his wife has been involved in every step of his career journey and his current role at Savory. Shes my number one advisor, he says. I consult her when I face challenges or when things are exciting. She participates in both the ups and the downs.

He has included his four kids in the process, too. Ive realized Ill spend most of my life working, and I want my children to feel like theyre part of that journey, DeHart says. And while they may not yet be old enough to contribute to board meetings, DeHart says his children still get excited about his work, knowing which brands the company owns and their favorite menu item at each.

His focus on investing in people also shapes how he manages the capital entrusted to him, DeHart explains. When we sit down to make an investment, its a true partnership moment, he says. Remembering the people behind the brands is what DeHart says gives him energy to do whats necessary to get positive results.

On one hand, Im a steward of capital from people whove worked incredibly hard for what theyve earned, DeHart says. On the other, I'm a steward of someones brand, which can feel even more personal, because it represents who they are.

And seeing his work as making investments in people is one reason DeHart says his job is so satisfying. During his time at Savory, DeHart and his team have helped breast cancer survivor Nicole Tanner build her establishment, Swig, into a large enough brand to fund breast cancer treatment for women. DeHart also recalls helping two brothers bring their grandmas Hawaiian barbecue to tables across the nation with Mo Bettahs.

In this industry, taking risks means youll win some and lose some, DeHart says. But if you approach it with a sense of stewardship, youll usually come out ahead.

The Romney Institute of Public Service and Ethics at the BYU Marriott School of Business presented Derek Miller with the MPA Alumnus of the Year Award to recognize his extraordinary service and leadership in the public and nonprofit sector. In accepting the award, Miller shared how gospel principles have guided his views of leadership.

After he completed his undergraduate degree at BYU, Miller was preparing to move to Oregon for a PhD program when a ward member shared his experience as an MPA student. That was the first time Miller had heard of an MPA, and he said he couldnt stop thinking about it. He decided to listen to what he believes was the Spirit and change his course to pursue an MPA at BYU Marriott.

The main reason why I loved the MPA program was because it was here at BYU, so I got to learn about servant leadership according to the perfect modelthe Savior Himself, Miller said in his speech. In addition to an MPA, Miller concurrently earned a JD and has since used his BYU education in his work in government at both state and federal levels.

Miller served as legal counsel for a congressional committee in the US House of Representatives, where his relationships with other legal representatives were sometimes strained. I was expected to go toe-to-toe with other lawyers in negotiating important policies and potential laws that would have significant impacts on peoples lives and livelihoods, he said. But Miller said he found guidance in reading verses from the Doctrine and Covenants that he had taped to his mirror.

Leadership should be exercised upon the principles of persuasion, long-suffering, gentleness and meekness, by love unfeigned, by kindness, and charity toward all, Miller told the audience, referencing Doctrine and Covenants 121:4144. As he aimed to apply the scriptural exhortations in his work as legal counsel, he said he learned that loving people as Christ taught was not about changing others, but about changing himself.

Miller eventually moved back to Utah and worked in the Utah Governors Office of Economic Development, then became the chief of staff to then-governor Gary Herbert. He later pivoted to working as CEO of the World Trade Center Utah for four years and is currently the president and CEO of the Utah Chamber.

As his career progressed, Miller said he realized that he was an introvertespecially when it came to networkingand worried that would hold him back in his pursuits. Leaning on the principles in Ether 12:27 of the Book of Mormon, Miller said he reevaluated his introversion, which he had previously viewed as a weakness. I had a realization that as much as I didnt like making small talk with strangers, I did like having real human interactions with real human beingsand I realized that was a strength.

Sharing his experiences with BYU Marriott MPA students and faculty, he reflected, I am forever grateful for professors I had who blended the secular and the spiritual in everything they taught usI try to do that each day.

Graciela Massey watched her dream go up in flamesliterally.

For a high school class assignment, she and her classmates all wrote their dreams in lanterns and sent them up into the sky. Massey's lantern, with a card that simply said BYU inside, hit the school roof and caught fire. When Massey went elsewhere for her undergraduate degree, she thought the burning lantern must have been a sign. But now, shes living her dream as an MBA student at the BYU Marriott School of Business, and shes working to take advantage of her opportunities and help others do the same.

