Jean Remy Mizero

American University, Kogod School of Business

“A CPA with roots in Rwanda, a love for adventure, and a habit of betting on himself.”

Hometown: Silver Spring, Maryland

Fun fact about yourself: I grew up dreaming of becoming a professional soccer player, I still play competitively every chance I get. I also have a personal mission to visit at least ten of the world’s wonders before I’m done.

Undergraduate School and Degree: University of Rwanda, BBA (Finance)

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Arthur Gallagher &Co., Account Executive, Insurance Management

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? BNP Paribas, New York

Where will you be working after graduation? AON, Senior Account Manager

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School: Graduate Ambassador, Kogod School of Business

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? As a Graduate Ambassador, I welcomed newly admitted students and spoke with dozens of prospective candidates about life at Kogod. Being the face of the school that gave me a shot to grow my career was something I took seriously and never took for granted.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? Earning my CPA designation while working full-time in financial services. It took discipline to balance both, and it gave me a foundation I lean on every day – whether I’m analyzing risk, advising clients, or thinking about where I want to take my career next.

Why did you choose this business school? Kogod was early in integrating AI into its MBA curriculum, and the school had a clear plan for how to do it as a real part of how they teach business. That forward-thinking approach made the decision easy.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Professor Leif Ulstrup made a lasting impact on my Kogod experience through his Information and Technology (ITEC-617-001) course in Spring 2025. He introduced a wide range of AI tools I had not previously encountered, showed us how companies are using them, and pushed us to think beyond the obvious. His classes felt less like lectures and more like working sessions – exactly what graduate school should be.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? MGMT 609: Management of Organizations and Human Capital. Every week brought a new case that pulled back the curtain on how organizations run – what works, what falls apart, and why. It trained me to look at management decisions with a more critical eye, which I use constantly now.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? The ongoing Capstone consulting project with the Panama Canal Authority. We worked with real operational data, flew to Panama for site visits, and presented our recommendations directly to Canal leadership. The stakes are real, the client is real, and the work matters. Kogod treats consulting as something you learn by doing, not by simulating – and that philosophy defined my MBA.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? I would have drawn clearer lines between school, other personal projects, and the rest of my life. The MBA moves fast, and I learned to protect time for coursework, participating, actively in class, recharge, and staying connected to the people around me. That balance is something I’m still working on.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? D.C. is a city where policy, finance, and global business collide every day. Guest speakers came from agencies and institutions I’d only read about, and networking felt less like an exercise and more like bumping into the people actually making decisions. You can’t get that anywhere else.

What business leader do you admire most? Bill Ackman. He does his homework, takes big swings, and isn’t afraid to say exactly what he thinks – publicly (e.g. When he was turning around Canadian Pacific Railway and his now-famous pandemic hedge, he backs his convictions with real money and real risk). As someone who wants to get more involved in investing, I respect that combination of preparation and nerve. Not everyone agrees with him, and that’s part of the point – he doesn’t wait for consensus.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? Kogod built AI into the curriculum through courses like Professor Ulstrup’s Information and Technology class, where we got our hands on real tools and applied them to actual business problems. The biggest thing I took away is that AI doesn’t replace your thinking, it speeds it up. It lets you test more ideas, move through data faster, and spend your time on the decisions that actually need a human in the room. That idea was reinforced by Ethan Mollick’s Co-Intelligence, which makes the same case, AI works best when you treat it as a thinking partner, not a shortcut.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Sohaib Anwar. We worked together on many projects and every time, he made the team better. He’s a natural leader – not the loud kind, but the kind who listens, thinks it through, and then says the thing everyone needed to hear. On top of that, he’s one of the most humble people I’ve met in the program.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? First, I want to earn my license through a state Board of Accountancy and become a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) – that’s the professional benchmark I’ve been working toward. Second, I want to build my way into a senior leadership role in financial services, and eventually into investing on my own terms.

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

“Jean Remy Mizero’s journey through the Full-Time MBA at Kogod is a clear example of what intentional growth looks like when paired with discipline and self-awareness. From the moment he joined the program, it was evident that Remy was not here to simply add a credential, he was here to build on an already strong foundation and position himself for the next level of impact.

Remy came into Kogod with meaningful experience across global financial services, including roles with KPMG and Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., and a strong grounding in captive insurance. What stood out early was how deliberate he was in using the MBA to expand his lens from technical execution to broader strategic thinking.

He approached the program with focus. During his internship at BNP Paribas, Remy worked on revenue modeling tied to a $30M+ opportunity and identified $5–7M in potential cost savings. But what matters more is how he brought that experience back into the classroom asking sharper questions, challenging assumptions, and helping elevate the level of discussion for those around him.

At the same time, Remy contributed meaningfully to the fabric of the Kogod community. As a Graduate Ambassador, he became a trusted and authentic voice for prospective students. He took that role seriously not as a responsibility to represent the school, but as an opportunity to guide others through a decision that can shape their careers. That level of intentionality is reflected in how his peers engage with him and rely on him.

What is particularly compelling about Remy’s trajectory is how he connected all of these experiences into a clear outcome. Leveraging both his prior work in captive management and the relationships he built during the program, he secured a role with Aon as a Senior Account Manager. His work will focus on FP&A, accounting, and operational strategy for captive clients an area where he not only has experience, but where he has continued to deepen his expertise in a very focused way.

Remy’s story is not about a single standout moment it is about consistency. From earning his CPA while working full-time to navigating roles across Rwanda, Bermuda, and the United States, he has shown a pattern of betting on himself and following through. At Kogod, that translated into steady growth as a thinker, teammate, and emerging leader.

In a cohort of high-performing individuals, Remy stands out for how he shows up prepared, thoughtful, and grounded. He raises the level of the people around him without needing to be the loudest voice in the room. That is what makes him indispensable.”

Ayman Omar, Ph.D.
Associate Dean, Graduate Programs and Student Services
Kogod School of Business, American University

 

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