Graziadio Student Finds Inspiration to be a More Compassionate Leader

"I feel like I have gained skills that help me to be a better servant leader as well as given me incredible perspective and insight. I know I’ll be a more compassionate leader."

Jeremy Haynes is a devout man of God, an ordained minister who served for 10 years in pastoral ministry with Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village, California, and Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. Presently, he is assistant head of school for Beacon Hill Classical Academy in Camarillo.

Haynes says his life wasn’t always so committed. He grew up in Moorpark, California, and attended both public and private schools before entering college. “While I was in school, I had no clarity yet, no direction,” he says. “So I dropped out.”

It wasn’t until the age of 28, after he was married with children, that he decided to go back to college to pursue a career in ministry. He attended The Masters University in Santa Clarita and earned a bachelors in Christian ministry. He went on to earn a masters in theological studies online from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, while working full time as a pastor.

Though already well-educated, Haynes felt there was more to learn and earned a two-year leadership degree through the Communitas Program at Pepperdine’s Center for Faith and Learning from 2014-2016. “It was while attending this program that I met Dr. Gary Magniofico, who later became my mentor,” he says. “He urged me to enroll at Graziadio in the MSOD program.”

Designed for experienced professionals, the program offers a global perspective on strategic change and its impact on organizational effectiveness, while building multicultural competencies critical to business today. Students travel to domestic and international destinations on three different continents (China; Costa Rica; France; Watsonville, California; and Washington, DC) for intensive face-to-face courses where they gain invaluable field experience at leading-edge businesses, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies.

Now, on a Founder’s Scholarship, Haynes is in his first year of the hybrid program and says the experience has changed his life. “I feel like I have gained skills that help me to be a better servant leader as well as given me incredible perspective and insight,” he says. “I know I’ll be a more compassionate leader.”

After graduating, Haynes wants to continue to dedicate his life to helping others through investing in education and serving in church ministry. He currently serves as a teaching pastor at Soli Gloria Church in Newbury Park.