Ivy Emerging Leaders

High-potential business students spent their winter breaks alongside C-level executives

The Ivy Seminar Series for Emerging Leaders is an annual winter session program aimed at connecting business students with C-level executives from the Ivy College of Business Dean’s Advisory Council. This year, the series ran from December 20 to January 10 and provided four seminars.

The program is co-directed by Kathy Wieland, director of business career services; Tabatha Carney, director of graduate business career services; and Wei Zhang, Kingland Systems Business Analytics Faculty Fellow and associate professor of marketing.

Each week, a business or non-profit executive shared their thoughts on a particular aspect of leadership with a select group of 20 high-potential Ivy students during a one-hour, live Zoom meeting. These weekly seminars allowed students to learn from successful industry professionals in a personalized manner.

“What I have found from most of these leaders’ talks is that they are not only teaching students how to be good leaders, but they are also teaching them how to be better individuals,” said Zhang. “I hope students will take what they have learned from these conversations and incorporate it into their daily lives.”

With only 20 students accepted to the series this year, the smaller size allowed for a more individualized and exclusive experience. Admission to the seminar series was offered to the students who best demonstrated their passion for academic and professional growth.

“It was a pleasure to be able to work with top students who are so highly engaged in their learning that they would participate in a program over the winter break without credit or compensation, but purely for the sake of learning about leadership,” said Wieland.

Among those selected was Maxine Bellwether, a senior in accounting who is involved in the Ivy Student Council and Collegiate Women in Business student organizations.

“This event is a learning experience for me,” said Bellwether, “both for learning leadership skills and meeting important individuals who are highly advanced in their careers. I am extremely grateful to have this opportunity.”

“At every step of our lives, we are emerging in leadership. Sometimes all it takes is a little support for you to recognize that CEO potential within yourself.”

— Aspen Howard

In addition to holding senior leadership positions, the program speakers were also Ivy College of Business graduates themselves, which helped foster stronger connections between the speakers and students.

Among the program speakers was Kurt Tjaden, former president and CEO of HNI International, who is also a professor of practice in management and entrepreneurship at Ivy.

“This was a unique opportunity to engage with top Ivy students and make a positive impact on their Iowa State experience and provide real-world business perspective,” said Tjaden. “It was, in a word, energizing. The students were engaged and asked great questions. It was clear they were fully invested in the program.”

The eagerness and excitement of the executives involved helped create engaging learning environments, leaving a lasting impact on the students. This impact was further cemented through the help of Wieland and Zhang, who closed each week’s presentation with a debrief session. This allowed for students to more effectively grasp what was covered and gave them the opportunity for questions and discussion.

Following the annual tradition, the final session ended with Spalding providing closing remarks and presenting students with certificates of completion.

“The Emerging Leaders program allowed me to learn about leadership from so many new perspectives, showcasing the individual journeys of both the guest speakers and my peers,” said Aspen Howard, a sophomore in marketing and entrepreneurship. “It allowed us to be vulnerable in many aspects—from asking questions to sharing the trials and tribulations that accompany every leadership role.”

“This program reminded me that we all persevere, learn, and grow, whether you have the status of an executive or are an average college student like me,” said Howard. “At every step of our lives, we are emerging in leadership. Sometimes all it takes is a little support for you to recognize that CEO potential within yourself.”

Learn more about Ivy events.

To connect with Bellwether, visit her LinkedIn page.

To connect with Howard, visit her LinkedIn page.