Class Notes

1962 — FT

Ralph Mayerstein

Ralph Mayerstein, better known as “BUFFY,” has finally given up skiing down the slopes of Park City, Utah, and has moved back to his hometown of Lafayette, Indiana. At age 80, he’s chosen to stay on the golf course and off the mountains. He plans to continue cheering for Northwestern at football and basketball games that he will attend with his wife at the Purdue University facilities. They will be celebrating 50 years of marriage in 2022.

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1971 — FT

Edwin Barnes

After 42 years in commercial banking, including being a senior credit officer for Associated Bank in Madison, Wisconsin, Edwin Barnes has retired to Hendersonville, North Carolina. His grandchildren live in Charlotte and now can visit him. Edwin recently celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary and is still approved to go fly fishing.

1972 — FT

Richard Peterson

Richard Peterson recently received a Profile in Leadership Award from the California Agricultural Leadership Program. This award is given to program alumni who have distinguished themselves through their industry and community leadership. Richard has been a career leader in food and agricultural marketing, as well as a community leader in his church and local nonprofit organizations.

1974 — FT

Michael Nemlich

On March 1, Michael Nemlich, Lou Weisbach and Mark Serdar announced the acquisition of Overture Promotions in Waukegan, Illinois. Overture is an industry-leading and fast-growing promotional product distributor, with revenues of $127 million in 2020. The company’s vision is to create the premier international branding company via organic growth and strategic acquisitions.

1976 — FT

William Strong

On April 6, it was announced that William Strong joined Anzu Partners as a partner to spearhead strategic transactions as the firm continues to expand. He will also join the Anzu Investment Committee. Anzu Partners is an investment firm that focuses on industrial and life science technology companies with the potential to transform their industries.

1978 — FT

Mike Blyth

Mike Blyth is driving AI and ML capabilities in the new world of intelligence exchanges. He says data exchanges are passé, and startups provide an unmeasured level of intensity. It’s very rewarding! Still in Evanston after all these years with a growing set of grandchildren. He’s happy to hear from any locals.

1978 — FT

Robert Knuepfer

Robert Knuepfer recently completed a doctor of ministry degree at the Chicago Theological Seminary. He is a pastor at Union Church of Hinsdale, United Church of Christ.

1971 — E&W

Alfred G Kloss

After working in HR and retained search for just under 50 years, Alfred Kloss has moved from Lake Bluff, Illinois, to Garden Prairie. He is enjoying the country life with two dogs and plenty of fresh air. His new home is on three landscaped acres. He has two daughters and two grandsons.

1978 — E&W

Mike Rossmeier

After spending many years as a commercial banker, Mike Rossmeier is now working with the SBA EIDL and PPP programs, processing millions of applications for pandemic relief loans and grants.

1980 — FT

Mansoor Shafi

Mansoor Shafi has decided to pursue a completely different career. He is in the process of establishing a homeopathic clinic in Pueblo West, Colorado. He is attending the International Academy of Classical Homeopathy in Alonnisos, Greece, and is enrolled in a program teaching him to be a classical homeopath.

1980 — FT

Mike Hogan

Mike Hogan chairs Books for Newborns, which seeks to lift children living in poverty into a life of literacy by delivering five free books to newborns and their mothers through St. Louis-area hospitals and social service agencies. Since its creation in 2017, BFN has delivered 13,500 book bags (60,000 books). Visit www.booksfornewborns.com to learn how you can help.

1980 — FT

Katy McBride

Katy McBride thought working for the Department of Defense would be her career “cool down” lap, but fate intervened. Three years ago, when she told people she worked for the Military Healthcare System Telehealth Program Office, people were confused about what telehealth meant. With the current need for telehealth, she could not imagine sitting out the biggest healthcare crisis of our lifetime and is proud to serve.

1980 — FT

Martha McGuire

The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association announced the appointment of Martha McGuire, EVP of First Bank Chicago, to ELFA’s Business Council Steering Committee. “Being elected to the council is an honor, and I look forward to serving with other ELFA members,” McGuire says. “I am particularly gratified given ELFA is the national association for leasing professionals. This is an exciting opportunity to represent the interests of financial institutions to the sector’s broader constituencies.”

1980 — FT

Emory Williams

Emory Williams and his family recently moved from Beijing to Marin County, after 23 years in China. His oldest son, John, will be working towards a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering starting in September.

1981 — FT

Charlie Andersen

Last July, Charlie Andersen retired from Transco, a Chicago-based holding company engaged in manufacturing and repair services for railroad and power generation industries. Prior to his retirement, Charlie had served as the company’s CEO for 18 years. He is continuing to serve as a director and plans to soon travel from his home near Chicago to see his kids and grandkids in Dallas and Boston. He and his wife, Amy, are also members of the Chicago Master Singers, a choral singing organization.

1982 — FT

Sharon Bowen

Commissioner Sharon Bowen is a partner at Seneca Women, a global leadership platform and media company dedicated to advancing women and girls. She recently announced that Seneca, Mastercard and Deserve are launching the Card by Seneca Women, the first credit card that rewards cardholders for shopping at women-owned businesses. The card also drives donations to women-focused nonprofits.

1982 — FT

Mark DaSilva

Mark DaSilva retired in January of 2021. He and his wife plan to travel extensively as restrictions are lifted. Follow their adventures on Instagram: @VinedyRoadMark.

1982 — FT

Joel Shalowitz

Class of 1982 members Joel Shalowitz and Robert Stevens ’82 co-authored (with Professor Philip Kotler) the second edition of Strategic Marketing for Health Care Organizations. Joel lives in Chicago and is teaching at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine. He also writes a daily healthcare blog: www.HealthcareInsights.MD. Bob lives in North Carolina and is a healthcare marketing consultant who has taught marketing at a number of universities.

1983 — FT

King Lum

King Lum has retired after 44 years in operations and quality management. His career included service at John Deere Plow & Planter Works, Deere & Company, McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Company and the California Manufacturing Technology Center. King spent his last 25 years as director at ACE Clearwater Enterprises, an aerospace sheet metal manufacturer in Torrance, California.

1984 — FT

Patrick Barnes

Pat Barnes has retired from Bank of America after a 35-year career in commercial real estate. Now, Pat is exploring potential roles in public policy.

1984 — FT

Andrew Beran

After a short gap of 37 years, Andy Beran returned to academia, earning his doctorate in business with a dissertation on shared autonomous vehicles and older adults, a quantitative correlational study. After a career with Intel and the last 15 years as a serial entrepreneur, Andy now consults and teaches. He says he is “working to ensure autonomous vehicles meet the needs of old people, like us.”

1984 — FT

Indira Christie

Indira Christie was recognized as a Woman Leader in New Canaan, Connecticut. She was interviewed and featured on Episode 15 of Women Leaders of New Canaan on NCTV79. Indira discusses leadership qualities, raising a family and being an entrepreneur. Indira is “honored to be selected as one of the Women Leaders of New Canaan, Connecticut, offering perspective and guidance to women of all ages.” Watch the interview on https://youtu.be/1iWxQ_rc-VA.

