How the Erb Network Opened the Door to My Dream Role

This article is adapted from remarks delivered by Rachel Hain (MBA/MS ’25) during the Erb Institute’s Strategic Advisory Committee dinner in October 2025.

When I introduced myself at this year’s Erb Institute Strategic Advisory Council dinner, I couldn’t help but smile at how quickly things had come full circle. Just six months prior, I had graduated from Erb. To be back so soon, sharing how Erb shaped my post-graduation journey, felt surreal—but it also felt right.

Going into my third year at Erb, in fall 2024, I was trying to map out how unrelated corporate roles might someday lead me to the kind of work I truly wanted to do—something in consumer goods that could meaningfully impact waste reduction and circular economies while working with evolving state-level legislation. I knew the role existed somewhere; I just wasn’t sure how to get there.

I attended that same SAC dinner event that fall, hoping to connect with Erb alums and classmates. What I didn’t expect was that a simple choice of where to sit would change my career trajectory.

I ended up at the empty table directly in front of the speakers. That decision turned out to be serendipitous, because I found myself next to Monique Oxender, the SAC co-chair and Chief Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Officer at Keurig Dr Pepper.

Monique and I quickly discovered we shared some unlikely personal connections—from balancing motherhood during grad school to both growing up near Dayton, Ohio. When I shared my career interests, Monique immediately understood what I was trying to do. She offered advice, connections, and even handed me her card to stay in touch.Fast forward to May 2025, the month of my graduation: Monique’s team at Keurig Dr Pepper was undergoing a restructuring and needed an intern to help build strategies around product stewardship reporting for packaging. She asked if I’d be interested in taking on the post-grad internship. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance.

In the following few months, I learned the nuances of this work while applying the tools I gained as an Erb student. And the very week of the next SAC dinner, almost a year to my initial meeting with Monique, I officially joined her team as Manager of Packaging Stewardship Compliance, reporting to another fellow Erber, Charlie Schwarze.

When I chose the dual-degree program at Erb as a career shifter, I knew its value went far beyond the two advanced degrees. I expected an impressive network—but what I found was a community. A community of people who understand your drive, your motivation, and perhaps most importantly, your potential.

I hope to pay it forward in the same intentional way Monique and Charlie have for me. And to the Strategic Advisory Council members who make the Erb Institute’s mission possible—thank you for helping empower the sustainability leaders our planet needs.