News & Notes: Spring 2024

Carlson School Alumni Earn University-wide Awards

The University of Minnesota Alumni Association (UMAA) honored several Carlson School alumni for their dedication and leadership as representatives of their alma mater.

Shannon Peloquin, ’06 BSB - U40 Alumni Leader Award

Peloquin was honored for her service to Carlson School students and advisory boards. A longtime volunteer, Pelaquin is active in the San Francisco Bay area alumni community where she calls home, mentors students interested in consulting, and is a current member of the Carlson School Alumni Board. Peloquin is a partner at McKinsey and Co., and board member of the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association.

Scott Wallace, ’80 BSB - Alumni Service Award

Using his business training and career expertise, Wallace has a long list of accomplishments during his tenure on the UMAA Board of Directors. He chaired UMAA’s Revenue Growth Task Force, and served as treasurer and finance and audit committee chair, making important impacts on the organization’s financial growth and stability. Wallace’s work also includes spearheading the Inclusion and Belonging Committee, while advocating for diversity conversations and equitable alumni engagement.

Carlson Women Global Connect - Outstanding Alumni Society

CWGC was honored for their commitment to building and strengthening connections between alumni of the Carlson School. This volunteer-run organization provides opportunities for engagement, resources, and networking to female alumni of the school. Lindsay Amundson, ’07 BSB, ’12 MBA, chair, and Julie Gilbert, ’93 BSB, ’99 MBA, former co-chair, along with their CWGC Board and a Senior Executive Advisory Board, have grown the network in just a few years into what the award committee called a “model volunteer-run organization."

Alumna Gives Back to Life-Changing MBA Program Ahead of Graduation Milestone

Jenna Theisen, ’14 MBA, was working at a company in a role she enjoyed when she started the Part-Time MBA program at the Carlson School, not intending to make a change. However, she says, “After three years of grinding away at full-time work and part-time school it seemed like I owed it to myself to try to leverage my degree for a career opportunity I would not otherwise have had access to.”

She decided to pursue consulting, ultimately accepting a new role that took her from Minneapolis to New York City, London, and San Francisco, in roles she hadn’t considered in her reach before enrolling at the Carlson School. “My degree changed the trajectory of my career and life,” says Theisen. “The past ten years since graduation have been a marvelous adventure personally and professionally and I’m thankful for my MBA for launching it.”

This milestone year marks a decade since graduation, and Theisen has consistently given back to the program she credits with her career success as a member of the Investors Circle giving society. “I’m very thankful for the opportunities I had during and since the program, and I want to pay it forward by supporting the program and its current and future students.”