Massey, who is from Costa Rica, thought that an MBA was out of reach. But while visiting a friend in Utah, Massey was exposed to resources available to BYU Marriott MBA students. Realizing that her dream was possible, Massey spent the next three months preparing her application and studying for the GRE and TOEFL exams. Not long after, she was accepted to the program.

While Massey engages in her MBA curriculum, she says its important to her to remember where she comes from. Massey was raised by parents who both graduated from college, but under circumstances that were much more difficult for them than for her, she explains.

So, as Massey balances coursework, student activities, and work, she prioritizes spending time connecting with family back home. My dad is always asking me what Ive learned from my classes that he can use in his job or teach other people, she says. I think hes the proudest dad ever.

Keeping in touch also helps Massey see some of the growth shes experienced through her MBA. Sometimes my mom asks me how I do all these things, because I'm so shy at home, Massey says. Now Im presenting in situations like meetings with company stakeholders.

But being out of her comfort zone is something that Massey says shes gotten used to during her MBA. Your MBA is what you want to get out of it, she says. Ive gotten involved, because I feel like I cant take my MBA for granted.

Masseys efforts to take advantage of her time in Provo have included serving as president of the Savage Global Consulting team and being chief of staff for the Graduate Supply Chain and Operations Association. As a second-year student, she's centered her priorities around helping first-year students gain meaningful experiences: She secured consulting projects for first-year MBA students in the Savage program, teaches their consulting class every Tuesday, and mentors three first-year international students to help them adjust to the program.

But Massey hasn't limited her focus to helping currently enrolled students. Im the only Central American in the program right now, and Im very interested in bringing that opportunity to more people there.

Massey works on recruiting Central Americans to the MBA program as an MBA Student Ambassador. She expressed her desire to help to the self-reliance director of Central America, as part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he connected her with potential MBA candidates in the area. She conducted more than 30 informational interviews, created four PDF guides in Spanish, and started a WhatsApp groupwhich now has more than 60 peopleto share information and answer questions about the BYU Marriott MBA program.

Looking back on her journey to becoming an MBA student at BYU Marriott, Massey recognizes the resources that were available to her and says she hopes to help others have access to that same help. I want them to have that person that they can rely on so they can achieve their dreams like I have been able to achieve mine.

Of all the awards he earned and titles he held at the BYU Marriott School of Businessfrom PhD prep track coordinator to director of the School of Accountancy (SOA)Doug Prawitt says mentoring students and helping them improve their lives is his proudest accomplishment.

After earning his MAcc at BYU Marriott in 1988, Prawitt entered the PhD program at the University of Arizona. Going from a masters program to a PhD felt like jumping as high as I could and hanging on by my fingernails, trying not to let go, Prawitt remembers. That was a real leap.

The PhD program was a struggle at first, but he explains that once he adjusted to the high-pace environment, he flourished. Prawitt was selected as the University of Arizonas official delegate at the annual American Accounting Association doctoral consortium in his final year. Then, when he finished his doctorate, he returned to BYU Marriott to teach.

With the memories of his own challenges adjusting to the PhD program fresh in his mind, Prawitt wanted to help make that leap easier for students. So, in addition to teaching classes, he mentored aspiring PhD students: offering advice, discussing research papers, and recommending electives that could prepare them for a doctorate program.

When one of the first students he mentored was accepted to some of the top PhD programs in the country, Prawitt realized the value of purposeful preparation. That was an eye opener. It helped me realize that theres a high demand for people who prepare for a PhD in advance by taking coursework and developing an understanding of what research is.

After seeing the difference that his efforts made for that first student, Prawitt began mentoring more students. In 2000, he formalized the SOA PhD prep track, through which students take classes to prepare them for doctorate-level courses, gain experience with academic research and teaching, and receive advice from their professors and mentors.

