Women at Stern 2022 | Speaker Bios

Raghu Sundaram is Dean and the Edward I. Altman Professor of Credit and Debt Markets at New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business. Dean Sundaram has taught courses across Stern’s Undergraduate, MBA, PhD, and Executive Education programs. Of all the awards he has received over the years, he is most proud of being the inaugural recipient of Stern’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2007.

Jessica Neville has more than 25 years of strategic communications and public relations experience in higher education, agency, and nonprofit environments. As Senior Executive Director of Communications in NYU Stern’s Office of Public Affairs, Jessica spearheads campaigns that showcase Stern’s unique culture and brand in action, working in partnership with 20+ programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and executive levels.

Lauren Calio is a Senior Director of MBA Admissions at NYU’S Stern School of Business. Now in her fifth year at Stern, Lauren oversees admissions and recruiting for Stern’s Full-Time, Technology and Fashion & Luxury MBA programs. She is passionate about guiding prospective students through the MBA application process, and feels it is an honor to help others achieve their dream of pursuing an MBA.

Jessica Keating is the Senior Associate Director of MBA Admissions and Diversity Recruiting at NYU Stern. She joined the team in 2015 and is currently responsible for Women and LGBTQ recruiting, marketing, events and customer service for the Full-time MBA programs. Prior to joining Stern, Jessica worked in graduate admissions at Columbia University’s Teachers College and in Hofstra University’s Office of Undergraduate Admission.

Tensie Whelan (NYU ‘80), Clinical Professor for Business and Society, is the Director of the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business, where she is bringing her 25 years of experience working on local, national and international environmental and sustainability issues to engage businesses in proactive and innovative mainstreaming of sustainability.

Hannah Levinson designs experiences that engage people in learning and development. As Associate Director of the Leadership Accelerator at NYU Stern School of Business, she designs programs that enable students to build the behavioral skills and mindset to drive change. As a seasoned improv facilitator, she designs and leads workshops that build connection and unleash creativity.

Tracy is a career management professional with 18 years experience in MBA career services. Her expertise includes advising and coaching individuals on career choice, networking, and all aspects of the job search process. Tracy directed the Graduate Career Management Center for the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College after starting her career at Pace University.

Genevieve leads the team responsible for career coaching and providing career education to Stern MBAs in industry exploration, job search strategy, networking, interviewing, offer negotiation and more. Prior to joining Stern, she spent 6 years coaching and teaching undergraduate students in career development at NYU. She also spent a decade working at nonprofits in public relations and career and leadership development roles as well as time as a teacher and administrator in K-12 education.

Abigail Talcott-Schlaifer is the Senior Associate Director for the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business, where she has responsibilities across the management of CSB, oversees curriculum development and student programming, cultivates and maintains relationships across internal and external constituencies, and provides high level strategic and logistical support to the Executive Director. Previously, Abigail worked as the Associate Director at Columbia Business School.

Phylicia Dunn is a financial aid expert with over 10 years of experience. As the Associate Director in the Stern Graduate Financial Aid Office, Phylicia counsels students about various funding resources. These funding opportunities range from scholarships, internally and externally, to loan options, federal and private.

Shai Pina is the Financial Aid Assistant in the Stern Graduate Financial Aid Office. She has nearly twenty-five years of experience in the field of education. Since working at Stern, Shai has developed a strong passion for counseling students about their financing options and guiding them through the financial aid process.

Shruti Ganguly is a filmmaker and writer based between NYC and Oslo. Shruti was a member of Obama’s ECCO committee of 30 leaders and creators in entertainment, chairing its Asian Caucus, and is on the Creative Council for Emily's List. Shruti is currently writing “Secret Daughter” for Amazon Studios, which will star Priyanka Chopra and Sienna Miller, directed by Cannes-winner Anthony Chen, and sold “DeathSpa”, a psychological horror about a bachelorette party that goes wrong to Sony Pictures.

Kiran started her career at UBS Financial Services, but after spending too many years working in the bond market, decided to attend Stern to pivot into media and tech. After graduating, Kiran worked for NBCUniversal's Content Distribution division to drive product strategy for NBCU's family of networks and tentpole events, winning an Emmy for her work on the 2016 Rio Olympics. For the last 3 years, she's been working at YouTube, licensing AVOD, SVOD, and TVOD content for both YouTube and Google.

