School of Business

This article traces Jagat Bakeri's impactful journey from a UCR MBA student to a successful entrepreneur and current Director of Global E-commerce and Direct to Consumer sales at Symphony Limited. His experience highlights the profound influence of a practical UCR business education, emphasizing themes of adaptability in dynamic markets, the integration of personal passions like music into professional growth, and the resilience required to navigate entrepreneurial challenges. Key takeaways for search engines include the real-world application of his MBA, his success in building and

Originally planning an engineering career, UC Riverside alumna Breanna Wright '11 pivoted to a business degree with a marketing focus after discovering a passion for economics. This decision launched her into a fulfilling career in international development, agribusiness, and federal policy, marked by two impactful Peace Corps assignments where she applied her business skills to empower rural women and promote sustainable gardening. Now Vice President of Talent for The Management Center, a D.C. nonprofit, Wright champions the versatility of a business education and encourages students to

Nitesh Kapuri '25 MBA, a UCR student, founded Himalayan Blends premium tea and coffee to address the lack of recognition and fair compensation for Nepalese farmers, despite their production of award-winning, high-altitude, organic products. Motivated by witnessing the farmers' struggles firsthand, Kapuri established Kapuri Group in the U.S., overseeing everything from sourcing directly from farmers to branding, and building a team in Nepal for operations and quality control. Himalayan Blends also prioritizes ethical business practices and fair trade, significantly supporting female-run farms

UC Riverside alumnus Andrew Pramschufer, CEO of aerospace supplier HC Pacific, shares his journey from academic struggles to successful business growth, emphasizing the importance of perseverance, leadership skills, and a willingness to learn. Pramschufer, a '96, '98 MBA graduate, highlights how overcoming early college challenges and developing both analytical and emotional intelligence were crucial to his career. He values his ongoing connection to the UC Riverside School of Business, now a "dominant player" in military distribution, and seeks to hire more UCR graduates. His key career

Matt Gerlach ’05 started in sales within the metal distribution sector right after graduation from the UCR School of Business, and as he attained a number of other sales leadership positions at varying companies, he grew ever more successful.

Manasa Savanur, a 2023 Master of Finance graduate from UCR, shared her investment expertise in a 2024 webinar, focusing on foundational topics like financial literacy, goal setting, and risk tolerance. As a senior risk analytics consultant at Wells Fargo, she bridges engineering and business teams, utilizing skills in Python, SQL, and Power BI.

During her first year at the A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management (AGSM), Camila Chaves Naranjo ’23 MBA was introduced to data analysis, “and I felt it was an area that I could have a better career,” she says. “I was passionate about the topic and ready to learn.

While shopping for cards and gifts for friends, Claire Yuan ’18 says, “I found greeting cards in stores to be plain, and I spent a lot of time looking for the right gift to pair with them. I thought if there was a product that combined both a card and gift, it would save time and make gifting more efficient.” This epiphany came while she was earning an MBA at UCR’s A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management, and she realized her classmates felt the same. “That’s when I decided to create LoveEcho Cards,” says Yuan, who is originally from Shenyang in northeast China and currently lives in