Incoming Class: Spring 2019 – The Suffolk MBA Experience

Fawaz Ahmed

Oxana Brenes

Oxana Brenes is excited to be part of Suffolk University’s Master of Business Administration class. She has worked in the wood industry by helping hardwood industries improve business performance and competitiveness by implementing improvement techniques like lean manufacturing. With an MBA from Suffolk University, Oxana looks to master management and finance concepts that can help her open new career opportunities, and eventually start her own business. In her free time, Oxana likes to travel, hike, study French, and dance. Originally from Costa Rica, Oxana obtained her B.Sc. and Licentiate degrees in Forestry at Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, and her M.Sc. in Forest Products and Management at Virginia Tech.

Yassen Buhilaigah

Yassen is a Teaching Assistant,for Big Data, Business Intelligence, Analytics, and Systems Analysis and Design class. Yassen manages up to 60 students, hosts weekly office hours and gives support for students with assignments and projects in Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, SQL, Tableau, Teradata, and SAS Visual Analytics, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Visio, Problem Analysis, and Data Modeling. The dual MBA/MSBA degree will not only enhance Yassen’s future but will also put him on the map of young leaders from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In addition to his dream of working in academia, he would like to be a part of a world-class consultancy firm.

Zacharie Burnham

Zacharie Burnham is an Accounting Manager who works with his employees to resolve customer disputes, solve problems, and ensure completion of workload. Zach also assists upper management by providing custom reports and issues opinions on a variety of matters based on personal interpretation. Zach is pursuing an MBA degree because he desires to move into an executive role. Zach holds a Bachelors in Accounting from Suffolk University.

Pujan Chotalia

Pujan is working currently at VI VI ORGO CHEM INDUSTRIES PVT LTD as a business manager looking after production and manufacturing of dyes and gum. Also as a business manager, Pujan needs to handle the firms finance properly, and manage and grow the firms’ customer base. He directly reports to the director of the company. Prior to VI VI ORGO CHEM INDUSTRIES PVT LTD, Pujan used to work in India’s largest private sector bank, HDFC BANK. He was appointed as an executive trainee, and in the life span of two years working there, was promoted twice and finally was appointed as an assistant manager of the branch. Pujan is pursuing his MBA, as he is looking forward to the quality of education, highly qualified faculty that gives valuable feedback on developments, and most importantly, the curriculum that is being provided in the MBA, which gives hands on experience about the business world of today. Also it will help him get global exposure and connect with different types of people with different and varied ideas. Pujan has done his bachelors in commerce from India’s top ten college, NARSEE MONJEE COLLEGE OF COMMERCE AND ECONOMICS and his masters in commerce from MUMBAI UNIVERSITY.

Kate Condon

Kate Condon is an Ambassador who works with Capital One as an events coordinator creating meaningful engagements in the Cafe’s. She works closely with the marketing team to promote events and workshops offered inside the space. Kate is also an active Lead for Capital One’s Business Resource Group, EmpowHer. Kate works with her team to create an engaging and comfortable workspace for customers in the Cafe. Prior to working with Capital One, Kate was an administrative assistant for Choate Investment Advisors. Kate is pursuing an MBA degree because she enjoys the work she is doing and would like to continue working with the company from the marketing team in Virginia. Kate holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Lasell College where she concentrated on public relations and environmental science.

Laura Crabble

Laura Lee Crabbe is an administrative coordinator who works with the Honors Program in the College of Art and Sciences at Suffolk University to plan events for the honors program and gather data about the different honors courses offered. Prior to working at Suffolk, Laura was a middle school choir director in Austin, Texas for two years. Laura also works remotely for a non-profit chamber orchestra in Austin, Density512. Laura is pursuing an MBA degree in the hopes of helping non-profit fine arts organizations. She hopes to help organizations bring music and art to areas in need. Laura holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from The University of Texas at Austin.

