MAM Trip to Washington, D.C.

The MAMs with Hanz Heinrichs, Director of Government Affairs at Alcoa Over half of the 20 members of the inaugural MAM Cohort spent the final two and half days of spring break in Washington, DC on a trip designed to increase their understanding of the organizations that combine to create the Washington, DC ecosystem with a specific focus on the business government nexus. We also made sure to allow time for exploring DC’s many museums, restaurants and other cultural offerings. The trip was made possible due to the support of Alcoa and we began our visit with a meeting at Alcoa’s Washington, DC headquarters where we met with Hanz Heinrich, Director of Government Affairs who provided a thorough overview of Alcoa’s engagement with the US Federal Government.

Colleen Briggs, MBA ’13 facilitates a discussion with Charles Yi, Staff Director, Senate Banking Committee Directo Over the two and we had meetings at the State Department, the Treasury Department, McKinsey. the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the Senate, Patton Boggs and the World Bank. Although the schedule was packed the trip significantly increased the MAMs knowledge of the intersection of business and government in the Washington context in a manner that cannot be achieved in the classroom alone. A special thanks goes out to Colleen Briggs, MBA ’13 who prior to SOM worked in the Senate and was a huge help in planning our visit. Our plan is to make the MAM trip to Washington a regular aspect of the program.