Gillian Grossen

Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, Cornell University

“Analytical and creative consultant pivoting to investment banking who can debate with you in English and Spanish.”

Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Fun Fact About Yourself: I ranked in the top 5 nationally for debate during my senior year of high school. Today, I continue to hone my public speaking skills by coaching students at high schools and summer camps, authoring research briefs, and organizing a community debate series that engages 20+ participants in critical discourse.

Undergraduate School and Major: Northwestern University, Economics and Political Science Majors

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Accenture, Strategy Consultant (Industry alignment – Financial Services)

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of Cornell’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? Cornell Johnson’s ample experiential learning opportunities, such as the Immersion and Intensive courses, made it the standout choice for pursuing my MBA. This curriculum structure arms Johnson graduates with tactical and applicable experience before returning to the labor market. Each of the first year Immersions, taken in spring, is tailored towards students’ upcoming internships and even offers the option to design your curriculum to suit unique roles.

I found the Fintech Intensive offered during the second year extremely compelling. My background at Accenture prior to MBA exposed me to established financial services companies and cutting-edge technologies across the value chain. This Intensive would allow me to deepen my industry expertise in financial technology applications and become better versed in how upcoming, agile companies are applying them efficiently at scale.

What excites you the most about living in Ithaca and the Finger Lakes region? The elevation! Between my two home bases in Chicago and South Florida, I have always lived at sea level. I am thrilled to see rolling hills, rivers, gorges, and mist in the mornings every time I walk out of my apartment or across campus. Ithaca is truly a nature lover’s paradise. I would like to try trail running while the weather is still good.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at Cornell? I practically have my bags packed already for the Johnson Leadership Expedition based in Patagonia, which students embark on over winter break. Cornell Johnson has a strong leadership curriculum, led by faculty such as Laura Georgianna, whose guidance and mentorship in a wilderness setting will enable me to grow as a leader and literally “get out of my comfort zone” via a week-long hiking experience.

As a first-generation American with Argentinian heritage, I am eager to visit, reconnect with the culture, and share those experiences with my new MBA friends. I’m looking forward to sharing with the group the art of yerba mate on-the-go using a bombilla and thermos.

What is your unique quality that will enable you to make a big contribution to the Class of 2027? Why? Realistic Optimism: I am constantly viewing situations from a “glass half-full” perspective. Where others see problems, I see opportunities. In fact, barriers or limitations that require creative solutions spur innovation. I demonstrated this characteristic while analyzing a client’s call center data and discovering issues in their data hierarchy. Instead of framing my findings as another to-do in their backlog, I positioned it as an opportunity to enhance data quality and streamline billing operations. By proactively engaging with client executives, we jointly developed an approach that resulted in a $1M project expansion and mitigated millions in potential risk.

At Cornell Johnson, I look forward to bringing this mindset to support my peers in achieving their goals. I plan to work with fellow students launching start-ups by helping them navigate early-stage challenges, drawing on my experience devising new initiatives for clients in consumer products, healthcare, energy, and financial services industries.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: M&A Strategic Advisory: I led a team working directly with an F100 CEO on acquisition strategy with the goal of driving upwards of $10B in organic and inorganic growth. My team conducted due diligence of the fragmented competitor landscape to identify acquisition targets and supported the C-suite on post-acquisition integration of a $5B business, including new market entry, product strategy, and operating model redesign. As a result, we continued to collaborate with this client on a host of new opportunities stemming from our initial recommendations.

This engagement stands out as the biggest accomplishment in my career due to the scale of the deals and the seniority of our clients. Our team was able to cultivate a level of trust and influence with highly influential and scrutinizing C-suite to make decisions that shift billion-dollar trajectories. Furthermore, I was able to flex my leadership strength to command large teams under high stakes. This experience earned me a differentiated perspective on companies’ considerations in M&A transactions, which I will leverage in my pivot to investment banking after Johnson.

Looking ahead two years, what would make your MBA experience successful? My main priority during my MBA is a career pivot from consulting to finance. I want to use my time outside of the working environment to harness stretch opportunities, raise my hand for challenging projects, and seek feedback that pushes me forward to be a better leader. I’m eager to build lasting relationships with faculty, classmates, and industry leaders who have a wide range of professional backgrounds to not only expand my network, but also to contribute meaningfully to the community.

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