By Nathaniel Luce
The head of development for Louisville Public Media has been awarded a full-tuition scholarship to Vanderbilt University’s Executive MBA program.
Layla George was selected by the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management, which each academic year funds one two-year scholarship valued at about $100,000.
“We are so pleased that Layla will be joining us from her highly regarded position at Louisville Public Media,” said Juli Bennett, executive director of the Executive MBA program at Vanderbilt. “Layla interacts with many of the organizations and businesses that sponsor our executive MBA students. She exemplifies the kind of leader that we think will maximize our executive education and have a long-term impact in the non-profit business world.”
George was named director of development for Louisville Public Media in 2014, where she heads up fundraising and capital campaigns for the public radio station. Prior to that she worked at Ashbourne Farms in Louisville, where she developed new outlets for products and maintained sales relationships with restaurants and chefs, retail outlets and farmers markets. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.
“I’m thrilled to be a part of the Class of 2018 and think it’s really wonderful that Owen offers a scholarship like this,” George said. “With this degree from Vanderbilt I’ll be able to better serve my organization and my community.”
Louisville Public Media focuses on improving the community by educating, connecting, engaging, entertaining and informing local residents about current news and events. The station strives to provide broad access to news and cultural programming that is free from commercial and political influence.
A big challenge in public radio is raising money to support the programming. George said she’s looking forward to rounding out her business skills to help take her organization to the next level so that it can advance its mission of filling the void in local journalism and leading the way in developing new technologies to help keep the public informed.
“I think the Vanderbilt Executive MBA will really help me round out my skill set and it will enable me to participate in the higher-level discussions around finance and budgeting,” George said.
Owen launched the sponsorship program in 2005 to give career assistance to one deserving nonprofit executive each year. Applications are open to executives and senior staff members of any 501(c)(3) organization who have demonstrated a strong commitment to serving in the nonprofit sector. George was chosen from a pool of admitted applicants coming into the highly ranked Executive MBA program, which offers a rigorous 60-hour MBA curriculum. Requirements for admission include strong GMAT scores, a record of academic accomplishment, previous management experience and a formal interview.
Contact Person: Brett Israel Director, Business News & Communications Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management
Contact Phone: (615) 322-NEWS
Contact Email: brett.israel@owen.vanderbilt.edu
