Mark Giesey

University of Notre Dame, Mendoza School of Business

“Curious mind with a heart for service, knack for strategy, and a love for learning.”

Hometown: Crystal Lake, Illinois

Fun fact about yourself: As a teenager, I achieved the rank of Eagle Scout with the Boy Scouts of America and have been active with the organization since. Scouting introduced me to servant leadership and ecological stewardship, values that continue to shape how I lead, serve, and engage with the world today.

Undergraduate School and Degree: Southern Illinois University Carbondale, B.S. majoring in business administration with minors in marketing and sociology

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? I worked at the College of American Pathologists, a healthcare nonprofit committed to promoting and advancing the field of pathology. I started in quality assurance as a summer intern and was offered a full-time job in information systems as a project manager. Over time, I made my way from systems to the business side of the organization to better align with my educational background. On the business side, I served as a marketing campaign manager, and finally as a sales account manager before departing to pursue my MBA.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2024? I was a Finance Leadership Development Program intern at Pella Corporation, a private manufacturing company headquartered in Pella, Iowa.

Where will you be working after graduation? I’m excited to be returning to Pella Corporation, beginning my foray into strategic cost management!

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School: Listed in chronological order

* GTGG Budgeting and Logistics Committee Member (2023): The Grow the Good Gala (GTGG) is the Notre Dame MBA program’s largest annual fundraising event and includes multiple months of programming leading up to final banquet held at the end of the fall semester. As a member of the budgeting and logistics committee, I helped with contracting, resource allocation, and transportation planning for GTGG events.

* GTGG Community Support Volunteer (2023): GTGG’s annual programming includes multiple partnerships with local nonprofit organizations, where students are encouraged to give back via a series of volunteer events. I served as an on-the-ground GTGG organizer for A Rosie Place, La Casa de Amistad, Hannah’s House, and Our Lady of the Road.

* Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation Real Estate Challenge Competitor (2024): The Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation (HEEF) hosts an annual real estate development challenge that is open to a myriad of graduate and undergraduate programs across the country. The sites that students are challenged to develop have strong historical relevance and are often tied to underserved urban populations. In 2024, my team was awarded first place.

* Real Estate Club, VP of Finance (2024-2025): As the VP of Finance for the Real Estate Club, I created the club budget and ensured that club funds were appropriately allocated. I also co-authored the club’s scope of work and event schedule in collaboration with the rest of the leadership team.

* Business Honors Program, Bradley Graduate Fellow (2024-2025): The Business Honors Program (BHP) is Notre Dame’s honors program for undergraduate business students. A Bradley Fellow is a graduate student mentor who is assigned 5-10 undergraduate BHP student mentees throughout the academic year. Mentors are expected to provide support and guidance for the undergrads as they navigate their academic journey.

* GTGG Budgeting and Logistics Committee Head (2024): I was given the incredible opportunity to return as a GTGG organizer in 2024, but this time in a management capacity. My role as the head of budgeting and logistics entailed building the budget for the GTGG, selecting contractors and securing contracts, working with the university administration to register activities, keeping track of event attendance, and providing the rest of the GTGG management team with accurate P&L reporting.

* GTGG Community Support Volunteer (2024): I served as an on-the-ground GTGG organizer for Catholic Worker Houses, Saint Vincent de Paul, and Our Lady of the Road

* HEEF Real Estate Challenge Team Leader (2025): During the second year of my MBA program, I returned to compete in HEEF’s annual real estate challenge, this time as a team leader. At the time of writing this, the case competition is ongoing.

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I had the privilege of taking all three Meyer’s Business on the Frontlines (BOTFL) courses that are currently offered by the Mendoza College of Business. BOTFL courses require prospective students to go through an application and interview process to participate, and entail working with a cross-functional team to solve complex problems using McKinsey consulting best practices. Each team can be composed of students from the business, law, or global affairs schools, and is supplemented by two alumni advisors. Each BOTFL course pairs students with a nonprofit or NGO and culminates in a 1–2-week international field visit. These experiences are intensive and involve real-world problem-solving with direct client impact. At the conclusion of each course, students are required to deliver comprehensive, client-facing recommendations for a social impact initiative spearheaded by the partner organization.

I spent spring 2024 partnering with Newmont Mining Corporation’s Ghana subsidiary. Illegal artisanal gold mining in Ghana is a major threat to the environment, as well as rural communities due to soil and water contamination. My team’s task was to build an alternative livelihood model that could be promoted to local villages via a regional NGO network. During fall 2024, I worked with another student team to put together a strategic organizational framework for Tribal Minds, a nonprofit committed to serving all 26 Indigenous communities in the state of Nevada. Tribal Minds had already done a fantastic job establishing themselves as a trusted ally to fragmented tribes in the American Southwest. It was our job as business students to assist them with scaling their organization into the future.

