Graduate Lends Business Savvy To Oxygen Media

NEW YORK – When Veronica Dagher, CBA �00, arrived at Fordham, she knew she wanted to delve into the business world. But it took schmoozing with powerful CEOs, four very impressive internships provided through Fordham’s internship program and her own networking savvy before she found her niche. In June, she will go to work for the executive producer at Oxygen Media, a new Internet/cable network devoted to issues affecting women and children. “What they are doing for women is really positive, and I wanted to be a part of it,” said Dagher, a marketing/finance major and Spanish minor. “I was able to network my way in and land a job there.” Dagher’s tenacity has been impressing Fordham faculty since she was a freshman. She has been a leader and standout student since she arrived, said Dean Sharon Smith of the College of Business Administration. Dagher, a student in the G.L.O.B.E. Program � designed to prepare students for multinational careers � founded the G.L.O.B.E. Club. Students in the G.L.O.B.E. Program take international business courses, must become proficient in a foreign language and gain an understanding of cultural differences through course work, an internship and/or study abroad. Dagher found her course work enriching but soon realized there was no venue for students to exercise the skills they were learning. So the Long Island native started the club and became its first president. “She is just an all-around marvelous leader and a role model for her fellow students,” Dean Smith said. After two years of bringing international business executives to campus, hosting foreign food tasting events and providing programming about living overseas, Dagher voluntarily stepped down as president of the flourishing club. “That’s an incredible person,” Smith said. “She went beyond ego. She saw the club as an institution and wanted to see it grow once she was gone.” Now Dagher, who is interning at Oxygen Media until she graduates, can bring her ideas and innovation to her new job. Dagher said she discovered Oxygen Media about a year ago after reading about it in a magazine. She applied for an internship and was interviewed after a CBA dean impressed with her business panache called the network on her behalf. Working for such a new company will afford Dagher opportunities to build the business, a chance she might not have found at a well-established financial firm, she said. When she starts her new job in June, Dagher will work with the marketing staff to develop a brand for the business. She also will work with the finance department to budget productions. “A company like Oxygen asks for your input. It’s so new, they need all the help they can get,” Dagher said. “It’s a great place to start out when you are fresh and have a bunch of new ideas.”