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Rachel Haddad remembers her favorite class as an MBA student at ��������Ƶ: Global Management. “What I loved most about that class,” Rachel says, "was that it implored us as students to be deeply considerate of another person’s culture and background. Those are lessons that reach far beyond professional life, even though they are invaluable there as well.” Haddad has taken a step forward in her own professional life. She is the new program and development director at The Staunton Creative Community Fund (SCCF) in Staunton, Va.

SCCF is a “nonprofit organization that equips entrepreneurs in the Shenandoah Valley with the tools needed to be empowered in their entrepreneurial journey,” according to Rachel. Her duties at SCCF include development, public relations and program management. This includes everything from cultivating community partnerships to managing the VIDA Program. (VIDA helps qualifying individuals save capital when starting or expanding a business.)

"Those are lessons that reach far beyond professional life, even though they are invaluable there as well."

Rachel’s graduate studies helped prepare her for her new role. “There are principles of financial management, marketing, human resources and entrepreneurship that I gained through my MBA coursework at ��������Ƶ,” she says.

Rachel earned her MBA in Management from ��������Ƶ in 2014. She earned her undergraduate degree at Carnegie Mellon University. Rachel also served as a Peace Corps Youth Development volunteer in Ukraine from 2009-2011. She describes her work with the Peace Corps as “one of the most impacting experiences of my life so far.”

Rachel attended ��������Ƶ with the help of the Peace Corps Coverdell Fellows Program.

“I had a wonderful experience as a Coverdell Fellow,” she says.  “I interned with a burgeoning agritourism business at that time, SanaView Farms. I helped to create a business plan, including market research and analysis. I learned a lot about the startup curve."

Rachel encourages others to take advantage of programs like Coverdell.  "Higher education should be an investment that launches you forward, never one that holds you back.”