1984 — FT

Kim Alfonso

Kim Greenfield Alfonso is co-founder and chief executive officer of Results One LLC, a training, mediation services and digital accessibility testing minority and certified women-owned business. Results One offers diversity, equity and inclusion training. This includes unconscious bias training, focus group facilitation, climate/organizational assessment surveys and prevention of sexual harassment training. Additionally, Results One offers digital accessibility training and testing for websites, mobile apps and PDFs to ensure digital content is accessible to people with disabilities.

Kim has been busy recently, as she was selected to serve in several new positions. She is program and membership co-chair of the Greater Washington Black Chamber of Commerce’s board, chair of the engagement advisory board for Washington Gas, a member on the National Small Business Association’s leadership council and a member on the D.C. Women’s Business Center advisory board. She was also recently interviewed by ABC News Australia about D.C. statehood. This interview can be viewed here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-12/donald-trumps-legacy-could-be-inspiring-washington-dc-statehood/13234636.

1984 — FT

Lynnette Barnes Hinch

Since 2016, Lynnette Barnes Hinch has worked on new products and various consulting projects at Reynolds Consumer Products with classmate Laurie Winton Lichko ’84. Although they did not know each other well in school, they have now become good friends. Over the past year, Lynette has also enjoyed multiple Zoom rendezvous with fellow classmates: Birgitta Hanan ’84, Autumn King Boos ’84, Wendy Weiss Kritt ’84, Barbara Vass ’84 and Indira Desai Christie ’84.

1984 — FT

Marvin Irby

In February, Marvin Irby was appointed to serve on the board of directors of Children International. In March, he was also selected to serve on the board of directors of PBS.

1985 — FT

Tom Kamp

Tom Kamp serves on five boards. He is the audit committee chairperson of The Taiwan Fund, listed on the NYSE. He is chairperson of Finley’s Barkery, a dog treat company dedicated to supporting employment opportunities for people with disabilities. He is also chairperson of the Foundation Board of Elim Christian Services, a school that works to equip people with disabilities to pursue their God-given potential. Finally, he also serves on the executive board of the Lyle School of Engineering at SMU and the advisory board of FHL Investment Company.

1986 — FT

Tom Loeffler

Tom Loeffler has retired as deputy treasurer of Citizens Financial Group. After living in Boston for 25 years, he and his wife, Betsy, are looking to move somewhere they will find warmer weather, lots of golf and frequent visits from their daughter, Bryn, 29, and son, Walker, 27.

1986 — FT

Fred O’Connor

For over 15 years, Fred O’Connor, a financial advisor with Northwestern Mutual, has provided time and resources to support the individuals and their families living with autism spectrum disorder. Fred has helped local charity Have Dreams secure numerous foundation grants and attract many volunteers. He also helped Northwestern University establish a one-year post-grad program for students with autism, so they can develop employment-enabling skills.

1987 — FT

Jeff King

Jeff King has stayed active in the Kellogg Network as the chairman of the 2021 Kellogg Leadership Symposium. This year’s symposium was virtual and global, using the new Hopin event platform. Jeff was able to work with Chip Bailey ’87 to find speakers and support in the West Coast. Other Kellogg folks that attended included Scott Brueggeman ’87 and Howard Getson ’87. The Symposium reached over 600 alumni and featured 40 outstanding leadership experts from the Kellogg network.

1987 — FT

Lee Wright

Lee Wright founded the nonprofit The Pursuit of History to engage adults in conversation about history and connect them with historic sites. When the nonprofit had to cancel its largest History Camp event last March, it quickly launched a weekly live-streamed discussion with notable authors. In August, The Pursuit of History produced a 12-hour live event with historic sites across the country.

1988 — FT

Pat Albright

 

Patrick Albright is now the chief development officer for NetCents, Inc. NetCents, Inc is a crypto transaction company based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

1988 — FT

Mark Proudfoot

This year, Mark and Hanne Proudfoot have chaperoned their fourth and final child through high school graduation. Additionally, Mark has been grateful to keep over 30 people employed in the essential oil business. Hanne continues to rack up medals in local 5K and 10K races. Mark and Hanne hope to meet up with Kellogg friends and classmates soon.

1989 — FT

Steven Carnes

Steve Carnes is finishing building a COVID-19 vaccine factory for J&J-Janssen in Leiden, Netherlands. He is then either going back to semi-retirement or more serial entrepreneurship. Clean water and energy are the target sectors. He is working a snowbird ecosystem with winters in Spain and other Mediterranean climates. He is teaching an MBA strategy course as tribute to Cynthia Montgomery and enjoying a “higher quality of life” in Europe.

1989 — FT

Stuart Kerr

Stuart Kerr is missing all of his 4Q buddies and hopes they are all doing well. He is currently living in Florida with his wife, June, and trying to stay out of trouble.

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1990 — FT

Charlie Brown

Charlie Brown is putting the pandemic work-from-home time to good use. Charlie completed his instrument rating as a private pilot in March of this year. Charlie uses his little plane for personal and business trips. Having the instrument rating allows him to fly through most weather for greater travel flexibility. As an added benefit, it also keeps him socially distant from other travelers.

1990 — FT

Allison Plyer

From 2018 to 2021, Dr. Allison Plyer served as chair of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Scientific Advisory Committee. In 2008 she received her doctorate in demography from Tulane University. She has since led innovations in identifying and communicating disaster recovery metrics that strategically advance recovery efforts locally, nationally and internationally.

1990 — FT

David Rohal

David Rohal has moved from Denver, Colorado, to Davis, California, to join the Sierra Railroad Company as corporate vice president, special projects. Sierra is smaller and more innovative than most railroads and recently announced a project to build a hydrogen-powered locomotive.

1990 — FT

Bill Zeeb Jr.

Bill Zeeb is grateful for a second year of triple-digit growth for Infinitas, coaching successful leaders for collaboration, growth and performance. Thanks to Zoom, he is on track to ski 100 days this season, which he sees as essential self-care to keep his batteries charged to help others. Last year, he was recognized as one of 24 Master Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Center Coaches globally. He wishes his Kellogg classmates well.

1991 — FT

Scott Freidheim

Recently, Scott Freidheim engaged with many Kellogg classmates, including Jonathan Jackson ’91, Jeff Seaman ’91, John Vano ’91, Kevin White ’91 and John Prunier ’91. He enjoyed hearing that they are all well, thriving and making a difference.

1991 — FT

Doug Harmon

Doug Harmon recently joined a new lending platform, CounterpointeSRE. CounterpointeSRE provides CPACE financing to commercial real estate borrowers for construction, retrofit and retroactive transactions. This is a great tool that’s working toward sustainability in commercial real estate.

1991 — FT

Janice Williams Oliver

MisTee Wants To Know, Inc. was accepted into the VentureCrushFG Pod Program. This program builds a community of founders with the goal of fostering relationships between startup founders and program alumni. The monthly meetings allow participants to have informal discussions with venture capital firms and angel investors.

