Each year, a committee of two MBA alumni, two MBA students, and two MBA staff representatives come together to review funding proposals for student projects. The funds come from an endowment established by MBA alumni in 2005—the MBA Alumni Endowed Excellence Fund (MAEEF). This fund is the most direct way that alumni invest in students and the legacy of the MBA program.

This year the committee awarded $23,000 to support a wide variety of projects:

Mexican Graduate Association’s MBA Mexico Conference: This conference brings top Mexican leaders, including CEOs, entrepreneurs, and former presidents, to discuss important issues affecting Mexico in a given year. It is attended by most Mexican MBA students in top programs around the country. The conference rotates each year to a different city and MAEEF funds allowed Texas McCombs to host the event in March 2018.

McCombs Minute-by-Minute Video Project: This is a unique video project with the goal of capturing how students’ goals and ambitions change as they advance through the MBA program. The final film will feature 30 one-minute videos that students submitted during their application process, followed by the same 30 students remaking the same admissions video from their perspective shortly before graduation. MAEEF funds will support the film that will be part of the class of 2019 disorganization week.

The McCombs Diversity Conference is a one-day student-led conference in collaboration with business leaders that aims to educate attendees on the impact, challenges, and future of diversity and inclusion in the business world. The McCombs Diversity Conference will be an engaging experience for business leaders, future and prospective McCombs students, and the greater-Austin community because it will create a unique opportunity to connect, network, and share in others’ experiences, and also explore potential solutions and action plans. Made possible in part by MAEEF support, the Diversity Conference will showcase McCombs as a top institution for diverse applicants and create a gateway for more job opportunities for diverse talent in Austin.

GBC Inter-Faith Holiday Party: This dinner is one of a series of events planned by the Graduate Business Council (GBC) to highlight diversity and inclusion initiatives at the McCombs School. With MAEEF support, the GBC intends for the dinner to provide a platform for the McCombs community to learn from the different perspectives of others.

PitchTexas is an annual MBA pitch competition hosted by the Entrepreneur Society. The most recent event received 24 first round applications and 16 teams were invited to compete at McCombs. Participating schools included UVA, Vanderbilt, University of Arkansas, University of Delaware, Georgia State, TCU, UT Dallas, UT San Antonio, and UT Austin. Thirteen local entrepreneurs and venture capitalists judged the semifinals and the top four teams advanced to the final round held at SXSWi’s Startup Village (Roger Stewart, MBA ’19, with PitchTexas pictured above). Nearly 100 people attended the final round. This event strengthens the Texas McCombs brand and emphasizes its entrepreneurial reputation. MAEEF support will help the Entrepreneur Society to continue to grow this event and expand its reach.