Zicklin School of Business Students Participate in Harvard’s Summer Venture in Management Program

September 19, 2019

Five Baruch College students from the Zicklin School of Business spent part of their summer in Cambridge, MA, to participate in the highly selective Harvard Business School Summer Venture in Management Program (SVMP). Chosen on the basis of their academic achievements and demonstrated leadership, the students are Christopher Hall, Patrick Lavilla, Debbie Li, Juan Diaz, and Shaffiou Assoumanou.

Now in its 37th year, SVMP is an intensive weeklong program for rising seniors designed to increase diversity and opportunity in business education. According to Harvard Business School (HBS), the program helps students “develop a broader understanding of the challenges business leaders face, and the impact they can have on their community and the world through business leadership.”

Using the renowned case method of instruction, Harvard’s faculty lead class discussions on current management issues. Students spend evenings analyzing real-world business cases and use morning study groups and classes to examine and debate their ideas with peers and faculty.

Meet the Zicklin Students

Learn how Harvard’s SVMP influenced and inspired these four Zicklin students.

Christopher Hall (’19) BBA in Finance, dual minor in Math and Communications

“During this experience, I learned that I deserve to be here and am confident in my abilities to get into an Ivy League university for graduate school. As an African American student with two learning disabilities, and the first generation in my family going to college raised by a single mother, I am eager to set an example and show others they can do anything they put their mind to. It does not matter what your GPA is, what you have, do not let that limit you and bring you down. Instead, embrace what you have, be the positive change and motivator, and keep on striving, pushing, achieving to go further.”

Debbie Li (’20) BBA in Economics

“Yale and several other reputable universities have similar accelerated MBA programs such as SVMP, but nothing tops HBS and their renowned case study method. The case study method—applied to all 14 of our cases in the program—reflected the uncertainty that business executives and global leaders navigate every day. I thoroughly enjoyed the relevancy and breadth of each case.”

Juan Diaz (’19) BBA in Finance and Investments

“I was looking forward to exposure of the HBS case method approach and to interact freely with the faculty and peers about real management issues. This allowed me to provide insightful ideas by learning from and understanding the experiences of others. During this experience, I was hoping to expand who I am as an individual. I wanted to develop new leadership skills and learn how to better share my experiences with others. Collectively, we assembled a strong foundation based on shared experiences in ways that provided meaningful lifelong relationships with one another.”

Shaffiou Assoumanou (’20) BBA in Economics, minor in Political Science

“I participated in this program to explore the Harvard Business School and determine whether it is the right place for me to get my MBA in the future; to network and develop meaningful relations with professors and faculty at Harvard and with the 182 students who attended the program; and increase my chances of being admitted into the HBS program. The HBS case studies taught me great lessons about leadership, decision-making, success, rising from failures, and many other great lessons.”

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