Finally, in spring 2025, I found myself working in the Southern Amazon rainforest region of Peru. Much like in Ghana, illegal artisanal mining practices threaten to destroy the breathtaking and irreplaceable old-growth rainforests. I was paired with peace studies students to develop a pilot program to combat the proliferation of illegal mining practices and promote ecological reclamation of impacted zones in the region. Looking back, these courses have been an incredible opportunity to learn more about the world while partnering with committed organizations to make an impact. I’m incredibly grateful to have been given the chance to experience all three offerings, which I consider to be the crowning achievement of my MBA journey.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? In late 2020, I started my own real estate holdings and property management firm, which I operated alongside my full-time job. I had always been interested in real estate. By 2020, I was confident that I could leverage my professional experience to run my own company. I was able to use my information technology experience to configure my own small-scale enterprise resource planning system, which I use for operations planning, particularly to manage tenants and keep track of maintenance requests. Establishing an information systems infrastructure was a challenge early on, but it allowed me to scale my business quickly once it was in place.

In three years, I managed to aggressively grow my company, but I decided to slow down once I applied to business school. I still actively manage operations as a full-time student and fully intend to continue scaling after graduation. I’m incredibly proud of the progress I’ve been able to make over such a short time span, and grateful for all the learning opportunities I encountered along the way. Beyond the business itself, what has been most rewarding is the ability to create safe, reliable housing for my tenants. I believe that property management is ultimately about people, not just buildings. As I continue to grow the business, I want to explore ways to deepen my community impact.

Why did you choose this business school? I believe that the value of an inclusive culture and tight-knit community cannot be overstated when it comes to the MBA experience. While Notre Dame offers intellectually stimulating coursework, distinguished faculty, and unmatched experiential learning opportunities, what ultimately drew me to the program was the indomitable spirit and camaraderie shared by the students at this university. I was looking to be a part of a diverse collective of ambitious individuals who were above all committed to making a positive impact on the world around them. Although Notre Dame has provided me with a myriad of life-changing experiences, I think what made each moment special were the teammates, classmates, and friends I had alongside me each step of the way.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Of all the incredible faculty I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, Pablo Garcia Silva stands out as my favorite. Professor Garcia Silva graduated with a M.A. in Economics from Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile (PUC), South America’s premier business school, and later earned his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Shortly thereafter, he began working for the Central Bank of Chile, earning the title of chief economist before moving to the International Monetary Fund as an executive director for three years. He returned to Chile after his short time at the IMF, this time rising to the level of vice president of the Chilean Central Bank. Around this time in his professional career, he began teaching economics at PUC alongside his role as vice president.

The university of Notre Dame offers its MBA students the chance to spend 7 immersive weeks off campus during their second year, either in Silicon Valley or Santiago, Chile. I applied and was accepted into the 7-week, finance-focused Chilean program, which was operated by Notre Dame in partnership with PUC. That said, I had the honor of meeting and being taught by none other than Professor Garcia Silva. Being an avid reader, lover of history, and advanced practitioner, Professor Garcia Silva approached economics in a way I had never experienced before. His grasp of dynamic geopolitics and macroeconomic forces in the context of historical precedents was nothing short of dazzling. While intellectually challenging, his teaching has reshaped the way I think about global markets and the underlying forces that drive them.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? Data Storytelling taught by Professor Jennifer Cronin is a course that has been particularly impactful for me, especially since I will be delving into the data-rich world of corporate finance after I graduate. The course centers around principles that define clear, concise, and persuasive presentation methods, particularly when it comes to working with complex datasets. What makes this course stand out was the hands-on and novel approaches Professor Cronin often used to teach her class. While most class sessions were taught in the traditional format, Professor Cronin occasionally surprised us with immersive experiences that brought the art of communication to life in unexpected ways.

For example, Professor Cronin brought in Scott Jackson, the Executive Director of Shakespeare at Notre Dame, to co-teach a class on public speaking. Being an avid stage performer and well-studied yogi, Scott took the class through a set of concentration exercises inspired by a fusion of medical science and yoga philosophy. The purpose of the exercises was to calm our nerves, warm up our vocal cords, and improve the enunciation and fullness of our voices. Next, Scott coached us on performance techniques, having us recite Shakespeare at varying volume while standing in different orientations relative to our audience. This workshop, like many introduced over the course of the class, challenged us to approach the art of communication from new and interesting perspectives.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? Notre Dame has a robust AI-integrated data analytics curriculum, mostly geared toward MBA students majoring in marketing. As a finance major who is also minoring in strategy and international management, I haven’t had the bandwidth to supplement my courseload with many advanced data analytics classes.

As someone with a technical background, I find analytics to be fascinating and would love to learn more about the sophisticated methods used in the business landscape today. Having a better understanding of analytical methods and capabilities would also allow me to be a better corporate partner to my colleagues on the marketing side of the business. That said, if I could relive these past two years, I would choose to enroll in or audit certain analytics classes during periods where I had the free time to do so.