1992 — FT

Andrew Jay

Andrew Jay recently started a hedge fund, the Borna Health Fund. He drew upon guidance from fellow classmates Paul Meeks ’92, Charlie (Charles) York ’92 and Gary Dvorchak ’92. While it is a tumultuous time in the focus area of medical technology, the favorable long-term secular trends should bode well.

1993 — FT

Katie Lacey

Katie Lacey was recently named to the Designer Protein board of directors. Designer Protein is a leading sports, nutrition and active lifestyle brand.

1993 — FT

Andy Whitman

Andy Whitman recently announced the successful raise of Fund III for Loft Growth Partners. He also excitedly welcomes Liz Kramer Myslik ’00 to the firm. This year, Loft Growth Partners, formerly 2x Consumer Products Growth Partners, is celebrating its 20th anniversary. It is the pioneer investor in emerging CPG brands, including food and beverage, personal care and beauty, pet care, homecare and supplements.

1994 — FT

Matt Beebe

Matt Beebe works in the nutrition division of Abbott Labs, based in Columbus, Ohio. Matt is the divisional vice president/general manager for the Therapeutic Nutrition division in the U.S.

1994 — FT

Joel Bosch

After retiring four years ago and traveling the world, Joel Bosch and husband, Allan Haze, have settled in Valencia, Spain. They welcome visitors.

1994 — FT

Todd Goldman

In November 2020, Todd Goldman, Chris (Christopher) Balough ’94, and Robin Yoshimura ’94 produced a Zoom concert by Naoko Kasai. It was attended by over 40 classmates and featured the works of Chopin, Bach, Beethoven, Debussy, Ravel and Kozaburo Hirai. Takeshi Kasai ’94 and Naoko Kasai will host their sixth annual concert live in Mountain View on November 20, 2021. The entire Kellogg community is invited to attend.

1994 — FT

Laura McKee

Laura McKee reports a number of pandemic silver linings. The “KSM’94Ever Pandemic Panels” rekindled friendships and spawned an exciting entrepreneurial venture with Cheryl Watkins-Moore ’94, Todd Myers ’94, Jane Hunter ’94 and Jan McDougal ’95. Meanwhile, Laura is now able to visit her parents again at the Admiral at the Lake. The startup she co-founded in 2018, Hucu.ai, recently won an American Medical Directors Association’s Shark Tank award, is currently in the Mayo Clinic and ASU Medtech Accelerator and closed a seed round in 2021.

1994 — FT

Per Ohstrom

Per Ohstrom has been a fractional CMO with Chief Outsiders for a year. He enjoys helping small and mid-market companies with their strategy and marketing.

1994 — FT

Alejandro Olabarria

Just before the pandemic began, Alejandro Olabarria moved from Spain to Switzerland, where two of his sons, Nicolas and Daniel, are studying economics at the University of Zurich. He looks forward to his wife, Cristina, and his youngest, Lucas, joining them there and hopes the Kellogg community is healthy.

1995 — FT

Mario Manzocchi

Mario Manzocchi turned 60 this year and is still in great shape. Over the last 10 years, Mario has worked as an entrepreneur and engineering consultant on several projects, focusing on renewable energy and public transportation. He recently accepted a full-time position as a senior project manager for a leading engineering consultancy based in Zurich.

1996 — FT

Tom McNulty

After graduating from Kellogg, Tom McNulty moved to Houston, Texas, and he still lives there today. He is a principal with ValueScope Inc. He has been keeping busy doing ESG analytics and valuation work for many of his energy clients. His daughter, Megan, will be attending Texas A&M this fall.

1997 — FT

Michael Payne

Michael Payne has recently joined the African Entrepreneur Collective as board chair. This growing organization provides business training, loans and grants to refugee entrepreneurs, as well as small- and medium-sized enterprises. A strong culture has been important to the organization’s success. The value statement, “We eat goat,” helps them remember, “We are together. We celebrate our success. We take time to appreciate one another and hold each other up in hard times.”

1997 —; FT

Tim Smith

Tim Smith was appointed CEO of Probax, an international data protection company operating in North America and Australia.

1998 — FT

Alfredo Capote

Alfredo Capote has become the most relevant SPAC sponsor and investor in Latin America. He has launched SPACs both in Mexico (the first SPAC listed on the Mexico Stock Exchange) and on NASDAQ. He recently finalized the IPO of Alpha Capital Acquisition Company. This is the first SPAC focused on providing later stage capital for technology companies in Latin America. His primary focus is on fintech, marketplace, e-commerce and SaaS. This will become the go-to sponsor to list Latin American tech companies on NASDAQ.

1998 — FT

Titi Falusi Cole

Titi Falusi Cole switched jobs during the pandemic. Titi is now global head of operations and chief client officer for the Global Consumer Bank at Citigroup. Titi is happy to have her sons home with her, enjoying their senior year. She looks forward to reconnecting with alumni in the NYC area soon.

1998 — FT

Rachel Fleishman

Rachel Fleishman still hails from Hong Kong but is planning to return to the U.S. this year. In the meantime, she is speaking on climate security and helping launch Carbonless Asia, a platform connecting corporations with ambitious carbon targets, tech startups and investors. Reach out to Rachel if you hear of opportunities at the forefront of carbon and climate, or if you’re in Hong Kong and want to catch up over a hike, a glass of wine or both!

1999 — FT

Laura Bishop George

Last December, Laura Bishop George was a 2020 Daily Herald Influential Women in Business award recipient. Her high school planning, standardized test prep and college consulting firm, Laura George Consulting, celebrated its five-year anniversary this March. This firm serves local families and students in the greater Chicago area, as well as across the country and internationally via Zoom. Visit her website for more information: www.laurageorgeconsulting.com.

1999 — FT

Tom Hawkins

Tom Hawkins founded Forté Ventures in 2012 and recently held a successful initial closing on the firm’s $150 million Fund III. With offices in Atlanta (HQ) and Silicon Valley, Forté Ventures is a multi-stage venture capital firm that collaborates and co-invests with corporate strategic partners in technology companies across diversified industry sectors throughout the U.S. and Canada. Initial investments range between $2 million to $5 million, and investor syndicates include leading corporate strategic partners as co-investors.

1999 — FT

Erin Lydon

Erin Lydon leads a women-only poker company. The company doesn’t gamble or transact in real money; it plays for a pot of skills far more valuable. Read more about it here: https://www.gamblingnews.com/news/poker-powher-managing-director-erin-lydon-those-are-life-skills-that-apply-to-every-table.

1999 — FT

Rayman Mathoda

Rayman Mathoda lives in Los Angeles with her wife and two sets of twins (8 and 10). She is retired from her career in real estate and financial services, where she was CEO of Xome Holdings, a subsidiary of Mr. Cooper Group. She is now an entrepreneur in life sciences and is a partner at Emerge Life Sciences, a genomics and protein engineering-driven foundry focused on the U.S.-India Corridor.

