Enrique Pinon

Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business

“Started as a farming student. Ended up on Wall Street. Now onto solving problems.” 

Hometown: Santa Maria, California

Fun fact about yourself: I was a California State Champion rabbit judge in high school.

Undergraduate School and Degree:

California State University, Chico – B.S. in Agribusiness

Texas A&M University – Master of Agribusiness

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? J.P. Morgan, Investment Banking Associate (San Francisco / Hong Kong)

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? Boston Consulting Group (Minneapolis)

Where will you be working after graduation? Boston Consulting Group (Minneapolis)

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

• Co-President, Out@MSB
• Fellow, The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management
• Member, Georgetown Consulting Club; Finance Club
• HEC Paris Business School MBA Exchange Semester
• 1st Place, ROMBA M&A Case Competition
• 1st Place, ROMBA Club Leadership Summit Competition
• Recipient, Rich Chicotel LGBTQ+ Leadership Award
• Organizer, ROMBA Club Leadership Summit

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? As Co-President of Out@MSB, I competed in the ROMBA Club Leadership Summit Case Competition and won first place, bringing home $5,000 for the club. We had been struggling with funding, and winning felt like bringing something home for my people. I have a saying I always tell myself: “Sometimes the difference between good and great is just a little bit of effort.” That’s what keeps me raising my hand and competing even when I don’t win. I’ve now competed in three ROMBA competitions and won first place in two. That $5,000 meant social gatherings, professional events, and a stable foundation for the next leadership team inheriting Out@MSB.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? My proudest professional achievement is the work I did with J.P. Morgan’s Advancing Black Pathways and Advancing Hispanics & Latinos Fellowship programs. As an investment banking representative, I mentored students eager to break into an industry where people like them have been historically underrepresented. I know that feeling personally. I was the first person in my entire immediate and extended family to graduate from college, raised by immigrant farmworkers in California. When I looked at these fellows, I saw myself. We placed students into internships and full-time roles at J.P. Morgan, but what I’m most proud of isn’t the placements. It’s the Zoom calls that still happen years later, where they update me on their achievements, reminding me that the most meaningful work of my career had nothing to do with IPOs and everything to do with helping the next generation find their footing in finance.

Why did you choose this business school? I chose Georgetown McDonough because of its global DNA. Walking into our building for the first time, I was struck by the flags of over 40 countries lining the walls. This was a visual representation of how global the student body is. I believe the best business education happens when you’re surrounded by people whose experiences look nothing like your own, and at McDonough that belief is built into the program. Every MBA student participates in a Global Business Experience, traveling to consult for a real company facing a real issue in countries like Kenya, Japan, Brazil, UAE, Vietnam, and Spain. Before enrolling, students told me Georgetown was the real deal when it came to global exposure, and that sealed it for me.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? My favorite MBA professor was at HEC Paris Business School, where I spent a semester on exchange. Roxana Barbulescu taught Advanced Management and was big on changing settings. Rather than sitting in a classroom for three hours, she encouraged us to go outside and read our cases over a coffee and baguette. She even took our entire class to the Palace of Versailles to bring a leadership lesson to life. She made learning fun.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? My favorite course was Advanced Oral Presentations, taught by Georgetown Professor Jeanine Turner. Every class we were on our feet giving informative and persuasive speeches, on topics of our choice or completely impromptu. It helped build the skills that matter most when you are sitting across from a client. For someone heading into consulting, learning to deliver with clarity and confidence is essential.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? If I could do one thing differently, I would have lived in Washington D.C. for my final semester. In a cost-saving move I’m slightly regretful about, I scheduled all my classes into one full day per week and spent the semester living in New York City with my partner, who is also an MBA student trying to save money. I Amtraked four hours each way to campus, stayed one night in a hotel, and headed back. It saved me a lot of money, but cost me something harder to quantify. The last few months of daily proximity to classmates I genuinely love. The MBA experience is ultimately about the people you build relationships with, and I learned that some things are worth paying for.

What was the most impactful case study you had in business school and what was the biggest lesson you learned from it? The most impactful experience of my MBA happened outside the classroom. During our Global Business Experience in Dubai, my team was on the ground consulting for a client when geopolitical tensions in the region escalated rapidly. The airport closed. We were asked to shelter in place and decided to keep our client engagement going. The client came to us at the hotel and we presented our work in full suits, as planned. Georgetown coordinated an evacuation through neighboring Oman, whose airspace remained open and got all of us out safely. While we waited, I helped classmates figure out visa applications for Oman because I wanted to help where I could. I kept spirits up with jokes and laughter even when I was scared. What I took away from that week was simple: when things fall apart, stay calm, find the solution, and take care of the people around you.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? There is so much to love about Washington D.C., but one thing that stood out was cherry blossom season. Every spring, the city fills with beautiful pink and white flowers and transforms into something special. The way I like to experience it is on an e-bike or scooter, riding along the Tidal Basin and West Potomac Park, stopping to smell the flowers along the way.

