A New Yorker in Cape Town: How this student is using her MBA to help the urban poor

开普敦的一位纽约客:这位学生是如何利用她的MBA来帮助城市贫民的

A New Yorker through and through, Long Island native Theresa Rodriguez would never have expected a career in high-rise real estate development would one day land her on the streets of Berlin and Cape Town. She is on her way to finishing her Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) at ESMT Berlin, which is considered one of the most prestigious business schools in Europe.

作为一个彻头彻尾的纽约人，土生土长的长岛人特蕾莎·罗德里格斯绝不会想到，高层房地产开发的职业生涯有一天会让她走上柏林和开普敦的街头。她即将在柏林ESMT完成工商管理硕士(MBA)，该学院被认为是欧洲最负盛名的商学院之一。

“I was always fascinated by cities,” said Rodriguez, who majored in urban planning at San Diego University during her undergraduate years, minoring in sociology and engineering. “I really enjoyed the way people and cities connect, so that’s why I picked sociology as my minor.”

罗德里格斯说:“我一直对城市着迷。”她本科期间在圣地亚哥大学(San Diego University)主修城市规划，辅修社会学和工程学。“我非常喜欢人和城市之间的联系，这就是为什么我选择了社会学作为我的辅修科目。”

Her unique degree combination and skill sets led her to assume the role of a pre-construction manager, working on projects in Los Angeles, Boston, and New York.

她独特的学位组合和技能让她担任了施工前经理的角色，在洛杉矶、波士顿和纽约的项目中工作。

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced her to work from home, Rodriguez felt that something was missing. Having visited Berlin the year before the pandemic, she fell in love with the city and started looking for an MBA abroad to further her studies.

当COVID-19大流行迫使她在家工作时，罗德里格斯觉得少了什么。在大流行的前一年，她访问了柏林，并爱上了这座城市，并开始寻找一个海外MBA学位来继续她的学业。

“After some research, I found ESMT Berlin, and I was really drawn to the MBA programme because of its accelerated 15-month course, instead of the standard two-year duration you usually see in American schools,” Rodriguez explains.

罗德里格斯解释说:“经过一番研究，我找到了柏林ESMT，我真的被这个MBA项目吸引了，因为它有15个月的加速课程，而不是你通常在美国学校看到的标准的两年课程。”

The lure of a truly international experience was too good to resist, as ESMT Berlin is known for its diverse student body. Her six-year career in an international corporate company pushed her toward the programme’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship track, which opened up new doors in her professional development.

真正的国际体验的诱惑太好了，因为柏林ESMT以其多样化的学生群体而闻名。她在一家国际企业的六年职业生涯推动她进入了该项目的创新和创业轨道，这为她的专业发展打开了新的大门。

From ESMT Berlin to Cape Town: Navigating the pandemic abroad

从柏林ESMT到开普敦:引领全球疫情

Studying abroad while the world is still grappling with the pandemic is risky for any student, but that didn’t deter Rodriguez. “I took a gamble at the peak of the pandemic. We started classes remotely, which was a bit challenging, but we were able to go to campus and our study rooms.”

当世界还在与疫情作斗争时，出国留学对任何学生来说都是有风险的，但这并没有阻止罗德里格斯。“我在疫情最严重的时候赌了一把。我们开始远程上课，这有点挑战性，但我们可以去校园和自习室。”

Oddly enough, this created a unique camaraderie among her coursemates. Despite not attending many classes in person, Rodriguez and her classmates strived to make the best out of their experience in Berlin.

奇怪的是，这在她的同学中创造了一种独特的友谊。尽管没有亲自上很多课，罗德里格斯和她的同学们努力充分利用他们在柏林的经历。

“I think our cohort was really unique,” she says. “We lived through the pandemic together abroad, and were still able to find joy in going to campus, getting beers in the freezing Berlin winter, and finding ways to still have this MBA experience.”