Ciara Famble came to Stern from the hotel industry, where she was a sales manager for W Hotels. She leveraged the MBA transition from sales to CPG brand management and graduated in 2018 with an MBA specializing in Marketing and Strategy. Ciara was highly active in the Stern community, with leadership roles in the Graduate Marketing Association, the Luxury & Retail Club, and AHBBS. Currently, she is an Associate Brand Manager at Prestige Consumer Healthcare, leading the Canada portfolio.

Ruchi Fruitwala graduated from NYU Stern in 2019. While at Stern, Ruchi specialized in Strategy and Marketing and served as the Vice President of Blocks of Stern's Student Government. She was also involved in the Strategy and Management Society, Entertainment, Media and Sports Association, Stern Technology Association, Stern Women In Business. Ruchi is currently Managing Consultant at IBM.

Catherine Charles graduated from NYU Stern in 2019. While at Stern, Catherine specialized in Marketing, Business Analytics, and Product Management. She was VP of Corporate Relations for the Graduate Marketing Association, VP of Alumni Relations for the Association of Hispanic & Black Business Students, and VP of Alumni Relations for SGOV. Currently, she is a Senior Business Program Manager at Microsoft.

Carrie received her MBA from NYU Stern in 2019. Currently, Carrie works as a Brand Manager for Advil at Haleon. While at Stern, Carrie was an active member of the Graduate Marketing Association, Student Government, the Association of Hispanic and Black Business Students, Jewish Student Association, Stern Follies, and Net Present Vocals a cappella. She was also a member of MLT and the Consortium.

Elizabeth is a 2019 NYU Stern graduate. She is currently the Director of Operations at °Nomad Health. While at Stern, Elizabeth was an active member of Outclass, Stern Women in Business, and Graduate Marketing Association.

Phoebe graduated from NYU Stern in 2020. She is experienced in business development, Go-to-Market strategy, and strategy consulting/change management in Fintech startups and large Financial Services Institutions across Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and United States. Phoebe is currently based in NYC leading the global growth strategy including scaled GTM and business development initiatives for Fintech startups at Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Lisa graduated NYU’s Stern School of Business in 2020. While at Stern, she specialized in Fashion, Luxury, and Retail. Prior to Stern, she spent five years in the advertising industry building 360-degree brand and product launch campaigns. Lisa is currently a Manager, Marketing Strategy & Operations at Aritzia.

Olivia received her MBA from NYU Stern in 2020. Currently, she is a Senior Product Manager, Cardmember Acquisition at American Express. While at Stern, Olivia was an active member of Stern Women in Business Fintech Association Leadership Fellows.

Catalina graduated from Stern's Andre Koo Tech MBA program in 2020, specializing in Product Management, Business Analytics, and Management of Technology Operations. Prior to Stern, Catalina worked at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, DC on a digital platform that supported small and medium sized businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean in their growth and export trajectory. She is currently a Product Marketing at Roku.

Cortne Edmonds is an Associate at McKinsey & Company in the New York Office. She graduated from NYU Stern School of Business in 2021, where she authored the Poets & Quants column, Speaking of Stern, offering advice and perspective on the MBA experience to prospective and current students. Prior to business school, she worked as a general manager in the language services industry for eight years, with experience working in New York, Japan, South Korea, and Israel.

Whitney graduated from NYU Stern School of Business in 2022. She is a Retail & Consumer Goods Strategy Consultant at Accenture where my interests are retail innovation strategy, entrepreneurship, and Bl Before coming to Stern, she worked for U.S. retailers such as J.Crew and Macy's, and was an early employee at Rent the Runway. At Stern, she enrolled in the Fashion & Luxury cohort, a specialized, accelerated MBA program that immerses students in the retail, fashion, and luxury industries.

Cori is a second year MBA student at NYU Stern. She currently serves as co-president of Stern's Student Government and AVP of Engagement of Stern Women in Business (SWIB). She holds her BS in Public Health, Health Policy and Management from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Nina is a current MBA2 at NYU Stern specializing in Strategy and Leadership & Change Management. She is Co-President of Stern Women in Business and Vice President of Stern Student Government. Prior to Stern, Nina spent 6 years in experiential marketing where she managed sponsorships and brand partnerships — first in the art world, then at TED and The New York Times.

Srishti Chandra is currently an MBA candidate at the Stern School of Business at NYU. She serves as Co-President of Stern Women in Business. Currently, she is a Product Manager Intern at Amazon.

Ria Jambusaria is a second-year MBA student specializing in finance and banking. Prior to Stern, she worked at EY in India in their Assurance service line. She currently serves as VP of Collaboration of Stern Student Government and AVP of Career Development of the Graduate Finance Association.