Faculty voice: Small moments matter

Helen Dashney is the namesake faculty advisor for the Dashney Women’s Leadership Accelerator, DWLA, as well as a fixed-term outreach specialist in the Broad College of Business. Launched in 2024, DWLA equips students with the skills and confidence to pursue professional leadership positions through mentoring, coaching, workshops and experiential learning opportunities.

Helen Dashney, Photo by Erin Groom

During my 30 years as an MSU employee, all in the Broad College of Business, I have been in student-facing roles. I have worked with full-time MBA students, cofounded and directed the Financial Markets Institute and, most recently, founded and now direct the Dashney Women’s Leadership Accelerator, or DWLA*. Before joining the university, I enjoyed a 20-year corporate career in the banking and pharmaceutical industries.

These varied experiences have taught me many things. One common learning stands out above all others. Moments matter, and small moments often matter the most.

In 2000–01, I was the director of the Broad’s MBA career center. During the dot-com boom, job offers seemed to fall from the sky; when the bubble burst, many of those offers were suddenly withdrawn. One of the many students I assisted in navigating this fallout was Priya Balasubramaniam, a 2001 MBA graduate. After a consulting job fell through, Priya came to me weighing whether to reconnect with Apple after initially choosing consulting. We talked through how to approach the conversation professionally and thoughtfully. She followed through, reentered the interview process and, ultimately, earned the offer again. Today, she is vice president of product operations, overseeing the supply chain, manufacturing and quality assurance of Apple products and core technology components.

Priya and I remained in contact after her graduation. She surprised me three years ago by honoring my career with a financial pledge that launched DWLA. I was deeply touched by Priya’s generosity. I was also overwhelmed that simply doing my job 25 years earlier had impacted her in such a meaningful way. Small moments do matter.

DWLA recruits new members in March, and interested students often ask me what I enjoy most about my role. I certainly value our workshops and events, like our annual International Women’s Day celebration. But what I treasure most are the individual and small group conversations with our members. These talks allow me to better understand their hopes and aspirations as future business leaders, challenge them to think bigger and take calculated risks, and help them through challenges they face as student leaders. These interactions may seem small in the moment, but I have learned that those small moments matter. I may not always see their immediate impact, but history tells me they often resurface in meaningful ways years later.

Students, faculty and industry leaders gather during a DWLA and Advisory Board Networking Session. Photo by Megan Krippner

One of Priya’s leadership pillars is the multiplier effect. She recognizes that not every worthy student can be accepted into DWLA, so she challenges those who join to share what they learn with others, expanding the impact far beyond our cohort. That philosophy came to life this past January, when the Broad College hosted its inaugural Women’s Leadership Case Competition, designed to encourage more female students to participate in both internal and external case competitions, which challenge students to address real-world business situations in a competitive environment. Several DWLA students served on the student planning committee, translating their own leadership growth into opportunities for others. With nearly 120 students signing up to compete, what began as a small group of committed leaders created a moment that mattered for scores of their peers. I was most struck by the comments from the first- and second-year students who felt so proud of themselves for competing. You could see their confidence grow, and many have indicated that they want to enter other case competitions!

I continually challenge myself to create moments that matter for students and colleagues. A conversation, an introduction, a word of encouragement may feel routine in the moment. But those small gestures can shape confidence, direction and ambition in ways we may not see immediately. You may not know the impact of your actions. Or you may discover it many years later, as I did with Priya. What matters most is choosing to create those moments anyway.