Ambassador Contact

Grace Yook is a PharmD/MBA Candidate and a Rankin Memorial Fellow. Grace has an interest in Marketing with a Healthcare/Entrepreneurship focus at Kenan-Flagler. Before Kenan-Flagler, Grace went to Wake Forest University as a Biology major and Chemistry minor. She has a background working at Biogen in Medical Evidence, Research and Innovation (MERI) group for Clinical Informatics on TECFIDERA/TYSABRI brands, GlaxoSmithKline working as an associate product manager for BENLYSTA, and most recently at Bristol Myers Squibb on the WW Immunology & Fibrosis Team creating Target Opportunity profiles (TOP) for Immunology Strategy. Grace plans on returning full-time at Bristol Myers Squibb as a part of their Commercial Leadership Development Program (CLDP) after graduation (May, 2021).

GIE Experience:

I was a part of the Entrepreneurship & Innovation GIE that traveled to Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam in March 2018. Since I started business school, I knew that learning about doing business abroad would be a cornerstone of my business school experience. What made this GIE so appealing to me was that we would be speaking with different companies in emerging economies. It was incredible to talk with entrepreneurs that started their businesses with a strong desire to change the way e-commerce, education-technology, or healthcare (to name a few) were approached via their ventures. After company visits, I was so thankful to also experience each of the countries’ cultures. I remember specifically taking a grab-bike (Vietnamese equivalent to uber) to grab the best coffee in town! Additionally, I had a strong desire to be a fellow for the Global Immersion Experiences at Kenan-Flagler, and through the encouragement of the Southeast Asia faculty advisor, Arv Malhotra, I was able to lead an all-female VC panel in Thailand in telemedicine. I definitely believe these experiences shaped my interest in working abroad. I am now confident that through my GIE experience, I can shape more future, international experiences in the healthcare sector.

Coming soon.

Before coming to Kenan-Flagler, Mark spent seven years in the commercial real estate industry in Salt Lake City and Atlanta. Today he works for AvalonBay Communities in Arlington, VA where he does new development of high-density housing. Mark hails from rural eastern Washington where he was raised farming, but dreamt of a future in urban development. He is a proud husband and father of three, welcoming the last during his time in Chapel Hill.

GIE Experience:

Where better to learn the nuances of real estate than in Jerusalem and Dubai? The former having an unparalleled history of disputes over the rights to sacred land, and the latter building a thriving tourist oasis on sand through globally renowned design and engineering.

For me, the GIE was certainly an in-depth course on regional economics, finance, design, and law, but it was so much more. I gained perspective from locals on issues that run much deeper than business and that still shape my views on current events today.

Our business hosts were accomplished, engaging, and authentic and the cultural activities and historical tours were enlightening. Through it all, I made memories with classmates and faculty that were the highlight of my time in the MBA program.

Maya Anderson graduated from Harvard in 2013 and worked as a Realtor in her hometown of Atlanta until starting her MBA program at Kenan-Flagler. She recently started full-time at McKinsey & Co. where she is a generalist associate. In her free time, Maya enjoys hanging out with her husband, Jeff, and black lab, Bobo. She is also an avid cook, enjoys spending time outdoors, and loves to read.”

GIE Experience:

Before I ever traveled to South America, I had read a lot of South American fiction books, many of which are a genre called magical realism. This kind of writing had always spoken to me, and through them I was able to transport myself to a world where inexplicable forces played havoc on the characters’ lives. However, it was in traveling to South America, and Argentina specifically, for the first time that I really came to understand that magic realism isn’t just a story. There is something to the continent and the culture that infuses some level of mystery: where hypocrisy is justifiable, and the people all accept this as the way the world works.

Traveling through Bolivia and Ecuador allowed me the opportunity to experience these things again. Given that it had been 9 years since the last time I was in South America, it was interesting to see how much my experience of traveling there changed, but also how much didn’t. A lot of what we experienced allowed me to enjoy the country with the same wonder I brought the first time I traveled there. However, I was also able to take a more critical look and start to understand the motivating forces behind everything we encountered better. It’s funny the lens that being an adult puts on your experiences.

The opportunity to have both views has given me a unique picture of the countries we traveled to. In my opinion, it’s given me a fuller picture, one that includes the mystery and reality of Bolivia and Ecuador. It is with this picture that I examined the businesses we visited with, and the trips we took.

Coming soon.

Before coming to Kenan-Flagler, Sam spent 10 years in Washington, DC, where she graduated from GW and then worked in Democratic politics, mainly in digital advertising. Using business school as a way to transition out of politics and into healthcare, Sam spent her summer internship at Genentech, a bio-pharma company in San Francisco, on the commercial/marketing side. She is now full-time at Genentech as part of their Commercial Rotational Development Program and living in the Bay Area, where she is originally from.

GIE Experience:

I was part of the Healthcare GIE that traveled to China and Japan in May of 2018. My trip was amazing; I was able to see and learn about so much more on that trip than I ever would have been able to while traveling alone. Medicine (and health in general) is a really personal experience for most people, and it’s completely shaped by where we are from, and the customs and societal norms that we are used to. Being able to go to China and Japan and see how their own culture influenced their healthcare decisions was incredibly eye-opening. Not only did it change my perspective, it showed me that there could potentially be a lot to learn from other countries as the United States rethinks their own approach to healthcare. The insights I took from my trip will absolutely inform and shape my career as I begin to combine my background in politics and policy with the work I am doing at a biopharma company, especially when it comes to being open to new ideas and looking outside the US for potential solutions for many of the problems we face today.

Patrick Gomez Menzies is a MBA Kenan Flagler alum from the class of 2019. He is currently a pharmaceutical professional for GlaxoSmithKline, a multinational organization with operations in 150 countries. Patrick is a US-Belize dual-citizen born and raised in New York. His global experiences at UNC were his first time leaving the North American continent. He participated in the Global Immersion Elective on Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Southeast Asia as well as a Global Exchange to IE Business School in Madrid.

GIE Experience:

I was able to travel with a GIE to Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore. This trip was my first leaving the North American continent. I was struck by how diverse the countries and people were. We were able to meet with entrepreneurs at all different stages taking advantage of the unique environment and the growth of Southeast Asia as a region. Beyond exposure to business and cultural experiences, I really connected with my MBA classmates and those connections went into my second year and beyond. Professionally, my experience in Southeast Asia prompted me to connect with colleagues in Singapore and Malaysia. Our Asia-Pacific headquarters is in Singapore and I have looked into working there as an expat. My biggest takeaway from the global experience was the similarities of the people we met and their goals, dreams, and ideas. No matter where we traveled people cared about their family and community and worked hard to achieve their goals.

Coming soon.

Coming soon.