Alumni: Award for Exemplary Service

Pedro "Mendy" Mendonça MBA '19

Partner, Strategy and Operations, 1616 Ventures

Pedro "Mendy" Mendonça graduated from Fuqua in 2019. Born and raised in São Paulo, he has built his career across the U.S. and Brazil, working at the intersection of venture capital and entrepreneurship, backing and building early-stage companies in the U.S. and Latin America. Before that, he worked across CPG and big tech and has founded two companies. Since graduating from Fuqua, Pedro has stayed closely connected to the community, mentoring current students and supporting the next generation of international students finding their footing at the school.

What impact has your Fuqua experience had on your career/life?

Fuqua has been, without a doubt, one of the main defining experiences of both my career and life. Growing up in Brazil, many of the people I looked up to had obtained an MBA in the U.S., and early on in my career, this became one of my big objectives. I was the first person in my family to achieve this goal, and it was absolutely worth it.

Fuqua unlocked a combination of paths—entrepreneurship, venture capital, and working across borders—that I don't think any other career choice would have opened on its own. Living in Durham and experiencing a different side of the U.S. than I had seen as a tourist was its own wonderful adventure.

Beyond the professional, some of my closest friends today are people I met at Fuqua. I've had the rare pleasure of experiencing this community firsthand twice: first as a student, and now as a partner while my wife, Larissa, completes her MBA at Fuqua. I've been just as welcomed the second time around. My sister, Patricia Helena, and her husband, Cassio, are also Fuqua alumni, so in many ways, this place has become part of our family story.

Professionally or personally, what are you excited about right now?

I am most excited about this next chapter that Larissa and I are building together in the U.S. As she wraps up her MBA at Fuqua in May, we are looking forward to planting our roots and seeing where life takes us. A lot of my life has been about laying foundations, and this feels like the moment where many of those things start to come together, professionally and personally.

What does Team Fuqua mean to you?

Team Fuqua means a community that has your back and is a pleasure to be around. What strikes me most is how consistent that spirit is over time. I am mentoring students from the Class of 2027, I graduated in 2019, and the person who first pointed me toward Fuqua graduated in 2012. Across all these years, the culture of generosity has held, and I know it goes further back than that. I am honored to receive this award, and I am glad and confident in saying that I know many Fuqua peers who could be standing here too. Out of all the communities I belong to, this is the one where giving back feels most like the norm, not the exception.