When second-year MBA student Cody Steverson packed his bags for Indonesia this summer, he wasn’t heading to a typical internship. Instead, supported by a $10,000 Sylff Fellowship and the backing of McCombs+, he was embarking on a mission to tackle one of Southeast Asia’s most pressing challenges: access to clean water.
What is McCombs+ Global Career Accelerator?
“Many people think of Bali as a paradise, but it’s grappling with a massive water problem,” Steverson shared in a recent Sylff Association feature about his experience through Global Career Accelerator program offered through McCombs+. This initiative offers MBA students up to $10,000 in Sylff Fellowship funding to work with NGOs and sustainability organizations abroad, creating opportunities for real-world impact while building global leadership skills.
The water challenge Steverson encountered illustrates why these international experiences matter. Contaminated drinking water contributes to the deaths of over 10% of Indonesian children under five due to diarrheal diseases. In Bali specifically, untreated sewage, business waste, and plastic pollution have severely degraded water quality in rivers and coastal areas.
Most families rely on plastic bottles that have been sitting in the heat all day or spend precious energy boiling water before drinking it. It’s exactly the kind of complex global challenge that McCombs+ prepares our students to tackle through hands-on, experiential learning.
How International Fellowships Create Business Impact
Terra Water Indonesia, a mission-driven startup and longtime partner of our Global Connections program, produces high-quality water filters made entirely from natural, locally sourced materials. These ceramic filters, crafted from clay, activated carbon, and colloidal silver, can purify water from virtually any freshwater source—taps, wells, rivers, even rice paddies.
“For a typical Indonesian family that usually buys bottled water, the lower-end models would pay for themselves in just two months,” Steverson notes. The technology works—it’s been rigorously tested by multiple universities and the Indonesian Ministry of Health. But there was a gap between innovation and adoption.
Experiential Learning Programs that Develop Global Leaders
That’s where Steverson’s McCombs training kicked in. Despite the filters’ effectiveness, Terra faced a classic startup challenge: lack of market awareness. “People didn’t know we existed. They’d never seen anything like our filters before,” he told the Sylff Association.
Rather than just analyzing the problem, Steverson applied his business training to real-world challenges—the kind of experiential learning that defines McCombs+ programs. “One of the most valuable things my McCombs coursework gave me was an appreciation for the importance of understanding the environment you’re operating in,” Steverson reflects. “That mindset pushed me to do on-the-ground market research in Indonesia to figure out where Terra Water could create the most value.”
The business environment in Indonesia couldn’t have been more different from the U.S., yet Steverson was able to adapt quickly and find creative solutions. Through our Global Career Accelerator initiative, students don’t just observe international organizations; they actively contribute to growth strategies and business development. He negotiated with a Michelin-starred restaurant to start using Terra’s filters, turning the chef into a brand advocate and opening up an entirely new market segment. He partnered with a hotel that now highlights the filters as part of their sustainability efforts. He even reached out to the Makadaya Foundation, a major Indonesian startup accelerator, securing a purchase of eight filters and establishing a relationship that hadn’t existed before.
But the impact extended far beyond business results. “Over the course of the summer, I circumnavigated the planet, from running a marathon in Copenhagen, to the Pyramids of Giza, to the Taj Mahal, to jungle treks in Bali,” Steverson shares. “I saw some of the most breathtaking places in the world, but the real highlights weren’t places at all. They were people. The friendships I made, the meals shared, and the conversations I had are what made every moment meaningful.”
Real Impact, Real Results
This is exactly what McCombs+ is designed to do—provide our students with individually tailored experiences that go far beyond traditional academics. Through our Sylff Fellowship program, we can offer up to $10,000 to students working with NGOs or sustainability organizations abroad, creating opportunities for the kind of experiential learning that develops influential business leaders.
Steverson’s experience exemplifies our commitment to action-based learning. He wasn’t just observing Terra’s operations—he was actively contributing to their growth strategy, representing the company at a TEDx event in Jakarta, and laying groundwork for future collaboration between Bali-based sustainability startups and internationally minded McCombs students.
The experience also provided unexpected career clarity. “I originally took an internship in Indonesia because I thought I wanted to live and work abroad,” Steverson explains. “What surprised me most was realizing that, while travel is incredible, living out of a backpack for three months made me appreciate the comfort of having a home base and a strong community.” This insight has reshaped his post-MBA career plans toward partnership and program management roles where he can build relationships and foster collaboration – work that values the deep connections he discovered mattered most to him.
Expert Advice for Future Global Career Accelerator Participants
Cody’s advice for future participants? “If you’re considering an international experience as part of your time at McCombs, the best advice I can give is to lean all the way in,” Steverson says. “Be open to new cultures, new foods, new customs, and new ways of thinking about the world. Step out of your comfort zone at every opportunity.”
He emphasizes how transformative this mindset can be: “There’s something incredibly rewarding about immersing yourself in a society completely different from your own. It reshapes how you see the world and your place in it. You start to understand not only the challenges different communities face, but also the creative, resourceful ways they solve them. That kind of perspective stays with you, and it will shape how you approach global business and policy challenges for the rest of your career.”
The sustainability sector, he notes, is particularly welcoming: “Organizations focused on sustainability are actively searching for passionate, talented people. If you care about the work someone is doing and believe you can contribute, don’t hesitate to reach out. The community is full of people who genuinely want to make a difference, and they are often eager to mentor, collaborate, and open doors for others who share that mission.”
Lasting Impact, Global Connections
By the end of his internship, Steverson had not only strengthened Terra’s partnerships with local businesses but also created a bridge for future McCombs students to engage with sustainability challenges in Southeast Asia. He gained invaluable cross-cultural leadership experience while making a measurable impact on a pressing global issue.
This kind of meaningful, hands-on experience is what sets McCombs apart. Our students don’t just learn about global business—they actively shape it. Through programs like our Sylff Fellowships and ongoing partnerships with organizations like Terra Water, we’re preparing the next generation of leaders to tackle the world’s most challenging problems with both business acumen and social consciousness.
Interested in experiential learning opportunities through McCombs+? Our team provides access to global programs, industry expert seminars, micro-consulting projects, and professional coaching designed to accelerate your leadership development through real-world action.
Start Your McCombs Journey
Ready to begin your MBA journey? Learn more about the Hildebrand MBA at Texas McCombs. For detailed information about application components and deadlines, check out our Application Process page.
