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Efe E

- Research Program Mentor

MBA candidate at University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley)

Expertise

Writing, Media/Journalism, Advertising, Marketing, English Language Arts

Bio

Hey everyone! My name's Efe (F-A) and I'm a first-year MBA Candidate at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business. Academically, I'm interested in media & culture — specifically with how we consume media, how it shapes our perceptions and beliefs, how we learn more about ourselves and the people around us through media, and how media and other creative works can be financially sustained in this period of industry volatility. More broadly, I love sports (UMich and Detroit pro teams), music (hip-hop and R&B), cooking, and exercise. I'm constantly trying to learn about new things and I almost always have a book around me (currently reading Dilla Time by Dan Charnas).

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Rooney Rule 2.0: Moving the NFL Towards Social and Racial Progress

I spent a good chunk of time during my undergraduate career (both during my freshman year at Wayne State University and junior year at the University of Michigan) researching how coach hiring outcomes in the NFL differ based on the candidate's race. With this research idea, you (the student) would dive into the academic topics of sociology and workplace politics — and particularly, how they intersect in a highly-visible industry like professional football. The process of gathering information would be through reading academic papers (Google Scholar and JSTOR are two great databases to find papers) and potentially by sourcing your own data (if you cared about public perception of hiring outcomes, for example, you could conduct a survey). A potential outcome of your research could be a proposal for how the NFL can revamp and improve the "Rooney Rule", which is the league's hiring policy that requires that each team with a head coaching vacancy interview a minority.

Teaching experience

I was a 2019 Teach For America Corps Member, teaching 9th Grade English at Harding University High School in Charlotte, NC for two years. While my tenure in the classroom was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, I was able to see through some pretty great milestones. During my first semester teaching, 14 of my 16 English I students beat their projected score on their state final exam — and a 15th tied his.

Credentials

Work experience

Creative Artists Agency (2018 - 2018)
Brand Consulting Intern
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (2019 - 2021)
Teacher, 9-12 English
Kettle (2021 - 2024)
Copywriter
U-M Center for Sport & Policy (2018 - 2019)
Research Assistant

Education

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
BA Bachelor of Arts (2019)
Sport Management, Minor in Political Science
University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley)
MBA Master of Business Administration candidate
Business

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