How It Paid Off

NAME: Nelson L. Mellitz

DEGREE: Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) with a specialization in Leadership

JOB TITLE BEFORE MY DEGREE: Principal consultant to the Department of Veterans Affairs in the Central Business Office and in acquisition policy. I was on a team that reduced the time it took to process veteran disability claims by nearly a year.

JOB TITLE AFTER MY DEGREE: Manager and instructor at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), where I design and present professional courses to interns and fellows at the Veterans Affairs Acquisition Academy (VAAA).

HOW MY DEGREE HELPS ME MAKE A LARGER IMPACT: I have the opportunity to improve the lives of veterans; I process their benefits and give each of them improved support. Also, the VAAA will soon have entire classes of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans that I will help re-enter the workforce by teaching them best practices and mentoring them.

BIGGEST BENEFIT OF EARNING A DEGREE AT WALDEN: Since starting my degree program, my knowledge and communication have improved substantially. To top that off, my DBA from Walden put my résumé on top of the pile at PwC. I was contacted for the new position within two days of earning my degree.

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