Binghamton University student’s passion for community service inspires her to succeed in business

If you ask Morgan Collett-O’Brien what fascinates her most about business, she’ll say it’s the role business plays in shaping how societies function.

A first-year business administration student who grew up in Binghamton, New York, Collett-O’Brien is driven to find her way to make a difference using the skills she’s growing at Binghamton University’s School of Management (SOM). She’s eager to discover how her talents for management, strategy and team-oriented initiatives can blend with her lifelong passion for community service.

“It’s so important for people in business to be aware of how nurturing that human component is critical for informing strategic decision-making,” Collett-O’Brien said. “I believe you can achieve that by finding unique ways to make people’s lives better.”

Collett-O’Brien thinks any act of community service can foster valuable leadership lessons. Some of her most memorable experiences include

• serving as a student ambassador and mentor at the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Conference, a nationwide program emphasizing service, collaboration and personal growth
• organizing community outreach to support a toy and book drive, and leading peer volunteers in wrapping Christmas gifts for children of incarcerated parents at the Broome County jail.
• helping coordinate the annual It’s Raining Lemonade Yarn Bombing event, collecting and placing over 280 handmade hats, scarves and mittens on public fences throughout the community.

As the youth engagement advisor for It’s Raining Lemonade, a local nonprofit centered on shared service and community connection, Collett-O’Brien gained her first significant experience in building professional partnerships. In this role, she has collaborated with leaders from grassroots organizations in the Binghamton area, providing them with guidance on effective strategies to attract new youth volunteers.

“This position has helped me in communicating with people about different ideas, and being able to express those ideas to people of different ages in an effective way,” she said.

For Collett-O’Brien, earning a degree from Binghamton is something of a family tradition: her mother, Debra A. Collett-O’Brien ’86, is an SOM graduate who works in the University’s College of Community and Public Affairs, and her sister, Madelyn Collett-O’Brien ’23, is a graduate of the Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

When it was her turn, Collett-O’Brien was drawn to SOM because of the school’s immersive business program and its potential to provide a foundation for success in almost any field. At first, though, it was tough to see where her love of community service might fit in.

That changed when she attended the 36th annual Abraham J. Briloff Lecture on Accountability and Society in October. Owen Pell ’80, LLD ’11, and his speech about how companies could create change by addressing ethical problems reinforced Collett-O’Brien’s belief that she was on the right track.

In addition to joining the Binghamton Women in Business and the Binghamton Accounting Association student organizations, Collett-O’Brien was also accepted into the SOM Dean’s Mentoring Program.

“My favorite aspect of the School of Management is the mentorship, from upperclassmen to the entire SOM alumni network,” she said. “They walk me through everything, and I’m amazed by how much I’ve developed in the past few months, from being able to confidently navigate an interview to creating professional presentations.”

That kind of guidance paid off before the end of Collett-O’Brien’s first semester, when she and three fellow SOM students were named finalists in the Accounting Association’s RSM case competition. The team was tasked with conducting an audit of a fictional technology company’s financial reporting, developing three AI-driven recommendations to enhance the audit process.

Opportunities like this have tested Collett-O’Brien’s understanding of where she can best use her business talents. And then there are smaller and meaningful moments that keep her centered, such as stopping for a friendly conversation with a veteran about his military service while cleaning up tables at the church-operated soup kitchen where she volunteers.

“My community service activities have taught me that you often don’t realize the impact you can make until you actually take action,” she said. “The best advice I could give to anyone is to simply give it a try at least once. You’ll discover that it opens up a whole new world and creates a greater connection to your community.”