Business, Entrepreneurship, and Finance

College of Arts & Science

Michael Golpanian (CAS ’19) and Ben Segal (GAL ’19) recently founded their company SILVERLINING, creating solutions and products for non-ionizing radiation. (Winter 2021)

Nicholas S. Pagano (CAS ’18, GSAS ’22) has joined the Fulco Team at Exit Realty Private Client. (Winter 2022)

Varun Rekhi (CAS ’17) recently hosted the PosiCOVIDity Innovation Challenge, a crowdfunded venture challenge for Class of 2020 entrepreneurs to address issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 170 students competed for $30,000 in scholarship and sponsor backed prizes with the winning team emerging from NYU Steinhardt. (Fall 2020)

Davina Chang (CAS ’15) is a recent MBA grad from HEC Paris has taken on the CMO role with AJAN Management. (Summer 2020)

Mabel Frias (CAS ’08) and her sister have co-founded a beauty company, Luna Magic, to champion diversity and inclusivity for multicultural customers and will be entering the largest retailer in February 2021. (Summer 2020)

Jovana Rizzo (CAS ’08) is the vice president of communications at Fairstead. (Spring 2022)

Aaron Sherman (CAS ’06) was recently featured in Wine Enthusiast's 40 under 40 Tastemakers of 2021. He is the co-founder and CEO of SevenFifty, a groundbreaking online platform for the beverage trade that helped the US hospitality industry survive the COVID pandemic. (Winter 2022)

Dave Hughes (CAS ’05) has been hired as the Managing Director for Communications and Marketing at University Settlement Society of New York, The Door, and Broome Street Academy. (Winter 2020)

Sloane Kelley (CAS ’04) is the Vice President of Social Media at 9Rooftops Marketing and is responsible for the strategic direction and implementation of social media and influencer marketing programs that build brands and online communities. (Summer 2021)

Michael Phillips (CAS ’04) has been named Co-Chair of the Ransomware Task Force convened by the Institute for Security and Technology. (Fall 2021)

Kimberly Seals Allers (CAS ’96) is the Creator of Irth, as in "birth" but without the "b" for bias. Irth was recently launched and is a new (Yelp-like) digital platform where Black and brown women (and their partners) can get real-time ratings for their OB/GYN, hospitals, and pediatricians. (Spring 2021)

Richard Reich (CAS ’96, LAW ’00) has been appointed Senior Vice President and General Counsel of New Jersey Resources. (Fall 2021)

Amy Wu (CAS ’96) was ranked as Worth's 50 Women Groundbreakers list. (Spring 2020)

Nan Eileen Capel Mead (CAS ’95) was recently appointed Interim Executive Director of Sustainable Progress and Equality Collective (SPEC), an open learning organization that merges the tenets of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics). (Fall 2020)

Yigal Rechtman (WSC ’95) is among the founders of RSZ Forensic Associates, a forensic accounting firm. (Spring 2022)

Fritz Francois (WSUC ’93, GSM ’97, GSM ’07) is one of Crains NewYork's 105 honorees for its 2022 list of Notable Black Leaders and Executives. (Spring 2022)

Matthew Fasciano (WSUC ’92, SSSW ’96) was recently named President + CEO of Delivering Good, a national 501(c)(3) organization that supports people affected by poverty and tragedy through the distribution of new merchandise donated by retailers and manufacturers. (Summer 2022)

Morgan Ritz (CAS ’91) has been appointed as the new president of All-volunteer, nonprofit Phinney’s, which is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary. (Spring 2022)

John Ippolito (WSUC ’89) has been appointed as Regional President of the Tri-State region by BNY Mellon Wealth Management. His role is responsible for oversight of the New York Tri-State region including offices in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. (Spring 2021)

Corrie Slewett (CAS ’88) joined Transwestern as Research Manager for the New York office. (Summer 2020)

Richard T. Silverman (WSUC ’81) launched RTS Strategic Communications, an advisory firm, in January 2021. RTS is a client-focused firm that provides advisory services drawn from three decades of experience in corporate communications and financial journalism. (Winter 2021)