What is the biggest myth about your school? One of the biggest myths I’ve heard about Notre Dame prior to attending was that the school is only suited for Catholics or those who closely follow traditional doctrine. Although the university is deeply rooted in Catholic tradition, the community is incredibly diverse in thought, faith, and background. The university encourages reflection and ethical leadership, but not in a dogmatic way. Themes like human dignity and the common good, core elements of Catholic social teaching, are frequently reflected in university programming and communications. Yet these principles closely align with widely accepted best practices in the business world, such as corporate social responsibility and servant leadership. While some might expect Notre Dame’s faith tradition to feel rigid, I’ve found it to be a place where values-driven leadership is deeply respected, no matter one’s personal beliefs.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? South Bend is a tight-knit community that is deeply proud of Notre Dame and its students. As a student, it’s empowering to live in an environment where higher education is so highly valued and supported. That pride translates into a sense of belonging that extends well beyond campus. Whether it’s community members showing up for campus events or neighbors striking up a conversation about your studies, there’s a genuine warmth and interest in your journey. The size of the town also encourages close connections. You run into familiar faces at coffee shops, farmers markets, or even public walking paths on campus. For me, South Bend became more than just the backdrop of my MBA experience. It was a place where I felt seen, supported, and welcomed.

What movie or television show (e.g. The Big Short, The Founder, Mad Men, House of Lies) best reflects the realities of business and what did you learn from it? Moneyball is a film that deeply resonates with me, especially in the context of strategic leadership. At its core, it’s a story about using data to challenge entrenched systems and redefine value, something that’s increasingly critical in today’s business landscape. The Oakland A’s couldn’t compete with big-market teams financially, so they rethought how talent was evaluated. They focused on overlooked metrics that actually predicted performance. As an aspiring business leader, it’s a reminder that world-class strategists often go against the grain. Success often hinges on the ability to leverage resources creatively and stay committed to long-term thinking, even when short-term optics look unfavorable.

Beyond analytics, Moneyball also explores the human side of transformation. Resistance to change, the loneliness of leadership, and the courage it takes to defy conventional wisdom are all key themes that are highlighted throughout the story. The film reminds me that making the right decision isn’t always popular. Principled, evidence-based leadership, even in the face of resistance, is what drives lasting innovation.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? The topic of AI, and its applicability to the resolution of complex business challenges is covered extensively in the data analytics curriculum at Mendoza. There’s a particular course, Automation and AI in Marketing taught by Professor Kevin Hartman, that explores the cutting edge, AI-driven tools currently used by data analysts. After laying out the groundwork, Professor Hartman has his students take on the role of consultants, picking a company and identifying a challenge it faces in its marketing capabilities. Students are tasked with leveraging their knowledge of AI tools to ideate a solution to the business problem. In addition to outlining an implementation plan with expected benefits, students are expected to identify operational and ethical barriers that may be relevant to the project. This experience is great for providing a nuanced understanding of AI, not just as a tool for optimization, but as a strategic capability. It reinforces the idea that successful AI adoption in business isn’t just about what technology can do, but how responsibly and effectively it’s applied.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? I started working closely with Harshit Gupta during my first BOTFL class. We were assigned to the same team and spent two weeks in Ghana bonding over late-night card games and introspective conversations. I quickly came to see that Harshit was not only deeply driven and ambitious, but also an authentic, empathetic, and caring person. He spent this past summer interning at McKinsey & Company and will be returning full-time after graduation. On campus, he consistently seeks out new challenges despite a rigorous courseload. At the same time, he is genuinely invested in the wellbeing of his classmates and always takes time to check in with those around him. In my opinion, he exemplifies the curiosity and spirit that define the very best of the Notre Dame MBA community. Harshit leads with both intellect and heart. He’s the kind of leader who raises the bar for everyone around him and does so with humility and grace. 

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

• Lead a cross-functional transformation initiative that integrates community support and empowerment into core business strategy.
• Scale my real estate firm to become a recognized leader in community-focused development.

What made Mark such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2025?

“Mark Giesey was an invaluable member of the MBA Class of 2025. While it can be tempting for students to sign-up for courses that don’t require too much effort and have little risk, Mark intentionally took three intensive courses with real-world implications: Business on the Frontlines, Frontlines in America, and Regenerating Ecologies and Economies for Livelihoods. Each of these courses involved Mark working intensively alongside a team of his peers from in the MBA program and other graduate student peers in service to local and global NGOs and nonprofit organizations so that underserved communities could have access to the dignity of work.

One of the things I admire the most about Mark is his ability to learn a new industry, functional area, and client quickly so that he can be an informed resource for his team. As a student in my Frontlines in America course, Mark served nonprofit partner Tribal Minds in Nevada. He worked tirelessly alongside his team interviewing dozens of people from Native American communities to understand the challenges they face to economic opportunity in the United States. Mark worked tirelessly to advance his own understanding of these challenges in order to lead his team in designing a solution that could have a real impact.

Mark is viewed by his peers as a dependable and thoughtful team player. His quiet approach to leadership enabled his teammates to feel empowered to contribute and offered the opportunity for a truly collaborative solution incorporating perspectives across all students and stakeholder groups.

When I think about the impact of business on our national and global society, I am encouraged by the prospect of people like Mark taking what they learned in business school to make business a powerful tool for good. Mark is certainly among the best and brightest, and I look forward to watching the success he will have in his career.”

Kelly Rubey
Associate Teaching Professor, Management & Organization
Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame

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