Meet the MBA Class of 2023: Napoleón Astorga Solano, Notre Dame (Mendoza)

Napoleón Astorga Solano

University of Notre Dame, Mendoza College of Business

“A conscientious, hard-working, empathetic, and optimistic individual seeking better ways to do business.”

Hometown: Managua, Nicaragua

Fun Fact About Yourself: As a child, I used to pretend play to be a banker: I would put on my blazer (the only one I had) along with my most professional-looking shorts, grabbed an empty cardboard box to use as a desk, and served my only imaginary customer – Ms. Vortex (inspired by a character from the Jimmy Neutron cartoon show).

Undergraduate School and Major:

  • Master of Laws – Harvard Law School
  • Bachelor of Laws – Universidad Americana

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: In-house lawyer (young professional program) at Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI)

When you think of Notre Dame, what are the first things that come to mind? How have your experiences with the Mendoza program thus far reinforced or upended these early impressions? Mendoza is a strong believer in the good in business, motivating each of the students to go beyond what the business customs might be to find better ways – often through collaboration and teamwork – to have a stronger positive impact in the local and global communities. The school offers core and elective courses related to ethical and inspirational business leadership, creating a sense of camaraderie within the cohort. Incorporating a multi-cultural and multi-background learning team from day one, the program is able to shape competent leaders with a global vision who maximize well-being to all the stakeholders of a business.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of the Mendoza MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? In addition to the variety of majors available to the MBA students to choose from, Mendoza’s focus on experiential learning was a key driver of my decision. For me, the possibility to participate in the Business on the Frontlines course to understand the real-world effects of business decisions, and the international immersion experience to see business from a different perspective, are important aspects of a well-rounded leadership formation program.

What course, club or activity have you enjoyed the most so far at Mendoza? The course I have enjoyed the most so far due to its different approach to leadership is Leading People and Teams with Professor Colquitt. The course features a series of reading assignments on scientific research that offer strong evidence of the science behind leadership. Through this and lectures that provide insights on how to apply leadership principles to the organizational context, the course grants powerful tools that can be used to leverage human resources capabilities in the best possible way. In addition to this course, I have truly enjoyed the learn-by-doing approach of the courses in Mendoza: The in-class group problems in courses like Managerial Economics and Financial Accounting, and online marketplace simulations in Marketing Management, are the most useful way to learn complex conceptual and theoretical aspects of the lectures.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: During my time at a development bank, I had the opportunity to lead a pilot program funded by an important multilateral organization that would grant credit loans for technological improvement on small and mid-sized farms, accompanied by technical assistance to implement better farming practices. Together with a highly motivated team, we achieved outstanding results for this program that would open channels for similar programs in the future: The program had more than 3,000 beneficiaries with an average loan of six-thousand dollars, significant improvement of productivity indicators, and a default rate lower than the average in the national financial system for the industries financed.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far? As someone with no finance education background – and someone who was honestly afraid of how I would perform in this subject area – being able to obtain the highest letter grade possible for the Finance and Financial Accounting courses and receiving emails from professors congratulating me on my performance in the finals is something that I’m very proud of. It motivates me to keep working as hard as I can to succeed in every challenge I might encounter in my academic and professional life.

Mendoza is known as a purpose-driven MBA program that asks students to “Grow the good in business.” What is your mission and how has Mendoza been helping you realize it? I have seen first-hand from past and current experiences in my home country how businesses determine the faith of a society (for better or for worse). This motivated me to do good business – not only in terms of profitability, but also in terms of contribution to employees, clients, suppliers, and ultimately to society as a whole. Before coming to Mendoza, although I knew what I wanted to do and what my life-purpose was, I didn’t know how to put my ideas into practice; thanks to the Mendoza program I have been able to understand how businesses impact society, what better practices can be implemented in the business setting to make everyone better off by the existence of your business, and how to get other people as motivated as you are about an idea.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into the Mendoza MBA program? Explore and try to define what your purpose is and how Mendoza fits in that purpose; if you are able to prove that you know who you are and have a clear goal in mind for your career path, coupled with great curriculum, Mendoza will be more than willing to help you build the necessary skills for your professional life.

DON’T MISS: MEET NOTRE DAME MENDOZA’S MBA CLASS OF 2023

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