2017 Best & Brightest: Emmanuel Valery, Drexel University (LeBow)

Emmanuel Valery

Drexel University, LeBow College of Business

I’m an energetic, caring, diligent and optimistic person that dreams big and loves to explore.”

Fun fact about yourself: I love Mexican Food and I am planning to visit all of Philly’s best mexican spots (rated 4.0+ on google) before I move. (I am at 7/20)

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

High School: Abraham Lincoln High School

Majors: Finance, Business Analytics and Technology Innovation Management

Favorite Business Courses:

• MGMT 370 (International Consulting Residency in Prague and Vienna) – I worked with 16 students to consult for a startup company in Prague and we flew to Prague to present our research and recommendations to the client. We also got to explore Vienna, which was an awesome experience!
• FIN 321 (Investments & Securities) – One of the major reasons I decided to major in finance was because I wanted to challenge myself and math and finance were areas of improvement for me. The course was interesting, but it was the professor (Diana Sandberg) who helped to encourage me through the material and to believe in myself.

Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles During College:

Leadership Roles:

• Co-Chair, LeBow BRIDGE Program
• Dragon’24 Advisory Board, Office of the Provost
• Student Scholars for Responsible Leadership, Institute for Strategic Leadership
• Professional Development Committee – Black Employee Network, Comcast Corporation
• TEDx Comcast Committee, Comcast Corporation
• Teaching Assistant, LeBow College of Business
• Peer Coach & Lead Peer Coach for LeBow’s foundations of business courses

Extracurricular Activities:

• Drexel Photography Club
• French Club & Conversation Network
• LeBow Diversity and Inclusion Group Board
• ENC (Every Nation Campus) Small Group on weekdays
• Community Service
• Various Community Services events while on Co-op at Comcast and GSK and through Drexel and BRIDGE (MLK Community Service Day, Comcast Cares Day, United Way, Philabundance, etc.)

Awards

• Dean’s List (3.6 or above per term for students taking 12 credits or more)
• BRIDGE Pre-Junior of the Year Award
• BRIDGE Community Service Award

Where have you interned during your college career?

• Comcast Corporation; Philadelphia, PA; Strategy and Analytics Co-op
• GlaxoSmithKline; Philadelphia, PA; Digital Analytics Co-op
• Tech Impact; Philadelphia, PA; Marketing Co-op

Describe your dream Job: My dream job would be in an exciting, energetic, fast-paced environment with high-performers. I would be able to help people and organizations while gaining exposure to various industries; having the opportunity to travel, work and live in various cities around the world with a reasonable work-life balance.

Who is your favorite professor? My favorite professor is Chris Finnin, who happened to teach my favorite course mentioned above (MGMT 370) During the course, Chris empowered us to make effective decisions and he was always readily available for help, which resulted in a successful presentation to our client in Prague. He was my first business professor as a freshman and has seen my overall growth from freshman to senior year, and he is someone I can go to for trusted advice.

What did you enjoy most about majoring in a business-related field?  I enjoy the variety of courses that I gain exposure to by majoring in a business-related field. Specifically at Drexel, the emphasis on experiential learning through co-op and various programs such as MGMT 370 helps me to develop and strengthen my technical and soft skills.

What is the biggest lesson you gained from studying business? The biggest lesson I gained from studying business is that it is not just about being smart or having technical skills. Soft skills and knowing yourself are equally as important, if not more. For me, as an innately creative person, I made a pretty strange decision to switch my major from marketing to finance because of the importance of finance in business and in the economy and also because I wanted to challenge myself to improve my quant skills. I have struggled through some of the material, but it has helped improve my work ethic as well as my quant skills.

Where would you like to work after graduation? After graduation I will join IBM’s Global Business Services Consulting by Degrees Program as an entry-level consultant.

What are your long-term professional goals? My long term professional goals are:

• To be a well-respected multi-lingual global executive and
• Maybe run my own company
• Give back to various communities and empower those who may not have access to the resources that others may have.
• Make use of as many talents, abilities and interests that I have without getting too distracted and while leading a happy and balanced life.