Mike Croke

Michael Croke is a Lead Payment Allocation Specialist with Shields Healthcare Group that helps with the reimbursement and allocation of revenue. In his current role, Michael oversees a team of seven members that has a daily responsibility of verifying payments are accurate and allocated correctly for all Shields facilities. Michael has the responsibility of making sure that the payments received are for the correct contracted amounts from insurance companies, and patient payments are allocated accurately and timely to avoid issues. Prior to his current role at Shields, Michael held previous positions within the company as a Revenue Cycle Specialist, and PET/CT Billing Specialist. Michael is pursuing an MBA degree because he has enjoyed is experience in the field at Shields Healthcare, and would like to gain additional experience to grow within the industry. Michael holds a Bachelors degree in History from Bridgewater State University. Where he had initially studied to become a high school history teacher. Since changing career paths, Michael had become Six Sigma Yellow Belt certified through his company.

Paul Duffy

Paul Duffy is a Licensed Relationship Banker with Citizens Bank who makes sure he is doing everything he can for his clients from both retail banking and financial planning standpoints. The most important thing about the work that Paul does is he always goes the extra mile to help his clients. If he tells someone he is going to call them at a certain time with information or an answer to their question, he always makes sure he does. Prior to providing banking and wealth management services to his customers, he worked in life insurance at Penn Mutual. Similar to his current position, as an associate with Penn, he was able to enlighten his customers of the importance of life insurance in a diversified portfolio. Paul is pursuing an MBA degree to help advance his career, and to learn in detail, the ins and outs of becoming a strong leader in the workplace. Post MBA, he plans on breaking into the healthcare/biotech fields. His dream is to work within the finance department of a pioneer for rare disease treatment discovery. This is a concept that hits very close to home, and he cannot wait to be a part of one of these companies someday soon. Paul holds a bachelor’s degree in political science with a concentration in law from Merrimack College. He holds his Series 6, 63 and Life and Health insurance producer’s licenses.

Natasha Ferraris

Natasha Ferraris is a Project Accountant at IBI Group, Boston to manage all financial aspects of a portfolio of projects. She is involved in project planning and budgeting. She also ensures that the company is compliant with all audit requirements from different clients. Prior to IBI Group, Natasha has worked with Woodard & Curran, BNY Mellon, & MassDOT after graduating from Suffolk. Natasha is pursuing an MBA degree to further her career at IBI Group. Natasha holds a BS Business Administration in Accounting/Finance from Suffolk University.

Jessica Foggarty

Jessica Foggarty is a full time student at Suffolk University who works to continue her studies in the business field. Jessica has internship experience with Long Term Care Partners and jobs within the restaurant field. She is looking to gain more experience in her desired field. Jessica is pursuing an MBA degree because she wants to obtain a job within the healthcare field at one of Boston’s leading hospitals. Jessica holds a BSBA degree in Business Management and Information Systems from Suffolk University.

Hannah Gagnon

While pursuing her MBA, Hannah hopes to earn the valuable skills necessary to start her own event planning and management firm. Hannah graduated from Thomas College in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.

Larissa Gavio Binder

Larissa currently works in research at Boston Children’s Hospital. While most of her time is focused on managing a large research group involved in brain systems neuroscience as it applies to pain and analgesics, she has been able to incorporate marketing related programs during her tenure from fundraising and web design to orchestrating ad campaigns and communications. Larissa is completing the dual MBA | MSM program in the hopes of fully dedicating herself to a career in marketing. In her spare time she serves as an Associate Board Member for Harlem Lacrosse Boston and the VP of Communications for the National Association of Women MBAs (Suffolk Chapter).

Cassie Kraus

Cassie Kraus is an Administrative Manager for the Emergency Medicine department at Massachusetts General Hospital who works with Clinical and Administrative staff to monitor and improve EM processes. Cassie helps manage analytics, quality, patient experience and process improvement, as well as co-chairing MGH ED’s Excellence Everyday committee focused on Joint Commission preparation and regulatory compliance. Cassie has worked in the healthcare industry for ten years, previously working at Brigham and Women’s and Boston Medical Center for the Emergency Department and the Department of Medicine respectively. She finds her work challenging and rewarding. When patients come to the Emergency Department, they often come during vulnerable moments in their lives. Her group, as health care providers and administrators, must ensure that every patient receives consistently excellent and compassionate care. Cassie is pursuing an MBA degree because, like so many other MBA candidates, she realizes that it is essential to achieve her long-term professional goals. Cassie is confident that her graduate-level education will help her develop solutions and lead changes that promote better patient care. The end goal must be what is best for the patient. Cassie holds a B.S. in Economics and Minor Personality Psychology from Suffolk University (Class of ’09). Go Rams!

