UCLA Anderson M.B.A. student Jordanna Mora
Jordanna Mora, a UCLA Anderson MBA student, learned a valuable lesson straight out of Coach John Wooden’s playbook through her mom, a single mother who worked numerous jobs.“Before John Wooden, there were a lot of hierarchical books on management,” Mora said. “He really spoke to the importance of working as a team. Nothing gets done by one person. Ever. Team is great for work, but even more so in life. Mom taught us when we were young that we were family, yes, but also a team.”
Mora now has another reason to be grateful to the Coach. She is one of two recipients of this year’s $25,000 John Wooden Leadership Fellowships, awards given to deserving UCLA Anderson students based on their exceptional principles-based leadership, academic merit and financial need.
She will receive her award Thursday at an event at the Beverly Hilton Hotel along with fellow student Elliot Ling, who has spent the last eight years working on initiatives that benefit youth, particularly in low-income communities. UCLA Anderson will also honor Robert A. Iger, chairman and CEO of the Walt Disney Company, with the annual John Wooden Global Leadership Award, which is given for exemplary leadership and service to the community.
Mora is a licensed and board-certified genetic counselor with entrepreneurial drive and a commitment to service. She began her career helping coordinate family-based services for Boston’s inner city youth, and later served for four years as a volunteer mentor to children in high-risk homes. In 2008, Mora co-founded an Internet startup, InheritedHealth, which she and her partner sold three years later.
While pursuing her MBA degree, she works at Integrated Genetics, where she provides complex prenatal and preconception consultation for high-risk patients. In addition, she consults with biotechnology companies on communication strategies to help them better connect with the patients they serve.
Earning an MBA won’t just mean a few letters after her name — it’ll be a knowledge base from which to serve others.
“Everything I learned as an entrepreneur was a baptism by fire,” Mora said. “I had to learn by trial and error. I lacked that foundation of knowledge that I think would’ve helped us succeed sooner or better.”
Mora, who is slated to graduate in 2015, is making sure that doesn’t happen again.
This story is adapted from a blog post on the UCLA Anderson site.