Pre-, Pre-, Pre-MBAs

Mentor: Tom Whitlock, vice president, Damon Farber Associates Does: Landscape architecture

Personal History: He’s an advocate for public-private partnerships to create urban open spaces.

Lesson Plan: “I want to illustrate how students can improve the spaces and places around them, and how that knowledge can extend into their neighborhood and community,” Whitlock says. He asked kids to name their favorite outdoor spaces and wasn’t surprised when they chose the zoo, state parks, and neighborhood parks. “I let them know all of those places were influenced by landscape architects.” Whitlock has each of his students designing a small park or urban center. He’ll also take them to the Minnesota Zoo, one of Damon Farber’s biggest projects, and introduce them to zoo director Lee Ehmke, another landscape architect.

Mentor: Sirish Samba, president and CEO, McCombs Frank Roos Associates

Does: Civil engineering and consulting

Personal History: “I am sharing my own experience growing up in an undeveloped country [India] and pursuing opportunities wherever they might be,” says Samba.

Lesson Plan: Samba is giving students a taste of retail site development by having them work on one of his own projects, the West End retail development in St. Louis Park. They get assignments that underscore the functional and aesthetic value of shops, roadways, pedestrian movement, and site amenities. Samba has them placing stores, restaurants, and other features on a 3D model, then they’ll walk the actual site. He’s also inviting them to shadow the staff at his firm. The larger lessons, he hopes, will be that working hard and making the most of opportunity are the keys to success: “We talk about not giving up, striving to exceed expectations, and being passionate about what you want to be and where you want to go in life.”