1990 — E&W

Michael Gillam

Michael Gillam has retired after a 43-year career in the transportation engineering consulting business. He and his wife of 41 years, Beverly, have homes in Orlando, Florida, and Franklin, Tennessee. In retirement they plan to continue to visit their four children, seven grandchildren and other family and friends; travel internationally; volunteer with their favorite charity (Samaritan’s Purse); and continue to develop their land in Tennessee.

1992 — E&W

David Kirshenbaum

David Kirshenbaum, a managing director at Chicago-based Virtas Partners, was recently appointed to be a TIGER 21 chair. This group is the Chicago region’s third peer-to-peer group to be formed. Additionally, David recently taught a Kellogg class for Zell Fellows that focused on venture capital and independent sponsor money raising.

1992 — E&W

Eva Niewiadomski

Catalyst Ranch, a creative meeting and event space in Chicago’s West Loop founded by Eva Niewiadomski, recently celebrated its 18-year anniversary. It was a challenge to remain in business during 2020 as face-to-face meetings and events came to a halt, leading the venue to shut down for most of the year. Although Eva had to relinquish some leases, she was able to retain a portion of the original space and add a new lofted space, two doors east of the original location.

1992 — E&W

April Wright

April Wright has directed two critically acclaimed documentaries: Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace, featuring Leonard Maltin, and Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story, with executive producer Michelle Rodriguez.

1993 — E&W

Julie Novack

In 2020, Julie Novack, CEO and co-founder of PartySlate, received $5 million in Series A funding. PartySlate is a photo-rich platform, used to inspire event planners and connect them with leading event professionals and venues. PartySlate has $11 million in total funding to date, and in the last five years, PartySlate has raised the third-most funding of all Chicago-based, women-founded companies.

1993 — E&W

Greg Longoria

Despite COVID-19’s impact on the real estate capital markets, Greg closed several large equity financings on behalf of clients. He varied the engagement mix of both development and acquisition financing and increased the number of clients across asset classes. Today, Greg is engaged to raise capital on behalf of student, multifamily, manufactured housing, medical office and self-storage clients. Greg runs the nationwide capital markets business from his office in Southern California.

1995 — E&W

Joe Meyer

Joe Meyer led a group team from Indiana University Health to support the recently completed NCAA Men’s March Madness tournament. Indiana University Health provided all COVID-19 testing and medical services to create and preserve the controlled environment, resulting in a safe tournament. Joe says, “It was terrific to support a semblance of normalcy after our healthcare workers have been providing care for sick COVID-19 patients for more than a year.”

1995 — E&W

Maria Davlantes

Maria Davlantes currently serves on Life Floor’s board of directors. The company recently became the first aquatic safety surface in the world, certified to the NSF-50 standard, bringing the highest level of safety to wet play areas. Life Floor designs, manufactures and markets aquatic flooring systems, combining its award-winning safety with unparalleled design to serve industry leaders.

1997 — E&W

Rose Heathcote

Rose Heathcote recently accepted a new position as the client director for the Cleveland Clinic Foundation global account at IBM. Rose resides in Solon, Ohio, with her husband, Dr. George Heathcote and their four children.

1997 — E&W

Doug Meyer

After 13 years at First Eagle Investment Management, Doug Meyer is taking a year off. During this time, he will be working for Porte + Hall, a startup founded by his wife that aims to redefine how people think about home entryways. He plans to re-enter the asset management field in 2022.

1999 — E&W

Juliann Larimer

Juliann Larimer led the successful sale of Peak-Ryzex from Keystone Capital to Sole Source Capital in March 2021. In 2018, Larimer was named CEO of Peak-Ryzex, a mid-market technology systems integrator focusing on digital supply chain and mobile workforce solutions. During her tenure, the company secured the largest customer win on record, grew EBITDA over 25% and increased enterprise value by over 50%. She is most proud of the culture work her team achieved via the 32% improvement in eNPS in 2020 during the pandemic.

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2000 — FT

John Baker

After 19 years in London, Dubai and Hong Kong, John Baker and Fernanda Artese Baker ’01 have settled in Los Angeles with their two daughters. John spent the last two decades at Lehman Brothers and then Nomura, shifting from M&A into management and transformation. They have enjoyed reconnecting with Kellogg alumni around the world, and they can’t wait to hang out with Southern California friends as the pandemic eases.

2000 — FT

Ken Bower

Ken Bower is the CEO of Clayton Financial Group (CFG), a nationally known wealth management firm that recently surpassed $1.1 billion in managed assets. CFG serves successful families in 32 states – including two families within an hour of campus.

2000 — FT

Ariane Gorin

After over 17 years of engagement, Ariane Gorin and Frederic Halley ’97 tied the knot in August 2020 in Cabourg, France. Given global travel restrictions, it was an intimate ceremony. In the many scenarios they had imagined their wedding, never once had they expected to have a Zoom wedding

2000 — FT

Guilherme Johannpeter

Guilherme Johannpeter recently became executive chairman of Gerdau, a leading steel company in Brazil. Gerdau has operations all over the Americas.

2000 — FT

Annette Kaempf-Dern

Annette Kaempf-Dern is a professor of management of facility services at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences. Following appointments at HafenCity University Hamburg and Bauhaus University Weimar, she is back in her hometown where she works in the Department of Architecture, Civil Engineering, Geomatics. Her focus in research and teaching students in real estate and facility management programs is on strategic and operative management topics and project, process, HR and workspace management.

2000 — FT

Burton Roberts

Burton Roberts has launched his latest TV series, The College Tour, on Amazon Prime and Roku. Each episode provides an inside look into colleges around the world and tells the story of a single college through the lens of its students, helping potential applicants and parents make the important choice about where to go to college. By the end of the year, over 60 colleges will be profiled on www.thecollegetour.com.

2001 — FT

Elly Andriopoulou

Elly Andriopoulou has been appointed president and managing director of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, a sustainable, world-class cultural, educational and recreational urban complex. It was designed by Renzo Piano and includes the facilities of the National Library of Greece and the Greek National Opera. It is situated within the 42-acre Stavros Niarchos Park in Athens, Greece.

2001 — FT

Fernanda Artese Baker

Fernanda Artese Baker recently moved to Los Angeles. Having lived and worked in London, Dubai and Hong Kong, this is her first time living in the U.S. since Kellogg. She is in West L.A. with husband, John Baker ’00, and two daughters. She looks forward to sharing the Kellogg spirit with alumni in the area.

2001 — FT

Alejandro Colindres

Alejandro Colindres launched a podcast series based on his upcoming book, The Road to Champagne: 13 Tested Principles to Drive Your Career to Success. By applying problem solving methodology to a problem impacting many professionals — Kellogg alumni not being immune — the solutions posed will empower professionals to accelerate career growth. You can listen wherever you listen to podcasts by searching for The Road to Champagne or at www.roadtochampagne.com/podcasts.

2001 — FT

Jennifer Zierden Maurer

Jennifer Zierden Maurer and her family were thrilled to move back to Chicagoland after six years in Ohio. Jennifer is still with Deloitte (17 years and counting). She is in a learning and development role supporting the tax practice. Her twin sons will turn five this summer. The Maurer family has settled in Elmhurst and looks forward to reconnecting with other alumni in the area.

