Career Conversations

A conversation with Graham Browne, founder and executive director of Forte Preparatory Academy Charter School in Queens, New York. Prior to attending SOM, Graham was a consultant at the Bridgespan Group. Graham was interviewed by Omolegho Udugbezi '23. 

Guy Guyadeen got a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and computer science from UC Berkeley in 2001 and an MBA from the Yale School of Management in 2011. After graduating from Yale, Guy worked in investment banking at JP Morgan and in product management at various tech companies, including Google, Tapcart, and the video-streaming platform Quibi. Currently, he is a senior product manager at Google on the Android team and a part-time lecturer at UCLA. Guy was interviewed by Lisa Sternik '22.

Bridgette Farrer Muir '15 is the Founder & CEO of Arrange, a consumer platform built on top of a previously overlooked medium: the calendar. Prior to founding Arrange, Bridgette was a VP and founding team member at Common, where she joined as the second hire. During her five-year tenure, Common grew from an idea to the nation's leading designer and operator of coliving apartments, with 3,500 units under management and 200 team members across 8 markets nationally.

Sue AnderBois '13 is a program manager at the Nature Conservancy in Providence, Rhode Island. She is also running to be the next city councilwoman for Ward 3 in Providence, Rhode Island. Prior to joining The Conservancy, Sue earned her MBA at Yale SOM.  She has worked in a variety of energy and social impact roles for the State of Rhode Island. She received her BA in Environmental Studies from Dartmouth College, where she won a Dean's Award for service to the community.

Billy Marks '18 is a Leadership and Career Coach at The Sparrey Consulting Group. Prior to joining Sparrey, Billy earned his MBA at Yale SOM. He previously worked as a Senior Program Manager at J.P. Morgan, where he was also a Global Lead of the LGBTQ+ employee resource group. He received his A.B. from Harvard University, cum laude, where he majored in Language & Culture and Economic Development. Billy is interviewed by Omolegho Udugbezi.

Paras Malik '10 is a core member of Boston Consulting Group's Financial Institutions and Technology Advantage practice areas. She leads the Agile for Control Functions topic for BCG in North America and has broad digital transformation experience across geographies. She is interviewed by Evan Ding '22.

Fed Panfilov '17 is the strategic advisory lead for technology at Riot Games. Before joining Riot Games and graduating from Yale SOM with his MBA, he worked as a Project Manager at Oliver Wyman and received his MA in Economics from the University of Edinburgh.  In this episode, Fed discusses what a role in strategic advisory looks like, how to use your MBA to pivot into tech, and of course, some of his favorite gaming experiences. He is interviewed by Omolegho Udugbezi '23.

Logan Yonavjak '14 is a financial services professional, entrepreneur, author, and angel investor. She's incredibly passionate about building businesses and guiding capital in ways that replenish, restore, and sustain our social, environmental, and economic systems to advance a more holistic future for all. Throughout her career, she has worked as a consultant to a variety of clients, primarily focused on conserving and restoring ecological systems. Most recently, she co-founded a sell-side advisory firm focused on food & agriculture called Provenance Capital Group. She has also held positions with Morgan Stanley, the Yale Investments Office, and CREO Syndicate.  In this episode, Logan discusses ESG factors in investing, women in finance, working in the Yale investments office, and the experience of co-founding her own firm focused on investing in regenerative natural resources. She is interviewed by Jenn Burkha '21.

Tony Lynn '14 is a Global Program Lead at Meta, leading strategy development, operations, and execution for Instagram's SMB Advertiser Growth Sales Programs. In the episode, Tony discusses what it is like to work at a highly cross-functional and flat organization like Meta, the importance of cultivating your network both during and after business school, and how to best position yourself to pivot into tech. He is interviewed by Omolegho Udugbezi '23.