What advice would you give to a student looking to major in a business-related field?

• Sit down and go through the list of majors that highlight the ones that you feel may be a good fit for you.
• Take the intro courses as early as you can to verify if you like it or not.
• Go a step further and land a co-op/internship in that field.
• Prove your interests and passions through being actively involved in work, school or extracurricular activities.
• Start off your freshman year as strong as possible and don’t wait to get serious.
• Balance yourself out. Don’t just be solely focused on work, you want to develop in other areas as well through study abroad, joining an intramural sport or taking on a leadership role.

What was the happiest moment of your life? The happiest moment in my life thus far was during Study Abroad. I participated in a dual-city summer program in Paris and London in 2014. It was the first time on my own in Europe walking along the seine river in Paris on a mildly hot summer day. It all just felt so surreal. It always feels like that when I leave the country and when I travel to someplace new.

Which academic, extracurricular or personal achievement are you most proud of? I am most proud that I was able to turn my collegiate performance around. I did not do it on my own (mentors, family members, and friends helped encourage me), but I did make the decisions to take advantage of the opportunities given to me while in classes, on co-op, and at Drexel as a whole. These experiences have truly tested and shaped me into striving to work hard and to be a better person.

What animal would you choose to represent your professional brand? I would choose my Chinese zodiac sign, the dog, which I found out when I was in China last year. I don’t know which breed I would be specifically, but I identify with the characteristics of being helpful, protective, energetic but not overly eccentric or boring, and being comfortable in leadership roles.

Who would you most want to thank for your success? There isn’t just one person behind my “success.” It truly is a whole team of people including mentors, family, and friends. I would first thank my parents, who are extremely inspiring because of their strong work ethic and the Caribbean values they have instilled in me. I would like to thank Sheri Shaw, the former program lead for BRIDGE, and Porsche Johnson, the current lead for BRIDGE. Both of these women have been instrumental in pushing me to recognize and take advantage of opportunities while at Drexel.

What would you like your business school peers to say about you after you graduate from this program? I would like my peers to say that I am a well-rounded person who is willing to give advice whether for school, personal or for fun (traveling, exploring Philly, etc.). I also want people to know that I did not start out my collegiate career on the best track and that it is possible to turn a negative trajectory around.

Favorite book: True North: Discovering your Authentic Leadership Style

Favorite movie: The Intouchables with Omar Sy and Francois Cluzet

Favorite musical performer/group: Coldplay – Head full of dreams concert in Philly was epic.

Favorite vacation spot: Waikiki Beach, Hawaii

What are your hobbies?  Trying new restaurants, exploring cities, traveling, hanging out with friends, photography (mannyvalery.vsco.co), and talking about/staying current with men’s style/fashion.

What made Emmanuel such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2017? “Emmanuel (Manny) Valery and I met his first day at Drexel University. He was a typical college freshman in many ways and completely different in other ways. I remember our first meeting and feeling that he was confident and reserved all in the same moment. Manny and I spent two semesters together during his time in my introduction to business course sequence and then stayed in near constant contact as he continued his studies at the university.

During his time at Drexel, he was pivotal in the growth of our BRIDGE program designed for under-represented minority students, he studied abroad on multiple occasions, served in a well regarded teaching assistant role for freshman business courses and was selected to the highly competitive, inaugural Provost’s Dragon ’24 Program. Now, as he prepares to graduate, he reentered my classroom for my international business consulting course; which had a capstone project in Vienna, Austria and Prague, Czech Republic.

Seeing Manny come full circle over his time at the University has been nothing short of inspiring. Manny has made an incredible and lasting impression on Drexel University thanks to his passion and focus on others while making a sound commitment to his future. He is one of the most caring and thoughtful students on could ever meet. Never selfish with his time or resources, Manny Valery is the model young man, successful student and well rounded citizen.”

Chris Finnin EdD
Clinical Professor
Director of General Business Studies
Drexel University, LeBow College of Business

DON’T MISS: THE FULL HONOR ROLL: THE BEST & BRIGHTEST UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS MAJORS OF 2017