Amit Hooda is the co-founder and CEO of Heavenly Organics, an Iowa-based business that imports raw honey made by wild bees in the remote forests of northern and central India. This unique business model helps sustain the economic and cultural survival of indigenous people.

Amit grew up in the countryside in northern India, where his father, a renowned agronomist, has been cultivating relationships with local farmers to preserve organic and sustainable models and to help them market their products. Although Amit grew up around farming and healthy food, the area was riddled by conflict due to the Maoist insurgency widespread in the 1980s.

Amit and his father had been dreaming about creating a business that would support small farmers in these areas and also create a high-quality product that would satisfy a need. Since the family has been practicing the Transcendental Meditation^® technique, when it came time for Amit to attend college he enrolled at MUM.

In 2005, while Amit was earning his MS in computer science at MUM, he and his father founded Heavenly Organics. “I wanted to create an economic model that created ethical jobs in conflict areas,” said Amit. “That is the only way to have long-term sustainable peace.”

The company has trained 650 families in bee-friendly sustainable methods of extracting honey in untouched forests, so the honey is free of pesticides, pollutants, GMOs, and antibiotics. The honey is then shipped to the U.S. and packaged 25 miles north of Fairfield in Keota, Iowa. Heavenly Organics sells three kinds of honey as well as honey-filled chocolate patties in several flavors. Their products are sold in six countries by specialty stores and large online retailers such as Amazon.

Amit appreciates the friends he has made at MUM, and he tries to recruit MUM graduates whenever he can. He also finds that the TM^® technique has helped him improve his thinking process and enhance his personal growth.

It took several years for Heavenly Organics to build a reliable supply chain in these conflict areas, but now Amit is ready to adapt his model in other countries such as Afghanistan and Sudan. His goal is to utilize the skills already available within local communities and replace illegal and unsustainable activities with fair and honorable employment.

Watch a video about the story of Heavenly Organics here.

A team of MBA accounting students recently finished in the 92nd percentile in an online integrated decision-making simulation that involved 1,125 master’s-degree-level teams worldwide. This team reflects the international character of MUM’s student population: John Ortaliza (Philippines), Rithy Um (Cambodia), and Elias Mengistu (Ethiopia).

This is the 12th consecutive time that at least one group of MBA students from MUM has finished in the top tenth percentile since they began participating in the simulation in 2011. Other U.S. universities that finished in the top tenth percentile in this window of the competition included Brigham Young University, Indiana University, University of Georgia, Drake University, Ohio University, and Seton Hall University.

“MBAs are expected to make decisions guided by analysis of quantitative data,” said Andrew Bargerstock, chair of the Accounting Department. “We feel that the Capstone Simulation results demonstrate the readiness of our students for job markets now and ultimately for executive leadership positions later.”

In the online Capstone Simulation points are earned through well-defined metrics based on the Balanced Scorecard, a concept developed by Robert Kaplan at Harvard University. It recognizes four perspectives for measuring performance: customer, financial, internal business processes, and learning/growth.

The students must manage both short-term and long-term metrics across eight rounds of decision-making, with each round representing one year. This entails using their knowledge of marketing, finance, operations, human resources, accounting, problem-solving, and data analysis. Team performance depends on their ability to analyze data and financial statements across eight years of business activities.

While not a real-time competition per se, the ongoing simulation allows MBA teams to compare their performance with all the other MBA teams who have participated in the previous six-month period from the end date of the last round of decisions.

“The experience I had from the simulation was a better understanding of how executive management makes decisions based on different perspectives,” said Elias Mengistu. “Maharishi’s quality executive management was exercised in all our management decisions; comprehension, creativity, initiative, vigilance, and foresight played a significant role.”

In addition to available concentrations in accounting, SAP-finance, and sustainable business practice, MBA students at MUM take a variety of general management courses that might include marketing, finance, human resource management, operations management, business law, data modeling, and data mining.

“My experience with the MBA program at MUM helped me grow professionally and personally,” said John Ortaliza. “The subjects covered in the Accounting Professionals program assisted in my preparation to take the US CPA examination, while the daily practice of TM took care of my focus, comprehension, foresight, and creativity.”

Approximately 200 students are currently enrolled in various specializations in the MBA program, including those on campus, those in their practicum phase, and in special-purpose corporate MBA programs.

Chas Zachar, a native of Arizona, came to MUM because he became interested in learning the Transcendental Meditation^®technique. As a former Waldorf school student, he was also interested in alternative education.

Chas enjoyed science, especially biology, and considered majoring in sustainable living, but decided to follow in his father’s footsteps to become a teacher. “I had a great experience working with the education professors here,” said Chas. “In my second education class, I was already leading lessons at Maharishi School.”

He also gained experience teaching in a high school 20 miles from Fairfield. Chas is graduating this June with an undergraduate degree in education and a certification in special education. “My biggest takeaway was Consciousness-Based education, so I try to utilize the universal principles of Consciousness-Based education whenever I can,” he said.

Chas applied to Teach For America (TFA), a national program that recruits teachers to work in underserved areas, and was one of the 10 percent of applicants accepted. He was also able to get placed in Hawaii, which is one of the most popular locations and therefore very competitive.

This fall he will head to Kona on the Big Island to teach high school science, math, and English. As part of the program, he has also been accepted into graduate school, and at the end of his two-year commitment he will have earned a master’s degree in education.

“We’re very proud of what Chas has accomplished,” said Paula Armstrong, chair of the Department of Education. “We know he has what it takes to be an outstanding teacher and have a powerful impact on his students, and we look forward to even greater success as his career unfolds.”

Chas says that people at Teach For America are intrigued by MUM and its unique approach to education. “The cutting-edge principles TFA is talking about are part of Consciousness-Based education, and have been here the whole time.”

Watch a video of Chas talking about his MUM experience here.