Around the globe, Fisher alumni have built leading companies and organizations, shaped government policy and industry regulations, and they have redefined, elevated and advanced business across all disciplines.

One way Fisher alumni continue to stay connected and give back to their alma mater is through Fisher Global Council. Implemented in 2016, Fisher Global Council provides opportunities for alumni and friends to connect with the college, its faculty, staff, students and each other in myriad of ways. The Council’s goal is to ultimately inspire — whether that’s through a new business venture, a mentorship opportunity or simply meeting with Fisher students, the next generation of business leaders.

Learn more about Fisher Global Council

In the spring of 2017, a group of Fisher alumni in the San Francisco area hosted students from Fisher’s Honors Cohort during a four-day trip to California. They were:

• Shauna Bracher (BSBA ’07), of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati
• Ken Coleman (BSBA ’65, MBA ’72), of Samaa Technologies
• Jeff Kessler (BSBA ’14), of Goldman Sachs
• Ray Rike (BSBA ’85), of Simplilearn
• Udit Sekhri (BSBA ’12), of Google
• Stephanie Tan (BSBA ’08), of Johnson & Johnson’s Innovation Lab
• Jim Terranova (BSBA ’75), of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati

The Fisher alumni connected students with leaders at tech giants including Google, Tesla, Pinterest, Hewlett Packard and LinkedIn, providing a one-of-a-kind experience for the Cohort students.

Aleks Tomic, Carolina Tovar Fuentes and Mouniratou Nikiema shared why their Fisher experience in San Francisco was memorable and how it shaped their education at Fisher and their business aspirations.

Aleks Tomic (Class of 2018)

“This trip was an unparalleled experience — easily the best thing I have been a part of since coming to Ohio State. It leveraged the scale of university and its vast network of alumni to provide takeaways that cannot be experienced in the Midwest.

For example, visit after visit, regardless of the company or speaker, a common takeaway from their presentations was that in Silicon Valley failure is encouraged because failure isn’t seen as failure — it’s seen as a stepping stone to a successful idea. I learned how important it is to learn from failures and build from them.

Another takeaway I learned was from the CEO of Pinterest Ben Silbermann. He shared that 'hard work at a young age is like compounded interest.' Meaning, if you work hard as an undergrad, that hard work builds on itself and you can be 'wealthier' because of it. After hearing his life story and motivation behind creating Pinterest, I left this meeting motivated to find my passion, my long term goals and work hard toward achieving them while I am young so that hard work can compound as I get older.

This trip opened my eyes to explore alternative career paths. While I do not know specifically how I am going to pursue my newfound interest in entrepreneurship and innovation, I do know that I am comfortable taking a risk and even failing if that brings me one step closer towards my goals.”

Carolina Tovar Fuentes (Class of 2018)

"This was truly an unparalleled learning experience in which I learned about myself and the world around me. I learned about different career choices and about people’s passions and how they chose to pursue them. I got to hear advice from successful entrepreneurs regarding failure, grit and success. I got to see a different culture — and a different mindset — from what I have ever been exposed to.

One of my biggest takeaways was to keep an open mind. I have always thought that if I was well prepared and had a plan, I would reach happiness and success. However, we heard form Shauna (Bracher) at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, about the unexpected twists and turns her life has taken. Whenever an opportunity presented itself, she would deliberate on it and most likely take it.

Later, Sean Worthington at TIBCO warned us about long-term strategy. He said we would be tempted to follow it whether it ended up being good or not. This really resonated with what Shauna said about keeping an open mind and being flexible. I think it is easy to want to cling to a rigid schedule, set goals and achieve them no matter what. However, after this trip I learned that having a direction is important, but being able to adjust is even more important.

After going on this trip, I feel extreme gratitude at being a part of Fisher!"

Mouniratou Nikiema (Class of 2018)

"This experience made me aware of all of the opportunities that exist for business students. Coming into college, all I knew about was the "Big Four" in accounting. Now, I have a better understanding of the various functions across various industries.

On our visit to Simplilearn, I had the opportunity to meet Julie Hanna who is the Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship and the Chair of Kiva. She was an inspiration because we share a somewhat similar history. She came to the United States as a refugee from Egypt and was able to be successful. As an immigrant myself, I hope to make an impact in the world the way she did and is currently doing.

One major takeaway from the trip was the value of taking risks and following your passion. A lot of the individuals we interacted with during the trip emphasized living my dreams and not settling for anything less.

This Fisher experience allowed me to hear from inspiring individuals, and it made me a better leader and person."