2001 — FT

Martha Wofford

In March, Martha Wofford was named president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island. After a decade at Aetna, and nearly seven years at DaVita, helping lead the company’s shift to value-based care, Wofford says, “I’m thrilled to be joining Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island at this incredibly dynamic time to work with providers and the community to passionately lead a state of health and well-being across Rhode Island.”

2002 — FT

Ana Villegas

Ana Villegas was recently promoted to chief marketing officer for NI (National Instruments), a test and measurement company with offices around the world. She currently lives in Austin with her daughter, Audrey, 9, and her husband, Stephen.

2004 — FT

Thomas Fanter

Tom Fanter is a partner at RMB Capital, an independent investment advisory firm with approximately $9.7 billion in assets under management. Tom joined RMB in 2017, when the IronBridge Capital Management team combined with RMB Asset Management. In addition to his role as director of equity research, he is also a member of the firm’s investment committee.

2004 — FT

Sri Kaza

Sri Kaza has been promoted to CEO of ForwardLine Financial. Sri will help the 17-year-old firm achieve its mission of improving the financial health of America’s small businesses.

2006 — FT

Sonita Lontoh

Sonita, CMO of HP's 3D printing and digital manufacturing, was inducted into the inaugural class of the Women in Manufacturing's Hall of Fame. The honorees were chosen among senior executives who have made exceptional contributions to the manufacturing industry and to the advancement of women. Honorees were also chosen for embodying the association's mission of supporting, promoting and inspiring women in the manufacturing industry. Sonita was chosen among 15 honorees that also include executives from GE, Toyota, Boeing and others.

2005 — FT

Jenny Fernandez

Jenny Fernandez is marketing VP at Loacker, an adjunct professor at Columbia GSB & NYU and an executive coach. She plans to publish her first book in 2022, titled, Zig-Zag to the Top: How Women Master the Habits, Behaviors and Mindsets to Succeed. The book features female trailblazers and codifies how to take advantage of life’s planned and unplanned twists to achieve success.

2005 — FT

Guilherme Maradei

Guilherme Maradei was appointed CEO of Natulab, a private equity-backed pharmaceutical company in Brazil with over 900 employees and one of the largest production volumes in the country. He will be based in Sao Paulo with his wife, Danielle, and children, Alice and Antonio.

2005 — FT

Stephen Weiland

Steve Weiland took a new role at Caterpillar as division CFO of the integrated components and solutions division. He left his prior role as division CFO of the Cat digital division. He sits on the board of one of the division’s JVs and the UIUC Technology & Management Program. Steve and his family have relocated back to Peoria, Illinois, from Lake Forest, moving into a home that is five houses away from where they lived three years earlier. His wife, Meegan, and kids, Will, 12, Amelia, 10, and Olivia, 10, are doing well and having fun reconnecting with old friends.

2006 — FT

Neil Rosenblatt

Neil Rosenblatt continues as CEO of Azabu Insights Strategic Consulting in Tokyo, Japan. Azabu Insights has clients across industries with a focus on life sciences and healthcare. This year, rare diseases, next-generation HC and sustainability were popular. Azabu Insights’ strategic projects support the topline with a marketing or innovation approach. The firm differentiates itself through strong client collaboration and its Japan network. Reach out to Neil if you know of any Japanese companies that need help or companies looking to come to Japan.

2006 — FT

Gabriel Sussman

Gabriel Sussman is president of the real estate developing company building La Mansa. La Mansa is a new city with capacity for 13,000 people located strategically near the famous beachside city of Pinamar in Buenos Aires, Argentina. La Mansa is expected to be the most important real estate development project in Argentina in the coming years. It will include shopping malls, universities, colleges, international hotels and residential areas together with high-end amenities and world-class levels of sustainable construction.

2007 — FT

Bikram Kapoor

Bikram Kapoor has founded a software company, QSchool Sports, that provides customer acquisition and retention tools to sports coaches worldwide. Based out of Connecticut, the company’s mission is to harness the power of code to drive business growth. The first product line, Accelerate Golf, launched earlier this year. It offers golf teaching professionals thoughtfully crafted mobile and web apps.

2008 — FT

Scott McKinney

Tracy (Johnson) McKinney ’07 and Scott McKinney began 2021 with the addition of their fourth child. Madison Ann McKinney was born on January 4. She is enjoying spring in Houston with her two brothers, Clayton and Tyler, and sister Katherine.

2009 — FT

Cynthia Baker

Cynthia Baker is currently director, brand strategy at Facebook. Over the last three years, she has been building the company brand and growing her team. She is currently living in Colorado with her husband Will Smith ’09 and their three sons, Jackson, Bradley and Zachary. They moved to Colorado during the pandemic to be closer to family but will be moving back to San Mateo, California, in July 2021. They have enjoyed spending time outdoors in the mountains while in Colorado.

2009 — FT

Dan Bielski has a leading economic news website, Israel Financial Insider. Visit it at: www.ifi.today. Without Kellogg, IFI would not have come into the world.

2009 — FT

Alexis Jhamb

Alexis Jhamb recently moved to Atyrau, Kazakhstan, as a Chevron secondee to its joint venture Tengizchevroil. She leads the commercial group, managing sales of crude, LPG, gas and sulphur. Her new interests include ice fishing, doner kebabs and long runs along the Ural River.

2009 — FT

Kevin Kan

Kevin Kan joined McKinsey after graduation in 2009. Yet, he chose to leave McKinsey after just over two years. He now is happily employed in the video game industry and spends his free time living on the island of Puerto Rico.

2009 — FT

Andres de Lucca

Andres de Lucca is leading product for WAAVE Technologies Inc, a trailblazing fintech startup bringing fiat-crypto payments to the cannabis industry. Launched in early 2021, WAAVE has grown to serve over 50 clients throughout the U.S. He also heads NW Lights, a product management consulting practice bringing expertise to startups and nonprofit organizations focused on building and launching effective SaaS products.

2000 — E&W

Kenneth Merritt

Ken Merritt has joined Korn Ferry as a senior client partner in the firm’s organizational strategy practice. Ken has expertise across a range of industries and serves on the board of directors for nonprofit organizations and a private operating company. He is currently based out of the Washington, D.C., metro area.

2000 — E&W

Deb Roberts

Deb Roberts has launched Embryo Connections, an embryo donation concierge, to help those with remaining embryos from IVF donate to intended parents struggling to have children of their own. The national donation program has grown to nearly 100 fertility practices in just two years and has helped create many new families across the country. This program manages the clinical and logistic requirements to secure the donations for transfer, while empowering donors and recipients to choose what is right for their family.

2000 — E&W

George Webb

George Webb is the CEO of Pension & Wealth Management Advisors, a boutique wealth management and advisory firm based in Boston. The firm recently added three new advisors in response to its substantial business growth. The company has tripled in size over the last two years, due to referrals from existing clients and added capabilities. The firm has established an asset management and M&A advisory capability to seamlessly assist business owners on all aspects of maximizing their wealth creation opportunities.

