Marco DeBenedictis, ’20, enrolled in Chicago Booth’s Executive MBA Program with the primary goal of moving his career forward. What he didn’t anticipate was the positive impact his degree would have on his employer.

“The EMBA experience enabled me to consider the corporate banking strategy with respect to sustainability,” says DeBenedictis, who leveraged his Booth MBA to shift from a role in portfolio distribution at Barclays Investment Bank to one that focused on sustainability. “I used specific lessons that I had learned from competitive strategy and from marketing to drive our strategy and where we wanted to position our business going forward.”

After several promotions within the firm, DeBenedictis now works as head of structuring and sustainable finance at Barclays. “The idea of coming back with something better, bringing something new to the party, was certainly a positive for my financial institution, but also for me and my career,” he says.

“The ROI for my EMBA is not just financial; it’s personal growth.”

Marco DeDenedictis Executive MBA video testimonial

(upbeat music)

- [Marco] I've gone through

such a period of personal growth,

I actually feel that
across all dimensions.

So the ROI for my EMBA

is not just financial,

it's personal growth.

I'm really focused on
continual development

and personal betterment.

So the main drivers for me

to pursue an MBA,

were really about advancing my career.

What did I need to do

and what did I need

to push my career forward?

I currently work as the head of

Structuring and Sustainable Finance

at Barclay's Corporate
and Investment Bank.

The EMBA experience really impacted

my career quite materially for me,

was it enabled me to consider the

corporate banking strategy with respect

to sustainability.

And I used specific lessons

that I had learned from
competitive strategy

and from marketing,

and actually even a little bit

of micro in there too,

to really help drive our strategy

and where we wanted to

position our business going forward.

The EMBA program impacted
the way that I lead

and the way that I want
to lead in the future.

It's helped me identify

the things that I'm good at

and the things that I need to work on.

There is a big time commitment

that I found was difficult

to manage, but certainly
the idea of coming back

with something better,

bringing something new

to the party was certainly a positive

for both my financial
institution, but also me

and my career too.

(upbeat music)

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