UVA Darden Class of 2022 Executive MBAs Launch $75k Class Gift Match Program

University of Virginia Darden School of Business Executive MBA classes have historically boasted robust participation in annual class gifts, frequently reaching near unanimous participation. Now, a new initiative spearheaded by the Executive MBA Class of 2022 Engagement Committee seeks to boost the impact, with the three committee co-chairs and another classmate offering a $75,000 match gift if the Class reaches 100 percent participation.

The committee hopes to reach $200,000 in total giving, which would represent the largest-ever sum from a graduating Executive MBA Class.

Will Payne

“All of us on the committee understand the value of service and giving back,” said Will Payne (Class of 2022), who, along with Stephen Beaudoin (Class of 2022) and Michelle Cobb (Class of 2022), serves as an Engagement Committee co-chair. “Our ‘Community of Purpose’ campaign demonstrates our commitment as a class to maintaining strong and meaningful bonds after graduation, as well as our commitment to ensuring educational accessibility for those who want to come to Darden in the future.”

Payne, who serves on the board of visitors and as vice rector of William & Mary, applied only to Darden in 2020 when he decided to return to a classroom for the first time in two decades. The managing partner of Coalfield Strategies, an economic development firm located in Southwest Virginia, Payne has used the Darden experience to explore his entrepreneurial interests, serving as co-president of the Executive MBA Entrepreneurship Club and launching multiple ventures, including Appalachian Grains, which seeks to jumpstart the specialty grain market in Southwest Virginia for use in craft beer statewide.

Appalachian Grains malted barley has already been used by multiple Virginia breweries, and Payne is close to announcing a separate Southwest Virginia-based craft beverage venture he developed in multiple independent studies and courses at Darden.

Although the Class of 2022 began its Darden journey when in-person interactions were limited due to COVID-19, Payne said the group has formed tight bonds, and singled out the learning team experience as key to success at Darden.

“My learning team has been my rock,” said Payne. “I’m not exaggerating when I say that I would not have survived the First Year without my team. They bring so much perspective on our course work into our small group discussions and into the classroom. It’s part of Darden’s secret sauce.”

The group held a formal kickoff event with the Class of 2022 announcing key engagement priorities as well as the match in Rosslyn in March.