BROAD EXECUTIVE MBA
‟Just Watch Me”
- Sandra Boukley, Class of 1992
CEO and Executive Director at SME, Southfield, MI
Bold. Brilliant. BOSS.
Explore more stories from Broad EMBA Alumnae.
Name, class year
Article Title Here
Hear from Sandra herself on her journey to executive leadership.
Business credibility and mobility are what drove Sandra Bouckley to pursue her Executive Master’s of Business Administration at the Eli Broad College of Business.
Bouckley, who pursued her EMBA in the 90s, is currently retired after more than 40 years of working with Fortune 500 companies. She cites her “watch me” attitude as a driving factor in her pursuit of her EMBA.
“I was a self-starter before that was even a term,” she said.
Bouckley was working at Chrysler’s Jefferson North Assembly Plant as an Engineer and Center Manager when she discovered that the company sponsored an Executive MBA program.
She says that through a mix of opportunity, luck and preparation, she secured one of six nomination slots from Chrysler for the 1992 Michigan State EMBA graduating class.
“People saw me as more involved in the math and science side of business, but I wanted to have more credibility with people in purely business roles,” she said.
Bouckley was able to travel internationally, build networks and create relationships with other members of her program while studying business.
She describes herself as a champion of change, and recalled a story of when she was able to implement that attitude.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bouckley was the CEO of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. A big source of their revenue were large conferences that many people would attend in-person, and when the pandemic hit, it de-railed many of these plans.
Bouckley was able to devise a model that would allow for virtual participation, and her quick pivot was able to help the company out in a time of need. She describes herself as a champion of change in this scenario.
“We had so many people want to participate and then we had speakers that were willing to do it virtually,” she said.
Bouckley implemented timely, successful change in her role and was able to pivot in a tight situation.
She recalls that there were only around 12 women in her EMBA class, and that the women in the program had to be strong; she says the same for women working in the automotive industry.
“You had to have a strong academic background and the company you worked for had to figure you had some serious career trajectory because they’re investing money into you,” she said.
The automotive industry, being male-dominated, has left Bouckley hitting a glass ceiling and running into walls left and right. However, she used this as motivation to move onward and upward to keep going and pursue her EMBA. Bouckley and the other women in her program were fiercely supportive of each other and
“An MBA was going to give me another language to speak in, and I figured it could maximize my options for upward mobility,” she said.
She was able to keep striving for greatness and climb that ladder with the help of the Broad EMBA. Her daughter and granddaughter are able to watch her flourish, and Bouckley feels she has passed her initiative and drive on to them.