Yousef Aly is a second-year MBA student at Yale SOM. Prior to joining SOM, he was a management consultant for four years focused on the payments and fintech space. This past summer he was a Business Design intern at IDEO in their San Francisco office. This episode is part of a special mini-series of “Career Conversations” focused on MBA summer internships where we ask rising second-year MBA students to check in from their experiences, where they are applying the lessons of their first year at Yale SOM. He is interviewed by Amy Kundrat '21.

Ikya Kandula '22 spent her summer as an intern at Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles. This episode is part of a special mini-series of “Career Conversations” focused on MBA summer internships where we ask rising second-year MBA students to check in from their experiences, where they are applying the lessons of their first year at Yale SOM. She is interviewed by Amy Kundrat '21.

Sam MacAvoy '22 spent his summer as an intern at NASA and the Ames Research Center. He is also an active duty member of the U.S. Navy. This episode is part of a special mini-series of “Career Conversations” focused on MBA summer internships where we ask rising second-year MBA students to check in from their experiences, where they are applying the lessons of their first year at Yale SOM. He is interviewed by Amy Kundrat '21.

Camino de Paz is Yale SOM's Assistant Dean of Global Network Programs. She brings 20 years of experience and a passion for global collaboration to her role working with students across all of SOM's programs. 

Natasha Nair '21 was born in Nigeria to Indian parents and grew up in South Africa. She has lived and worked across seven cities in four countries over the past five years, gaining a unique ability to imagine the world from multiple perspectives. Her expertise lies at the intersection of customer research, human-centered design, and business strategy. At SOM, she was active in the Design + Innovation Club, founded her own venture, and took electives that focused on the consumer perspective. Prior to SOM, she received a B.A in Business Science, specializing in Finance and Economics, from the University of Cape Town, and an MBA from IE Business School.

Sarah Wilson '15 is a Senior Director on the Responsible Investing team at Nuveen, a TIAA Company. She integrates environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into investment decisions for the firm's $970+ billion assets under management, with a focus on fixed income. She holds an MBA and a Master of Environmental Management from Yale University.  During her time at Yale, Sarah was a finalist in the 2014 Nespresso Sustainability MBA Challenge and the 2013-2014 co-chair of the Net Impact Club. Prior to Yale, Sarah worked at Green Mountain Energy Company, a leading retail provider of electricity from renewable sources to homes and businesses.  Sarah is interviewed by Jenn Burkha '21. At SOM, Jenn focused on impact investing, venture capital, and entrepreneurship in the sustainable food/agriculture industry. Prior to earning her MBA, Jenn spent 7 years in the food and hospitality sector working for Holland America Line and the Marcus Samuelsson Group, a celebrity chef-driven media and restaurant group. She has experience in a variety of roles including strategy, investor relations, operations, project management, and marketing. She began her career in real estate consulting after earning a BA from Duke University in Art History with a concentration in Architecture.

Andrew Seth Jacobs '22, a rising second year in the full-time MBA program, came to SOM after a career in nonprofit fundraising. He serves as Co-President of the Consulting Club, and Co-Leader of Out of Office, SOM's LGBTQ+ affinity group. He is interviewed by Amy Kundrat '21.

Emily Averna '22: I am looking to pivot from the nonprofit sector to corporate sustainability efforts. Before coming to Yale SOM I was fortunate to spend eight years working on sustainable development at a nonprofit organization. Through that work, I caught glimpses of the power and potential of the private sector–both big companies and small businesses–to be engines of inclusive, green growth. I'm eager to build the foundational business knowledge, skills, and networks that will allow me to tackle sustainability issues from within the private sector. An MBA will help me make this shift. Emily is interviewed by Pascal Su '22.

Reeve Harde ’21 works in the global strategy group at Samsung Electronics in Seoul, Korea. Prior to SOM, Reeve worked at Deloitte M&A as an Advisory Manager, Special Acquisition Services performing buy-side due diligence. During his time at Yale SOM, Reeve was the Student Government president, an SOM admissions guide, and a member of the Media & Entertainment Club, Technology Club, Private Equity & Venture Capital Club, Ski & Snowboard Club, and the Hockey Club. Between his first and second year, Reeve interned in strategy at Comcast.   Reeve Harde is interviewed by Emily Kling ’21 and Amy Kundrat ’21.

