Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Title: Executive Vice President of Operations
Company: DonorsChoose.org
César Bocanegra
My Story About Me
My goal is to positively impact the lives of as many kids as possible anywhere in the world just by demonstrating the benefits of education.
Maintaining a healthy work/life balance while pursuing an executive MBA sometimes requires making difficult choices. For César Bocanegra, finding that balance involved leaving AT&T, a company he had been with for 11 years, to work for the nonprofit DonorsChoose.org, a group that helps public school teachers across the country get the materials and resources they need for their students.
So why did he make the change? Because of his time crunch while at Wharton, César had to give up his volunteer work, which included tutoring, mentoring, and working with students. "My life basically became AT&T during the day and Wharton classwork and projects in the evening and weekends," he says. "It wasn't very fun. Instead of quitting the program, I decided to quit AT&T and follow something that I am very passionate about and join a nonprofit."
Following your passion
My passion is education. My mom is a teacher, so she instilled in me that education is a must, a key for succeeding in life. My dad actually didn't finish elementary school, so I was able to see both worlds. My dad is one of the smartest guys on the planet who just didn't have opportunities. Which leads me to my second passion: creating equal opportunity for everybody.
My goals are very aligned with both my independent study and my passion for education. My goal is to positively impact the lives of as many kids as possible anywhere in the world just by demonstrating the benefits of education.
Moving to a nonprofit
I have been involved with nonprofits since high school, so I'm very familiar with how they work. At one point I was the national president of a Hispanic association with more than 5,000 members. While I knew what it was going to be like, since I had always worked on a volunteer basis, I'd never worked in a full-time, paid position. It was a big decision, but I always had the support of my Wharton study group, which was helpful.
Changing careers
If you were sponsored by your company, the discussion revolved around being loyal to your company. A lot of those folks who weren't sponsored, including myself, talked about career changes and getting opinions and feedback. I know for a fact there were a couple of people who switched jobs based on leads generated from other people in the class. It's definitely a great network, both while you're in the program and after you're out.
Favorite Wharton experience
My favorite part of my Wharton experience was the late-night sessions with my study group. They are a very lively, entertaining group. We were study group No. 10, but we changed our name to United Nations No. 10 simply because out of the six of us one was from Nigeria, one was from India, one was from the Ukraine, one was from the US, and one was from Germany. I consider myself from Mexico since I am Mexican-American. Very diverse cultures, very diverse personalities, but also a lot of bonding. I know that all these five friends are going to be friends for life. I can count on them and rely on them.
An opportunity unique to Wharton
My second year I had a class with the newly appointed director of the Lauder Institute, Professor Mauro Guillén. I decided I wanted to do an independent study with him, and so I recruited a couple of classmates. We met with Professor Guillén, and at the end of the day, he came up with a project for us that was unbelievably aligned with my passion — to develop the framework of a global mentoring program that helps high school students develop their skills in the core courses that are part of an MBA. We left it at a point where the Lauder Institute can take it and run with it.
DonorsChoose.org
We've been on Oprah, on 20/20. Bill Clinton has mentioned us. Stephen Colbert is a very huge supporter of ours. In one segment, he showed kids' pictures and drawings. It's a good model, and donors send us so many thank you notes saying how the notes written by students have really touched their lives and brought them to tears. I truly believe that I've found my calling.
An MBA in the nonprofit world
I really think that the philanthropy world is in great need of the business skills you acquire from an MBA. One of the reasons I chose DonorsChoose.org is because it's being run as a business. If you look at the executive team, you have Wharton MBAs, Harvard MBAs, Kellogg MBAs, Stanford MBAs. It's a very strong board and we're running it as a business. We make sure we cut costs all the time, cut expenses, and we make sure we pass on the savings to the beneficiaries, and we're also always streamlining and improving our processes. So when I tell critics those skills are needed in the nonprofit world, I open their eyes a little more to the reason I went to Wharton.
