Spring 2008 Issue - NIU College of Business - Northern Illinois ...

The World According To . . .An Alumnus – from Illinois to West Africa, Iraq, and the NetherlandsIt’s common to hear business professionals talk of meetings in a“war room,” otherwise known as a large conference room used tohash-out major business concerns. What’s not as common is tolearn of a business professional whose “war room” was located inthe middle of an actual war zone. For Kendra Schoenholz (M.S.Accountancy 1998), the path from Illinois to Iraq (and beyond) wascircuitous at best, as is the case with most major life events.Kendra may hail from the small town of Mendota, Illinois, but shealways knew she would travel the world. As a high school student,Schoenholz spent two months in Australia as an exchange student.As a Boston University undergraduate student, Schoenholz completed course work in Niger, WestAfrica, living there for a year and a half. A year after returning to the U.S., she enrolled in NIU andearned a Master of Accounting Science degree. She then completed NIU’s C.P.A. Review program,sat for the comprehensive exam, and earned the C.P.A. credential. Immediately thereafter,she landed employment with Deloitte and Touche, working in the firm’s Chicago offices. ButSchoenholz – who set a goal since high school to visit all seven continents – still itched to travelthe world. She left Deloitte and Touche after a year and a half to join USAID, the United StatesAgency for International Development.Schoenholz’s first four years with USAID brought her to Dakar, Senegal, West Africa. There, sheaudited USAID-sponsored programs to ensure that funds were properly managed. Then, in August2005, Schoenholz was transferred to Iraq, where she became a member of a team that was chargedwith auditing USAID-fundedreconstruction projects. Theteam’s detailed findingsand report ultimately weresubmitted to the USAIDMission in Iraq.Global Business and NIU Business Students“Today, we are competing with people andbusinesses from around the world. Our peersin other countries have the same universitydegrees as we do and speak three to fivelanguages fluently. We need to think of whatwe can offer to a business that is unique.”For two years (August2005 through May 2007),Schoenholz lived andworked within the Baghdad~ Kendra SchoenholzInternational Zone (formerlyknown as the Green Zone).The International Zone is aheavily guarded diplomatic/government area of closed-off streets in central Baghdad. While difficultto determine, the precise boundaries of the Green Zone are believed to include the main palacesof former Iraq President Saddam Hussein. The media has often referred to the Green Zone as22 | NIU College of Business www.cob.niu.edu Where the Classroom Meets the Business World