Emerging Business Leader Award recipient Kimberly Biscoe chose Mason's MBA program to help her take her career to the next level.
After being out of school for several years, Kimberly Biscoe decided she wanted to take her career to the next level. She couldn’t help but notice how many members of senior leadership had postgraduate degrees. Knowing that completing an MBA would help her advance, she sought out a program that would get her more than letters after her name or a diploma on the wall. “I told myself that I was going to read everything and participate at a high level, even though I’m introverted, because I wanted to get the most out of this investment I was making in myself,” she says. Researching various programs, Biscoe decided on George Mason University because of its reputation and because she could complete the business analytics certificate as well. It turned out that she made the wise choice, as her dedication in the classroom led her classmates to choose her as representative of their cohort. Biscoe’s academic excellence was further recognized by the dean’s office and scholarship committee as the graduate division recipient of the Emerging Business Leader Award (EBLA).
As a first generation college student, Biscoe was accustomed to making important decisions about her education without much guidance. “Receiving the EBLA reassured me that I was making all the right decisions. I picked the right program. I’m doing the right things,” she says. Biscoe is currently the senior business development analyst at NorthStar Anesthesia and hopes to use the MBA experience to build upon her strong foundation of health care expertise.
As a recipient of the Emerging Business Leader Award, Biscoe was invited to the School of Business’s Annual Business Celebration, where she was honored for her achievement. “We have great people that come out of the School of Business, and to see that they also give back to the school was very special,” she says. “Surrounded by the alumni and donors, I felt very proud to be going to the school.” During this exposure to the School of Business community, she gained a better understanding of the culture of giving, and that giving is not always monetary. Networking, mentoring, and tutoring are just as, if not more, critical to the student’s career successes, and they are ways in which Biscoe has given back in the past. Additionally, a small gift can make a big difference. “At first I was thinking that I wasn’t in a situation to be giving back, but then someone was telling me how any amount makes a difference in helping students like me,” she says. “It was something that I understood as a recipient, and it was really encouraging because it’s important to me to give back.”
Kimberly Biscoe’s commitment to learning and leading has become so evident that, despite her quiet disposition, her MBA classmates turn to her for help and chose her to represent the cohort. Looking forward to growing in health care, she is confident that the skills she’s developing will help her climb the ladder in that field or any other that she chooses to work in. In addition to the MBA, her business analytics certificate is teaching her how to analyze data in making critical decisions, an area that is increasingly in high demand. In Mason’s prestigious MBA program, Biscoe has managed to distinguish herself even more. The Emerging Business Leader Award is a recognition of her impressive work already accomplished as well as the feats she is capable of as a business leader in the future.