Lori Burke '03

Park Fellow
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Various companies in Latin America
Plazadigital

Vice president, Latin American Business Association

After traveling extensively in Latin America and working with companies who did business in that region, I knew I wanted to pursue a career that would allow me to use that experience. I will be working for Johnson & Johnson as an associate product director for its Cordis company and I'll be focusing on global strategic marketing.

Because of my Johnson School experience, I've made the transition from qualitative to quantitative thinking and I was able to overcome the intimidation factor of being a woman and having no experience in finance. My "Ah-ha!'' moment came during Intermediate Accounting, which synthesized all of the disjointed information from other accounting classes I had taken. Now I can put it all together and it makes sense.

As a Park Fellow, I helped the Cayuga Nature Center in Ithaca complete a long-term strategic plan and work on financial strategies. We also helped the center expand its board of directors, helping to recruit people with experience in fund-raising, finance and business. The center created a summer internship position to continue implementing our suggestions and I helped secure funding for that position through the Park Foundation.

I also worked with the Career Development Center to organize Destination Florida, a five-day event that involved 16 students who met with 20 companies to talk about intern and full-time positions.

My Johnson School experience provided me with not only a valuable education, but great friends and a network of people to help me in my career.