Sandro Sato
Student spotlight details
Sandro, a business development manager, pursued our part-time MSc in Sustainable Urban Development to expand his knowledge beyond marketing, exploring mega events and sustainability while balancing a demanding career across multiple countries.
'Before joining the MSc I was working as a business development manager for one of the eleven corporate sponsors of the International Olympic Committee. I had to identify, evaluate, and manage projects linked to marketing activations, public-private collaborations, and the legacy of the Rio 2016 Olympics.
'Marketing had always been a key part of my academic and professional activities but sustainability and urban planning were fairly unexplored areas. The idea of accelerating my learning curve with a Master's programme made sense but pausing my private sector career for a couple of years was not an option. Finding a well-structured post-graduate program in Sustainability from a renowned university might be a fairly easy task today but a decade ago this was not the case. Oxford's well-structured collaboration with multiple departments and initiatives within the University and beyond, combined with a part-time differential, were the key factors driving my decision to pursue the MSc. I had a special interest in learning more about mega events and sustainability from the eyes of both lecturers and cohort colleagues and I was not disappointed.
'Meeting deadlines for the submission of essays, completing the reading lists on time and, above all, writing a dissertation that meets the level of excellence expected by the reviewers were key challenges I faced throughout the MSc. In addition, working long hours on multiple projects across different countries for my 'regular' job added complexity and likely prevented me from a complete 'Oxford student' experience; something shared by students living in such a vibrant town.
'Most of my cohort colleagues would likely agree that meeting bright minds with such a variety of backgrounds while covering complex sustainable development topics is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
'I've recently celebrated my 16th company anniversary and, while I'm no longer in the role that attracted me to the MSc in the first place, I'm very grateful for the challenging journey that I experienced with my MSc cohort. After different positions in 5 different cities around the globe, I'm now residing with my family in Belgium and I'm back to a marketing role. I'm fortunate to work with a diverse team of talented professionals across both mature and emerging regions while also holding responsibilities for the development and implementation of global 4P strategies. I'm still in touch with some of my cohort friends and I hope that an Oxford reunion becomes a reality in the near future.
'The time management challenge is the one I believe most students struggle to solve and I was not an exception. Scheduling my travel plans to Oxford and London far in advance and allocating time to complete the many essays and the course dissertation was a stressful part of my experience. That being said, I would not take a different road. The MSc fosters a psychologically safe environment for professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds to discuss complex sustainable development topics. The network expansion factor is also a key one- as it encourages more efficient collaboration with professionals from a variety of fields.'
