Anna Schniepp

McGill University, Desautels Faculty of Management

“Passionate about sustainability, continuously seeking new experiences, and naturally curious about the world.”

Hometown: Chicago, Illinois

Fun fact about yourself: My friends have banned me from outdoor activities that involve water crossings because I have fallen into a river one too many times.

Undergraduate School and Degree: I have a Bachelor of Arts in Commercial French Studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? I worked at TV5MONDE États-Unis as a Program Marketing Coordinator.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2023? I interned as a Strategic Sourcing Specialist with a boutique procurement consulting firm, ETCH Sourcing. The company is fully remote, so I was located in Montreal while most of the team was based in Calgary.

Where will you be working after graduation? I’m excited to say that after graduation I will be continuing with ETCH Sourcing as a Strategic Sourcing Specialist!

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

• Lecky Foundation MBA Leadership Award
• Desautels MBA Award
• President of the Desautels Lifestyle Committee
• Business Ethics Ambassador for the Laidley Centre for Business Ethics

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I participated in the John Molson MBA International Case Competition, which was an incredibly intense, week-long case competition. My amazing team and I did not fully know what to expect, but we really came together and ended up winning two rounds. We also noticed a massive improvement in the quality of our submissions between the first and last round, and it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my MBA.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I’m proud that I was able to pivot my career! I wanted to switch from marketing to focus on sustainability, but it initially felt it was too big a leap and worried I wouldn’t be able to make the transition. Thankfully, I stayed focused on my goals and kept an open mind, which helped me find a niche that marries my experience in marketing with my interest in sustainability.

Why did you choose this business school? For me, McGill Desautels was a perfect fit because I knew I wanted to shift to a sustainability-related role and McGill’s reputation and faculty-wide emphasis on sustainability meant I was able to get a lot of support and access to opportunities that helped me make the jump.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Professor Sujata Madan is one of the kindest and most caring teachers I have ever had, and she does a wonderful job of breaking down concepts in a way that is easy to understand. She was one of the first professors I had in the program and created such a positive experience that I absolutely had to take another class with her in my last semester.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? My favorite course was Managerial Negotiations because it was a great blend of theory and practical application. During each session, we had a mock negotiation that touched upon different scenarios and challenges to really bring the subject to life. Professor David Saunders brings great insights from his extensive negotiation experience.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? Because our cohort was the first to be fully in person post-pandemic, we were in a unique position whereby we weren’t as influenced by previous traditions. Instead, we maintained a collaborative spirit and fostered a culture of support where I knew I could ask any one of my classmates for help stands out to me.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? I would trust myself more. I came into the program with a direction I wanted to pursue. After the program started, I worried about what I “should do” because it seemed like all my classmates were going in an entirely different direction. I ended up where I wanted to be, but I wish I had recognized earlier that the only path I should pay attention to is my own.

What is the biggest myth about your school? I can’t say that I knew of any myths about McGill before enrolling.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? I love so many things about Montreal, but summers are my favorite! The energy is infectious, and you can feel the whole city come alive, with everyone out enjoying the festivals, grabbing dinner on a terrace, or walking along the canal.

What surprised you the most about business school? I worried that because I came from a liberal arts background, I was going to have to do a lot of work to catch up to my classmates, but I quickly realized that everyone brought their own unique strengths and experiences to the program.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Pranay Bhanot is someone who is always willing to help his classmates, and, during one of my most challenging semesters, he never hesitated to help me with difficult assignments. I’m also endlessly impressed by how much effort he has put into his personal growth journey, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for him.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

• Help companies transition to sustainable business practices
• Continuously seek opportunities to learn and grow my expertise

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

“Besides cat/dog/plant sitting and volunteering to drive around classmates and friends, including round-way trips to the US border for them to get their paperwork in order, Anna has successfully pursued her professional and personal objectives.

She exhibits natural charisma and grace under pressure, always maintaining a positive attitude and genuine interest in others. The more I interacted with Anna, the more I wanted to learn about her. Integrity, intellectual curiosity, empathy, and complex problem-solving are part of her driving forces in enabling change. Sustainability and EDI are not buzz words for her. True to her objectives, she’s committed to helping companies transition to sustainable business practices. Within four months as a Strategic sourcing specialist at ETCH, Anna incorporated UN sustainable development goals and designed the diversity, equity, and inclusion component of a go-to-market strategy. She also won the 2022 Desautels Sustainability Challenge.

Guided by her constant thirst for learning and growing, she doesn’t hesitate to go outside of her comfort zone. After a degree in commercial French studies and an exchange at the prestigious Sciences Po Paris, she joined the McGill MBA program and quickly lead a consulting project with McGill not-for-profit consulting. Not to mention rock climbing and river crossings…

Through her contacts, Anna arranged a corporate visit in Frankfurt to ZeroG, a cutting-edge AI and data aviation solutions provider during the 2023 MBA international trip to Germany. As she pursues her career with ETCH, Anna continues to promote and support other McGill MBA candidates.

As a multifaceted, intelligent, impactful communicator, compassionate and decisive leader, I’m confident Anna was an invaluable addition to the Class of 2024 and the program in general. We look forward to her achievements!”

Anne-Jennifer Challard
Associate Director
MBA Career Coach
Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University

DON’T MISS: MBAS TO WATCH: CLASS OF 2024