2000 — E&W

Andy Young

Andy Young is retired from the U.S. Army and has moved to Bangor, Northern Ireland, with his family. He is currently enjoying a quiet life with his wife, Siegrid. At times he guest presents at the University of Ulster on the law of armed conflict.

2001 — E&W

Katharine Leonard

Katharine Leonard has expanded her role as CEO. Her company 92ndStreet Design is now Sōhe Studio. Pronounced “sew,” it will continue its legacy of fabricating luxury products for the private aviation, commercial and high-end residential markets, while offering a wider array of bespoke soft goods, Italian textiles, Mongolian cashmere and woven carpets from Nepal.

2001 — E&W

Erin Owen

Erin Owen has joined Abroad.io as chief coaching officer. In this role, she will oversee the professional team and full suite of human transformation coaching and educational programs. These programs are designed to help founders, co-founders, leaders and investors in the ecosystem of high growth companies actualize their human potential.

2002 — E&W

Manuel O. Mendez

Manuel Mendez is relocating to Geneva, Switzerland, to assume the CEO role at Quotient. Quotient will focus on launching a disruptive solution to support innovation in the transfusion and clinical diagnostics markets. He hopes to connect with Kellogg alumni in the Geneva area.

2003 — E&W

Bo Sandine

Bo Sandine married his sweetheart, now Anna Zhao Sandine, on February 28, 2021, at Trinity on the Green in New Haven, Connecticut. The brief ceremony was limited to immediate family. The newlyweds plan to honeymoon in Maine and Northern New England late this summer. They hope to host a celebration this fall, which will surely include some Kellogg friends!

2004 — E&W

Ravi Kaushik

Ravi Kaushik was recognized among the Top 20 Healthcare Industry Leaders of India by Medgate Magazine for his impactful leadership during the pandemic. Ravi has been the CEO of Transasia Biomedicals, the largest in vitro diagnostics company of India. Ravi and his team worked on several COVID-19 initiatives during 2020, including launching IGG/IGM and RT-PCR kits, providing services to hundreds of hospitals and labs across Tier 3 and 4 cities while balancing the safety and productivity of Transasia Biomedicals’ 1000+ employees.

2004 — &W

Gretchen Peters

Gretchen Peters recently joined Maven Wave Partners as healthcare practice lead. She is excited to join a great team of people committed to collaborating with clients to make the shift to digital and shorten the fuse to innovation.

2009 — E&W

Beth Anne Demeter

In 2020, Beth Anne Demeter received Sellstate’s coveted Diamond Award for residential real estate sales production. This is now the sixth time Beth Anne has received a corporate award and the second time she has received a Diamond Award. Beth Anne was also recognized for her contribution to education, including mentoring new agents and teaching certification and continuing education classes for agents. She enjoys helping people move to the Denver area and serves on several Denver-based real estate boards.

2008 — CERT

Ray Oyemi

After hurdles of legal challenges, Ray Oyemi is moving forward in developing a uniquely multigenerational, vibrant, mixed-use destination: Community of Care. This will be located in the fishing, retirement and recreation town of Kenai, Alaska. This is a first-of-its-kind, 53-acre, campus-style residential and business community. It will be positioned as an extended care and residential campus that supports and enables the continuum of care in aging, affordable housing and active convalescence from cardiovascular and cancer treatment.

Skip to E&W Class Notes

2011— FT

Joao Kleber Cardoso

Joao Kleber Cardoso joined Aura Minerals, a public gold mining company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, in early 2019 and soon became its CFO. Aura Minerals has assets in several countries in the Americas, including in Brazil and in the United States. In 2020, he led the company through two equity public offerings in Brazil, which raised over $170 million between the primary and secondary offerings. Aura Minerals is a dual-listed company and the first gold mining company listed on a Brazilian stock exchange.

2011 — FT

Maribeth Gainard

Maribeth Gainard and Hal Goltz are happy to announce the arrival of their son, John Seymour Gainard Goltz. He was born on March 16, 2021, in New York. His big sister, Josephine, is adjusting well to life as a family of four.

2011 — FT

Lorena Sanchez Garcia

Lorena Sanchez Garcia joined Rappi, the Latin American unicorn, as a global managing director for a new vertical called Dragon. She will continue growing e-commerce, payments and logistics in the region.

2011 — FT

Sofia Escamilla Trigos

Sofia Escamilla Trigos married Santiago Vazquez last fall in an intimate ceremony. She was joined by her family and her Kellogg friend, Lorena Sanchez Garcia ’11.

2011 — FT

Andrew Lim

Andrew Lim, his wife, Jennifer, and daughter, Zoey, 2, welcomed their second daughter, Mina, on February 25, 2020.

2012 — FT

Evan Sharp

Evan Sharp was admitted to the Signature Fellows Program of Leadership Greater Chicago. Leadership Greater Chicago is the region’s premier convener, connector and mobilizer of bold leaders to effect transformative impact across the private, public and nonprofit sectors.

2012-FT

David Sweas

David Sweas is based in New Zealand and running Dodson, a precision engineering, manufacturing and distribution business that sells aftermarket performance car parts to a global network of installers. He reflects often on his experience at Kellogg and, in particular, the MMM program, which offered the best preparation imaginable for a cross-functional role of this nature.

2013 — FT

Fahim Naim

Fahim Naim recently sold his e-commerce startup to an industry-leading public company. He credits his exit to opportunities to his experiences, network and confidence developed at Kellogg.

2013 — FT

Viren Tellis

Viren Tellis completed a seven-year stint at AppNexus (acquired by AT&T). In 2020, he moved from New York City with his family (wife, Courtney, daughter, Louisa, and son, Gerald) to Los Angeles. Viren is now the founder of Hedado, a company that lets anyone be a philanthropist.

2013 — FT

Genia Yovankin

Genia and her husband, Tim Yovankin, MD, founded Greywood Health Center, an innovative behavioral health day hospital for adolescents and young adults. The first Greywood location opened its doors in the fall of 2020 in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. Additional locations are already in the works. The pair also welcomed their son, Emmett James, in October of 2019.

2015 — FT

Aftab Khanna

Aftab Khanna and his JV, Yashika, welcomed their second child, Aarav, on December 17, 2020. Aarav joins his elder sister, Ariya, 5, as a potential future Kellogg alumnus and helps to complete the Khanna family. Aftab and Yashika eagerly look forward to revisiting Evanston with their kids and reliving their memories again.

2017 — FT

Kevin Kohlstedt

Kevin Kohlstedt and his wife, Karly, welcomed their daughter, Avery, to the world in August 2020. In early 2021, Avery helped edit, package and ship copies of her dad’s first published children’s book, Bizy Buddies Explore Digestion. The Bizy Buddies are a diverse cast of characters that help kids learn about healthy habits and inclusivity.

