Two members of the first iMBA cohort reflect on how taking a risk on a new kind of online MBA reshaped their careers and what it says about the program 10 years later.
Ten years ago, the iMBA® wasn’t a proven model: it was an idea. The first students didn’t have global recognition or a decade of outcomes to guide their decision. What they had was a need: to grow their careers without putting them on hold.
For early adopters like Alyssa Harder and Dustin Wenger, that was enough.
Harder, a technical sales manager, was six years into her career when she realized she needed broader leadership and marketing skills to keep advancing. At the same time, her demanding travel schedule made a traditional MBA unrealistic. The iMBA offered a different path – one that allowed her to learn on her own schedule while staying fully engaged at work.
That flexibility paid off. Since completing the program, Harder has advanced into a regional sales manager role and even built a university recruiting pipeline within her organization – bringing new talent, including Gies graduates, into a 90-year-old company.
Wenger’s path looked very different but led to equally transformative results. With a background in political science, he built a career in construction and infrastructure but found himself lacking the business acumen to move into more strategic roles.
The iMBA gave him that foundation. Its flexible format allowed him to continue traveling for work while building skills he could immediately apply. Over time, that translated into a full career pivot – from construction to management consulting, and ultimately into mergers and acquisitions within the technology sector.
Today, Wenger describes the impact simply: the confidence to contribute in any business setting, across industries and functions.
While their journeys took different directions, Harder and Wenger share a common outcome. The iMBA didn’t just fit into their lives – it accelerated them. What began as a flexible alternative to a traditional MBA became a catalyst for advancement, reinvention, and long-term growth.
A decade later, stories like these are no longer the exception: they’re the foundation of the program. The iMBA has grown into a global community of professionals who are not stepping away from their careers to earn a degree, but using it to move forward in real time.
For the next generation of learners, the question is no longer whether an online MBA can deliver.
It’s how far it can take you.