From the moment she arrived at Kellogg in summer 2020 as a One-Year MBA student, Alyssa Posklensky ’21 MBA knew she wanted to learn while contributing to the experience of others. She already had marketing and brand chops, having worked at Newell Brands as a lead for Sharpie and Elmer’s. She arrived in Evanston with a goal of developing her management and leadership skills.
The desire to help prompted her to run for One-Year president of the Kellogg Student Association. When she won, she was excited by the prospect of making a difference.
“It was a great way to make sure that all of my classmates’ thoughts, issues and concerns were heard,” she says. “I wanted to be the mouthpiece for others to make sure that they got what they needed.”
In that vein, she went all in on representing her fellow students, even drafting a formal constitution for the KSA.
“Alyssa gave extra time when she was a student,” says Greg Hanifee, associate dean of degree operations and clinical assistant professor of management. “And she wasn’t done at graduation.”
In 2021, Posklensky became an associate brand manager with the Vaseline brand at Unilever. But even as she continued her career, she was busy thinking about what she’d done at Northwestern — and what more she could do.
“After Kellogg, I felt like there wasn’t a way to give back that matched what I was looking for,” she says. “So, I started thinking: How could some of the things that I did with KSA be part of the alumni experience?”
Together with Sammy Goldstein ’22 MBA, she began considering what young alumni needed from their alma mater, with the goal of developing new ways to better serve the school’s most recent grads. The pair went to Hanifee with a proposal to establish a Young Alumni Board, with the mission of advising and partnering with Kellogg to keep recent graduates engaged and supported. They presented a business case and received an enthusiastic “yes.”
“She has helped develop an entire program for those in the first five years out from Kellogg,” says classmate Justin Paxton ’21 MBA, executive director for global online, The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. “It’s a huge commitment to create something new from scratch.”
But Posklensky saw the vision, and she was dedicated to making it happen. Now, recent graduates have options to get involved and work on whatever they’re most passionate about — from admissions to alumni events to career development.
Since 2022, Posklensky has worked for New York-based food and beverages company KIND, first as brand manager of innovation and then as a senior brand manager of equity.
“She’s one of the best team members we have in our marketing organization,” says Osher Hoberman, CMO of KIND North America. “She’s extremely authentic and highly adaptable.” At KIND, Posklensky has worked on new packaging, external communications and the brand’s most recent campaign, “Choose KIND.”
Both Posklensky and Goldstein work full time while co-chairing the Young Alumni Board. Earlier this year, Posklensky received the Kellogg Young Alumni Award in recognition of her impact on the Kellogg student and alumni community and her exceptional leadership. This prestigious award honors those whose continued contributions promise to make a lasting difference.
“She’s able to make time to be with those she cares about,” says Paxton — and that extends to the entire Kellogg alumni community, with a focus on recent graduates.