Business Management Certificate

Business Strategy

• Be able to assess a situation from a long-term perspective and make decisions based on alternatives and justifications.
• Evaluate the core competencies and competitive advantages that drive the success of a firm.
• Consider what opportunities and challenges will impact the future of your business.

Marketing

• Recognize customer needs and learn how to best market your product or service.
• Understand your customers and how best to reach them.
• Discover product, branding, promotion, and segmentation strategies.
• Evaluate the impact of environmental factors that affect marketing strategies.

Effective Leadership
Leadership is both an art and a science. It is a way of thinking and behaving, as well as a set of skills that can be developed and honed throughout a lifetime. Talented leaders who do not fully appreciate and develop their abilities to effectively lead and manage themselves, individuals, and teams will face rejection, regardless of their technical competence or intelligence. Whether you are already an experienced manager or aspire to become one, these class sessions are designed to broaden your thinking about leadership and equip you with practical tools from cutting-edge research to become a more effective leader in the workplace.

Finance and Accounting

• Learn about financial statements and accounting principles that guide financial reporting.
• Use financial data for planning, decision-making and financial reporting.
• Enhance your understanding of finance principles and practices, including cash flow analysis, capital budgeting, risk, and return.
• Learn about stocks, bonds and return on investment metrics.

Communications and Soft Skills

• Explore how communications and soft skills impact your leadership and team interactions.
• Understand the nuances of cultural differences as they relate to teamwork, negotiation, and leadership.
• Improve your presentation skills.

Business Case Analysis

• The program concludes with a business case competition. You will work in a team to use the skills you gained throughout the program and apply them toward a real-life business problem, presenting your team’s solution to the class.

All faculty are affiliated with the Foster School of Business, teaching in various graduate, undergraduate and executive education programs. Many faculty have both academic and professional experience – through careers and/or through consulting with many major corporations.

Leta Beard is the Faculty Director for the Business Management Certificate Program. She is also an award-winning Associate Teaching Professor in the Marketing and International Business department at the Michael G. Foster School of Business. In addition to her 24 years teaching experience, she has 12 years of industry experience working for AT&T Network Systems (Lucent Technologies). Leta regularly receives teaching awards in courses such as Marketing Principles, Strategic Marketing Management, Retailing, Global Business Perspectives, and Tribal Gaming. In addition to teaching undergraduates, she has taught in the Professional and Continuing Education, Executive MBA, and Business Consulting and Development programs.

Wendy Baesler received an undergraduate and masters’ degree in accounting from Brigham Young University and a PhD in Business Administration with an accounting emphasis from the University of Washington.  She has taught for the University of Washington for more than 20 years.  Her education is primarily in accounting, psychology, finance, and economics.  She has completed many consulting projects helping businesses with complex accounting issues and lawsuit response.  She has also helped the Washington State Department of Health with program evaluation.

Jean Choy is an Associate Teaching Professor of Management and the Associate Dean of Executive Education at the University of Washington Foster School of Business responsible for developing long-term strategic partnerships to promote new business development and collaborative initiatives with corporations, academic institutions, and government offices. She teaches about soft skills in the Global Executive MBA Program as well as in numerous executive education programs primarily for working professionals. Some aspects of soft skills can be applied universally, but at the same time, understanding the different cultures and challenges becomes an integral part of teaching topics such as presentation skills, cross-cultural communications, and managing team dynamics. Jean has been successful in bridging these gaps and consistently receives top teaching ratings.

Jennifer Graves is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Operations Management and an Affiliate Instructor of Finance at the UW Foster School of Business. She has taught courses on the topics of personal finance and operations management. Professor Graves was previously at Keystone Strategy (a consulting firm that specializes in AI/ML and digital operations) and co-led the Seattle office, where she expanded the Pacific Northwest presence. She brought a wealth of knowledge in operations, innovation, and digital transformation with a focus on expanding the firm’s offerings and leveraging AI/ML within supply chain, inventory, manufacturing processes, and distribution networks. Professor Graves’ other past roles include leading store inventory at Starbucks for all 10,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada and working at Bain & Company in private equity, consumer products, retail, manufacturing, and education. A graduate of the University of Washington Foster School of Business, she holds a B.A. in finance and marketing. She earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Rick McPherson is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Management and Organization at the UW Foster School of Business. Rick spent 25 years in business in the telecommunications industry, rising to the position of Vice President at both AT&T Broadband and T-Mobile USA. Rick “retired early” and took up a passion for teaching and coaching others and has been at the Foster School for the past 15 years. Rick continues to consult with businesses and is on the Board of Directors of Alpine Evergreen Co. Inc. Rick teaches strategy, business planning, organizational behavior, decision making, leadership and ethics, combining the academic courses with his business experiences. He teaches in both the Undergraduate and MBA programs at Foster. Rick has authored, co-authored or advised on the development of 21 live business cases in conjunction with Seattle based large companies, and been the instructor/advisor on over 250 business plans and over 70 business consulting projects.

