Diana Chen prepared for her role as director of global sourcing for Equifax through Georgia Tech's Global Executive MBA Program.

Diana Chen found exactly what she was looking for in her career. Her Global Executive MBA (GEMBA) education at Georgia Tech College of Management helped her find it.

A 2007 GEMBA graduate, Chen now serves as director of global sourcing for Equifax. "I'm very pleased with the role, and stimulated by the projects that I manage," she says. "I'd wanted to move from IT to a challenging role on the business side. I'm now involved with a lot of corporate-wide projects that I never would have been in before. This is a more strategic role with a broader view."

Previously a senior project manager for the IT media company TechTarget, she was drawn to the GEMBA program by its international focus. "There is so much globalization going on that you need to have a global perspective," says Chen, who project manages sourcing projects for Equifax's divisions around the world. "GEMBA was the perfect next step for me to get into my current role."

Returning to Tech

Chen already knew a lot about Georgia Tech before enrolling. She graduated from the College of Management with a bachelor's in management in 1999. "I was impressed with the faculty in the College of Management during my undergraduate studies. Therefore, I felt it was the best option for me. Additionally, the GEMBA program was a good fit as far as format and timing."

Designed for rising professionals who want to shift their career toward international business and/or understand global issues, the GEMBA program enhances traditional MBA coursework to provide perspectives on global trade, markets, organizations, and supply chain. Students meet on select weekends for Friday evening and all-day Saturday classes during the course of 17 months. They also go on two international residencies.

A native of Taiwan who moved to Atlanta at age six, Chen was also attracted back to Georgia Tech by its international reputation for excellence. "Throughout my career, I've interacted with a lot of C-level executives who graduated from Tech," she says. "It wasn't until I started working after my undergraduate years that I fully realized how impressive Georgia Tech's alumni are."

Chen, who maintains regular contact with her network of GEMBA classmates, says she gained a lot of educational benefit from the program. "So much of the coursework was important for me, from organizational behavior to world finance to global supply chain," she says. "Learning international business law was particularly helpful for all the contract negotiations I now support."

© 2012 Georgia Institute of Technology