Two MBA Alumni Named To 2023 Poets & Quants MBAs To Watch
August 21, 2023
These two Questrom MBA Alumni are on a roll. Helena Jennifer Afordoanyi and Alexa Bragg are the two Questrom MBA alumni who were named 2023 Poets & Quants MBAs To Watch.
Helena Jennifer Afordoanyi (Questrom’23) from Accra, Ghana, chose the Questrom School of Business because it was the right program to help her “increase value in African agriculture through innovation and entrepreneurship.” She says, “during my entrepreneurial journey, I discovered a dire lack of innovation in the agricultural sector, especially in Ghana, a country which is rich in resources and agricultural potential. I found this to be one of the primary reasons why such an important industry is unable to contribute significantly to the economy… I particularly chose Boston University because of the Build Lab, an incubator that brings together and nurtures student entrepreneurs to churn their ideas into reality.”
Among many experiences, Helena served as the VP of Operations of the Christian Business Group and co-founded a robotics start up in Ghana that won a grant to produce a working prototype of a smart irrigation system. Helena also developed and launched The Breakfast Soiree, an agri-food processing business.
Helena’s favorite professor is Greg Stoller because of his “enthusiasm when facilitating classes, passion for entrepreneurship, swiftness to respond to emails, always welcoming charisma, and candid self.” Helena loved all her strategy classes, but Competitive Strategy with Professor Andy King stood out the most. Helena is going on to work for the Massachusetts Bay Transport Authority.
To read on about Helena Jennifer Afordoanyi, please visit the full Poets & Quants article.
2023 MBA To Watch: Helena Jennifer Afordoanyi, Boston University (Questrom)
Alexa Bragg (Questrom’23) from Trumbull, Connecticut, has a passion for health system transformation. Before coming to Questrom, Alexa worked at the Boston Medical Center as a Grants Administrator. To provide just a few examples of Alexa’s experiences at Questrom, her team was a finalist in the Everett V. Fox Case Competition where grad students addressed a health sector related case study and she served as the Co-Chair of the annual Health & Life Sciences conference at Questrom, an annual student run conference with about 250 attendees from around the country. She served as a teaching assistant in “Health Sector Issues and Opportunities” MBA class and was named a fellow for BU Hub’s Cross-Campus Challenge (XCC).
One of Alexa’s favorite moments was the annual Health and Life Science Conference, because “it allows students to come to the table with managers and leaders to discuss healthcare in all its hidden forms. The conference cultivates a space for diverse thinkers and changemakers, reflecting BU’s culture of ‘creating value for the world.’”
Alexa says one thing that gave her an edge during the application process was taking the “time to meet with faculty aligned to [her] career and research interests.” Alexa is going on to MITRE Corporation in Bedford, Massachusetts to work as a Health Analyst and to Brown University in Health Services, Policy & Practice, as a Doctoral Student.
To read on about Alexa Bragg, please visit the full Poets & Quants article.
2023 MBA To Watch: Alexa Bragg, Boston University (Questrom)
