Writing in University Business, CHLI President and CEO Mary Ann Gomez Orta argues that a diploma marks the start of a leadership journey rather than the end of one. She notes that while degrees open doors, many graduates enter the workforce without the professional networks, mentors, and real-world experience that employers now weigh as heavily as technical skill. Leadership, she writes, is built through relationships and practice rather than in isolation — and talent is universal even where opportunity is not, especially for first-generation graduates. She calls on business and community leaders to invest deliberately in emerging talent through mentorship, networking, and access to professional development. Today’s graduating class, she concludes, includes tomorrow’s innovators and policymakers, and it falls to established leaders to keep the path to those roles open.
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