Elijah Wee is an organizational researcher, who focuses on different strategies to implement creative ideas and tactics to disrupt social hierarchies in organizations. He earned his Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland. He has consulted for the World Bank and Pan Pacific Hotels Group, and his work has been featured in the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, and Psychology Today. His research has earned numerous awards, including the William A. Owens Scholarly Achievement Award. In 2023, he was named one of the 50 Best Business Professors by Poets & Quants. Before joining academia, he worked in the Prime Minister’s Office in Singapore and served as an artillery officer in the Singapore military.

The program is split into two modules:

Module 1: February 3, 2026 – March 19, 2026

• Class takes place live online on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
• There is one in-person session on February 5th at the UW Seattle campus. The event runs from 5-8pm and includes the first class on marketing and includes dinner so that you can network in person with your classmates.
• There is no class on the week of March 22nd for spring break.

Module 2: March 31, 2026 – May 21, 2026

• Classes take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays live online.
• There is one in-person event at the end of the program on May 21st at the UW Seattle campus. The event runs from 3-8pm and includes the capstone case competition and graduation dinner.

Students are required to meet attendance criteria to successfully complete the program. The final schedule is subject to change.

DOWNLOAD THE 2026 CLASS SCHEDULE

At the end of the course, you will be able to:

1. Formulate or evaluate business strategy to gain competitive advantage
2. Discover product, branding, segmentation and promotion marketing strategies
3. Elevate your ability to influence
4. Develop essential soft skills
5. Work more effectively in teams
6. Create operational advantages
7. Differentiate between winning and losing business ideas
8. Comprehend financial statements and use financial data to make informed decisions
9. Propose financing strategies
10. Prepare a budget projection to conduct cost-benefit analysis
11. Evaluate investment opportunities
12. Become a more effective manager and leader within your organization

Hands-on Experiential Learning

This program will end with a capstone project whereby participants will take what they have learned and apply it in a case competition, presenting a solution to a real-world business problem. Participants will be assigned a team and will work closely with faculty throughout the course.

• The program fee includes instruction, learning materials, parking on campus during in-person class days, and a Certificate of Completion from the University of Washington’s Michael G. Foster School of Business. 6.5 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) also available. See more information about CEUs. Please indicate your interest in receiving CEUs on your application.
• Early admission is the only discount applicable to this program.
• Additional applications may be considered after the January 10, 2026 deadline, as space allows.
• Payment must be made by check, credit card, or submit a purchase order for later invoice.
• A $50 late fee applies to payments delayed by 3+ business days unless an extension is approved by Executive Education before the due date. Access to program materials will be suspended if payment is 5+ business days late. Reminder emails will be sent, but payments are due by each deadline regardless of reminders.

Cancellation policy

All requests for cancellation, refund or substitution must be received in writing (email is acceptable). To ensure enough time for pre-mailed materials to be received, our cancellation policy is as follows:

• 30 days before program start date:
  • 100% refund (less non-refundable deposit) for withdrawal
  • Participant substitutes are allowed with no administrative fee
• 15 to 29 days before program start date
  • 50% (less non-refundable deposit) refund for withdrawal
  • Participant substitutes may be allowed on a case by case basis
• 2 to 14 days before program start date
  • No refund for withdrawal
  • Participant substitutes may be allowed on a case by case basis
• Less than 48 hours before the program start date
  • No refunds or substitutions will be permitted

Yes. This program is designed to complement your current job by providing you with skills you can use immediately while preparing you for your next big career step. Classes take place live online in the evenings after typical work hours.

Early admissions deadline saves $500

There are no prerequisite courses to complete prior to attending the program. You do not need to have a bachelor’s degree to participate. You must have 3+ years of professional experience.

Yes. This course is available for working professionals who are not enrolled at UW.

Yes. The majority of the classes take place live online from 6-8pm Pacific Time. There are two in-person events to attend in Seattle at the UW campus: February 5, 2026 from 5-8pm PT and May 21, 2026 3-8pm PT. Please plan to attend both in-person events in order to complete the program successfully.

No. Because this is not a full-time degree program, our office is unable to sponsor visas to attend.

Students can expect to spend about 3-5 hours per week outside of class time depending on the topic area.