The more Breann Hunt learns about social impact causes, the more she envisions businesses changing the way they operate forever. The BYU Marriott School of Business strategy senior hopes to change the industry as a social impact consultant who helps businesses take on bigger roles in making a difference in their communities. Hunt is studying strategic management at BYU Marriott because she believes the program will give her the tools to help companies make those changes.
A native of Phoenix, Hunt came to BYU because the university seemed like the natural choice, given her faith and what she calls the university’s “high-quality yet affordable” education. While she enjoyed her time at BYU before joining the strategy program, she says her experience at the university has truly been defined by her time at BYU Marriott.
Hunt felt drawn to her major because of the program’s welcoming community and focus on helping students succeed. “Becoming part of the BYU Marriott community helped me become motivated to excel,” Hunt explains. “I see my classmates with so many different accomplishments , such as developing their business skills and being accepted into careers with various industries, which is inspiring. After joining the strategy program, I truly developed confidence in my own ability to perform well.”
Because she loves the strategy program and feels like an important part of the community, Hunt works to help fellow strategy students feel the same way. She was recently appointed as the president of BYU Marriott’s Women in Strategy Association, where she focuses on ensuring that women feel welcome in the strategy program. As the upcoming school year approaches, Hunt looks forward to meeting the new women joining the strategy program so she and her fellow association members can mentor the major’s newest admits and help them accomplish their goals. “As officers, we want to support the women who are in the program so they know they have support from faculty and other students. These women belong in the program and should never feel out of place,” she says.
Helping everyone feel welcome in a community and providing mentorship is a template for Hunt’s career goals as she prepares to be a social impact consultant. She specifically wants to focus on international development. Her plans include helping people out of poverty, fostering diversity, improving labor standards, eliminating food waste, and giving everyone an opportunity to choose their life path, no matter their identity or socioeconomic status.
Hunt shares that BYU Marriott is the perfect place for her to pursue her goals because of both the strategy program and the school’s Ballard Center for Social Impact, which provides her with a way to foster her love for her future career and solidify her goals. “The Ballard Center is amazing and has opened my eyes to see how a career can be socially minded and geared towards creating impact wherever you go,” she says. “Every student should be involved in the Ballard Center because it is an incredible resource.”
Hunt believes social impact can improve and be more efficient. She says that one way to accomplish that goal is for consumers to hold businesses accountable for the social impact efforts companies make. “Every single area of business has potential to change the world,” Hunt explains. “For example, a supply chain company could use its knowledge of shipping to improve food distribution and minimize waste, allowing more food to go to starving populations.”
Hunt says an effort like this would create meaningful structural change with companies taking a more active role in making the world a better place, as opposed to token donations to nonprofits that , while important, may not have as lasting effects. “Companies can say, ‘We have found a way to provide services that benefit and change the world,’ as opposed to saying, ‘Oh, we donate to charity and let others do the work,’” she concludes.
For Hunt, the key to solving an issue such as food waste is finding the root of the problem, a process she says is a focus in her classes. “The strategy program prepares me to be able to ask a question and pick at the root of what my strategy should be for change,” she says. Hunt practices these ideas as a customer experience intern at Anglepoint, a software asset management company. “My major gives me an exceptional background for both quantitative and qualitative analysis. Both of those things have been useful at my internship and will be helpful for any future roles in my career,” Hunt adds. At Anglepoint, Hunt strives to connect her work with technology to her career goals. “While my current internship is not social impact oriented, my plans for the future include working on social problems through technological solutions.”
As Hunt continues to take strategy classes in preparation for making a difference in the world, she is driven by the thrill that comes from helping others. “If I am not involved in social impact or trying to change the world, life is boring,” she says. Hunt hopes her excitement for social impact, which drives all that she does, will allow her to land her dream job helping businesses take a bigger role in the evolving world of making a difference.
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Writer: Mike Miller