Endy Lau

Endy Lau is a process engineer who works with BAE Systems to develop leading edge electronic systems technology. He currently leads the process development and logistics of scaling the new technology into manufacturability. Endy’s effort in bringing such technology to the field helps ensure that the people protecting us and our rights stays protected. Prior to BAE, Endy worked as an applications engineer for a pulp & paper equipment manufacturer interacting with mills all over the world to set up more efficient systems. During college he spent 1.5 years full and part time in the medical device industry as a R&D co-op working on new gastrointestinal stents for non-invasive surgery. Endy is pursuing a MBA degree because he seeks to bridge the gap between business and engineering. He sees great benefits in having a technical background and business understanding towards more effective work focus and communication. Endy seeks to apply MBA knowledge towards running passive businesses of his own, while growing into more management heavy roles. Endy holds a Bachelor in Chemical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He is a certify ISO 19001 internal auditor and currently finishing up his green belt lean six sigma certification.

Alexandria Lepore

Alexandria Lepore is a Compensation Consultant at State Street. Prior to her current role at State Street, she worked at PwC in audit within asset management for three years. She hopes to take her career to the next level and get into human capital consulting with an MBA. She currently holds a Bachelor degree in Accounting from Roger Williams.

Maria Renee Lozada Riss

Maria Renee Lozada Riss is a Senior Customer Service Teller who works with Citizens Bank. She provides friendly and professional customer service by processing customer’s inquiries, and offering banking services. Also, she supervises the function of the tellers and she is responsible of the cash management. She has been promoted to the Assistant Branch Manager position. Over the past ten years, Maria Renee has been assigned to supervisor and management positions, while working at American Airlines and Citizens Bank. Maria Renee is pursuing an MBA degree because it will help her to increase her skills in management, business administration as well as in accounting. In short, the program will help her take her next step in her professional career, and achieve her short term goal of a solid foundation of business and finance knowledge at the graduate level, as well as her long term goal of using that knowledge, making efficient business decisions base on budget and market strategies in a career as a business and finance leader. Maria Renee holds a System Engineering bachelor degree from Catholic University. In addition, she had undertaken a fruitful experience of 6 months in JAPAN as a PC server designer, which was a great opportunity for her to acquire more skills in information technology and to integrate easily in a new environment of work.

Julia Maggiacomo

Julia Maggiacomo is a Marketing Specialist and Project Manager at Nova Biomedical. She currently assists with all the marketing department needs, which includes creating campaigns. Currently she has been tasked with transition all their marketing efforts into Pardot, which is Salesforce.com’s marketing automation system. Julia has conducted multiple training’s within corporate headquarters as well as international headquarters to teach employees how to use Pardot. After taking her first undergraduate marketing course, it was clear to her marketing was the path she wanted to take. She loves how she can be creative while also using analytics. Julia is pursuing an MBA degree because she wants to open up her own fitness studio. Julia has cheered, dance, and figure skated her whole life. While in college she became a fitness instructor and now teaches all around the greater Boston area. She hopes that with an MBA she will become more familiar with how businesses are run and how to keep them successful. Julia Maggiacomo holds a degree in Business Management with a concentration in marketing from Merrimack College. She is certified in inbound marketing, Pardot, and Salesforce.

Andrew Miller

Andrew Miller is an Advancement Officer at Stonehill College who works with the College’s alumni to help strengthen their relationship with the College and to fundraise for its numerous projects, scholarships, and academic initiatives. In his role, he has the pleasure of working directly with alumni to help support them in understanding how best to support the College and the current students and faculty. Prior to Stonehill College, Andrew worked at the Alzheimer’s Association managing the Worcester County Walk to End Alzheimer’s. After which he then worked at an early stage start-up education company in Boston that primarily served international and first-generation students. In all his work, the key focus was being driven by an institution’s mission to help serve others in the community. Andrew is pursuing an MBA degree because he wants to be able to maximize his ability to work for institutions dedicated to serving the community and those in need. An MBA in Nonprofit Management from Suffolk will allow Andrew to learn the technical and managerial skills necessary to further his career and help him be a leader in the nonprofit industry. Andrew holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Political Science from Stonehill College.

