Closer to a Dream

“To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act," wrote Nobel Prize-winning novelist Anatole France in the early 20th Century. Dreams are what motivated MBA students Richard Atkinson, Heather Blahnik, Mikel Iriberri, Conor Neill and Gaopeng Sun – of the Class of 2004 – to share in the IESE experience. Here, the students explain what drew them to IESE and their aspirations for the future.

Heather Blahnik, United States, 30
I dream of helping companies make an impact on society

Few people in the world can say that they have had the privilege of giving a speech to the United Nations. Heather Blahnik is one of them.

Born and raised in a small town near Green Bay, Wisconsin, in the United States, Blahnik studied business administration at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She then went to work for the AIESEC, a non-profit international student exchange program in 85 countries around the world. Blahnik eventually moved to the organization's headquarters in Rotterdam and was elected president. As the AIESEC´s spokesperson, she addressed the UN