Claudia Mezey

MIT, Sloan School of Management

“Green affordable housing champion passionate about decarbonizing cement and steel.”

Hometown: Newtown, PA

Fun Fact About Yourself:  When I was working as a sustainability urban planner at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), I once walked the subway tracks while the R train passed in Brooklyn. I had to hide between two columns while the train zoomed by!

Undergraduate School and Major: Yale University, B.S. Engineering Science-Mechanical & Energy Studies Certificate

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Green Project Technologies (an ACT Group company), Regulatory Business Development Lead

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of MIT Sloan’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you?  I’m a fellow in MIT’s Leaders for Global Operations (LGO) program, pursuing both an MBA at MIT Sloan and an MS in Civil & Environmental Engineering. LGO’s strong emphasis on applied learning (mens et manus) made it my top choice. LGO connects each fellow to a 6-month internship with one of the program’s partner companies. When applying, I was impressed to see multiple prior projects where students developed analytical tools, (e.g., logistics optimization at Nike) that were not only operationalized but expanded upon by successive students – almost like LGO was a research and development (R&D) extension of the company! Coming from several years in the workforce where I grew the most when dealing with real-world friction, the practical grounding of MIT Sloan and LGO programming was compelling to me.

Action Learning Labs are one of MIT Sloan’s biggest attractions. Which lab interests you most? How does it fit with your interests? I’m most excited about the Operations Lab led by LGO Executive Director Thomas Roemer. I had the pleasure of attending a few of his case-based lectures this summer, focused on technology players in China. In his lab, students are paired with client companies facing operational challenges. I’m interested in decarbonizing materials in manufacturing businesses, a transformation with numerous operational implications (e.g., plant retrofits, supplier network redesigns.) Dr. Roemer’s lab presents an excellent opportunity to develop strong observational skills and practice crafting operational initiatives—all while being accountable to a client. Since operations strategy often focuses on resource efficiency and waste reduction, I also see a lot of potential to learn how to generate environmental benefits through operational improvements.

When you think of MIT, what are the first things that come to mind? How have your experiences with the Sloan program thus far reinforced or upended these early impressions? When I think of MIT, I think of a community of doers, people who bring new technology into being with humility, curiosity, a bit of daring, and an abiding sense of wonder. I’ve certainly experienced this in just a few short months here so far. MIT instills early on the essential value of “going to the Gemba” (the place where the work happens), and our instructors teach mantras like “simplify and accelerate” (this is from MIT Professor Sean Willems!) when solving operational problems.

This culture of getting things done is enabled by MIT’s dedication to educating intersectional leaders. Change management requires an adroitness at elevating and leveraging all kinds of expertise on the manufacturing line and in the conference room. Having worked in sustainability consulting and on dedicated sustainability teams, I’ve watched those trained in sustainability struggle to engage technical directors. I’ve also watched the engineers struggle to make a business case to those with budget authority. MIT really excels at coaching students to be translators across disciplines, in the service of moving from idea to action with a calibrated sense of urgency.

What excites you about earning an MBA in the Boston area? It is the proximity to the research community in the Boston area. As someone who wants to work on the next generation of green materials technologies, the presence of MIT-bred startups like Sublime Systems and research centers like the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub were big draws for me. I also love running and biking, so I was excited to see all the activity along the Charles River. I knew that Boston would make a great home.

What is your unique quality that will enable you to make a big contribution to the Class of 2027? I have direct experience in government (MTA and the New York City Department of Transportation) and optimism about the role of good government in the transition to a zero-carbon future. I bring confidence in engaging with bureaucratic complexity and an appreciation for the perspectives and expertise of public servants. I hope to leverage these capabilities to inspire my classmates to see and seize opportunities in our regulatory landscape.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: At 24 as an associate consultant at WSP, I was selected to serve as the senior project manager on a $1.2M, 1.5-year consulting contract with a Fortune 500 bank. In this role, I successfully delivered a Net Zero program plan overseeing a team of 10 junior and senior specialists. During the project, the clients’ needs changed. I was most proud of my ability to translate those evolving needs into updated scope; I rapidly identified information or skill gaps in my team and equipping them appropriately, ensuring high-quality and cohesive work products. With a climate program, it’s easy to fall into the trap of setting targets that are popular in your industry, or that are recognized under ESG standards, stopping short of defining what environmental stewardship means for your organization. I felt that our team helped the client articulate a clear climate action vision in their own voice, and this achievement was especially rewarding.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into MIT Sloan’s MBA program? My biggest piece of advice is to talk to current students. Come prepared with your reflections on why MIT Sloan, and stress test your rationale. Ask them how their thinking on their own path through MIT Sloan has changed since they started their program. You’ll clarify your understanding of your own purpose for applying and will learn about new opportunities at MIT that you maybe hadn’t considered. I also found it super useful to read through press releases and faculty bios, going down rabbit holes on faculty members’ research interests. Doing so gives you a sense of the school’s current priorities, and you can confirm if those align with your own.

DON’T MISS: MEET MIT SLOAN’S MBA CLASS OF 2027

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