Jordan Greene

University of California Riverside School of Business, A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management (AGSM)

“I am a hard-working, determined student with a passion for creativity, the arts, and sports.”

Hometown: San Mateo, California

Fun Fact About Yourself: I lived in Denmark for five months.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Redlands, Environmental Business major with a minor in Geographical Information Systems

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Esri, Inside Sales Representative

What word best describes the UC Riverside MBA students and alumni you’ve met so far? Supportive. As I put myself out there and was truly myself, they accepted me, and it has been a perfect fit.

Aside from classmates, what was the key part of UC Riverside’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? When I was applying to graduate schools, UCR looked at me as a whole person—I was not just another test score to them, and that made me feel seen and valued. I have dyslexia and auditory processing learning disabilities. On paper, sometimes schools and companies don’t see me as intelligent because they don’t know the whole me. I am smart, but I show it in my own way, and UCR sees how capable I am.

What course, club or activity have you enjoyed the most so far at UC Riverside? My Organizational Behavior course with Professor Elaine Wong: She teaches in a way that helps me learn. She records lectures and has her discussions in person, which allows me to listen to the lecture and pause to take notes at my own pace so that I am prepared for conversations in class. I need some time to listen to lectures more than once, and I take notes slowly, and this class accommodates that.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I currently work in sales for the nonprofit sector at my company, and I assisted a large nonprofit client in adapting their services to prevent the spread of COVID-19. During the pandemic, my sector in education and nonprofit was extremely busy. As a result, it was a challenge for me to give attention to each nonprofit, so I had to really work on my skills. I also had to always be on my toes because our approach to helping our clients had to evolve along with the changing challenges with COVID-19.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far? Learning how to study and go to school again after two years of working.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point and what do you hope to do after graduation? While I loved the teamwork, I did not love working in sales. I wanted to work for a company where I can innovate and directly help clients. I realized this when I had ideas about how we could better our customer experience with our product, but this work would not be done in sales. I met with different professionals in my company to learn more about product management, and I decided to pursue a master’s degree to prepare me for the role. I want to help develop products promoting sustainability or help run a sustainability department. I also want to work for a company that is growing and would allow me to wear different hats and help in different ways.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into UC Riverside’s MBA program? Be yourself in your admission essays. Explain who you are, how you got to this point in your career, and why you’re ready to pursue your MBA. This is what I did.

DON’T MISS: MEET THE UC RIVERSIDE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS MBA CLASS OF 2023