Jackie Jacobson is a Part-Time MBA (Class of 2027) student at the UVA Darden School of Business. She has nearly a decade of experience in commercial real estate and construction, having managed more than $230 million in multifamily and commercial development projects at MRP Realty and Clark Construction Group. At Darden, she has broadened her expertise through studies in strategy and finance and participated in international learning experiences, including a Global Residency in Finland & Estonia, Germany, and a Short Program at the Stockholm School of Economics.
Tell us about yourself! Where are you from, and what is your personal and professional background?
I grew up mostly in the northern suburbs outside Chicago, but spent a few years in Philadelphia, upstate New York, and North Carolina along the way. I graduated from Lafayette College, where I majored in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Since then, I’ve spent the past ten years in the commercial real estate industry. I started with Clark Construction, a national general contractor, then pivoted to the ownership side at MRP Realty, a real estate development and operating firm. After a decade focused on one industry, I came to Darden eager to widen my lens, learn how business works across different sectors, and grow alongside a sharp, varied network of classmates.
What inspired you to participate in The Short Program with the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE), and how did it fit into your broader MBA journey?
I was drawn to the SSE Short Program by its focus on innovation. I’d begun learning about innovation in the Nordics during the Finland & Estonia Global Residency last October, and I wanted a deeper, more specific view of how innovation is integrated within Sweden. I’ve also spent time there and feel a real pull toward the region, which made the chance to understand Sweden more deeply especially appealing.
Which company visits or projects were most impactful, and what insights did you take away?
The program paired company visits with seminars from professors and practitioners on everything from Swedish innovation and macroeconomics to well-being and venture capital. The company visits stood out most for me. We had the opportunity to visit Electrolux, Ericsson, Scania, and Volvo, and I was especially struck by how sustainability sits at the core of each company’s mission rather than functioning as a marketing layer on top of it. Volvo frames its purpose around giving people the freedom to move in a personal, sustainable, and safe way, and Scania around driving the shift toward a sustainable transport system. One of the most memorable sessions centered on the Vasa, the 17th-century warship that sank on its maiden voyage and is now preserved at the Vasa Museum; it was a striking case study in how ambition without the right checks can lead to failure. We also heard from a startup that emerged from SSE’s business lab and later went through Y Combinator. What struck me most was the strength of Stockholm’s startup ecosystem. The city has one of the highest concentrations of billion-dollar startups per capita in the world.
How do business norms or decision-making processes differ from those in the U.S.?
My biggest takeaway was how Sweden builds collective conditions for entrepreneurship, where the U.S. relies more on individual ambition and market competition. When healthcare, childcare, and education are guaranteed regardless of professional outcome, failure becomes recoverable rather than catastrophic, which creates a structural tolerance for risk that encourages more people to start companies. Sweden ranks #2 on the Global Innovation Index, while the U.S. ranks #3, yet does this without sacrificing well-being. Companies tend to be less hierarchical, which means people feel safe contributing ideas and those ideas actually get heard.
How do you think your experiences in Sweden will influence your leadership style or approach to business?
Sweden shaped my leadership style by showing me firsthand that core values like sustainability and employee well-being aren’t obstacles to profit. They can actually drive it. Across the companies we visited, well-being was treated as an economic input rather than a social luxury, and that orientation seemed to strengthen the business rather than compete with it. For much of my career, I’d assumed ambition came at a cost. Seeing Sweden up close reframed that for me; the most successful companies there treat ambition and well-being as mutually reinforcing rather than competing. That shift has stayed with me, both as I navigate my own career transition and as a lens for thinking about what kinds of organizations are worth building.
How has your experience in The Short Program changed the way you view Darden’s mission to develop responsible global leaders?
This program wasn’t previously offered, even though Darden had an existing partnership with SSE, so it was something I discovered on my own and proposed to Darden to explore whether it was feasible. The Darden Center for Global Initiatives worked with me and SSE to make it possible for me to apply. The experience reinforced my view of Darden’s mission. Developing responsible global leaders means actively supporting students as they seek out opportunities that broaden their perspective and challenge how they think. I’m grateful for the support I received in making this program a reality. A special shoutout to Kate Beach, Melissa Thomas-Hunt, and Lauren Lopez-Mauer.