2017 — FT

Arjita Shrimali

Arjita Shrimali started The Desi Bride, a platform connecting couples planning South Asian weddings to vendors catering to the dynamic needs of Desi weddings. When she got married (she met her husband at Kellogg), the process of finding vendors was opaque and unnecessarily difficult. She started the platform to make vendor selection easier and less time consuming and help businesses grow.

2017 — FT

Christine Wendell

Christine Wendell has founded Pronto Housing to make affordable housing leasing and compliance efficient, intuitive and inclusive.

2018 — FT

Luke Otto

Luke Otto was promoted to engagement manager at Kenway Consulting in January 2021.

2019 — FT

Scott Belsky

Scott Belsky has relocated to Houston, Texas, to lead the newest market for Oak Street Health, a national network of primary care clinics for older adults on Medicare. The company will be building and operating clinics in medically underserved communities throughout Houston, greater Harris County and Northeast Texas beginning this spring and summer.

2019 — FT

Michelle Ross

Last summer, Michelle Ross (Wright) married her fearless KWEST leader, Mike Ross ’18 in a small ceremony. In February 2021, she quit her corporate job to co-found COSMO Technology, a kids wearables company. Reconnecting with fellow Kellogg classmates and alumni who went through Zell and/or launched startups has been the early highlight of her year.

2011 — E&W

Dave Beck

Dave recently moved to Long Beach, N.Y., and continues to drive all supplier activities as procurement director for breakthrough sports beverage brand BODYARMOR.

2011 — E&W

Allison Murn

Allison (Yang) Murn was named 2021 Faculty of the Year at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Business. Allison teaches marketing to MBA and undergraduate students at Carlson. She also leads Carlson’s digital marketing program.

2012 — E&W

Jenna Carls

Jenna Carls joined Mondelez as brand manager, seasonal confections for Halloween, Valentine's Day and summer. She is excited to relocate to New Jersey and connect with alumni in KACNY.

2012 — E&W

Rupal Patel

In the CFO Tech Outlook December 2020 issue, Company Stride Accounting Solutions, founded by Rupal Patel, was rated among the Top 10 Financial Control and Automation Consulting/Service Companies of 2020.

2013 — E&W

Debbie Brin Leon

Debbie Brin Leon and her husband, Jesus Leon, welcomed their son, Maxwell Griffin Leon, into the world on March 9, 2021. All are well and enjoying life as a family of three.

2015 — E&W

Muhammad Ghatala

Muhammad and Falak Ghatala welcomed their daughter, Sarah Fathimah, into the world on March 8, 2020. Having worked remotely this whole year, Muhammad now realizes how much of his first-born child Yousuf’s growing up he missed while at work.

2015 — E&W

Tathyane Vosgerau

After spending a few years as a capital markets lawyer in NYC and London, Tathyane Vosgerau has decided to use her Kellogg knowledge to start her own gluten-free frozen bread company, Gifted Breads. Although gluten-free, Gifted Breads tastes, feels and smells like regular bread. Gifted Breads is now available at Whole Foods.

2018 — E&W

Robert Grissom

Bob Grisson and his wife, Allison, have had an eventful start to 2021. They welcomed their fourth child, Isabelle Olivia, in February. Bob is accepting a new position as finance director of Regional School District 4 in Deep River, Connecticut. The family is looking forward to raising their children and working within their hometown community.

2019 — E&W

Jeremy Elston

Jeremy Elston took the leap into consulting this year at Huron Consulting Group, after a 14-month on-again off-again interview relationship, fraught with COVID-related interruptions and challenges. He and Huron are enjoying their honeymoon phase safely from home. Special thanks to Ben Chrischilles ’16 for introducing the happy couple.

2019 — E&W

Rebekah Yancy

Glenn Leonardo Yancy ’19 and Rebekah Joy (Ward) welcomed their first child, Penelope Joy Yancy, on January 15, 2021. They look forward to sharing their fond Kellogg memories with her and taking her to NU football games starting in the fall. Penelope is truly the brightest light of their lives.

2013 — CERT

Rachmani Domersant

Rachmani Domersant is CEO of Rosh International, a firm that helps purposeful philanthropists, foundations and companies convert vision into disciplined social initiatives. He creates opportunities for meaningful improvement in the lives of underserved populations both nationally and internationally. An inspirational leader, trusted adviser and respected academic professor, Rachmani brings innovative approaches, practical experiences and sustainable solutions to solving social issues.

2020 — E&W

Jason Hutcheson

Jason Hutcheson was hired as vice president of investments at First Hospitality through a connection with Sam Schwartz ’12 BS ’14 MS. First Hospitality is a Chicago-based hotel real estate and management company with more than 50 hotels in its portfolio and was founded by Stephen L. Schwartz ’74 BS ’76.

EMBA Cohort 12

Joseph Garrett

Joe Garrett was recently promoted to chief of staff of national accounts and West region at Anthem, Inc. Anthem is the largest Blue Cross Blue Shield organization in the U.S. and insures 13% of the U.S. population.

EMBA Cohort 24

David Cole

David Cole is still working at RBC. He is no longer in London — where he was the head of corporate banking in RBC Capital Markets for Europe and Australia — but is now in Toronto as vice chairman of the RBC Enterprise Strategic Client Group.

EMBA Cohort 28

Sara Sirotzky

Sara Sirotzky celebrated her 50th anniversary with Marsh & McLennan Companies in January 2021. She is currently managing director. In 1971, Sara joined J&H Marsh in Lima, Peru. She later transferred to the Chicago office in 1974. During her extensive career, Sara has developed and led marquee brands. She is well recognized in the business community for her professionalism and ethics. In 2020, Sara received a CEO award from Marsh & McLennan Companies for her extraordinary contributions. Additionally, Sara is an active and engaged member of The Chicago Club, Economic Club, International Women’s Forum, Finance Exchange, Chicago Network and NACD.

EMBA Cohort 31

Dave Lumley

Dave Lumley, former CEO of Spectrum brands, is now retired. Dave has launched a new consulting business, Dolphin Consulting LLC. Formerly in Middleton, Wisconsin, Dave now resides in Montecito, California.

EMBA Cohort 35

Nick Cray

After 40 years of engineering and manufacturing experiences, Nick Cray established Operations Excellence, LLC in 2020. Operations Excellence, LLC aims to assist small and midsized manufacturers in developing and implementing operational improvements. Located in Madison, Wisconsin, and serving Midwestern clients, Nick is excited about growing his business by helping more clients achieve improved profitability. He is thankful for the general management education received at Kellogg and the valuable support of his study group. He is active in the NU Alumni Club in Madison and enjoys networking.

EMBA Cohort 46

Darlene Ziebell

In her latest venture, veteran entrepreneur Darlene Ziebell advises independent business owners on becoming leading CEOs. Included in her initiatives are podcasts, online courses, startup checklists and books. Her latest book, A Dozen Avalanches Threaten Small Business, provides insight on 12 key challenges entrepreneurs face that are typically not discussed in business media, journals, startup guides or MBA case studies.