Allan Hass (WSC ’79) is entering into semi-retirement, moving into consulting and advisory roles after decades of sales, marketing, and leadership roles in the software industry. (Winter 2022)

Jay Fraser (WSUC ’71) is the co-founder of New Dominion Enterprises Inc. and is commercializing a novel inorganic liquid electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries. (Fall 2021)

Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences

Mike DeCesaris (CIMS ’02) has been promoted to vice president at Cornerstone Research., a leading provider of economic and financial consulting. (Winter 2020)

Rhoda Okunev (CIMS ’00) is celebrating writing the books Analytics for Retail: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Statistics Behind a Successful Retail Business and The Psychology of Evolving Technology: How Social Media, Influencer Culture and New Technologies are Altering Society. (Spring 2023)

Gallatin School of Individualized Study

Ben Segal (GAL ’19) and Michael Golpanian (CAS ’19) recently founded their company SILVERLINING, creating solutions and products for non-ionizing radiation. (Winter 2021)

Jordan Star (GAL ’16) just left his job as Director of Marketing at the largest LGBTQ media company in the US to start his own clothing brand, called bubuleh, which is inspired by Yiddish, his grandparents, and Jewish and queer identities, but designed for everyone. (Winter 2021)

Justin Baer (GAL ’04) was featured on Shark Tank for his innovative apparel company, Collars & Co. Justin secured a deal for $1 Million from Mark Cuban and Peter Jones. (Fall 2022)

Alexis Haselberger (GAL ’03) opened a time management and productivity coaching and consulting business after leading HR and business operations in early-stage start-ups for many years. She has also built and launched a new online course on the topic of Hybrid Leadership and created an online program called Time Well Spent that translates her highly sought-after coaching program into a self-serve model. (Spring 2022)

Mariane Lee (GAL ’92) was appointed to serve as Chief Compliance Officer for MMA Securities, MMC Securities and MMA Asset Management, subsidiaries of Marsh & McLennan Companies, the world’s leading professional services firm. Ms. Lee also served as a former regulator at FINRA. (Summer 2021)

Graduate School of Arts & Science

Shea Keats (GSAS ’13) is a founder and advisor of Breakaway Bookkeeping and Advising, a virtual network of bookkeeping and advisors on the mission to bring joy to accounting. (Winter 2021)

Sloane Lucas (GSAS ’95) currently leads strategic development and execution of national, regional and local philanthropy-related programs and initiatives, including ESG/CSR and Sustainability communications. She serves as Executive Director of both The Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Foundation and Cracker Barrel Cares, an employee crisis relief fund. (Spring 2020)

School of Law

Scott H. Bernstein (LAW ’02) is a recipient of the M&A Advisor’s 14th Annual Turnaround Award for Restructuring Deal of Year ($10MM to $25MM) for the sale of the West Coast operations of United Business Freight Forwarders to QX Logistix LLC, a portfolio company of Azadian Group, LLC. (Winter 2020)

Winston Ma (LAW ’98) has joined the International Data Center Authority (IDCA) as the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) and Executive Vice Chairman. Further, Winston Ma's 2022 new book Blockchain and Web3: Building the Cryptocurrency, Privacy, and Security Foundations of the Metaverse was released by Wiley in October 2022. (Winter 2023)

Dawn Botti (LAW ’94) who joined AMC Networks in 2015 as senior vice president of legal for AMC Studios, is now EVP, Legal and Business Affairs, AMC Studios and Streaming Services. (Fall 2021)

Taina Bien-Aimé (LAW ’91) is on Forbes's list of 50 Women Over 50 creating social change. (Summer 2021)

Clark Lackert (LAW ’83) was recently recognized as one of the world's top trademark professionals by the World Trademark Review. He is a shareholder at Carlton Fields in New York. (Winter 2020)