Professor Nathan Novemsky is Professor of Marketing at Yale SOM and has an appointment as Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology at Yale University. He co-teaches the Yale SOM core course Modeling Managerial Decisions. He is an expert in the psychology of judgment and decision-making, an area that overlaps heavily with behavioral economics and consumer behavior. His research explores how people make judgments and decisions based on the information in front of them, how they know what they like, how the way they frame decisions affects the choices they make, how they choose and evaluate gifts, how their goals influence their behavior and other topics in judgment and decision-making. He is interviewed by Leon Dong ’21.

Ariana Day Yuen ’19 is the founder and CEO of Forested Foods, a vertically integrated agroforestry venture in Ethiopia. She began her career as a management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton in their D.C. and New York City offices where she advised clients across the government, non-profit, and private sectors. She then joined TechnoServe as a Fellow in their Ethiopia office and joined them full-time thereafter supporting a range of projects that focused on designing and building more sustainable and equitable value chains and market systems. Her accumulated experiences, passion for sustainable and delicious food, and deepening sense of responsibility to tackle complex societal issues are what led to Forested Foods. She is interviewed by Amy Kundrat ’21.

In his 17th year as founder and chief executive officer of Mastery Schools, Scott Gordon ’88 oversees an organization that is known for turning around struggling public schools in Philadelphia while creating better and varied post-secondary opportunities for its students. Mastery created a new college-ready school model while cultivating a supportive environment for students and addressing the racial and economic context of educational injustice central to its work. Scott is also a graduate of The Broad Academy (TBA) 2014-15. He is interviewed by Ezra Nelson ’21, a former high school math teacher at Boston Collegiate Charter School. Ezra is a student leader for SOM’s Education Leadership Conference. You can hear about his summer internship at Robinhood Foundation in this previous Career Conversations episode.

Max Dworin ’21 is the co-founder and COO of Onda, a canned sparkling tequila beverage company. Onda is made with blanco tequila from a woman-owned distillery in Jalisco, Mexico and flavored with real fruit juice. Prior to SOM, Max worked at Boxed as Chief of Staff and on the business development team launching their Wine & Spirits business. Max also worked in politics, serving as Press Secretary for U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer and Vice President of Communications for the Partnership for New York City. He is interviewed by Emily Kling ’21 and Amy Kundrat ’21. 

Uma Krishnan ’19 is a consultant in the Houston office of Bain & Company. In this episode, Uma discusses how her passion for the education industry led her to the MBA program at SOM, life as a Bain employee, and her experiences on one of the company’s DEI taskforce teams. She is interviewed by Andrew Jacobs, a full-time MBA student in the Class of 2022, leads the conversation.

Sunny Mehta ’21 is a MAM student in the class of 2021. He completed his MBA at HEC Paris. Sunny has always followed his passion, first in politics and now on his startup within the sports industry. Sunny speaks about the upsides and pitfalls of working in politics and how his MBA and MAM degrees are aiding him in his transition to a new industry. Sunny also shares key insights into his entrepreneurial journey and the role Yale SOM has had in transforming his idea and building it into a reality. He is interviewed by Natasha Nair ’21.

Martha Bull is a second-year full-time MBA student in the Class of 2021. They interned with PepsiCo last summer in their marketing department and is a second-year leader for Out Of Office (SOM LGBTQ+ Affinity Group). Martha discusses their background in the arts, trends in the marketing world, affinity recruiting, and their favorite PepsiCo product. In this podcast, they are interviewed by Andrew Jacobs, a full-time MBA student in the Class of 2022 and first-year Out of Office leader.