Meaghan Murphy

Meaghan is a Regional Marketing Manager who has worked for the last 4 years in the retail grocery industry. At Whole Foods Market, she oversaw all internal and external marketing for Northern Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In her role she led the design teams, social media, store websites, and all community relations. Meaghan is passionate about marketing because, at its highest potential, it is about connecting the right people with goods and services they need through fun, creative, and educational delivery methods. Meaghan is pursuing an MBA as she is committed to continual learning, developing her business intuition, and wants to master methods of innovation. She aims to merge her real world marketing experience with a Suffolk MBA/MS degree to be a leader in the field of marketing. Meaghan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY.

Diana Odei

Diana Odei is a Client Service Analyst who works with the Relationship Management, Sales and Consultant Relations teams for all sales, marketing and client reporting needs. Key among her responsibilities include the following: the timely delivery of all client and consultant reporting (attribution, performance, holdings, etc) for their books and business; Deliver efficient and accurate, quality control client and consultant reporting in accordance with service standards and delivery dates. Diana enjoys resolving issues and communicating with supervisors, peers, or subordinates. What she loves about her job is that she works directly with clients to find ways to improve productivity and client satisfaction levels. Given the rapid changes experienced in the financial market lately, she has developed a great interest of extending her studies in the field to better her understanding, analysis, and opportunities aligned. Diana, holds a Bachelors Degree Arts from Lesley University. where she studied Psychology.

Balogun Olaluwa

Balogun Olaolu is an Application Management Analyst who works with FMDQ Securities Exchange, Nigeria. Olaolu sought to build on his experience in the financial market world by taking a challenging role, as a Market System Analyst, at the premier debt and derivatives exchange in the Nigerian financial markets, FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, in 2015. Olaolu is purising an MBA degree to deepen his knowledge in business concepts, strategy, and finance. Olaolu holds an upper second-class degree in Computer Science (Technology) from Babcock University Ilishan-Remo, Nigeria in 2013.

Christelle Paul

Christelle Paul is a Career Advisor at Suffolk University. Christelle guides undergraduate and graduate students in their career decision making process. More recently, she became the Sawyer Business School (SBS) liaison and has taken an active role in collaborating with the Dean’s office to bring more programming for SBS students. Christelle reports directly to the Associate Provost office. Prior to Suffolk University, Christelle worked for educational non-profits in the Boston/ Cambridge area. She was a Program Coordinator for a national grant at Boston Private Industry Council (PIC), served as a Postsecondary Coach at Bunker Hill Community College and Quincy College through the Boston PIC. Christelle was a College Advisor at College Advising Corps, and held multiple program management roles at Enroot. Christelle is pursuing an MBA degree because she wants to acquire the necessary leadership and entrepreneurial skills to start her own company/ organization. Christelle holds a Bachelor of Art degree in Communications with a Minor in Juvenile Justice from Wheelock College, now known as Boston University Wheelock School of Education.

Carlos Ramirez

Carlos is a financial engineer with six years of experience in the banking industry. He worked as corporate credit risk analyst one year and then joined Banco de Crédito e Inversiones (BCI), since then he has held various positions, for the last two years as a Financial Engineer in charge of financial innovation in a multidisciplinary team. Carlos has followed a financial career, mostly in the credit risk management but also in the financial risk area working directly with the trading desk area. He was responsible for managing and monitoring financial controls for the trading portfolio. Carlos is pursuing an MBA degree because his varied exposure to the financial industry has shown him how important is the continual professional development to take on new challenges and responsibilities. Carlos holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Master of Finance from Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez.

Sasha Ramos

Sasha Ramos works as a Payroll Coordinator, to make sure employees receive their payments on time. She is pursuing an MBA to further her career. She currently holds a Bachelors degree in Business Administration with a minor in Economics.