她说:“我认为我们这个群体真的很独特。“我们一起在国外经历了疫情，仍然能够在去校园的过程中找到乐趣，在柏林寒冷的冬天喝啤酒，找到继续拥有MBA经历的方法。”

Being in a global business school meant having access to world-class educators from diverse backgrounds. The learning experience was a contrast to her undergraduate years in San Diego, where the instructors were mainly locals.

在一所全球商学院就读，意味着可以接触到来自不同背景的世界级教育工作者。这段学习经历与她在圣地亚哥的大学生活形成了鲜明对比，在那里，老师主要是当地人。

“The diversity of the professors at ESMT Berlin was just amazing. We had teachers from all over the world,” says Rodriguez.

“柏林ESMT大学教授的多样性令人惊叹。我们的老师来自世界各地，”罗德里格斯说。

“Some of our professors weren’t able to travel to Germany again due to travel restrictions, but we had teachers from Sweden and Ireland. Just having this diverse and international perspective from the professors was really valuable in seeing things differently.”

“由于旅行限制，我们的一些教授无法再次前往德国，但我们有来自瑞典和爱尔兰的老师。有了教授们这种多样化的、国际化的视角，我们才能从不同的角度看问题。”

It was this global-mindedness that would lead her to South Africa, thanks to the Responsible Leaders Fellowship (RLF) programme attached to the MBA. The RLF allows students to delay their job search and extend their MBA experience by completing a social impact project. Through networks from her school and a chance Facebook exchange, Rodriguez soon found herself realising her goal of working in Cape Town.

正是这种全球思维将她带到了南非，这要归功于MBA附属的“负责任的领导人奖学金”(RLF)项目。RLF允许学生推迟找工作，并通过完成一个社会影响项目来延长他们的MBA经验。通过学校的网络和一次Facebook交流的机会，罗德里格斯很快发现自己实现了在开普敦工作的目标。

“I pretty much manifested it,” she reflected. “I’d written in my admissions essay that I wanted to work on an urban development project in South Africa, as I’ve always wanted to travel to Cape Town. I thought the RLF was the opportunity to do that.”

“我几乎把它表现出来了，”她反思道。“我在录取文书中写道，我想在南非的一个城市发展项目工作，因为我一直想去开普敦旅行。我认为RLF是实现这一目标的机会。”

Rodriguez currently works with Slum Dwellers International (SDI), a global network of community-based organisations for the urban poor in 32 countries. However, her beginning proved challenging.

罗德里格斯目前在国际贫民窟居民组织(SDI)工作，这是一个面向32个国家城市贫困人口的全球社区组织网络。然而，她的开始很有挑战性。

“Omicron almost ruined everything — it was called the ‘South African variant’ when the outbreak first happened. It was definitely a major obstacle in December and early January. I was eventually able to go when things eased down,” she explains.

“欧米克隆病毒几乎毁掉了一切——疫情刚爆发时，它被称为‘南非变种’。这无疑是12月和1月初的一个主要障碍。当事情缓和下来的时候，我最终能够去。”她解释道。

After settling in with a host family, the real grassroots work began. Through SDI, Rodriguez collaborates with locals to work on two projects: a youth-based initiative to develop resources for social entrepreneurship in informal settlements, and assisting in developing a new strategic plan for SDI.

在寄宿家庭安顿下来后，真正的基层工作开始了。通过SDI，罗德里格斯与当地人合作开展了两个项目:以青年为基础的倡议，为非正式定居点的社会创业开发资源，以及协助制定SDI的新战略计划。

The atmosphere was certainly a stark change from high-rise luxury developments.

这里的气氛与高层豪华楼盘相比，确实有了明显的变化。

“It just felt right to look at the other end of the spectrum. Even in real estate, we have to work with communities to understand their needs in the pre-construction development. A lot of those lessons learned with community engagement and service in New York have been super useful in this project,” she says.

