Destinée Mentor-Richards

Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College

“I am a Trinidadian-American, New York City native passionate about learning the stories of others.”

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

Fun Fact About Yourself: I absolutely love musical theater and have seen over 60 Broadway shows. It is my dream to one day invest in Broadway shows.

Undergraduate School and Major: Amherst College, Mathematics

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Edward Jones Investments, Service Designer

What word best describes the Tuck MBA students and alumni you’ve met so far and why? Encouraging. Tuck is a place where the moment you speak your dreams out loud, the whole community conspires to help you. For example, as part of our orientation (Tuck Launch) this year, the entire class reflected on what we wanted our impact to be in 22 years and the kind of career we imagined that would lead to achieving that impact. When the opportunity came, I nervously shared with my class my long-term goal of advising Fortune 500 companies on their global public policy strategies. Barely a day passed, and my inbox was filled with classmates recommending books, podcasts, and offering introductions to people who could help me achieve my goal. It was truly remarkable!

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of Dartmouth Tuck’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? The Center for Business, Government, and Society. I am a firm believer that CEOs and business leaders should have an intimate understanding of how business, government, and the social sector impact each other. The Center for Business, Government, and Society at Tuck facilitates this understanding through distinctive programming (speaker series, small group discussions, co-curricular programs, and more) to help further investigate the interconnectedness between sectors.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at Dartmouth Tuck? I’m most excited about Tuck Community Consulting, a club that matches Tuck students with local nonprofit organizations, entrepreneurs, and small businesses to provide free consulting services. It’s exciting because I will get to leverage what I am learning in the classroom and my existing professional skillset to hopefully make a positive difference in an organization within the nearby community.

What excites you the most about coming to live in Hanover? What is the one activity you can’t wait to do? I am excited to learn how to ski and snowboard! Despite living on the East Coast and going to college in New England, I have never tried any outdoor winter activities so I’m excited to learn alongside many of my classmates.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest professional accomplishment was leaving the comfort of my job, family, and friends in New York City and moving to St. Louis as a Venture for America Fellow in 2018. For context, Venture for America is a fellowship program focused on spurring entrepreneurship in developing startup ecosystems across the U.S. by placing early career talent in startups or innovation roles. The experience is among my most significant career accomplishments because it was the first time I actively sought out “the road less traveled” and took on the challenge of working in a new industry, function, and geography all at the same time.

How did COVID-19 change your perspective on your career and your life in general? Living through COVID-19 reminded me that no day is guaranteed. In my career, this lesson rang especially true while weighing my decision to attend business school. As I submitted my applications, I constantly evaluated how each program could help me efficiently achieve my personal and professional goals. In the scope of my general life, this lesson was an especially important reminder to carve out deliberate and meaningful time to focus on my faith, family, and friends.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point and what do you hope to do after graduation? I am pursuing an MBA now because I want to master the fundamentals of what it means to be a wise, impactful, and influential leader. Directly after my MBA, I hope to enter management consulting with a sector focus on either the public and social sector or media and entertainment.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Oxford Said, Stanford GSB, Yale SOM

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into Dartmouth Tuck’s MBA program? Start your application journey with your professional end goal in mind and be specific about what you are working toward. Is your end goal social entrepreneurship in Latin America? Running for elected office in the Midwest? Venture investing in agriculture? Whatever it may be, choose a school that has alumni and professors in that field or company. Choose a school that has a recent track record of helping others achieve similar outcomes.

DON’T MISS: MEET DARTMOUTH TUCK’S MBA CLASS OF 2023