Carla Curiel, Director, Babson College Miami
Invest: spoke with Carla Curiel, director of Babson College Miami, about how the campus leverages Miami’s global diversity, supports working professionals through a blended MBA model, and builds deep ties with corporations and entrepreneurs across the region. “We are intentional about connecting students with the Miami business community,” Curiel said.
How does Babson Miami cultivate a collaborative learning culture among students with diverse professional and cultural backgrounds?
Babson has always had a vibrant international community, so diversity of thought and culture is part of our DNA. In Miami, that is amplified by the city itself and by the students we attract. We have professionals who fly in from Europe, Latin America, and Canada, alongside a strong base of local talent from Florida.
That mix shows up in the classroom every day. Students bring their experiences in different markets and industries into case discussions and group projects, many of which feature multicultural founders or Latin America–based companies. Faculty also bring global experience, so collaboration across cultures is built into how we design and deliver the program, especially at the MBA level.
What unique challenges do working professionals face in Babson’s blended learning format?
Pursuing an MBA while working full-time is a major commitment. Our students average about 7 years of career experience, so many are managing senior roles, families, and graduate school at the same time. That juggling act is real.
We design the program around that reality. The blended format combines residency weekends with online learning so they can keep advancing without stepping out of their careers. Teamwork and group projects allow classmates to support each other during busy periods. We also address burnout, prioritization, and time management directly, helping students focus on what is truly important so the program complements — rather than competes with — their professional and personal lives.
How does Babson Miami assess the impact of its programs on the broader Miami business community?
We see our impact clearly in the stories and networks that form around the campus. Our pitch nights are a good example: alumni and students present ventures to experienced entrepreneurs and investors such as Matt Coffin, founder of LowerMyBills.com and a member of Babson’s Entrepreneur Hall of Fame, who mentors and gives feedback that directly shapes their fundraising and growth strategies.
The Babson network itself is a powerful indicator. Our alumni community is consistently ranked among the strongest in the country. Students and graduates use that network to secure internships, jobs, partnerships, and market access, often through simple messages in a large shared WhatsApp group. The result is an ecosystem with stronger connections, better access to opportunity, and entrepreneurs who feel supported long after they complete a program.
How does Babson help students convert entrepreneurial ideas into sustainable and scalable business models?
Entrepreneurship is at the core of Babson. We have centers and institutes dedicated to areas such as women’s leadership, health innovation, tech entrepreneurship, franchising, and social innovation, each offering targeted programming, mentorship, and resources.
At the center of that is the Arthur M. Blank School for Entrepreneurial Leadership, founded with support from Arthur M. Blank, the Babson alum who co-founded Home Depot. Through it, students access accelerators, incubators, pitch competitions, one-on-one mentoring, and structured pitch practice. All of this is grounded in Babson’s ET&A framework — Entrepreneurial Thought & Action, a proven methodology that helps students develop the skill set and mindset needed to not just launch a new business, but make changes in established companies, lead teams, and create social impact. ET&A encourages students to move beyond analysis paralysis, test ideas through small steps, learn from results, and adapt so they can build ventures that are both viable and resilient, whether they are launching startups, buying businesses, or innovating within large organizations.
How does the Miami campus collaborate with local corporations to create internships or project-based learning opportunities?
We are intentional about connecting students with the Miami business community. Each January we host the Babson Miami Connect Career Trek, a three-day experience where MBA students visit a cross-section of organizations, from global brands like L’Oréal, American Airlines, and Carnival Cruise Line to fintech and startup players in the local ecosystem. Executives lead sessions on topics such as operations, strategy, and marketing, giving students a firsthand view of different industries and cultures.
Those encounters often translate into concrete outcomes. Students have secured internships and full-time positions based on relationships started during the Trek or at the guest lectures we host on campus. In parallel, Babson’s executive education division designs custom programs with corporations to reskill and upskill their leaders. Tailored sequences that combine finance, strategy, and capstone projects around real business challenges deepen those ties and expand opportunities for our students and alumni.
How are you supporting entrepreneurs who are focused on social impact, community building, or mission-driven ventures?
Impact is central to our mission, and we emphasize a triple-bottom-line view of business: people, planet, and profit. We want our students to see themselves as leaders who can improve the communities and systems they operate in.
We support that through dedicated social innovation programs and through Babson Academy, which uses a train-the-trainer model to help universities around the world adopt Babson’s approach to entrepreneurship education. At the pre-college level, our Babson Build program for high-school students is framed around the UN Sustainable Development Goals and challenges participants to design ventures that are both profitable and impactful. Additionally, our Summer Study and Arthur M. Blank School Summer Program offer high school students the opportunity to experience a hands-on introduction to entrepreneurship and other college courses that let them explore academic interests and engage in applied learning. The mindset explored in these programs carries through to our undergraduate, graduate, and executive learners, many of whom are building mission-driven companies or driving change from within established organizations.
What are your top priorities for the Miami campus over the next two to three years?
Our core priority is to widen the portfolio of offerings we bring to the Miami and broader Latin American community while staying true to our strengths. Our “bread and butter” is the Blended MBA in its hybrid format, which we believe is an excellent model for working professionals who want an in-person cohort experience combined with online flexibility. That program has strong feedback and outcomes, and we will continue to invest in it.
We are also expanding our open-enrollment executive education. Not everyone is ready to commit to a two-year MBA, but many professionals want to upskill in targeted areas. We are building more short, intensive programs — for example, on entrepreneurial leadership in the age of AI, entrepreneurship through acquisition, or wealth management — that are digestible, stackable, and highly relevant. Over time, those courses can build toward a Certificate of Advanced Management in areas like business analytics or fintech.
Finally, we’re focused on meeting learners where they are through flexible formats. That means thoughtful combinations of in-person sessions, live online classes, and asynchronous content that people can engage with on their own schedules. The goal is to create pathways where someone can start with a single workshop, continue through a series of programs and, if they choose, ultimately pursue a full MBA — all while staying connected to the Babson Miami community and the broader global network.