“看看光谱的另一端感觉很好。即使在房地产行业，我们也必须与社区合作，了解他们在建设前的发展需求。在纽约社区参与和服务中学到的很多经验对这个项目非常有用。”

Like many other countries, South Africa’s wealth gap has widened due to the pandemic, which naturally affected access to resources such as education and housing. Rodriguez and the local team she’s working with hope to address some of these issues despite the structural barriers that exist for the urban poor in Cape Town.

与许多其他国家一样，南非的贫富差距因这一流行病而扩大，自然影响了获得教育和住房等资源的机会。罗德里格斯和她所在的当地团队希望解决其中一些问题，尽管开普敦的城市贫困人口存在结构性障碍。

“There’s a lot to change — the inequality spectrum in South Africa is just mind-blowing,” she says.

“有很多东西需要改变——南非的不平等程度令人震惊，”她说。

“I think with the pandemic, it really says a lot of things about cities. In New York as well, the homelessness rate has just skyrocketed, and access to grants or help from the government is really dependent on the internet, and a lot of people in informal settlements just don’t have that privilege.

“我认为疫情确实说明了很多关于城市的事情。在纽约也是一样，无家可归者的比例直线上升，而获得政府的资助或帮助真的要依靠互联网，而许多非正式定居点的人没有这种特权。

“So how would they know that there are grants or help, if they don’t have access to the information in the first place?”

“所以，如果他们一开始就无法获得信息，他们怎么知道有资助或帮助呢?”

Rodriguez acknowledges the legacy of the apartheid in creating zoning and land use regulations seen in South Africa.

罗德里格斯承认种族隔离的遗产，在南非建立了分区和土地使用法规。

Listening to the local community’s needs and their dreams has been the biggest takeaway from her work with SDI so far. Amid frequent internet disconnections, her team still manages to hold meetings to strategies; they meet up once a month in person.

到目前为止，倾听当地社区的需求和他们的梦想是她在SDI工作中最大的收获。在频繁断网的情况下，她的团队仍然设法召开战略会议;他们每个月见面一次。

“There’s nothing like an in-person meeting and getting to actually feel someone’s energy, especially when you’re talking about these projects that the youths are so passionate about,” says Rodriguez.

罗德里格斯说:“没有什么比面对面的会面更能让人真正感受到对方的活力，尤其是当你谈论这些年轻人如此热衷的项目时。”

Her MBA education proved useful in her present role: Rodriguez has been applying the knowledge learned in EMBS Berlin, especially under the Innovation and Entrepreneurship track.

她的MBA教育在她现在的职位上证明是有用的:罗德里格斯一直在应用在柏林工商管理学院学到的知识，特别是在创新和创业轨道下。

“It’s definitely helped me a lot, especially in strategic planning. A lot of times I’ve gone through my slides from class to make sure that I’m using the correct terms and frameworks,” she says.

“这对我帮助很大，尤其是在战略规划方面。很多时候，我都会仔细检查课堂上的幻灯片，以确保我使用了正确的术语和框架，”她说。

The sustainability component of in her MBA helped Rodriguez gain insights into different factors affecting socio-economic development, which is extremely relevant to her work with SDI.

MBA课程的可持续性部分帮助罗德里格斯深入了解影响社会经济发展的不同因素，这与她在SDI的工作密切相关。

Without a doubt, her MBA journey has been an exciting one. Her advice to prospective MBA students?

毫无疑问，她的MBA之旅令人兴奋。她对未来MBA学生的建议是什么?

“Don’t underestimate the value of what it can do to your career,” she says. “I think a lot of students who want to participate in something like the RLF go through phases of doubt. Through that rollercoaster, just remember that it’s a once in a lifetime experience to be able to be supported through your university to do a social impact project.”

“不要低估它对你职业生涯的影响，”她说。“我认为很多想要参加RLF这样的活动的学生都会经历怀疑的阶段。在经历这种过山车式的经历时，请记住，这是一生中只有一次的经历，能够得到大学的支持，去做一个有社会影响的项目。”