A Professional Approach and Playful Graphics Yield Case Competition Success

In preparing to present at a national business case competition, a team of LeBow undergraduate students learned what a difference a week can make.

A practice presentation session in front of LeBow faculty and staff yielded some strong critiques. With the start of the competition days away, the LeBow team — comprised of Arianna Cabrera, BSBA finance ’26; Mukhtar Yusuf, BSBA business analytics and marketing ’27; Angie Escalante, BSBA management information systems ’27 and Chloe Mshana, BS economics ’28 — persevered, using that feedback to fuel an almost-total reimagination of their presentation.

Ultimately, their innovative approach and strong presentation skills yielded a second-place finish in the 14th annual National Diversity Case Competition, hosted by Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.

After returning to Philadelphia, team members expressed thanks to the LeBow community members who provided feedback ahead of the competition: LeBow BRIDGE associate director Vanessa Herrera; BRIDGE program manager and academic advisor Dashiyah Green; Associate Dean for Academic Programs Administration Brian Ellis, PhD; associate director and marketing and legal studies department manager Kimberly Williams; senior director of undergraduate student services Jackie McCurdy; assistant director of undergraduate advising Ashley LaTorre; and faculty members from LeBow’s Department of Accounting.

Cabrera, whose prior experience with case competitions earned her the role of team captain, said that the team had tried to include too much in their initial presentation.

“At that point, the critiques weren’t about our research — they were about aesthetics and our delivery,” she says.

Starting that night, the team overhauled their presentation, leaning into its interactive elements.

“In some of the feedback we received, they said to make the whole presentation into a game,” Yusuf says. “We were willing to tear it up and start again, and that really helped us.”

Even after departing for their trip to Indiana, the team members weren’t done seeking feedback.

“We presented to people at the airport,” says Mshana. “We approached strangers and, honestly, that feedback was really helpful, too.”

Drexel has regularly fielded a team for this competition, and a team of LeBow students took first place in 2017. This year’s competition, sponsored by national accounting firm Grant Thornton, charged teams with creating a talent-development program to encourage interest in careers in accounting among students from a wider range of socioeconomic backgrounds.

The LeBow team’s program, titled “Legends of Ledger,” turns accomplishing academic and career goals into a game, complete with sound effects and a visually appealing design created using Canva.

The students, all members of LeBow BRIDGE, incorporated elements from their own backgrounds, such as overcoming obstacles and pursuing long-held goals, alongside key details from their accounting and finance courses about the skills required to succeed.

Even in a colorful, gamified format, the team didn’t shy away from addressing the struggles many students encounter. Faced with problems at home and at school, one “Legends of Ledger” character sinks down visually.

“Through the storytelling of our concept, the character realizes they have this program that will uplift and empower them and give them access to a community with mentorship,” Escalante said. “That’s something we wanted to foster at scale, and people really resonated with that.”

The team’s second-place finish, behind a team from Emory University in Atlanta, earned them a $5,000 prize, but the impact of the experience goes far beyond the monetary reward.

Strong positive comments from other teams left the impression that a first-place finish was within the Drexel team’s reach, and Cabrera wants that feeling to motivate her and her teammates for future competitions and for preparing to enter the workforce.

“Working on my public speaking, and the fact that I was able to do it in front of more than 100 people, gave me a lot of encouragement and hope,” she says. “It was encouraging to see there are so many like-minded people who are willing to do the work and willing to lead.”