NYU Shanghai

Kenton Blacutt (SHANGHAI ’21) co-founded an NYC based company called Kikt. Kikt is an alternative method of payment (mobile application) which uses QR codes to process transactions in order to provide a fast, contact-free experience for both merchants and users. The goal of the company is to help businesses avoid predatory payment processing fees while also allowing a contactless ordering experience and rewarding customer loyalty with free items. (Summer 2020)

School of Professional Studies

Viviana Addo (SPS ’19) has launched her real estate company, and a new podcast named Growing Cities. (Spring 2021)

Edward Barger (SPS ’18) graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Master of Science in Organizational Dynamics and currently serves as the Area Vice President for the metro Philadelphia region for Airgas, an Air Liquide Company. (Summer 2021)

Malika Harrison (SPS ’17) was selected for Orlando Business Journal's 40 Under 40. (Fall 2020)

Matthew Gaeta (SPS ’17) recently named to Sports Business Journal's "30 Under 30/New Voices Under 30" list of rising professionals within the sports industry for my accomplishments as an Owner/Certified Major League Baseball Agent. (Fall 2020)

Sara Pandolfi (SPS ’14) leads her own consulting firm, Sara Pandolfi & Company, which provides fundraising, marketing, and human capital solutions, and event management to corporations and nonprofits. She also serves as Strategic Development Consultant to New York state’s largest emergency food program, Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen. (Spring 2020)

James Rose (SPS ’14) has been named Senior Development Analyst at Conor Commercial Real Estate. (Winter 2021)

Emine Kasapoglu (SPS ’13) started a new role as Manager, Procurement Content Creation with Johnson & Johnson at the company's New Brunswick, NJ headquarters. (Spring 2022)

Tiffany Yarde (SPS ’12) celebrates one year after launching the award-winning, first Black-owned Afro-Caribbean licensed cannabis beverage brand & manufacturing company. (Fall 2021)

Betsy Riley (STEINHARDT ’09) and Elizabeth Myer (GAL ’09) launched Swehl: the first modern platform for breastfeeding. With open-access education, real community and innovative products, they are overhauling a dated, fragmented and inequitable category. (Spring 2023)

Shayna (Priluck) Bergman (SPS, ’08) is excited to announce the one-year anniversary of her Executive & Leadership Coaching practice: Shayna Bergman Coaching where she specializes in partnering with parents who want to achieve more success with less stress. (Winter 2023)

Jason Gluskin (SPS ’08) has been named Space Auto's, the new integrated software and marketing solution for auto dealerships, new Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). (Winter 2023)

Neptali Martinez (SPS ’08) is publishing his first book titled, CoachAbility: Are you in the state or condition to be coached? It presents real case scenarios on executive and career coaching. (Winter 2023)

Jared Merrell (SPS ’07) has been selected as an award recipient to the Sports Business Journal's 2020 Forty Under 40 Class. (Winter 2020)

Jennifer Stewart (SPS ’05) is proud to announce her new role as Global Head of Real Estate Managing Director at BNY Mellon. (Summer 2020)

Trent Thoms (SPS ’02) achieved an honorary title change from Vice President to First Vice President at CBRE Advisory & Transaction Services and just sold the Honolulu Harbor Industrial Fee Simple Land, a unique opportunity to develop large scale new Class A logistics facilities or an industrial subdivision within minutes of Honolulu Harbor and Honolulu International Airport. (Fall 2020)

Vikki Karan (SPS ’99, ’01) is now the Director of Philanthropic Relations at Omaze. (Spring 2021)

Arelis Baird (SPS ’98) has founded Arelis-HR, a virtual Human Resources Consulting firm that provides services to startups and small and medium-sized businesses that do not have an HR professional on-site or need assistance with HR projects. (Winter 2022)

Linda Garrett-Johnson (SPS ’84) has gone on to become the successful owner of a consulting business, The Word Applied, Inc., providing process improvement, organizational development, grants administration, community engagement strategies, and capacity building services. She has also published the book Seeing In the Spirit Understanding the Battle. She also manages two YouTube channels "ApplyingTheWord" and "e416 Huddles" both providing online tools to businesses and individuals. (Summer 2020)