His service extended beyond the department as he wrote research papers and books, consulted with accounting firms, and designed curriculum. Prawitt has worked as Lead Director of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and as a member of the auditing board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants at various points in his more than three decades in the SOA. Ive had a lot of variety in my career. There have been so many fun and challenging things that Ive been able to engage in, Prawitt says.

Prawitt says that regardless of the capacity hes working in, his philosophy in life is to remain focused on serving others. When I approach everything I do from a ministering mentality, I do a better job, he explains. The outcome is better, and it's so much more fulfilling.

He says he focused on serving others when he was appointed as director of the SOA from 2019 to 2025. I'm so grateful for that experience and all the opportunities it brought to serve others; I wouldnt trade it for anything, he says, But Im also looking forward to the things that come with the next phase of life.

For now, Prawitt has returned to teaching and fulfilling his other responsibilities at BYU Marriottwith plans to begin his next phase of life when he retires in June. He and his wife plan to spend time with their grandchildren and serve as missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

As he prepares for retirement, Prawitt fondly remembers the people he served. My job is to help people fulfill their potential and achieve their goals, he says. In the end, its not the recognition and awards that matter; the things that really matter are the opportunities I have had to interact with people and try to help them improve their lives. Thats what I care about.

As a senior in high school, Christian Dahneke realized that the younger members of his church congregation looked up to him. So, before he graduated, he and his friends decided to be better examples, and Dahneke says hes carried a passion for building people up ever since: I learned in that really small example that I can be a leader, and that I can help people feel the love of the Savior and grow closer to Him.

Dahneke, now an MBA student at the BYU Marriott School of Business, says he has chosen professional opportunities that have allowed him to continue developing as a leader. As an undergraduate student at BYU, he worked as a peer mentor for the Office of First-Year Experience during the school years and mentored youth as an EFY counselor over the summers. Upon graduating, he taught seminary before moving his family to Minnesota, where he worked for a company that focused on leadership development programs and fundraising for elementary and middle schools.

It was while working in Minnesota that Dahneke first became interested in human resources as a career. I really enjoyed training and developing people, he says, getting them from one areawhether its a strength or a weaknessand trying to level them up.

Looking to incorporate developing people into his career, Dahneke started researching graduate programs, considering master of HR degrees as well as MBA programs. He ultimately decided to come to BYU Marriott as he considered the positive professional reputation that hes seen BYU Marriott MBA alumni have. I knew that coming to BYU Marriott would help me stand out in whatever I do, he says.

Dahneke says he initially felt some trepidation about getting an MBA with little business experience, but his worries eased when he saw the support among students in the program. I realized that in this environment, theres an overarching attitude of Hey, we're in this together, he says. I've really enjoyed experiencing that while being a part of the top MBA HR program in the country and feeling like Im surrounded by absolute geniuses.

Recognizing the talent of those around him, Dahneke says he realized he could learn from his peers. You can go so much further with people than without, he says. At the same time, he came to realize that he had value to contribute as well. Coming in with a teaching background has helped me to view others in terms of their potential and see everyones unique gifts, he says. When others get down on themselves, I try to point them to their strengths and the positive impact that they have.

Dahnekes first year in the MBA program culminated in a human resources summer internship with PepsiCo. He describes how learning about Christlike leadership as an MBA student helped him when he was presented with challenges at work: When I was talking with managers that were having a hard time with some employees, it was an opportunity for me to help them see people in a different light instead of labeling them as a certain type of person, he says.

Dahneke says he hopes to continue spreading light as he prepares to go back to PepsiCo as a full-time employee after graduating. I want people who interact with me to walk away from every interaction either feeling better or feeling heard, he says. There are too many opportunities to take a jab at someone or something; theres just so much more room for positivity.

With the end goal of becoming a lawyer, second-year MPA student John Lidang knows he isnt following the most linear path by earning a masters degree at the BYU Marriott School of Business before applying to law schools. But for Lidang, getting an MPA is less about his career aspirations and more about his desire to become a Christlike leader.