Linhang Ren is a first-year full-time MBA student in the Class of 2022. He is a co-chair of the Internship Fund at SOM, and a co-founder of a new food startup that’s part of the Tsai CITY Accelerator program at Yale. Prior to SOM, Linhang was a serial entrepreneur who has founded several tech/travel start-ups. His most recent start-up was Touchtrips, a B2B travel tech company that enabled hotel guests to instantly book POI in their hotel room or on their hotel app. Linhang is interviewed by Pascal Su, a first-year full-time MBA student in the Class of 2022. Pascal is an elected Senator for the Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) at Yale, and a leader of the Data Analytics Club at SOM. Prior to SOM, Pascal was an investment professional at a $70B private equity fund of funds, where he managed assets on behalf of institutional clients.

Grace Bergin has spent her career in the arts working in music education and as a conductor for choirs, orchestras, and opera. She is an MAM student at Yale SOM and has completed her MBA at UCD Michael Smurfit Business School in Ireland. Grace is interviewed by Natasha Nair ’21, and they speak about how creating and conducting music connects to business.

Adhi Murali is a second-year full-time MBA student in the Class of 2021. He interned in investment banking this past summer and is leading the Finance Club this Fall. Adhi talks about the recruiting process for investment banking and the role played by Yale SOM's Finance Club. Prior to SOM, Adhi worked for VMware helping Fortune 500 clients solve their most challenging technology problems using VMware solutions.

Tanmay Manohar ’16 is the Vice President for People Analytics & Workforce Planning at ViacomCBS. He started the people analytics function at the company as a way to use information in a more intelligent way to solve HR problems. He uses predictive analytics for hiring, improving diversity and inclusion, succession planning, employee engagement and career development. He is interviewed by Emily Kling ’21.  

Nancy Pfund ’82 is the founder and managing partner of DBL Partners and a pioneer in impact investing.  Pfund worked at JPMorgan and Hambrecht & Quist before founding DBL Investors, a venture capital firm that invested with the aim of achieving both financial returns and social or environmental impact. In 2015, the firm joined with the clean tech practice of Technology Partners to form DBL Partners. Pfund has made successful investments in such firms as Tesla, SolarCity, and Pandora.

Louise is the Chief News Strategist and Chief Product & Technology Officer at The Wall Street Journal. She is also a filmmaker and investigative reporter, having previously worked at the New York Times for 11 years. At the Wall Street Journal, she built and runs a large unit there called Digital Experience & Strategy (DXS), which includes the Journal’s product engineering, design and product management teams that work across the business as well as including the newsroom’s content strategy, data science, community and audience development teams. She oversees the daily news report in a rotation of senior masthead editors and has set forth major parts of the news strategy. Louise graduated from Yale in 2003 and Yale School of Management in 2006 as a Silver Scholar.

Matt Chmura ’18 is the Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Boston Bruins. He is interviewed by Emily Kling ’21 and Amy Kundrat ’21.

Crystal Yates, a member of the Executive MBA Class of 2021, is the deputy fire commissioner for the city of Philadelphia, overseeing the city’s EMS system. She serves on an interdepartmental team tackling the city’s opioid crisis. Crystal Yates is a recipient of the Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership at Yale. The fellowship, created by Yale SOM in collaboration with the Commonwealth Fund and endowed by a gift from Robert C. Pozen, was created to give healthcare practitioners the leadership skills and the deep understanding of teams, markets, and organizations necessary to tackle major inequities in the U.S. healthcare system. Crystal is interviewed by Emily Kling ’21 and Amy Kundrat ’21.

We kick-off our third season with Seth Goldman ’95, one of SOM's most impactful alumni entrepreneurs whose ventures have explored the ways in which business can be a tool for creating social and environmental change. He is co-founder and former CEO of Honest Tea, the executive chairman of Beyond Meat, and a founder of Eat the Change. Seth is interviewed by Jenn Burka ’21 and Amy Kundrat ’21.

This episode is part of a special mini-series of Career Conversations focused on MBA summer internships. Oscar Licea Perez ’21 interned at Morgan Stanley in the investment banking division for Latin America. Before SOM, he founded his own micro-lending group, working as its CFO until he was invited to work for the central bank of Mexico.