EMBA Cohort 59

Stanislaus Menezes

Since its inception, HaloMedicine.com has focused on anti-aging cosmetic treatments. The company has thrived during the pandemic as people working remotely have more time to care for themselves. In addition to all HaloMedicine.com’s med spa offerings and signature halo fractional treatments, its products for hormonal hair loss, ED and incontinence treatment have also recently become popular among patients. Call for a confidential complimentary HIPAA-covered consultation.

EMBA Cohort 66

Chris Martinez

Chris Martinez retired from the corporate and management consulting world to advance his personal commitment to social justice. As the need for housing stability has grown, Chris decided to focus his daily professional endeavors working to end homelessness as chief operating officer of Housing Forward, a nonprofit based in Maywood and Oak Park, Illinois.

EMBA Cohort 70

Brian Leesk

Brian Lees has taken a new role as senior director, sourcing and procurement with Honeywell.

EMBA Cohort 73

Steven Greenspon

Steve Greenspon founded Honey-Can-Do while enrolled at Kellogg. Honey-Can-Do was recently named on the Crain’s Chicago list of the top 100 “Best Places to Work.” Many features of the company’s outstanding culture were learned from the late Kellogg professor, Keith Murnighan.

Steve also ran into Sam Cirone ’09 while in line for tacos outside of the Chicago 19th District Police Station. Sam is currently a homicide police sergeant responsible for the North Side of Chicago. Steve sells coat hangers and laundry hampers at Honey-Can-Do.

EMBA Cohort 82

Purvee Kondal

Purvee Kondal has been appointed to be an advisory board member for the Sourcing Industry Group. She joined Albertsons Companies as a senior leader for technology and engineering sourcing. Purvee has been appointed as an advisory board member of RampRate.

EMBA Cohort 89

Jody Richards

Jody Richards was recently named EY Entrepreneur of the Year, East Central Winner.

EMBA Cohort 93

Brian Smith

Brian Smith has recently transitioned from helping companies hire military veterans, which he did for the past 10 years, to working as a realtor in South Florida. He recently helped a Kellogg graduate purchase a home in a very challenging seller’s market.

EMBA Cohort 96

Joseph Obiri

Joseph Obiri recently joined Nestle USA as vice president of global sales over its largest retail customer, Walmart and Sam's Club. He previously was a senior director at PepsiCo. He plans to continue to leverage his Kellogg experience and network as he works for the world’s largest consumer product goods company at Nestle.

EMBA Cohort 100

Shontra Powell

Shontra Powell has launched Red Zone Fleet Services, a mobile on-site fleet maintenance and repair business. Red Zone Fleet Services helps keep businesses’ fleets of vehicles ready to meet the demands of moving goods. Red Zone Fleet Services serves fleet breakdowns for businesses in Southwest Florida.

EMBA Cohort 101

John John

Commander John D. John, commanding officer of the U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, USS ROSS (DDG 71), began his 10th deployment on April 9, 2021. In this deployment he participates in maritime security operations in the North Atlantic Ocean.

EMBA Cohort 108

Alison Bullock

In 2018, the Kellogg network brought Alison Bullock from Austin, Texas, to Chicago. Now, after two and a half years of leading corporate communications and public affairs at Ozinga, Alison is pivoting again, accepting an opportunity outside the company. In her new role, Alison joins Neiman Marcus Group as senior director, content strategy. She will be shaping the narrative of the luxury retailer and its executive leadership. This move combines her many interests: transformation, the luxury industry and the opportunity to work remotely with ties to Texas, her home.

EMBA Cohort 112

David Kalainov

David Kalainov has maintained his ties to Kellogg as a faculty member of NUventions Medical. NUventions Medical is a business course focused on healthcare startups for Northwestern students from the schools of medicine, business, law and engineering.

EMBA Cohort 113

Sasha Seco Alvarez

Sasha Seco Alvarez has been promoted to vice president of Moss Construction’s Fort Lauderdale office. Sasha, a 16-year veteran with Moss, most recently served as the construction management firm’s director of business applications. “Sasha is someone who, from her first day at Moss, embraced our core values and continually demonstrated the qualities we look for in leadership,” said CEO Scott Moss.

EMBA Cohort 115

Michael Labate

Within months following his Kellogg Executive MBA graduation, Michael Labate joined the global software engineering giant, Intellias, as president of North America. When asked how much of the Kellogg academic and networking experience influenced his success, he says, “Each and every day, I recall lessons from my coursework and cohort experiences. The journey not only gave me the right tools, but also the right mindset toward taking on risk under uncertainty –and doing so during a pandemic! Only Kellogg can do that.”

EMBA Cohort 116

Sidhartha Chakravarty

On the day of graduation, Sidhartha Chakravarty was offered an opportunity to join Conifer Health Solutions to lead digital transformation for patient services. In February, Sidhartha took on a new role to lead automation and artificial intelligence. Currently, he is establishing and implementing an enterprise-wide AI strategy to help the firm scale and become more competitive.

EMBA Cohort 116

Kimberly Haney

Kimberly Haney was recently named head of credit administration and risk strategy at Metropolitan Capital Bank and Trust. In this role, she oversees lending policy and develops strategic initiatives that enhance risk management practices and growth objectives.

EMBA Cohort 117

Adan Sierra

Adan Sierra and Rodrigo Zuloaga ’20 raised the first traditional search fund out of Kellogg’s EMBA program, Lionfield Capital. The firm is based out of Key Biscayne, Florida, and will search all across the U.S. for an outstanding platform to operate and grow.

EMBA Cohort KR01

Ronen Shay

In December 2020, Ronen Shay received his PhD in international relations and European studies from Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. His paper, “Cross-Cultural Understanding of Contemporary Global Multicultural Workforce,” dealt with the Eilat project between Israel and Jordan.

EMBA Cohort KS09

Bobby Sahni

Bobby Sahni was recently elected to the Hockey Canada Board of Directors. As a lifelong fan of hockey with childhood aspirations to represent his country, he is now living his dream of “playing” for Team Canada — only in the boardroom instead of on the ice. Bobby is on a mission to help grow the game of hockey for all Canadians, especially among multicultural and new immigrant communities.

EMBA Cohort KH17

Robert Palmer

As of March 1, 2021, Robert Palmer is the new CEO of the Association of Change Management Professionals, a nonprofit professional association dedicated to serving as an independent and trusted source of professional excellence. ACMP advocates for the discipline of change management and creates a thriving global community of change leaders and change management practitioners. Established in 2011, ACMP is growing rapidly and has members and chapters all over the world.

EMBA Cohort KR19

Ali Usman

Ali Usman is the CEO of Othman Hassan & Sons Group, which supplies crane services to the Israeli market and is the largest crane services supplier in Israel. Othman Hassan & Sons Group supplies its services to the second largest producer of cranes in the world, Fassi.

EMBA Cohort KW21

Mossadiq Ghanghro

Mossadiq Ghanghro no longer works at PwC. He has now decided to pursue a career in healthcare services. In his new role, he looks forward to gathering and analyzing data relating to COVID-19 vaccination and consolidating the wider healthcare sector across the Middle East.