I think the Lord understands me as somebody who first becomes curious about a thing, and then when I view that thing with an eye of faith, He leads me to make choices, Lidang says. What has led me here is following little crumbs of inspiration.

The events that led Lidang to BYU Marriott started in his teenage years when he moved to the United States from the Philippines. Shortly after moving, while swimming in his new apartment buildings pool, Lidang met missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was getting little bits of inspiration from the Lord, where I just felt good about what I was learning, Lidang describes.

Lidang chose to be baptized and become a member of the Church, where he gained a community and network with Church members. Lidang served a mission himself in Hawaii and returned as a student at BYUHawaii working toward a degree in political science in preparation for law school. But as he explored the MPA program at BYU Marriott, Lidang decided to postpone his juris doctorate.

I started to shift my focus to who I could become, Lidang says. I can become a lawyer by going to law school, but I want more than just a career. An MPA in addition to a JD can help improve not only my career prospects but also who I am as a person overall. Specifically, Lidang was interested in developing leadership attributes from a program founded on gospel principles. I trusted BYU Marriott and was drawn to the schools values and commitment to excellence, he says.

In the MPA program, Lidang developed the skills for managing resources and creating strong teams. One of the main principles Ive learned as an MPA student is knowing how to work with people and, more importantly, to learn their individual stories and be inspired by them, he says. For Lidang, working with others also includes asking questions and relying on the expertise of those around him.

Drawing on help from others and his own passion for language learning, Lidang started Nexum Language Immersion, which connects language learners to native speakers. Lidang is an accomplished polyglotfluent in seven languages and conversant in fourteenbut originally felt less confident in his business background.

I started with just an idea, and I asked more questions than I could get answers to, Lidang says. Ive learned that true wisdom lies in realizing that we can always learn something from the people we meet and the experiences we have in our lives.

And Lidang hopes to continue meeting more people around the world throughout his career. I want to connect people around the world and concentrate on elevating and improving the lives of as many people as possible through faith, philanthropy, and service. His dream after earning both his MPA and JD is that his education and experiences will transition into establishing an international language business. I want to lead an organization that does something good, and Id love to travel and tell people one-on-one that they matter, Lidang says.

A Filipino proverb encourages Lidang in his goal to help others:

; the one who doesnt learn to look back to where theyve come from will never reach their destination.

Lidang recognizes the trail of inspirational crumbs he has followedlearning about the gospel, making decisions about graduate programs, and even starting a businesson his way to reaching his goals and learning about leadership. Ive learned the Lord has a customized plan for medifferent from what I expected and certainly different from others, Lidang says. Understanding this has helped me to not compare my path with someone elses, but to enjoy the journey. My job is to do my best wherever God takes me and have fun along the way.

While growing up in Peru, Andres Aleson saw firsthand a lot of need in his community and among those close to him. So he had one goal in mind when the time came to pursue a college education: I wanted to become a leader in whatever career I pick, where I can make a positive social impact in peoples lives. Now, as an alumnus of the finance program at the BYU Marriott School of Business, he strives to impact individuals through service and personal connection.

Alesons desire to help others is why BYU was the only university that he applied to, despite the school being more than 4,000 miles away from his childhood home. With the values and mission at BYU, it just made sense for me to go there, he says. He set his aim on a business degree and, after taking the prerequisite classes, joined the finance program at BYU Marriott.

Aleson found ways to jump into social impact from the start. He started with an on-campus internship with Alta Global Ventures, a venture capital fund designed to help entrepreneurs grow companies in Latin America. His internship prepared him to work at the Sorenson Impact Center, housed at the University of Utah, where Aleson used his finance background to influence investment decisions. During his year at Sorenson, he also became copresident of the Social Venture Academy at the then Ballard Center for Economic Self-Reliance, mentoring student entrepreneurs as they navigated the early stages of building a startup.

In all three roles, Aleson says he used finance principles such as sizing markets and analyzing a companys financial health to aid entrepreneurs in building socially minded businesses. Im glad I picked finance, he says, because it opened up some of these critical components early in my career.

