Bringing people together from all walks of life is important to global supply chain management (GSCM) senior Victoria Lopez. She strives to see the world through different perspectives, and through the BYU Marriott School of Business, she uses the power of relationships to collaborate on business management projects and unify the BYU Marriott community.
Early in her childhood, Lopez, a Milwaukee native, developed a deep care and concern for those felt like an outsider or were excluded. Lopez’s father is an immigrant from Mexico and her sister has an intellectual disability; in addition, her mother worked outside of the home. These experiences helped Lopez gain an understanding of the need for inclusivity.
“My childhood helped me understand the importance of including others and reaching out to people who are different than you. I want to help others learn to have uncomfortable conversations for the benefit of others,” she says.
When she first came to BYU, Lopez knew she wanted to find a career that would allow her to unify people and improve other peoples’ lives. She never thought of herself as a business-oriented person, but her mother, who worked in corporate tax, connected Lopez with a global supply chain professional who introduced her to the field of GSCM. “I liked how global supply chain offers a good mix of both qualitative and quantitative skills. I knew the program would help me improve those skills, and I knew that would be important in my future career,” Lopez explains.
Lopez also discovered how working in global supply chain aligns with her passion for bringing people together. “I liked the idea of being able to work with different types of people and being customer driven,” she adds. “The idea of bringing different people from different organizations together in order to serve customers is something that spoke to me a lot.”
Bringing others together in order to help those in need is a key piece of Lopez’s endeavors to succeed in the global supply chain management program. In addition to being diligent in her classes, Lopez involves herself in extracurricular activities that go along with her passion for inclusivity. For example, she became vice president of relations for the BYU chapter of the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA) and joined the BYU Marriott Inclusion in Business Student Society (MIBS) to help manage events for the Latino community at BYU Marriott.
Lopez became committed to both of these clubs’ objectives and helps coordinate actions to improve inclusion within her student body. She has created alumni directories and consulting programs for ALPFA and organizes student events for the MIBS. “I want to help empower minorities and help the majority be able to better connect and leave their comfort zones,” explains Lopez. “That way, we can learn more from each other and have a contributing and welcoming student body.”
Lopez is wrapping up a summer internship, where she is applying the concepts she has learned in the classroom and her desire to connect with others. She is interning at Accenture, a global technology and services company, where she is a summer analyst helping with consulting work.
Because of her love for problem solving, she plans to continue working in consulting after she graduates in April 2022. “I love making the world a better place. Through consulting, we can help other businesses improve and become more profitable, but also make a bigger positive impact on other peoples’ lives,” says Lopez.
However, for Lopez, her long-term goal is to ultimately become a professor of global supply chain where she can influence future GSCM students. “Global supply chain has so many things that I'd love to learn more about,” she says. “Being able to do research and discover ways to make the industry even more effective as a professor is something I want to do. I also enjoy mentoring and connecting with people. I want to share my experiences and advice with future students and also show them the importance of inclusivity and uniting together in order to influence people's lives for good.”
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Writer: Emily Atwood
