What Happens Here Matters
An International Success Story
When Ernesto Sanchez participated in the Graduate commencement ceremony at Manhattanville College, it was the last milestone in a very long journey that spanned five years and two countries. He has an MBA from a college in Mexico, but it was always his dream to earn a Masters degree in the United States. “When I was in high school in Mexico City, I dreamed about getting my Masters degree in the U.S., but because of my family’s economic conditions it was impossible,” he said.
After earning his MBA, Ernesto went on to build a very successful career working in diverse organizations like American Express, Kimberly-Clark and JC Johnson, always as part of the Human Development leadership team. Ten years ago he was hired by PepsiCo as the People Capability Director for Foods and Beverages in Latin America, and five years ago the position required that he relocate to Port Chester N.Y. “When I was assigned to the U.S., I knew that this was my chance to go for that Masters degree,” he said. “So I did some research and I decided on Manhattanville’s Master of Science in Leadership & Strategic Management. The hot topics right now in my industry are change management, leadership innovation, and teambuilding, so I was impressed that the College was able to ‘catch’ these and put them in a program.”
However Ernesto was dealt a blow when two years ago PepsiCo required that he move back to Mexico before he finished his long sought after degree. But he was determined to not let a mere thing like distance get in the way. He negotiated a deal with his employers that allowed him to take the five-hour flight (12 hour journey total!) once a month from Mexico to take the College’s weekend class until he completed his degree in two years. His employers paid for his tuition and in return Ernesto agreed to pay for travel expenses and focus his class projects on ways to improve operations at PepsiCo.
For the final project the course required that the topic be work related and solve a work related problem. So Ernesto took an existing PepsiCo training program on managing and sustaining change, researched it, and proposed a solution that makes the program much better. PepsiCo has since adopted Ernesto's ideas and has published his final project, available for viewing above. PepsiCo plans on distributing this publication to their headquarters in Europe, the Middle East and Asia as well. “I know that my family is very proud of me,” said Ernesto. “Participating in commencement was like a dream for me, I could not believe that I had finally accomplished this.”
See more pictures and video from Manhattanville's commencement ceremonies.