Despite being involved in many opportunities as a student, Aleson says he felt some imposter syndrome. He was calling and visiting business executives to analyze their companys financialswithout having actually worked in a corporate setting himself. I felt like I needed to get into the industry and develop as a professional, he says. So, after graduating from BYU Marriott, Aleson took a job with Adobe as a financial analyst.

That was fun for a little bit, he says. But I found out very quickly that corporate finance was not my thing. The realization led Aleson to pivot: He found new roles at Adobe, first in automation engineering and later in product management, while also seeking out opportunities to get involved with the community. He joined Adobes diversity and inclusion council, where he hosted events to mentor students of diverse backgrounds and started an annual appreciation dinner for the cleaning staff at Adobe's Utah office. It wasn't in my job description, but I've always cared about having an impact on people, he says.

While he enjoyed working in technology and finding ways to serve at Adobe, Aleson says he felt a desire to shift his career back toward the social impact space. So, he enrolled in the MBA program at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. After graduating, he accepted a job at the Walmart Foundation, where he brings together his varied experiencefrom finance to social impact to technologyto streamline the foundations grant-giving initiatives.

Although he primarily works with the bigger-picture strategy of the Walmart Foundation, Aleson also spends time connecting with the nonprofits and Walmart associates he works with. The best way to sustain meaningful impact is actually having that personal connection with the people that you want to have an impact on, Aleson says. Unless Im actively engaging with those individuals, I can lose sight of their needs.

Approaching work with a focus on people is a decision that Aleson says carries over from his experience at BYU Marriott. My time at BYU opened up meaningful opportunities to make important life decisions, he says. The people I met there guided me throughout those decisionsnot just about a job but also about who I want to become.

For Nate Mortensen, business begins with light. Not as a metaphor or inspiration, but as pixels that paint stories across the night sky. As cofounder of drone-show company Open Sky, Mortensen transforms dark skies into shared experiencesfrom Stadium of Fire to small-town rodeos.

Light can tell the story on its own, says Mortensen, who earned his MBA from BYU Marriott in 2015. The client begins with an idea. We design the message, create custom animations, and bring in music. But it really is the light that evokes the emotion and tells the story.

Open Sky took flight in 2021 when Mortensen partnered with Ryan Davis, a 2002 BYU Marriott management finance alum and cofounder of Ice Castles, who brought entertainment and real-estate experience. Drawn to drones as an environmentally friendly alternative to fireworks, the pair soon realized that the technology could do more than entertain safelyit could immerse and connect people.

Once the drones launch, a lot of the cares of the world just pause, Mortensen says. Time slows down. Your mind opens up. And you just kind of sit there in awe.

During the past three years, Open Sky has expanded its fleet from 150 drones to 1,300 and built a team of 20 designers and operatorsmany of them BYU gradswho stage hundreds of shows across the country each year.

For Mortensen, the brilliance in the sky starts with the people on the grounda team he built inspired by principles he learned at BYU Marriott. He entered the MBA program seeking a reset from corporate America and found the right way of doing business at every turn. Yes, numbers are important, he says, but if you take care of people and treat them with respect and honesty, they will be great employees and take care of the business.

The Open Sky team includes Mortensens wife, Tiffany, and his five children, ages 4 to 17, who help him prep and pack drones. His oldest daughter earned her Remote Pilot Certificate and now helps fly the formations. My 15-year-old son has probably worked the most shows of anybody in the company and has traveled to 30 states, Mortensen notes.

Some of those shows take place in massive arenas filled with thousands of spectators. Those events are very fulfilling, says Mortensen. At Stadium of Fire, we were able to integrate drones into the traditional firework experiencehave them coordinate and dance togetherwhich added a new level of entertainment.

Away from the arenas, Mortensen shares, the more intimate events highlight the community impact created by drone shows. We love small-town shows because everybody shows up and cheers for their city logo. It means so much to the local community.

Open Sky also shines light by inspiring the next generation. At many school-based shows, Mortensen and his team run a STEM booth to introduce students to drone technology and aviation careers. Its fun to open peoples eyes to drone operations and what drones can do for individuals, he says.

