Fairfield students traveled to California as part of an immersive Silicon Valley spring break trip and connected with industry leaders at top companies such as Uber, Salesforce, Google, KPMG, and more.
According to MBA candidate Anisa Libuya ’14, as an entrepreneur “you always dream of going to Silicon Valley.” Libuya, who is from Zambia, seeks to bring African innovation to global spaces. He and his fellow travelers gained unparalleled networking opportunities and gathered business insights during the Silicon Valley Immersion trip sponsored by the Charles F. Dolan School of Business.
Through the support of alumni Joseph Bronson ’70, Stephen Pilch ’83, and Packy ('90) and Robyn ('91) Kelly, the third annual Silicon Valley Trip itinerary was filled with visits to top technology and venture capital (VC) companies within the Bay Area hub of tech and innovation.
Libuya attended the trip alongside undergraduate classmates and members of the Fairfield StartUp program. He described how students led discussions and posed tough questions to the industry executive on topics like business scalability. He and others returned from the immersion trip with a deeper understanding of problem-solving and a greater appreciation for the importance of clear messaging in business pitches and meetings.
The trip schedule was filled with interactive Q&A sessions, lunches, and conversations driven by the students. Libuya shared that the experience “exceeded his expectations” and was truly exemplary of how the Fairfield Dolan MBA program sets students up for real-world success.
Libuya was among several students on the trip who are a part of the Fairfield StartUp program, allowing them to pitch their business ideas and receive real-time feedback from the executives. As he listened to each industry executive speak about their own businesses, one of Libuya's biggest takeaways was the power of storytelling within the startup space. "You have to explain what you are doing, well,” he said.
As he leads his team into the StartUp showcase on April 24, 2025, Libuya plans to keep in mind the importance of articulating the problem that his business venture, Creditcare, is focused on solving.
Creditcare is a Zambia-based digital microfinance business with a mission to utilize technology and alternative data to provide financial services to underserved individuals and businesses nationwide, through loans and banking services.
To learn more about Creditcare and other Fairfield StartUp teams, check out fairfield.edu/startup.
Read more about experiential learning opportunities at Fairfield Dolan — including the Silicon Valley Immersion Trip, business competitions, client-based learning projects, and more — at fairfield.edu/dolan/experiential-learning.