This episode is part of a special mini-series of Career Conversations focused on MBA summer internships. Julia Frederick ’21 is an MBA/MPH candidate at Yale and is the SOM student government president. This summer she is interning with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Before SOM, she worked in government and politics, most recently for Senator Elizabeth Warren.

This episode is part of a special mini-series of Career Conversations focused on MBA summer internships. Diane Somlo ’21 is an MD/MBA candidate at Yale. She is spending her summer at Geisinger, a hospital and health center comprised of thirteen hospital campuses, two research centers, a college of medicine and a health plan serving more than three million residents in central, south-central and northeast Pennsylvania. Diane discusses the choice to pursue an MBA after having started her MD, her summer projects at Geisinger, and the ways in which the health care system is evolving.

This episode is part of a special mini-series of Career Conversations focused on MBA summer internships. Ezra Nelson ’21 is an intern at the Robin Hood Foundation this summer. He discusses the organization's evolving mission focusing on social mobility and his experience working on the learning and tech fund team focusing on school readiness.  At SOM, Ezra is a member of the Design and Innovation Club, Data Analytics, and served as the director of finance for the Education Leadership Before coming to Yale SOM, Ezra joined Teach for America and taught high school math in Boston where he also taught the robotics team and served as a school-based representative for a mentorship program for young men of color.

This episode is part of a special mini-series of Career Conversations focused on MBA summer internships. Daven Hines ’21 is an intern at YouTube this summer. He discusses what it's like to work as a product marketing intern at YouTube, his love of the SOM series Voices, and what he is watching and reading this summer.

This episode is part of a special mini-series of Career Conversations focused on MBA summer internships. Danny Hurvitz ’21 (they/them/theirs) is an intern at McKinsey & Company this summer. They discuss what it's like to recruit for consulting at SOM (65 cases!), their summer projects at the firm focused on optimization strategy, and the importance of inclusivity and representation for LGBTQIA+ in business school and corporate settings.

This episode is part of a special mini-series of Career Conversations focused on MBA summer internships. Snigdha Rao ’21 is an intern at the National Park Service this summer. She discusses what it's like to work at the organization, her hidden talent for improv, and what she looks forward to in her second year as a full-time MBA student including her involvement in Student Government and Women in Management.

This is our first episode in a special mini-series of Career Conversations focused on MBA summer internships. Ann Boyajian ’21, Emily Kling ’21, and Edward Kusell-Zigelman ’21 MBA interns at CariClub this summer. They discuss what it's like to work at the start-up, the pros and cons of a virtual internship, and their big takeaway from their work at the social impact-focused organization.

Frances Symes, a 2014 graduate of Yale SOM, is a manager in the Workforce Transformation group of Deloitte’s Human Capital practice. She has been with Deloitte for 5 years, and has served clients across multiple industries in leading large scale change efforts as well as conducting talent and learning initiatives. Frances has built expertise and a passion for a broad range of organizational and people topics—including upskilling and reskilling the workforce, change leadership, and the Future of Work. She is trained as a Greenhouse Lab manager and facilitator and loves designing and facilitating client workshops and “breakthrough” sessions.

Dennis Tseng is a 2014 graduate of Yale SOM. He works in Google's Hiring Innovation department, helping the tech giant hire nearly 25,000 employees each year in a more effective and equitable way. He is interviewed by Emily Kling ’21.  The views and opinions expressed in this episode are of those of the participant and do not necessarily reflect those of their employer.

Andrew Messick ’91 is the CEO of IRONMAN Group which runs the iconic IRONMAN® series of events, the largest participation sports platform in the world. IRONMAN Group is part of Wanda Sports Group, a leading global sports events, media, and marketing platform. He is interviewed by Reeve Harde ’20. 

