Student Profile: Sharing Knowledge

Zuri Briscoe '07
Co-Leader Private Equity Club, Student Liaison to the SOMAA Board of Directors
Summer internship: Citigroup Private Equity Group
Post-MBA position: Navigation Capital Partners

I was in private equity before coming to Yale SOM. I decided to get an MBA because I was very quantitatively focused. Yale allowed me to add strategy and operations to my skill set, and the ability really to think about a business holistically, and that’s what I was looking for. What’s more, I came to Yale because I really believe in the mission of the school: educating leaders for business and society. I think that’s the core fundamentally of who I am: I want not only to excel professionally but also to excel in contributing to society.

Yale SOM has more than lived up to my expectations. Getting to know my classmates, serving as co-head of the Private Equity Club, serving as a student liaison to the SOM Alumni Association board of directors and taking part in their Alumni Mentor Program — all of these were phenomenal experiences. It was great to see not just the student perspective but also the passion of alumni. I’ve met people I will keep in contact with the rest of my life. These are the sort of experiences that you can’t even imagine when you’re reading catalogs or applying.

I think the diversity of backgrounds at SOM is what makes it unique. Because of it, I’ve learned the ability to step out and understand different perspectives, which I think is useful in any type of business environment, and which I think is very useful to me going forward. I’m starting work for a lower-middle market private equity firm called Navigation Capital Partners. Part of what is needed for my job is the ability to connect with people and to be insightful; it’s also the ability to learn, and to have a willingness to learn from the people you’re partnering with. At SOM I’ve learned patience, and I think I’m a more well-rounded professional now than when I came in.

Work is a significant part of my life, but it’s not the only part. In addition to Lehigh and Yale, I’m an alumnus of several organizations — Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, Management Leadership for Tomorrow, the Robert Toigo Foundation — and I want to stay involved with these organizations and help other people as well. I got to where I am today with the help of mentors, formal and informal, in becoming the professional that I am and the person I am. One way you contribute to society is sharing knowledge that you have with others, and that’s what I’m really excited to do.

Interviewed May 25, 2007.