Michael Bleggi

UCLA, Anderson School of Management

“Passionate about uplifting voices, bringing smiles to my friend’s faces, and exploring the world.”

Hometown: Pinehurst, NC

Fun fact about yourself: I became a dual Italian-American citizen while in business school, helping connect me to my family’s roots in Bleggio, Italy.

Undergraduate School and Degree: Duke University, B.A. Political Science, Minors in Statistical Science and Economics

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Executive Director, Sandhills PRIDE

Where did you intern during the summer of 2023? ExxonMobil | Houston, TX

Where will you be working after graduation? ExxonMobil Finance

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

Roles:
Executive Vice President, Anderson Student Association
VP of Education & Ally Relations, Out@Anderson
Director of Community Impact | Section C, Anderson Student Association
Teaching Assistant for Urban Real Estate Finance, Ziman Center for Real Estate
Riordan Scholar Mentor

Honors:
Sandy Sigoloff Fellowship for Leadership Potential
Dean’s List
ROMBA Consulting Case Competition Second Place Finalist

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I am most proud of enshrining UCLA Anderson’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in our student government bylaws. In my first term as student body vice president, our cabinet was faced with a dilemma: we had a bylaw on our books that weakly addressed improving the representation of underrepresented students and was in contention with California’s constitution. There was a clear gap in how much stronger we could push our commitment to all students. I reached out to multiple students, professors, legal professionals, administrators, and alumni to determine how to best to draft the new bylaw. After writing it up, it passed within the first quarter on the job.

This opportunity allowed me to work with many people in the Anderson community, show a commitment to my passion of DEI, and demonstrate the values at our school. Seeing how flexibly and fervently the Anderson community came together to move forward was only the beginning in a role that continues to inspire me.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? While working at Sandhills PRIDE, I ran a training program that gave working and education professionals practical, tangible strategies on how to be more inclusive of LGBTQ+ people and reduce anti-LGBTQ+ culture and policies. The goal? I wanted to improve mental health outcomes and reduce suicide rates of youth in the southern region of North Carolina where we were located.

I took over the project when trainings were taking place in one or two classrooms every few months. Within a year of focusing on strategic partnerships, we expanded our footprint to 11 different counties and multiple school districts that impacted nearly a million students. Because of our efforts, we saw policy changes that directly protected LGBTQ+ students I received numerous beautiful messages from those students, and expanded our program to go beyond education into government and the business world. This expansion reinforced the idea that no matter where you are, with the right approach, human rights efforts could find success and develop the momentum necessary to see real, positive change.

Why did you choose this business school? I chose to attend UCLA Anderson because of the community. To begin my search to find which business school was the best fit, I attended the ROMBA Conference, a space for LGBTQ+ pre- and current MBAs. I connected with an extraordinary array of students across different programs, which were all impressive in different areas. However, the moment I met with representatives from UCLA Anderson, I knew it was the school for me.

Every student I connected with knew each other or friends with one another. They were somehow both competitive while entirely supportive of each other’s pursuits, even to the point of helping each other prepare for an interview in the same role. No other school I encountered demonstrated the high degree of communal support (and fun) that I knew would help propel me forward in my career. So much of the value of an MBA is in the network it provides, but a network is only as valuable as you are willing to use it. As a naturally introverted person, I found the UCLA Anderson network (endearingly known as the Anderfam) to be one that I wanted to go out of my way to interact with and engage.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? My favorite course as an MBA has been Professor Cassie Holmes’ “Applying the Science of Happiness to Life Design.” The class covers real-world strategies backed by research on how to improve your happiness, much of which was developed by Professor Holmes herself. I hadn’t taken a course before where the homework was quite literally the theory put into practice, not to mention this was the first class where homework felt immediately rewarding.

Assignments from tracking time and digital detoxing to something as deceptively difficult as getting a full night’s rest changed how I approached my life. It taught me how valuable my time was and how powerful intentionality can be.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? My favorite MBA tradition at UCLA Anderson is Andernoons, a weekly happy hour that brings together the Full-Time, Fully Employed, and Executive MBA students. Different clubs host Andernoons, so there is often a variety of foods and entertainment, with a recent favorite being the Carnival-themed evening put on by the Brazilian students.

