Jacquie Ward, (MBA ’16), recently stepped into the role of director of private investments at UMB Family Wealth. 她在职业生涯相对较早的时候就迈出了这一步，但她觉得自己已经做好了准备，这在一定程度上要归功于她在亨利·w·布洛赫管理学院（亨利w布洛赫管理学院）接受的教育，以及即使是在职学生也能参加的学生参与机会。
“I loved my time at 威尼斯人娱乐城, but I loved it that much more because I made a point to stretch and get involved,” Ward said. “That’s where I feel like my education became an actual game changer in my career. That’s where I met people that I still work with. 我遇到了一些最好的朋友。 我在这些职位上遇到的一些校友，我仍然会定期打电话和交谈。 我在其他行业活动中见过他们，他们现在认识我了。 That helps facilitate conversations.”
Though Ward now holds a master’s degree from 威尼斯人娱乐城, she began her career in finance immediately after completing her undergraduate degree in financial management, financial services and financial controllership at Kansas State University, following in her family’s footsteps. 她的母亲在20世纪80年代从事企业财务工作，沃德亲眼目睹了职业女性在男性主导的领域所面临的困难。 然而，沃德表示，她对UMB目前的环境以及该领域未来的发展持乐观态度。
“I see the world that I started in 10 years ago and the world I’m in now,” Ward said. “It’s definitely still a male-dominated space, but we do have women in really strong leadership positions as well. That’s something that, when I looked at my mom’s generation, she didn’t have, but I do. You have a chance to succeed when you have someone that knows exactly what it’s like in your situation and is in a position to be able to help guide you and the whole institution.”
沃德发现，在威尼斯人娱乐城攻读MBA的好处之一是，每次下课后，她都可以把真实世界的经验带回办公室。
“My 威尼斯人娱乐城 education was top notch,” Ward said. “Within the classroom, we were doing things that were educational, but we were also doing things that I still tap into from a day-to-day basis for my job. 我们有很多教授，他们很擅长将我们所做的与现实生活中的工作结合起来。 That prepared me for taking that next step in my career and expanding my network.”
沃德鼓励所有攻读MBA的人也参与进来。
“You can go and show up to class, and you’re going to do just fine,” Ward said. “You’re going to get a great education, but you’re really not going to get everything that it can offer. Try to go that extra step.”