I’m Kasey, a brother of Delta Sigma Pi’s Mu class at RIT and an MBA student with a dual concentration in Marketing and Public Policy. I joined this fraternity as an undergraduate, and upon joining found it to be one of the most beneficial experiences of my college career. It offered tangible leadership experience that can be tough to find anywhere else.
It was in part due to this experience that, upon returning to RIT as a graduate student, I was awarded the Saunders Graduate Leadership Fellowship. As a Leadership Fellow, I have worked closely with my advisor to learn more about what it truly means to be a leader. It’s far more than giving directions and making tough calls — it’s about motivation, appreciation and the give and take of management.
Beyond these studies, I also have been provided an industry mentor, rotating each semester. My first mentor, Salley Thornton, is the Director of National Field Marketing for Toshiba. I met with her several times, including an opportunity to shadow her throughout the day. I sat
in on a national call headed by Thornton and several other Toshiba executives that was listened in on by hundreds of salespeople from across the nation, learning a lot about how to best engage and motivate not only the team around me, but also those teams working remotely who may not ever get the chance to meet me in person.
Now, I am working with David Naylor, the Executive Vice President of Global Learning and Leadership Development at 2logical, a locally-headquartered development training and consulting business with a global reach. Through my time with David, I’ve learned how to better position myself within my desired industry as well as to negotiate beyond just salary.
My time as a Saunders Graduate Leadership Fellow has been invaluable, and I wouldn’t have been awarded such an opportunity without the leadership, dedication, and commitment both to and from Delta Sigma Pi.