Marco Oropeza Gomez enjoys being a change-agent. Perhaps it’s because he spent much of his childhood moving with his family to points around the globe before landing in Ann Arbor.

“This is where I was meant to be,” the Stephen M. Ross School of Business student says.

Oropeza came to U-M knowing he wanted to study business, but he needed expert guidance to narrow his focus. That guidance appeared in the form of scholarship donor and insurance executive Thomas C. Jones, BBA ’68/MBA ’71. (He founded the Thomas C. Jones Center for BBA Education at the Ross School.) Jones mentored Oropeza toward a career in consulting. At the same time, he inspired the student to become a mentor himself.

Oropeza connected with the student-run Nexecon Consulting Group and co-created “Meet the [yo]U” — a self-reflection workshop to help freshmen navigate the confusing world of college and careers. The program will be piloted by the First-Year Experience Program this fall.

“It’s important that I make the experience better for those who come after me,” Oropeza says.

He brought that same philosophy to Ross as he set about bringing the school’s “action-based learning” approach to undergrads. He and Jones assembled faculty and Nexecon members interested in consulting-based internships. Their efforts converged neatly with the administration’s plan to launch the Ross School’s first comprehensive field-study initiative for BBAs. The Summer Action Learning Program in Consulting debuted in 2010. As part of the process, BBA students worked with faculty in the Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship to explore team dynamics, client relations and leading change.

“I loved the tie-in of self-realization and driving deep change,” Oropeza says. “This program has enormous potential to impact undergraduate business education.”

Oropeza’s passion for solving problems and navigating change will serve him well as an associate consultant with The Boston Consulting Group after graduation.

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