What business leader do you admire most? The business leader I admire most is Suzanne Shank, President, CEO and co-founder of Siebert Williams Shank, the top ranked minority and women owned investment banking firm in the country. I don’t admire her from a distance. I used to work for her. I remember watching her on CNBC from my desk at another firm and thinking I want to work for her. So I applied and shortly after packed my U-Haul and headed to New York. She founded the firm from scratch in 1996 and built it into a Wall Street powerhouse. I admire the path she carved. She went out and built her own seat at the table.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? Georgetown McDonough has been actively integrating AI into its curriculum and student experience. One example is JackBot, an AI chatbot trained on MBA handbooks, policies, and program materials that answers student questions around the clock. The university has put a real emphasis on helping students navigate AI thoughtfully and responsibly. One thing is clear though. AI is not going anywhere and Georgetown is making sure we are equipped to succeed in this new world.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? The classmate I most admire is Amelia Paul. She is the kind of person who shows up for every club event, every panel discussion, every social gathering. In a program where it is easy to get consumed by recruiting and coursework, Amelia never missed a moment. Everyone knows her and everyone loves her because she makes people feel seen wherever she goes. What truly sets her apart though is her kindness. When I was sick and in the hospital, Amelia didn’t hesitate. She came and sat with me, stayed at my apartment to make sure I wasn’t alone, and took care of me in the most unglamorous ways possible. She embodied what Georgetown calls cura personalis, the Jesuit principle of care for the whole person. Amelia Paul is many things, but first and foremost she is just a really good person.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? First, I want to build a successful career in consulting where I am a trusted partner in my clients’ most important decisions. What excites me most about this work is the relationship side of it: being the person a client calls when they need a fresh perspective, helping them work through a tough problem, and being genuinely invested in their success. If ten years from now I am the first person they call, that will be a real milestone for me.

Second, I’d like to return to agriculture in a small way. Before finance and consulting, I spent years raising livestock and managing a poultry farm through college when I thought I might become a farmer. I raised egg-laying hens and genuinely loved being outside. One day I would like to run a small egg-laying operation again.

What made Enrique such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2026?

“Enrique Piñón brings such a valuable perspective to the Georgetown McDonough MBA community. He is a child of immigrants from Mexico, studied agribusiness, and worked at an agribank that influenced his career in investment banking. He brings incredible global experience with stints in New York, San Francisco, and, most recently, Hong Kong.

One of the key factors that drew Enrique to Georgetown McDonough was the Hoya community. And since becoming a student, he has had a great impact on our community as well. He’s a recipient of a Consortium for Graduate Study in Management fellowship, where he mentors and recruits prospective students. Additionally, Enrique is involved with the Finance Club, where he shares his background in investment banking, and Georgetown Consulting Club, where he continues to explore his new passion for consulting. Most importantly, he’s committed to Out@MSB, where he serves as co-president of the LGBTQIA+ student organization.

Beyond Georgetown, Enrique has received recognition from other MBA partners about his contributions as well. In 2024, while representing Georgetown, Enrique won first place in the ROMBA Mergers and Acquisition Case Competition. He also led Georgetown to win the 5th Annual Club Competition at the 2025 ROMBA Club Leadership Summit, earning a $5000 prize for Out@MSB. Then, at the 2025 annual ROMBA conference, Enrique received the Rich Chicotel Leadership Award, recognizing leaders who have gone above and beyond by supporting ROMBA and the broader LGBTQ+ MBA and business communities. While all of these are major accomplishments, Enrique consistently demonstrated that these wins were never his alone, but rather emblematic of his contribution to such an inclusive and welcoming community; a truly shared win with everyone who makes the Georgetown community great.

Over the summer, Enrique interned at Boston Consulting Group as a Summer Consultant in the Minneapolis office, working in the financial institutions space. After graduation, he will be returning to BCG full-time as a Consultant, where he expects to continue focusing on financial institutions and risk-related topics.

Enrique embodies Georgetown’s values of global engagement, global citizenship, service leadership, and fostering community, and is a true role model for his fellow students. I feel confident he will continue to positively impact the Georgetown community both as a current student and as a future alumni member.”

Anne Kilby
Associate Dean of MBA Admissions
Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business

DON’T MISS: MBAS TO WATCH: CLASS OF 2026

 

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