Lauren Suga

University of Notre Dame, Mendoza College of Business

“Creative professional with executive presence, motivated by next-era business innovation alongside social impact.”

Hometown: Manhasset, New York

Fun Fact About Yourself: I am proud to be a first-generation college student!

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. I majored in International Studies for Political Economy and Development.

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: I spent the past four years working in Executive Compensation, most recently at Semler Brossy as a consultant.

When you think of Notre Dame, what are the first things that come to mind? How have your experiences with the Mendoza program thus far reinforced or upended these early impressions? When I think of Notre Dame, and Mendoza specifically, I think of a community deeply committed to “Grow the Good in Business.” I chose Mendoza for my MBA because I was coming from a profession that challenged me morally, and I was searching for an impact-driven education. Experiential learning and classroom discussions have continuously pushed me to think strategically and act ethically, learning how to drive stakeholder value alongside corporate interests and social responsibility.

Aside from your classmates, what was the one key part of the Mendoza MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? My decision to pursue an MBA was grounded in the desire to transition from advising companies on the outside to understanding and supporting how they shape and scale from within. With the understanding that I would likely be changing careers, it was essential for me to attend a program with accessible, hands-on career services that could support a non-linear path, in tandem with a strong alumni network. Mendoza’s collaborative, personalized approach gave me confidence and clarity in exploring various pathways while simultaneously building a focused approach.

Even before arriving on campus, I began working with the career team, who took the time to understand my unique interests and guide me toward my top employer prospects. My recruiting trajectory pointed at the intersection of each career advisor’s vertical — technology, strategy, and finance — and I appreciated that I was encouraged by faculty and the administration to engage with all advisors rather than stick to a particular track. Each advisor consistently made time to support me, listen, and celebrate progress along the way. Mendoza’s level of investment and partnership is second to none.

What course, club or activity have you enjoyed the most so far at Mendoza? When I first arrived on campus, I was lucky enough to get a job with the university’s incubator, the IDEA Center. My role as a Startup Coach is to guide several founders across the Notre Dame ecosystem through problem validation, market discovery, and prototyping for their respective startups. Alongside my fellow coaches, I participate in weekly pitch reviews where we evaluate startups across our combined portfolio, allocate university funding, and engage in thoughtful, candid discussions that help founders sharpen their business models.

In just a few months on campus, I have watched several of the founders I coach evolve early ideas into concrete ventures, gaining traction both on campus and nationally. Helping founders move from concept to execution has been incredibly rewarding. More than anything, this experience has allowed me to engage deeply with the talented, humble, and driven members of the Notre Dame community beyond the MBA program.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: One of my biggest professional accomplishments has been earning the opportunity to lead workstreams on high-profile M&A engagements and present analyses to C-suite executives and Boards of Directors. Projects often focused on utilizing complex data sets to solve high-stakes strategic decisions. Being relied on to translate detailed analyses into actionable recommendations taught me how to become a trusted advisor, thought partner, and understand the priorities of different leadership bodies.

Additionally, success in these projects granted me opportunities to represent my firm in closed-door roundtable discussions with Board of Directors subcommittee chairs and at C-Suite regional summits. This increased my exposure to corporate governance procedures and senior decision-making environments.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far? My biggest accomplishment so far has been redefining the kind of impact that I want to have in business. This enabled me to successfully pivot into corporate finance as a way to help shape how companies balance innovation and investment. I am so proud and excited to be working in FP&A in the office of the CIO at Google this summer!

Mendoza is known as a purpose-driven MBA program that asks students to “Grow the good in business.” What is your mission and how has Mendoza been helping you realize it? My mission is to connect people with technologies that meaningfully improve their daily lives. This purpose has grounded my career pivot toward a role that combines product development and capital allocation within the tech industry. Attending Notre Dame has been invaluable, given the accessibility of alumni across the most prominent corporations. Engaging with corporate leaders, whose education was rooted in growing the good in business, has helped me understand how values interact with decision-making across industries and job functions. But most importantly, engaging with these leaders has helped me define a career path and establish a community of mentors who will continue to support me in pursuing my personal missions throughout my career.

What has been your best memory as an MBA so far? Football Saturdays in South Bend and team dinners with my learning group!

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