Himani Joshi ’23 has worked for Valleyfair, Mystic Lake Casino and as a quality improvement intern for Scott County. Additionally, she was involved in DECA, an organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management. She accomplished all of this before graduating high school in Shakopee, Minnesota.
It’s no wonder that Joshi, now a business management student at the University of St. Thomas, with a minor in data analytics, was chosen as a GHR Fellow. The GHR Fellows Program through the Opus College of Business is a highly competitive, immersive four-year experience for undergraduate students pursuing careers in business. Fellows participate in customized programming and receive full-tuition scholarships to the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.
“We have access to this wonderful network,” said Joshi, who started with the inaugural GHR Fellows cohort in 2019. “We have wonderful advisers – all these people who are supporting us along the way.”
The third-year scholar is especially impressed by the programming and networking opportunities. “We have a monthly service outing and every month we do a GHR seminar.”
During Joshi’s freshman year with the inaugural cohort, they visited the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis and had an opportunity to directly interact with the retail owners and staffers. “We got to talk to some of the staff and ask them questions about how they partner with their clients, how they are able to set up this market and how it services the community,” Joshi said. “That was super educational.”
Joshi noted the value of in-person gatherings, but added that virtual activities allow for engagement with other fellows and, like in-person events, allow for self-reflection, looking at different pillars of ethics and sustainability.
As a virtual event, “We did Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead, we read that book and we did this workshop,” Joshi said about a book they discussed as a part of the program. “We’d meet on a weekly basis for a couple of hours, we would read the book and there would be an activity and discussion about vulnerability.”
The programs and opportunities available to undergraduate students through the business school was one of the reasons she chose to attend St. Thomas.
“The Opus College of Business was definitely a place that stood out to me,” Joshi said. “When I applied, I think it was a teacher who sent me a link to the GHR Fellows scholarship.”
Established by the GHR Foundation, the GHR Fellows Program reflects the spirit of namesake and The Opus Group founder Gerry Rauenhorst, who believed that entrepreneurial creativity inspires solutions that improve lives. Fellows graduate as principled leaders capable of creating enduring value for society.
Outside of GHR Fellows, Joshi is also a resident adviser in Flynn Hall, and was a participant in the Fowler Business Concept Challenge and the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge. She only had a half a year of “normalcy” on campus before the COVID-19 pandemic started, and is thankful for the opportunities she has had as a St. Thomas student.
“I’m grateful for every moment that I’ve had here, especially with GHR Fellows,” Joshi said.
