Best & Brightest Online MBAs: Class Of 2026

What a difference two years can make!

In 2024, Gem Nwannem was working in product marketing for small tech firms. After starting a hybrid MBA at the University of Washington’s Foster School, Nwannem landed the opportunity of a lifetime. Now a senior product manager at Amazon Shipping, Nwannem oversees product rollouts and messaging across the European Union. It is an elevation that Nwannem attributes to business school.

“The title is the same. The scope, the stakes, and the platform are completely different. That move would not have happened without the credibility, frameworks, and network that Foster gave me, and I credit the program directly for the opportunity.”

That doesn’t mean it was an easy transition at first. Moving from small business, Nwannem encountered a larger scale and faster pace – not to mention more politics. That’s where the MBA came into play. Nwannem’s classes became a laboratory, producing a “tight loop” between classroom theory and operational demands. In the process, the Foster MBA provided a safety net, as readings and discussions positioned Nwannem to be a valuable contributor out of the gate.

“I learned to…take what was working in class and present it to stakeholders the next morning,” continues Nwannem, who also runs a retail and distribution platform and plays Afrobeat and West African records on Portland radio. ”At Foster, I was applying what I learned in real time, often the same week, sometimes the same day. The frameworks landed differently because they had to work in a real job, with real stakes, on real people.”

29 WOMEN AND 23 MEN MAKE UP THIS YEAR’S LIST

Gem Nwannem is among the 52 graduates honored in Poets&Quants’s “Best & Brightest Online MBAs” from the Class of 2026. Now in its 9th year, the Best & Brightest honors the top student professionals across 40 of the world’s top Online MBA programs. Ranging in age from 24-59, the class features 29 women and 23 men. As undergraduates, they majored in disciplines as different as Economics, Applied Linguistics, Geologic Engineering, and Dance. From there, they moved into roles like marketing managers recruiters, architects, and clinical researchers. In the process, they worked for top companies like 3M, Bristol Myers Squibb, JPMorgan Chase, and Kraft Heinz.

In their lives, the Best & Brightest Online MBAs answer to many titles. Beyond owners, managers, and specialists, they are spouses, parents, friends, and caregivers. They run side hustles, serve in the military, and volunteer at local nonprofits. On top of that, they invest 10-25 hours a week in readings, projects, and discussions as students.

That’s because the MBA enables them to pursue their vision of themselves. Some are leveraging coursework to gain greater credibility and influence. Others are pursuing the next step – or a different career trajectory altogether. With any MBA class, there are students looking to nerd out and learn for the sheer joy of it. And they’ve chosen an online format because they don’t want to disrupt a great gig around amazing people who are pursuing a meaningful mission.

TWO BROTHERS, SAME PROGRAM, 11 HOURS APART

The online MBA is designed to bring people together who are often worlds apart. In the case of IE Business School’s Global Online MBA, the program brought a family back together too. Among the 2026 graduating class, you’ll find two brothers: Alvaro Ruiz Emparanza and Pablo Ruiz Emparanza. Armed with a Ph.D. in Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, Alvaro operates a sustainable construction firm out of Miami. Pablo also pursued a career in engineering before becoming a general manager for a 200-employee jewelry manufacturer in Thailand. Along with their shared love for engineering, there is a passion for research. Alvaro continues post-doctoral research at the University of Miami. At the same time, Pablo has published a scientific paper on a satellite imagery tool he pioneered – one that is featured in the Thai Aerospace Museum.

What has been the biggest takeaway for brothers who are separated by 11 hours? “An online MBA requires discipline, consistency, and personal motivation because nobody is behind you every day making sure you keep up,” writes Alvaro.

The Class of 2026 has also produced in high-stakes, high-profile efforts. Before enrolling at the University of Michigan’s Ross School, Mark Calendine completed 150 combat missions for the U.S. Air Force as a weapon systems officer aboard F-15Es. Working for British Petroleum, Warwick Business School’s Christie Subirats spearheaded oil and gas production projects from Louisiana to Alaska. Three years ago, Benjamin Javier Gomez, a graduate of the UT-Dallas Jindal School of Management, was named a ’30 Under 30’ honoree by Hispanic Executive. His classmate, Sage McAdams, pushed JP Morgan Chase to expand its on-site battery storage and solar portfolio while serving as a vice president.

“While battery storage was necessary to support the renewable transition, when I started the project there were no obvious incentives for the firm to deploy it,” McAdams explains. “I identified both financial benefits that improved the firm’s bottom line and greenhouse gas reporting benefits that supported environmental targets, which ultimately enabled project approval.”

The Best & Brightest were equally accomplished in the public sector. While coordinating communications for the Mayor of St. Petersburg, Heaven Taylor-Wynn earned her MBA online at the University of Florida’s Warrington College. In contrast, the University of Washington’s Raphael Garcia pulled double duty. He worked as both a planning commissioner for the City of Olympia and an assistant chief in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, overseeing prosthetic and sensory aid service. For Garcia, a U.S. Army veteran, his work with Veteran Affairs has become a labor of love

“Mentorship is the slowest, most invisible work a leader does – and the most consequential. That throughline now carries into my work at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The veteran who needs a wheelchair, a prosthetic, an oxygen unit, a sensory aid, or an adaptation to their home or vehicle is often someone I could’ve served alongside, or led, or learned from. What I’m most proud of is that I’ve never stopped being someone’s advocate, from the junior leaders coming up behind me to the veterans my team helps get back on their feet today.”

