MBCC Alumna – Shadane

MBCC Alumna – the first International Student to speak at the prestigious George Washington School of Business Masters and Doctoral Commencement Celebration

Shadane Ferraro, MBCC Alumna, is the first international student and the first Jamaican to be awarded the honour of speaking at the George Washington School of Business Masters and Doctoral Commencement Celebration on Friday, May 13, 2022.

Throughout her tenure at the George Washington School of Business, where she completed her Master’s Degree in Tourism Administration with a focus on Sustainable Tourism, she has persevered despite the challenges that living abroad posed. Additionally, she has impacted her peers’ lives in a positive way whilst demonstrating excellence in her academic studies.

Her motivation to pursue a higher education stems from her struggles growing up in Cold Spring, Hanover, and seeing the struggles her community faces daily. “Cold Spring is a rural community that is bombarded with water and electricity crises. I have a zeal for a better life, and I believe that no one should be living in poverty,” Ferraro lamented.

Meanwhile, Ferraro outlined that her time at MBCC has greatly impacted her journey in completing her master’s degree, as it gave her a solid foundation for her academic pursuits. She recounted that, at the start of her journey, she did not have the funds to go to the other universities, and the only affordable option was MBCC.

“MBCC has paved the way for my success, as I was able to transmute my scholastic studies into major conferences such as representing Jamaica at the Center for Responsible Travel (CREST) conference in 2018 in Washington DC and being part of a panel discussion with leaders from UNWTO, Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), World Bank, and World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) on poverty reduction, environmental protection, and climate change in 2017,” Ferraro said.

Ferraro plans to climb the corporate ladder and realize her dream of owning her own breakfast café/restaurant in America in the future. Currently, she is working on her first book to inspire the minds of children living in poverty by shifting the paradigm of a poverty-driven mindset to one of abundance and prosperity. Ferraro intends to return to Jamaica as a politician or to have some level of influence in the political sphere.