Sucharita Dasa, MBA ’08: Banking on Positive Change

Pivoting to business

Dasa didn’t start her career knowing she would eventually work as a steward of clean energy adoption. Her first degree, a BS from the RV College of Engineering in Bengaluru, India, was in civil and environmental engineering. She worked as an engineer at an automotive component supplier in Michigan for five years, during which she became interested in pivoting to a finance role.

“My first job was more related to the product than engineering. We designed products for clients like General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co., and other automakers. Something I noticed working on these projects was that final decisions related to new cars were being made by people in finance, not engineering,” Dasa said. “Ultimate decisions were based on returns — so sometimes, they would do an analysis, realize the returns were not adequate, then decide against making that car, and our whole project would fall apart.”

“I realized I wanted to be a bigger part of the overall decision-making process; I wanted to be part of those decisions where I could say, ‘this is the best product driving the best returns, and we need to do it,’” she said.

With her new goal in mind, Dasa spoke with the CEO of the company she worked for, who encouraged her to attend business school for her MBA. Currently living in Michigan, Dasa knew immediately where she wanted to go and applied to only one school: the Ross School of Business.

“The decision was very easy for me. I was located right next to Michigan Ross, and it checked all the boxes for me, so I decided to go to an info session,” Dasa said.

I met a lot of people, and I loved what I saw. I decided I didn’t need to apply anywhere else.

After receiving the call that she had been admitted, Dasa quit her engineering job and prepared to invest all of her efforts into learning and entering a new industry.

Investment banking and the Ross network

At Michigan Ross, Dasa initially wanted to study consulting, as she saw it as the best path to reach her goal of being a leader and making impactful decisions. Some of her family members, however, suggested that she also check out investment banking to see if it could be in line with her interests. Keeping an open mind, she decided to attend an investment banking presentation at Ross to see what it was all about.

The presentation, led by Citigroup, opened her eyes to a new career direction. 

“I decided I really wanted to do investment banking. I met all the banks, learned about them, and came to New York multiple times while I was at Ross,” Dasa said. “I did an internship in banking in 2007 and ended up starting a job full-time in 2008. It was a crazy time to start the industry, but I learned a lot.”

Beyond her internship and what she learned in the classroom, Dasa says one of the most important things she took away from her time at Michigan Ross was the incredible network.

“I don't think people go to business school just to learn; so much of the value comes from the connections you make. Every year, to this day, I see more and more value from it because many of our clients are my business school classmates, and many of my colleagues and counterparts at other banks are, too,” Dasa said.

These are such valuable relationships and networks that you can tap into. If you need something, they're always there. It's amazing.

Creating change with Citi

Post-Ross, Dasa worked in investment banking at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Barclays, where she specialized in industrials for 12 years and then, in 2020, energy transition. This experience presented her with an opportunity that would bring her career full circle. In 2022, she started as a managing director of investment banking focused on clean energy transition at Citi — the bank whose presentation at Ross had kickstarted her love for banking.

Dasa loved the role, which allowed her to make the kind of meaningful decisions she had set out to tackle when she first attended business school.

“Citi’s clean energy transition group focuses on providing strategic and capital markets advisory to companies that are decarbonizing the legacy industries, such as transportation, power generation, heating, cooling, manufacturing, steel and cement production, etc. The majority of the energy used in these industries or processes is coming from fossil fuels,” Dasa explained. “We are working with companies that are electrifying these processes or finding ways to reduce the amount of fossil fuels used. We also work with companies that focus on substituting and reducing fossil fuel used in products, for example, plastics recycling — it is reducing the amount of fossil fuels required to create new products as you are utilizing what's already in the ecosystem. In order to support the growth of these companies, we have to think out of the box and continuously bring innovative solutions from all across the bank."

Working toward a brighter future

Today, Dasa continues her work at Citi and is excited to see what the future holds for herself, the company, and the world as she stays involved in important energy transition work.

“I feel like there is no limit to what we can do. I hope that in five or 10 years, we start to see legacy industries transition to clean energy, and the companies we work with will become the mainstream,” Dasa said. “As for my personal goals, I hope that I can keep doing my best to make a positive impact through my work and maybe eventually through policy. The goal is to make sure everybody has access to clean air, clean water, and can enjoy the outdoors.”

She has remained involved with Michigan Ross and, beginning in 2024, serves on the Ross School Advisory Board, where she helps guide the implementation of key initiatives and advances the school's mission of building a better world through business.

To alums and current students interested in following a path like hers, she offered the following advice:

“Set those lofty goals. I always try to set big goals for myself, even if they may seem unrealistic. I remember people telling me over the years that my dreams seemed unattainable,” Dasa said. “If you’re dreaming, why limit yourself to what’s ‘realistic?’ Setting bigger, long-term goals has motivated and excited me to work hard and achieve them. So, I say you should be setting goals that are ‘unrealistic.’ Believe in yourself — you can achieve them.”