Fall 2024 | Grateful | Students

Bernhard Scholars Connect on and off Campus

McCombs alumna and Zoom CFO Kelly Steckelberg creates a scholarship to help UT students.
UT Students walking on campus
During her McCombs Hall of Fame induction, Zoom CFO Kelly Steckelberg, BBA/MPA ’91, said, “If I could have one superpower, it would be to give everyone training, opportunity and skill. UT has given me so much. My education set me on the path of what I’ve accomplished today. Always strive for more.”

Now Kelly is paying it forward to future generations of Longhorn business leaders.

Kelly made a transformative gift to create the Linda Bernhard Endowed Scholarship in honor of her late mother. Through UT’s Texas Challenge gift-matching program, her gift was doubled. The endowment will provide scholarship support for hundreds of high-achieving McCombs School of Business students from low- and middle-income Texas families.

Through innovation with social media, she’s bringing some of that superpower to her Bernhard Scholars. This past February, Kelly met with some of this year’s cohort and invited those students to join a private LinkedIn group, allowing them to connect and engage with each other off campus as they grow their own careers and welcome new scholars. The group allows students to provide valuable mentorship to each other, an opportunity that is already encouraging professional growth.

“If I could have one superpower, it would be to give everyone training, opportunity and skill. UT has given me so much. My education set me on the path of what I’ve accomplished today. Always strive for more.”
— Kelly Steckelberg

Kelly Steckelberg and students gesturing Hook'em Horns.
Obafemi Ajayi

Meet a Bernhard Scholar

Finance major Obafemi Ajayi is one of this year’s Bernhard Scholars. He credits the scholarship with his success at UT and allowing him to give back to other students.
“The scholarship has been transformative for me,” says Obafemi. “It has allowed me to focus on starting a nonprofit mentorship program called HeadStart Fellowship, impacting over 300 students in the last few years. The support gave me the time to successfully pursue internships and participate in a study-abroad program in Madrid — my first time leaving the country since emigrating from Nigeria.”
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