It’s the perfect opportunity to let my hair down and get to know my classmates, professors, and administrators in a more casual setting, where conversations drift between what’s the latest trend in an industry to family updates. Andernoons reinforces my feeling of community at Anderson and my reason for pursuing my MBA at such a wonderful school.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? I would go to more events! Many of my favorite memories were made during treks, weekend getaways, nights at restaurants, and attending presentations and conferences put on by my classmates. One of my favorite experiences was going on a trip to Japan planned by my Japanese classmates. They planned the experience in a way I had never traveled before, hitting small, local shops while visiting major tourist destinations. On top of that, I would randomly run into other Anderson classmates while in Tokyo and Kyoto, only to find out these occurrences were planned.

My experience in Japan showed me I should that I shouldn’t have missed out on trips to Mexico, Las Vegas, or other class trips. I opted to not go on many trips because of academics or other pursuits. However, there’s very little that can replace the bonding felt on a trip spent together, and I wish I had made it more of a cornerstone of my MBA experience, rather than an exciting, rare highlight.

What is the biggest myth about your school? Contrary to popular belief, UCLA Anderson is more than going to the beach and enjoying the amazing weather. The L.A. vibe is a major bonus to attend, but I was impressed by how rigorous the academics can be. My classes in corporate finance, investment management, and real estate finance and investing were demanding, requiring skillsets in (my rusty) multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and statistics. I felt that my classes translated what I had learned in undergrad into useful applications that gave me a firmer understanding of both theory and practicality. That being said, it’s hard to beat going out to see the sunset on Santa Monica after class.

What surprised you the most about business school? The power of authenticity surprised me most about my time at business school. Coming from the nonprofit space, I knew I needed a business education to give me a practical understanding of finance, a skillset many nonprofits desperately needed. My impression was that I needed to shift from my voice cultivated to share my experience to one that could make light jokes of the latest article in the Wall Street Journal.

I found the opposite to be true. My experience and my drive to mix social impact with finance gave me an edge. I felt empowered speaking up in class when debating cases by folding financial literacy within a human rights framework. Even in interviews, I directly stated that I shouldn’t be hired if I couldn’t see how what I’m doing was helping people’s lives, which opened the door to unique conversations on what tangible steps are positively impacting the world beyond CSR initiatives. In short, being authentic gave me a competitive advantage in not only learning and recruiting but also expanding my own preconceived notions about the for-profit world.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Juhie Rathor is one of the most incredible people I’ve ever met, and most certainly the MBA classmate I most admire. Juhie and I served as president and vice president of the student body, respectively, and together tackled some of the most difficult management and executive questions I’ve faced. Whenever we encountered a particularly difficult challenge, we would huddle together in the student government room, with Juhie organizing what issues we needed to solve first without losing sense of our overall goal.

She is an exemplar in kind yet firm decision making, considering multiple sides and how to best provide a solution. Her poise in communicating our decisions, either with Dean Bernardo or an outside vendor, immediately gave a sense of creditability to our position while instilling confidence in a reciprocal and beneficial professional relationship. I see her leading the world in a meaningful way in the future, and I’m very excited to stay in contact with her after my MBA.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? The first item on my professional bucket list is to work in various countries across the world. My family prioritized travel when I was younger, so I was fortunate to grow up with a sense of adventure and love of discovery. My goal is work in all six habitable continents throughout my career (sorry Antarctica – I don’t like the cold).

The second item on my bucket list is to start my own consulting business that takes strategies learned at the most successful, long-lasting companies, like ExxonMobil, and translating them into the context of entities pursuing social impact work, like nonprofits and social entrepreneurs. This calls to my experience in nonprofits, where incredible ideas don’t necessarily come with handbooks. Here, we have businesses that have survived through multiple crises, and came back stronger every time. In order to move the world toward something we can all be proud of, we need to make sure the ideas that benefit people can also survive, and I want to be part of the reason they survive.

What made Michael such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2024?

“Michael Bleggi epitomizes thoughtfulness. His contributions in class always push the conversation forward in new and exciting directions. His leadership style is infectious: students gravitate to him not only because of the content of what he says but also how he says it. He is warm, intellectual, and funny and I’m looking forward to seeing the mark that he leaves on the world!”

Hal Hershfield
Professor of Marketing and Behavioral Decision Making & Marketing Area Chair
UCLA Anderson School of Management

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