Silver School of Social Work

Eric Alimoh (SSSW ’18) has established Ampoh Foundation, a nonprofit organization helping people with disabilities in Ghana and the communities in New Jersey. (Fall 2022)

Christie Smith (SSSW ’99) has joined Accenture as a Senior Managing Director. In this global role, Christie is leading the company’s Talent & Organization / Human Potential agenda. (Winter 2021)

Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development

Nadia Banna (STEINHARDT ’09) became a certified teacher of a method for wellbeing and posture, called the Alexander Technique, in 2012. After several years of seeing in-person clients, she has now just launched her related blog on posture, pain relief and wellbeing on her website, www.nadiabanna.com. (Summer 2020)

Aaron Polsky (STEINHARDT ’09) is the founder and CEO of LiveWire Cocktail Co., a line of ready-to-drink canned cocktails created by Aaron and some of the world’s best bartenders. (Spring 2021)

Lauren Feldesman (STEINHARDT ’07) is a real estate broker at Compass working in the vicinity of Greenwich Village and all of the surrounding areas of NYU, often with many alumni and students. (Winter 2020)

Velma Jones (STEINHARDT ’07) is Director of Internet Brands's automotive vertical, the first BIPOC woman to hold the position, and a 2021-2022 AmeriCorps Civic Action Fellow. (Winter 2022)

Michelle Rakshys (STEINHARDT ’05) is an Amazon executive and was appointed as a Trustee to the Board of The Mensa Education and Research Foundation. (Winter 2021)

Rocco Venneri (STEINHARDT ’05) has enjoyed a successful career in the fashion industry for many years, working in Marketing & PR for several iconic brands including Saks Fifth Avenue, Tommy Hilfiger and Armani. In 2019, he left that world to launch Cool Cat, a line of wine spritzers currently available in in NY, CT, GA, FL and NJ. (Spring 2021)

Frances Kweller (STEINHARDT ’04) was named Forest Hills Businesswoman of 2023.

Monica Alessandra Tierney (STEINHARDT ’03) founded educational company Mio Reggio, which recently launched a new green city block set to teach children about green building concepts. This past October it received the Good Housekeeping Sustainable Innovation award and featured in their November print issue. Her startup was also listed as one of 35 Sustainable Companies to Know About by Good Housekeeping Institute. (Winter 2022)

Jennifer Ravalli (STEINHARDT ’02) was appointed Chief Marketing Officer for Harri, an HR Technology SaaS Company that offers employee experience technology for the frontline workforce. (Fall 2022)

Barry Pono Fried (STEINHARDT ’87) of Open Eye Tours has been awarded the 2019 Tailor Made Tour Company of the Year. (Spring 2020)

Jessie Riley (STEINHARDT ’82) and Kathryn Gordon (STERN ’88) formed a consulting business for food businesses 10 years ago, FoodStartupHelp, and are now celebrating their client experience with the introduction of an online learning platform with an e-book, an industry expert interview video series and custom templates for managing a successful food business. (Fall 2021)

Robert Spellman (STEINHARDT ’75, ’89) created the website Zoomontoday.com. (Summer 2021)

Michelle Furyaka-Perchuk (SEHNAP ’94) is the founder of a career coaching practice geared for college graduates. Ms. Furyaka-Perchuk ‘s Coaching Marathon provides pro bono Coaching sessions about career development and job search for recent college graduates. (Winter 2020)

Stern School of Business

Charlotte Kassimir (STERN ’22) recently became the co-founder of Whatcha, a venture-backed, mobile-first social network for entertainment insiders & lovers to discover and discuss movies, tv, books, and podcasts. (Winter 2023)

Alexandria M. Chong (STERN ’19) has been appointed co-chair of Women on Wall Street (WOWS) which promotes gender diversity and inclusivity at Deutsche Bank. (Spring 2021)

Pankaj Jain (STERN ’19) is pleased to join the Board of TiE New York and co-chair the angel investment committee. Jain also recently launched an early-stage venture capital fund based in New York. (Winter 2023)