Whether lighting up a stadium or a hometown field, Mortensens goal is simple: We love entertaining, bringing a smile, and really delighting people. The drones illuminate not only the night sky but also a simple truth: Lightin business and in lifeleaves people a little better than it found them.

The following are students who were highlighted in BYU Marriott's 2025 Annual Report on page 9.

Whitney Sheffield knows how to perform under pressurewhether shes captaining the BYU womens lacrosse team or earning 1 of 20 BambooHR internships out of 7,000 applicants. The Bamboo executives told me I got the internship because I was a quick learner, says the ExDM senior, who grew up in Provo. Working on BambooHRs expansion development program, Sheffield guided customers toward product upgrades that improved their day-to-day work. I love HR technology because it frees people to spend more time on genuine connectionssomething that technology cant do, she says. Sheffield credits the programs theories and frameworks course, which she now helps TA, for giving her the language to understand motivation and human behavior. That focus on people felt familiar because the ExDM program had been modeling it from day one. The professors in ExDM know my name; they know my husbands name. They care deeply, and they share their testimony of Jesus Christ, Sheffield says. The confidence shes built in the ExDM program has steadied her on the lacrosse field, especially through setbacks. A post-mission ACL tear sidelined Sheffield for a year, but the trial ended up being one of my greatest experiences, she says. It gave me grit and hunger to come back and play hard. Sheffield will bring that same drive to her full-time role at BambooHR after graduating.

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Tyler Jeanneret, who grew up in Kansas City, Kansas, was the first in his family to attend BYU; hed never even set foot on the campus until he arrived as a freshman after his mission. When Jeanneret began exploring career options, he often thought about his fathera dedicated tech salesman who spent long hours on the job. How nice would it be if there was someone watching out for my father and helping him have the best experience at work? Jeanneret wondered. His path became clear when he discovered HR and the Ballard Centerboth of which fueled his long-standing desire to become an advocate for employees. His involvement with the center also led to a consulting project with Maverik, where he helped company leaders understand barriers to health insurance enrollment among its lower-income employees. Jeanneret later joined the Ballard Centers careers team, helping create pathways for students pursuing social impact roles. A masters degree was not on his radar, but mentorship from the Ballard Centers Jill Piacitelli and MPA Professor Eva Witesman nudged him onward. HR is a really good managerial degree, and I realized that an MPA would help me get an HR job in social impact or with a nonprofit, Jeanneret says. Now a first-year MPA student, he is inspired by BYU Marriotts approach to learning: Something Ive loved is that theres this huge focus on not just running efficient government or nonprofit programs but running ones that help people feel Christs love.

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Ive been building businesses since I was a kidits just the way my mind works, says entrepreneurship student Coleton Clark. As a boy growing up in Meridian, Idaho, Clark made bracelets out of paracord, displayed them on a shower curtain rod, and then sold them door-to-door. He earned enough in a single night to buy a hoverboard. That entrepreneurial drive grew, and as a teenager, Clark started his first online drop-shipping venturea tie company serving moms of missionariesthat became a meaningful catalyst in preparing him for his own mission. Clarks time at BYU Marriott post-mission inspired him to embrace the schools vision to transform the world through Christlike leadership. He founded a new tie companyVolta Ties, named for the Portuguese

, which means to returnand donated a portion of each sale to an organization in Ghana that helps formerly trafficked children. Later, Clark pulled himself out of a mental health struggle by launching a seasonal window-cleaning business. The door-to-door work created natural opportunities to share his faith with customers and his crewmost of whom were saving money for their own missions. As an entrepreneur, youre taking leaps of faith and stepping into the darkness, he says. But when I include Heavenly Father, miracles happen. As a senior at BYU, Clark enjoys his entrepreneurial leadership class and loves seeing how his professors prioritize their faith. Whats really special about entrepreneurship is that youre trying to provide value for people, he says. You have opportunities every day to help someone feel Christs love.