Sustainability in Everything I Do: Student Davide Ebraheem
Born in Rome to an Egyptian father and Polish mother, and raised in Vasanello, a small town near Viterbo in the Lazio region, student Davide Ebraheem is pursuing a B.A. in Marketing and a minor in Entrepreneurship at JCU. In Spring 2023, Davide won the Elevator Pitch and the Triggering Change Competition, making sustainability the focus of his studies.
How did you become passionate about marketing?
I realized that marketing was right for me when I was in high school, where I studied administration, finance, and marketing. My school has an agreement with John Cabot University to participate in one of the activities offered for PCTO (Percorsi per le Competenze Trasversali e l’Orientamento), a mandatory program that provides Italian high school students with practical work experience. In my third year, my class participated in JCU’s Italy Pitches program, where students select an Italian organization with a strong corporate social responsibility and create an advocacy video that effectively promotes the values it stands for.
We chose the non-profit organization JA Italia, which promotes entrepreneurial and financial literacy, and we won the Best Entrepreneurial Team award. Professor Silvia Pulino invited us to participate in the 2019 Weekend of Startups, a competition organized by the JCU Institute for Entrepreneurship. Despite my poor English, I presented my ideas in front of the audience, and we won second place.
What made you decide to pursue a B.A. in Marketing at JCU?
When I came to JCU for the Weekend of Startups, I immediately fell in love with its international environment, but I never thought about studying at an American university. At the end of my high school education, I realized that in Italian universities you can only study marketing after three years of general economics. At JCU, instead, you can pursue a degree in marketing right after your high school diploma, and after talking with my high school mentor, I started looking at the prerequisites to enroll. I started with the ENLUS Program (English Language for University Studies) in Fall 2021, and although it was very difficult, it helped me a lot and I made some good friendships.
What made you decide to combine your passion for marketing and entrepreneurship with a certificate in sustainability?
Marketing and entrepreneurship go well together, and I decided to focus on sustainability because I am passionate about it. I think, especially at this time, it is important to talk about sustainability and convey certain values to consumers. Professor Michèle Favorite also transmitted her passion for the subject to me and she encouraged me to pursue this interest. In Spring 2023, I participated in the Elevator Pitch Competition and won first place for social innovation focusing on the environment and sustainability. I also took part in the Triggering Change Pitch Competition with fellow student and Business Society President Lynch Ainsley Sariola. The theme was making Rome more livable, and we developed the winning pitch on artificial trees to address the problem of increasing heat due to climate change.
You are the Vice President of JCU’s Business Society, Social Media Manager of the Grassroots Club, and a Student Ambassador. How have these extracurricular activities enriched your experience at JCU?
All these activities are greatly contributing to enriching my experience here at JCU. The Business Society is my first experience with student life. We connect with almost all JCU offices and some external companies to learn how to communicate in a business setting. I think it is especially important for marketing students to learn how to collaborate effectively.
This semester I also joined the Grassroots Club as social media manager. We organize cleanups, workshops, and weekly discussions on hot topics related to sustainability. I try to incorporate sustainability into everything I do. I’m also a student ambassador and I feel this is a way to thank JCU for what I have become. I’m happy to promote the University and to help students make the right choices by drawing on my personal experience.
What advice would you give to someone who is considering coming to JCU?
To a prospective student, I say that if you have a feeling that you like something, just do it. If you think about it too much, you may end up doing something you don’t really like. Language could be a barrier for those who are not native English speakers, but it can be easily overcome with practice.
What are your plans for the future?
Ideally, after I graduate from JCU I’d like to work in the corporate sector for a few years to gain experience in marketing and business. Then I hope to pursue an M.B.A. in the United States and start my own business to fulfill my desire to make an impact on others and the environment. Once the company becomes self-sustaining, I would like to take a step back and go into teaching at the university level.