Travis Callahan (STERN ’17) is pleased to announce that his company, Ignatica, has partnered with the DouBao Network (China’s largest insurance technology solution and traditional brokerage) and EasiTech to service DouBao Group’s 18+ million insurance customers in Mainland China with annual new gross written premium (GWP) sales of US$ 3.7 billion – on the Ignatica Platform. (Winter 2021)

Samir Goel (STERN, CAS ’16) and Abbey Wemimo (WAG ’15) are the cofounders of Esusu, which has become a unicorn enterprise with a $1B valuation in their latest financing. (Winter 2022)

Derek Lee (STERN ’16) is the cofounder of Boo, a Myers-Briggs/Big 5/psychology based dating app that matches based on personality. (Winter 2020)

Brian Chase (STERN ’15) is Director of Engineering at FanDuel. (Summer 2021)

Joseph Legasto (STERN ’15) is the incoming Chief Financial Officer of DMCI Holdings, Inc. He conducts analysis on business strategies through active portfolio management in order to drive corporate growth and maximize long-term value. This includes providing financial advice on a full range of transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, joint ventures, raid defenses, spin-offs, divestitures and other restructurings. (Fall 2022)

Jeffrey Feinstein (STERN ’14) has joined NYC-based KBK Wealth Management as a Principal. As a wealth manager, Jeff will be guiding individuals, couples and families with his “client first” holistic planning, investment strategizing, retirement planning, education funding, estate planning and risk management.

Michael C. Maresca (STERN ’11) is now CEO of National Financial Network. (Winter 2020)

Sylvia Louie (STERN ’09) was selected for the 2022 C3E Government Award- The Clean Energy Education & Empowerment (C3E). C3E is public-private sector collaboration focused on advancing women in the energy sector, led by the U.S. Department of Energy in collaboration with MIT Energy Initiative, Stanford’s Precourt Institute for Energy, and the Texas A&M Energy Institute. (Fall 2022)

Sandeep Satish (STERN ’09) was selected as part of Sports Business Journal’s list of “Power Players: Sports Facility Technology.” The individuals selected represent leaders who are designing, developing and deploying the technology within sports venues that is making an enhanced fan experience possible. (Spring 2021)

Kara Howard (STERN ’08) is launching SI HER to onboard more women and non-binary individuals into web3. (Fall 2022)

Sara Toussaint (STERN ’08) joined the ownership group of the North Carolina Courage of the National Women’s Soccer League. (Spring 2021)

Charles Breeden (STERN ’07) was promoted to Managing Director at Accenture. (Winter 2022)

Niladri "Neel" Mukherjee (STERN ’03) was named Chief Investment Officer for TIAA Wealth Management, joining the company from Bank of America where he served as the Head of Portfolio Strategy for more than five years. (Winter 2023)

Gene Boxer (STERN ’96) was appointed General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGP), a leading provider of online real estate marketplaces, information and analytics in the commercial and residential property markets. (Fall 2022)

Manny Martinez (STERN ’95) is celebrating his 38th year in financial services. He recently launched a boutique financial planning firm, Copa Wealth Strategies, helping professionals and business owners reduce their tax liabilities, protect their assets, and manage their wealth in order to maximize retirement. (Winter 2023)

Harvin Moore (STERN ’91) is CEO of Houston Exponential, an independent non-profit focused on growing the Houston region's technology economy. (Spring 2021)

Stuart Rubinstein (STERN ’91) is now making waves in the financial services industry by helping make the process for fintech apps to access your financial data more secure. As CEO at Akoya, he is working to make accessing and sharing consumer financial data as easy and safe as possible by moving the industry away from legacy data sharing methods and toward more secure and transparent practices. (Summer 2021)

Kathryn Gordon (STERN ’88) and Jessie Riley (STEINHARDT ’82) formed a consulting business for food businesses 10 years ago, FoodStartupHelp, and are now celebrating their client experience with the introduction of an online learning platform with an e-book, an industry expert interview video series and custom templates for managing a successful food business. (Fall 2021)

