Meet the MBA Class of 2022: Justin Woods, University of Michigan (Ross)

Justin Woods

University of Michigan,  Ross School of Business / University of Michigan – School of Social Work

“A social activist passionate about racial justice and Black emotional health.”

Hometown: Colorado Springs, CO

Fun Fact About Yourself: I once broke my arm while arm wrestling

Undergraduate School and Major: The George Washington University, double major in Philosophy and Political Science

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Whitman-Walker Health, PrEP Specialist

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of the school’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? Business + Impact at Ross is really a program that exemplifies my professional interests and dual degree program. I’m excited to have an opportunity to continually think about the social impact of my work and collaborate with like-minded students who want their career to have a positive social impact.

What club or activity excites you most at this school? I’m most excited about the “Consortium Fam.” Interacting with Consortium Fellows from the Class of 2021 has meant engaging in a community of dynamic, collaborative, supportive, and resilient students. The implicit affirmation that comes from seeing, studying with, and learning from people that look like you is essential to academic and social success.

What makes you most excited about getting your MBA at Ross? What makes you most nervous about starting business school? I’m most excited about the access to academic, entrepreneurial, networking, and social support resources that Ross provides its students. As a person with multiple marginalized identities, I have never been in a space where I will have as much freedom to explore my interests and the resources to pursue them. Conversely, I spend meaningful time thinking about how to maintain the courage to authentically express myself and my values in a discipline where my identities and values have not been historically represented.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: The most meaningful experience I’ve had in my career was during my Peace Corps service when I worked with LGBTI Burundian refugees at a Rwandan refugee camp who were fleeing political hostility in their home country. We worked to write an emergency grant to help them find safe housing outside of the camp where they were experiencing anti-gay/trans bias. The refugees were bold queer activists in a country whose environment was much more hostile than I’ve ever had to endure. I take pride not because I was a “savior” of the moment as I wasn’t, but because I believe I had done enough work so that my native-English, American privilege was useful and not harmful to their lives.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I started to feel boxed in in my career because there is a preference for graduate degree holders for leadership positions in the non-profit sector. At the same time, it would have been difficult for me to transition to the private sector without an MBA and I knew what I was passionate about in life and wanted to have the requisite credentials to pursue my passion unimpeded.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? With a strategy of applying to dual MSW/MBA programs through the Consortium for Graduate Studies in Management, I applied to Washington University in St Louis, University of Texas – Austin, and the University of Southern California.

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? A school I didn’t attend asked what I knew about the surrounding city and I had not visited nor done my research.

What have you been doing to prepare yourself for business school? I have spent the last year adjusting to being a graduate student as I’ve been working through my Master of Social Work degree. Additionally, I’ve been working on my venture, EQuity Social Venture, so I can maximize my time in business school to support its development.

What was your defining moment and how did it prepare you for business school? My Peace Corps experience broadly has been the most defining experience of my career thus far, where I spent most of my time as a secondary school English teacher in Rwanda. I remember going to teach one day and seeing advanced calculus on the board from the class before, more advanced than anything I ever came across in AP Calculus. Keep in mind, these students had likely never seen, let alone used, a graphing calculator. It forced me to grapple with the meritocracy narrative that invokes hard work as a means to success but doesn’t acknowledge the systemic barriers that even hard work struggles to pierce. It prepared me for business school by demanding I stay humble in acknowledging the role privilege has played in me getting here and helping me to never lose sight of our collective responsibility to create a more just and equitable world.

What is your favorite company and what could business students learn from them? Ben & Jerry’s has been unequivocal in their indictment of white supremacy and has taken meaningful action to raise awareness of its harm and to mobilize to dismantle it. Their example provides a benchmark for other businesses and organizations, particularly white-founded organizations, to engage in the (un)learning that spurs anti-racist action.

DON’T MISS: MEET THE MICHIGAN ROSS MBA CLASS OF 2022