WORKING 100 HOURS A WEEK…PLUS BUSINESS SCHOOL

That spirit of service also defines Melissa Cummings, a graduate of the Gies College iMBA program. Nearly 25 years ago, she left the University of Illinois with 12 credits left before graduation. Eventually, she collected two master’s degrees and two graduate certificates before returning to the University of Illinois. Now the learning and development manager for the Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, Cummings spent her time as an MBA “overhauling and redefining” educational offerings, focusing heavily on “priorities, governance, and outcomes.” In the process, she has expanded access to over 1,000 courses, with 250 stakeholders completing the revamped program – including an 80% share who finished the required compliance portion within 90 days of rollout.

“This work changed how learning is understood and used. It reframes learning from a support function to an operational driver of performance and mobility. I am focused on redefining how organizations invest in human capability by positioning learning as a measurable driver of advancement and enterprise impact.”

Medical professionals continued to make up a chunk of the Best & Brightest cohort. Take Jorge F. Urquiaga from the Penn State Online MBA. During business school, he completed his neurosurgical residency training, a role that sometimes required over 100 hours a week in the hospital. Even more, his schedule often included “unpredictable schedules, overnight call, emergent surgeries, and cases that extend far beyond planned hours.” Despite the drawbacks of the role, Urquiaga noted that the online format provided the “flexibility to work from anywhere at any time.” And the MBA gave him an advantage when it came time to apply for fellowships.

“It demonstrated a broader commitment to leadership, systems thinking, and healthcare beyond clinical training, and I am confident it contributed to my acceptance into a top spine surgery fellowship program in the country.”

A LEGACY THAT WILL REVERBERATE FOR DECADES

During her second year at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherford School, Amy Rushing was promoted to the division chief of Trauma for University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center. For Mohan V. Belthur, an MBA from the University of Arizona is another highlight in a medical career that spans nearly four decades. Along with studying Operations Management and Business Statistics, Belthur worked as a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, medical director, and a clinical professor. Over his career, he has also authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles, 2 textbooks, and 20 textbook chapters. While Kyle Richardville was a student at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, he earned acclaim from the opposite end of the classroom.

“[My biggest achievement was] being recognized with two teaching awards at the Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center – one voted on by the internal medicine residents and the other voted on by my faculty colleagues. Those residents will spend decades caring for patients I’ll never meet, and knowing I played a role in shaping the physicians they are becoming is the most meaningful thing I’ve accomplished in my career.”

By the same token, Charell Brinkley can say she left a legacy while heading up clinical research at Northwell Health. “[I] develop[ed] comprehensive training programs that impact clinical research across the institution,” writes Brinkley, a graduate of Hofstra University’s Zarb School of Business. “Creating resources like ‘The Research Coordinator’s Compass’ and ‘The Clinical Investigator’s Guide’ have standardized research practices and empowered countless clinical research professionals… My work now influences how clinical trials are conducted across multiple specialties, directly improving research quality and patient outcomes.”

As working professionals, many Best & Brightest MBAs have already made career pivots. That includes Kwi Jessica Ha, a classmate of Brinkley who also works at Northwell Health. Starting out as a stay-at-mom, she used education to propel her from being a medical assistant to a nurse and now a quality management advisor. The Ross School’s Ashley O’Brien has transitioned from being a professional dancer to teacher to retail management to research to human resources. And Kenan-Flagler’s Emily Spiegel experienced equally drastic changes – and came away with some invaluable career lessons.

“I began my career in consulting, with an undergrad biology background and little formal business training. I transitioned into oncology business development and strategy, where I was one of the few team members without a PhD. I later moved into cell therapy commercial development, with no marketing background. Each pivot required me to redefine myself, building new expertise, adapting to different teams, and learning to solve entirely new kinds of problems.”

AN EMMY ON THE MANTEL

Other Best & Brightest MBAs showed a penchant for building things from scratch. Exhibit A: Kasra Khalili from the Kelley Direct Online MBA program at Indiana University. An experienced entrepreneur, Khalili started a division in a consulting firm “when the function didn’t exist, no framework, no playbook, no team, and built it from zero.” As an MBA at Durham University, Madeleine Hoggett turned a class project into a means to validate her startup idea, which was inspired her mother’s struggles with diabetes. Hoggett even named the venture ‘Hi Sugar’ in honor of her mother, who passed away just as it was being launched.

“The name is the warm greeting she would use with every call and text, and it represents the love and support she showed me when I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. It acts as my North Star and a constant reminder of why I am doing this, to emotionally support, educate, and empower other women diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM).”

The Class of 2026 even includes some star power. Stepan Dyachkovskiy is a case in point. Recently hired as a product manager for NBCUniversal, the University of Denver MBA produced a patented product, QRclick, that he says “chang(ed) the way viewers interact with QR codes in live video.” And that’s not his only contribution to the entertainment industry.

“I was honored with an Emmy for best sound mix for my contributions to the live-to-air musical Jesus Christ Superstar.”

Next Page: A look inside the Online MBA experience.

Page 3: In-depth profiles of 52 members of the Best & Brightest Class of 2026.

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