Mayra Martinez-Sacco (STERN ’86) and Melissa Canter (STERN ’87) are the founders of 2WallStreetChicks, which brings over four decades of collective Wall Street business leadership, coaching and mindfulness experience to transform overwhelm to calm. (Winter 2021)

Caroline Vanderlip (STERN ’84) is the CEO and founder of Brooklyn-based Re:Dish, a company that offers a reusable container program that helps large organizations like Fortune 500 companies and school systems implement circular solutions that eliminate single-use waste. (Winter 2023)

Barbara Bronstein (STERN ’78) is the Founder and President of Second Servings of Houston, a food rescue nonprofit on a mission to fight hunger and reduce food waste. Since 2015, the Houston nonprofit has rescued over $40 million worth of food. (Summer 2020)

Harvey A. Betan (STERN ’76) has received the DRII Lifetime Achievement Award for 2020. DRII is the Disaster Recovery Institute International, the US certification entity for Business Continuity professionals. (Summer 2021)

Gene Boxer (STERN ’96) was appointed General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGP), a leading provider of online real estate marketplaces, information and analytics in the commercial and residential property markets.

Tandon School of Engineering

Rodolfo Delgado (TANDON ’17) created Replay Listings, the first real estate listing platform in the U.S. focused on unedited video content. After seven years of successfully running his startup, he is now a recurrent contributor for Forbes and Entrepreneur.com. (Winter 2023)

Reno Rafly (TANDON ’11) is the CEO & Founder of Catalyst Global Consulting, which has been selected as the top 10 Emerging Organizational Development company in APAC 2022 by the Manage HR Magazine. (Spring 2022)

Xiaofei Guo (TANDON ’10, ’14) is Head of Research and Development at Confluera, a cloud security company. (Summer 2021)

Joseph Savalli (TANDON ’89, ’92) has been named to the position of vice president at STV. He is a deputy operations manager in the firm’s Eastern Region. (Spring 2021)

Gus Maimis (TANDON ’84) has joined STV as a senior vice president and business development director of its construction management practice in the Eastern Region. (Summer 2021)

James Colotti (TANDON ’81) was elected to serve as 2022 Chair of the IEEE LI Electromagnetic Compatibility Society and the IEEE LI Circuits and Systems Society. (Winter 2020)

William Pisani (TANDON ’65) has recently been issued a full patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Known as "The Instant Hand-Held Bed Sheet Warmer," this electrical device is used to heat bed sheets prior to lying down to sleep. (Winter 2020)

Tisch School of the Arts

Meron Langsner (TSOA, GSAS ’00) has been promoted to Vice President at Cooper & Cooper Real Estate. (Spring 2021)

Aaron A. Ford (TSOA ’99) has been promoted to SVP, Multi-Platform Planning for the Marketing Leadership Team in the NBCUniversal Television & Streaming Group, leading the integrated Sports and Entertainment team for all owned promotional media planning. (Fall 2021)

Lisa Lehr (TSOA ’94) joined Celebrity Cruises as Vice President, Entertainment. (Winter 2020)

Trevor Hayward (TSOA ’93) started a new company, FaceMasks-Protection, whose goal is to provide quick and reliable access to personal protective equipment. (Summer 2020)

Jim Willard (TSOA ’85) was hired this year as an executive for NTT Data, overseeing the information technology infrastructure of the National Life Group. (Summer 2022)

Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service

Charla Duncan (WAG ’13) was named a 2022 Trailblazer by Business North Carolina for her work with Warren County, which recognizes thriving business owners and professionals under age 40 who work in North Carolina towns and cities with fewer than 100,000 residents. (Spring 2023)

Miriam Altman (WAG ’13) and Alexandra Meis (WAG ’13) are the cofounders of Kinvolved, which was just acquired by PowerSchool. (Winter 2022)

Shira Hutt (WAG ’07) has been selected as part of Class 5 of the Wexner Field Fellowship. (Winter 2021)