Alex Riley

Alex Riley is a Fire Protection Engineer who works with WB Engineers + Consultants to help design both plumbing and fire protection systems for buildings located near Boston. Alex works within the Fire Protection department designing sprinkler systems to protect building occupants in case of an emergency. Alex is pursuing an MBA degree because he has always dreamed of opening his own engineering firm with his Father. While attending Suffolk University, he is working full time at WB Engineers to gain the experience required. Alex holds both a Bachelors of Science (Mechanical Engineering ‘18) and Masters of Science (Fire Protection Engineering ‘18) degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester MA.

Alex Riley

Stephen Rodas

Stephen Rodas is a Fund Processor at State Street Bank. He currently works with different clients and handles money transfers and escalates any problems to client service department. He started working at State Street as an intern and then moved to an Associate ll position. His work is important because whenever a company or client wants to pay expenses he has to review the letters of direction and make sure that all procedures are being followed, in order to avoid a major financial loss. Prior to State Street, Stephen worked at an airline called Penair as a shift lead. Stephen Rodas is pursuing an MBA degree because one day he would like to run his own business and he feels that Suffolk University will give him the tools and knowledge to be able make his goals possible. Stephen holds a degree in management with a concentration in Finance from Umass Boston.

Zachary Ryan

Zachary Ryan is an Account Executive at Dell EMC. Zach solves complex customer challenges and helps organizations save money, make money, mitigate risk and transform. Zach would like to learn more in depth leadership traits and advance his career as a leader. He currently holds a Bachelors in Business Administration.

Michael Schutzer

Michael is a full-time student at Suffolk University’s Sawyer Business School, pursuing a dual degree MBA/MSBA. Prior to Suffolk, Michael worked in a variety of sales organizations, most recently at a website localization company. Prior to that, Michael worked at Wayfair as an account manager in their nascent B2b Sales Department. Michael is pursuing an MBA/MSBA dual degree to make a career pivot from sales to the world of entrepreneurship. Upon graduation, Michael aspires to gain experience in venture capital, early stage consulting, or working in-house for a startup in a strategic growth position. He wants to help build companies with promising ideas and products, applying innovative technologies to help solve problems and ultimately better people’s lives. Through gaining a holistic understanding of the global business environment (MBA), coupled with the ability to leverage data to make more informed decisions(MSBA), he believes he will be equipped to tackle these challenges upon completion of this degree program. Michael holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion with a minor in Economics from Trinity College.

LeeAnn Sherman-Dembinsky

LeeAnn Sherman-Dembinsky is an Office Manager who works with leaders to help them focus on the big picture. She has spent many years with the administration and organization of a start-up company with responsibilities that span from administrative details to internal communications to corporate culture. LeeAnn is responsible for supporting all of the leaders and reports to the CEO at Keypath Education. Prior to her current role, LeeAnn supported the same CEO at his previous company before he sold it to Pearson. Before working in the online platform, LeeAnn worked with some of the largest banks in the Chicago area on trading desks within Institutional Equities, hedge funds, and high net worth portfolios in a support position. LeeAnn is pursuing her MBA to enhance her career, seeking promotions, and strengthening her skillset to ensure that she is more marketable to a larger scale of networks. LeeAnn holds a Bachelor of Science in Business with organizational leadership and a minor in psychology from Central Christian College. She is interested in the CAPM, but will seek certification after completion of her MBA.

Fabiola St. Hubert-Printemps

Fabiola St. Hubert-Printemps is a Financial Business Representative who works with clients and patients. She serves as a liaison between the hospital, the government programs, patient relations, hospital billing agencies, the office of General Counsel and State Agencies. Her role is to identify clients’ financial needs and customize solutions by helping them apply for financial assistance programs such as Medical Hardship, Health Insurances and other special circumstances. Her work is important because she helps others. Fabiola is pursuing an MBA degree because she believes it’s the ultimate route that will shape her career path and expose her to more job opportunities. Her hope for her next job is to open her own business, working directly with low income parents and teenagers and teach the importance of investing financially in the stock market and maintaining their financial freedom. Fabiola holds a Bachelor Degree in Business Management from Cambridge College, where she studied practical business skills in accounting, ethics and finance.