From Student to Team Advisor: Notre Dame Business on the Frontlines

Participated first as a student in grad school, and now as an advisor, to an international consulting experience put on by my alma mater, Notre Dame.

Advisor Involvement (2025)
I advise a team of six master's students on a semester-long consulting project (consisting of a 10-day onsite immersion) with a Peruvian NGO focused on reforestation and sustainable mining in the Amazonian region. This includes guidance in developing strategic, data-driven recommendations to balance environmental conservation with economic sustainability. My role includes mentoring them on stakeholder engagement, and structured analysis to ensure practical solutions. By the end of the semester, the team delivers a comprehensive strategy to help the NGO expand its efforts in the region.

Student Involvement (2022-2023)
As a student, I was part of a team working with Acceso, an NGO in El Salvador that provides seed-to-market support to small-scale farmers, improving crop yield, productivity, and economic opportunities.

Our team developed a credit risk model in Excel to help Acceso assess a farmer’s loan repayment ability and projected scale of operations during initial site visits. The model incorporated historical yields, projected income, cost structures, and market demand, enabling more data-driven lending decisions.

To refine our approach, we interviewed farmers across Acceso’s three-tier segmentation: subsistence farmers, small market farmers, and those supplying corporations like Subway and KFC. These insights helped tailor the model to real-world challenges. Ultimately, the tool was designed for scalability, aiming to support 20,000 farmers over five years and enhance Acceso’s financial assessments for sustainable agricultural growth.