Nefertiti Rodriguez

“If you have a different mindset, you will have a different outcome” – Jack Ma

Nefertiti Rodriguez (Nefer) is currently a student at The University of Denver. She will be the first in her Mexican-American family to graduate by 2026. Pursuing a degree in International Business, exploring minors in Business Marketing, Operations, or Finance, she is a driven individual with a business mindset, a heart to hear others out, and loves to fix broken systems. Her mission is to create or use businesses that will help make a change for her future, and the future of generations after her.

During the past 4 years, Nefer has focused mainly on personal growth to help her professional life. During her junior year in high school, she opened her first online company A Beautiful Woman by Nefertiti. In which she learned skills and business insight that she uses to this day. She also gained leadership experience by being a Shift Leader at Panda Express and more business knowledge on how hospitality businesses run.

Her personal growth has helped her change her mindset into a more positive, observant person. This has encouraged her to continue her education and take every opportunity to learn new skills; as her parents always told her, “Everything you learn is good because you never know when you might use it.”

Nefer graduated from DSST Public Schools: Green Valley Ranch, in which she saw diversity but also problems that need to be fixed in every school system, including racial bias, stereotypical reactions, mental health support, and student-teacher relationships. Even though Nefer is not going into the educational field, she wishes to contribute by implementing solutions to these problems in her future businesses or businesses she works for.