LEIOC in the Field: Aaron Covarruvius on Navigating Ambiguity and Diving into Uncertainty
Please introduce yourself and share a little about your professional background before and after pursuing MSLOC and completing the Leading Equity and Inclusion in Organizations Certificate (LEIOC).
I spent the first nine years of my professional life working in mainland China. I studied Mandarin as an undergrad, studied abroad in Beijing, then landed a business communication internship at Cisco Webex’s R&D center in China. After the internship ended, a friend in China introduced me to education consulting. I grew with the same company, then moved into middle management where I helped grow the company across China. I realized through that experience that, in addition to consulting with students and families, I enjoyed organizational development and working in the whole HR cycle from recruiting and onboarding to ongoing training and employee development.
Covid brought me back to the US where I found a job in learning and development at the California Department of Justice, and I simultaneously applied to Northwestern MSLOC. While I was always interested in pursuing people (human capital) consulting, I thought I’d wait until after finishing MSLOC to make my next move. But everything always happens all at once! I connected with a recruiter who was looking to fill organizational change management (OCM) consultant roles for Deloitte Consulting’s Government and Public Sector practice. I was apprehensive at first: two MSLOC courses per term, plus onboarding to a new job, plus a consulting workload sounded like a lot to manage. I decided to go through the interview process anyway. It was exciting and scary at the same time, but I knew I wasn’t alone. I reached out to my MSLOC career advisor, Diane, in a panic, and I was comforted by the wealth of interview prep resources and interview practice sessions MSLOC was able to provide.
I was offered a Human Capital Senior Consultant role at Deloitte and decided to jump at the opportunity. One thing MSLOC has taught me is that sometimes there is no single, “right” choice. Sometimes you have to dive into uncertainty and figure it out on the way. And I did!
With regard to the Leading Equity and Inclusion in Organizations Certificate (LEIOC), I knew from the first moment I read about it on the MSLOC website that I wanted to find to find a way to complete the certificate. I felt that LEIOC fit well with my professional and personal background and interests, and I wanted to learn more about how those interests could one day be applied to my career. LEIOC made an impact on my life, my career, and the lives of others through the DEIJ work I’ve been able to do so far.
How has MSLOC/LEIOC influenced your career trajectory?
MSLOC definitely helped me get my current job at Deloitte. The recruiter and the interviewers loved the MSLOC degree and felt it served as a natural bridge from one point to the next in my career trajectory. MSLOC gave me a language and frameworks to think about people at work and organizational change, all of which I was able to apply directly to my consulting job. MSLOC also helped me crystallize connections and sparks between concepts my gut told me were connected but I didn’t yet know how.
What I was learning in MSLOC and organizational change management/human capital consulting synced almost perfectly, giving me an even more holistic view of change management than some of my colleagues who had more years of professional experience.
Going through the LEIO Certificate also confirmed my interest in DEIJ work and guided the direction of the activities I seek out at work. Outside of client work, I’m currently doing a pro bono consulting project related to educational equality in Ghana. I seek out projects at work that have a DEIJ component, and I am confident that LEIOC will continue to guide my future choices.
How has being part of the community benefited you in terms of connections and/or collaborations?
The MSLOC community has been invaluable in helping me navigate career choices—a source of advice, guidance, and peers who are willing to chat and bounce ideas off one another. I love that when I’m trying to figure something out, MSLOCers are happy to chat and/or direct me to folks who might be able to help. We talk a lot about navigating ambiguity in MSLOC, something I’ve gotten a lot better at, and there are still times when I just need a sounding board. MSLOC provides just this!
The MSLOC Meetup program (a twice-yearly alumni/student matching program) helped me to learn about different career options in an open, welcoming environment and gave me insights into different possibilities.
My LEIO Certificate cohort experience was extremely enriching in exploring ideas, gaining comfort with things that are uncomfortable, and opening my mind to pressing social, economic, and political topics I hadn’t considered before or was uncomfortable engaging with. The cohort provided the brave space I needed to grow in this area, and I’m still growing. LEIOC gave me the push I was seeking.
What advice would you give to current or potential students pursuing the Leading Equity and Inclusion in Organizations Certificate?
Even if you’re unsure—about the time commitment, about your interest, about doing a certificate in general—I highly encourage you to attend an info session, talk to people knowledgeable about the certificate and/or who’ve done it, and gather the information you need to make a more informed decision.
If you have interest in the DEIJ space, just apply! LEIOC is transformative and experiential. The certificate is intentional and well thought-out and you will also have the chance to shape the experience of your cohort as well as provide valuable input for future iterations of the certificate.
LEIOC fits well with many MSLOC concepts (e.g., organizational design, design justice, comfort with ambiguity, etc.) and it can complement your degree and/or professional background. If you aren’t pursuing the full MSLOC degree, LEIOC can also be the starting point of something beautiful – it’s a space to explore, learn, and connect.
One of my favorite parts of MSLOC and LEIOC was the DEIJ consulting project we did with a client organization grappling with how to introduce DEIJ into their organizational culture and into the services they provide/sell. You will gain not only consulting experience but also firsthand experience of how DEIJ works in practice. It inspired me, and I’m sure it will inspire you too!
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MSLOC in the Field is a series where community members share perspectives on their professional journeys and the roles MSLOC has played in advancing their learning and career goals.