Social Impact Entrepreneur on Studying the Part-Time MBA
Interview with Veronica Celis Vergara, Founder of EnlightAID and part-time MBA student
Career update: Since March 2022 Veronica Celis Vergara is also the Founder and CEO of Valumia.
Veronica Celis Vergara is the CEO of EnlightAID, a for-profit Tech4Good company focused on bringing transparency to social and environmental work. With a background in architecture, she eventually saw the need to deepen her business knowledge and saw the chance to run her own social impact company while studying part-time at HHL. After a successful application process, she started the part-time MBA program in March 2021 and was awarded a scholarship due to her high performance and motivation.
“I got to know HHL in 2019 thanks to the EY Public Value Award for which EnlightAID was selected at the time. I honestly did not imagine I would later begin an MBA with HHL and what better way to start than with Prof. Dr. Carsten Bartsch’s marketing class. I was amazed by his capacity to foster discussion and by the motivation of my classmates, which proved that even though we had to start the program online, I’m in for an amazing journey. Since my acceptance at HHL was confirmed I was both excited and a bit scared of starting. I wondered how I, an obsessive impact-oriented entrepreneur, would fit with so many business-oriented people. I was pleasantly surprised by the slide shown in the picture, which features as the highest goal of Customer Value nothing else than Social Impact.”
Veronica Celis, Founder & CEO at EnlightAID, MIT TOP Innovator under 35
Watch the full interview with Veronica Celis Vergara!
Veronica’s introduction to HHL starts back in 2019. As part of the Public Value Award – an award for startups who contribute to the greater common good – her company received the EY Audience Award. As the award is a joint project by HHL, EY and the City of Leipzig, she was introduced to HHL’s Professor Meynhardt and has remained in contact with HHL since. As part of our Women in Business interview series, she talks about everyday life as an HHL student, what hybrid learning has been like for her and why remote studying has actually made it easier to run her business.
Watch now and learn:
- How an MBA can help you grow your business
- What hybrid studying looks like at HHL
- Why free candy makes all the difference
- What working with a diverse class is really like
- Which theoretical model has changed how she runs her team
If you are thinking of joining the HHL community and wondering what studying at HHL during the pandemic looks like, this interview is for you.
Want to read more inspirational stories?
Listen to our HHL alumnae talk about the ups and downs of navigating life and career opportunities. Read about our Women in Business Success Stories on the HHL Blog, watch the interviews on Youtube or discover all the ways we offer support to our female students.
Meet the Women@HHL
This article was first published on February 8, 2022.
Hi, I'm Petra. With my background as an engineer and my many years of experience at HHL, I am your subject matter expert for all inquiries on our study programs and gladly advise you about the different opportunities. I look forward to talking to you about your educational journey.