Michael Barker ’10 is the managing director of the Westport Country Playhouse in Westport, CT. He is interviewed by Emily Kling ’20 Prior to the Westport Country Playhouse he was the managing director of Marin Theatre Company, the general manager of Laguna Playhouse in Laguna Beach, CA, and managing director for the Los Angeles classical theater ensemble, The Antaeus Company. Before moving to California, Barker was associate managing director at Yale Repertory Theatre and managing director of Yale Summer Cabaret, and produced the first annual Carlotta Festival of New Plays. He was Seattle Repertory Theatre’s 2008 Managing Director Fellow. Barker holds an MFA in theater management from Yale School of Drama and an MBA from Yale School of Management. At Yale, he was the recipient of the Daniel and Helene Sheehan Scholarship for theater management and a Kosciusko Scholarship for outstanding students of Polish descent. He served on the Yale School of Management Alumni Advisory Board, and is a current Association of Yale Alumni delegate. He is a member of the inaugural class of artEquity diversity, equity and inclusion facilitators as well as a member of the vestry at St. Timothy’s on the Hill Episcopal Church in Fairfield. Prior to graduate school, he was associate director of marketing for Court Theatre in Chicago, and also worked with Goodman Theatre, American Theater Company, Sansculottes Theater Company, and The Playground Theater.

Kerwin K. Charles is the Indra K. Nooyi Dean & Frederic D. Wolfe Professor of Economics, Policy, and Management at Yale SOM. He joined the school as its dean in 2019. He is interviewed by Reeve Harde ’20. 

Laura Walker was the founding President and CEO of New York Public Radio and held that position for 23 years until earlier this year. She is now an Executive Fellow in Residence at the Yale School of Management and an advisor to New York Public Radio, Common Sense Media and a range of startups. New York Public Radio is an independent non profit that owns the nation’s largest public radio station group and is one of the world’s preeminent producers of podcasts and national radio stations and reaches 26 million people each month, including Radiolab, On the Media, and The New Yorker Radio Hour. Under her leadership, NYPR increased its annual budget from $8 million to $95 million, its employees from 55 to 425 and its monthly audience from one million to 26 million and led the acquisitions of The Gothamist, 4 stations of New Jersey Public Radio and of WQXR Radio from The New York Times. Since 2000, NYPR has been honored with 10 George Foster Peabody Awards and five Alfred I. DuPont Columbia Awards. A pioneer in podcasting, she was responsible for the creation of WNYC Studios which was one of the top 3 podcast studios in the world, with 32 million downloads a month. Ms. Walker was honored with an Edward R. Murrow Award from the Corporate for Public Broadcasting. In 2009 and again in 2017, she was named by Crain’s as one of New York City’s 50 Most Powerful Women. Ms. Walker began her professional career as a print journalist. She later moved to National Public Radio where she worked as a producer. At Carnegie Hall, where she launched the award-winning series, AT&T Presents Carnegie Hall Tonight. After business school, she joined Sesame Workshop as the Vice President of Development. Ms. Walker sits on the boards of The Commonwealth Fund, Yale Center for Customer Insights, Tribune Media Company, and the Eagle Picher Trust. She was recognized in May with the honorable Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award by the Municipal Arts Society for her notable contribution to the public media landscape. Ms. Walker holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BA in History magna cum laude, from Wesleyan University, where she was an Olin Scholar.

Radha Kuppalli ’06 is Managing Director of Investor Services at New Forests, a sustainable forestry investment management firm founded in 2005. Her oversight includes client relations, funds marketing, and integration of responsible investment and ESG innovations into investment strategy. She is an executive director of the board of New Forests Pty Ltd; a member of the company’s Executive Committee; and a member of the Investment Committee. Radha has been with New Forests since 2006 and is motivated by bringing capital, ideas, and people together to scale climate change solutions and protect biodiversity. Radha has a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Economic Theory from American University in Washington, D.C., and an MBA and master’s degree in Environmental Management from Yale University’s School of Management and School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She is on the Advisory Board of the Center for Business and Environment at Yale University and is an associate of the Yale World Fellows Program. She is also an alumna of the Junior Fellows Program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

A. J. Wasserstein is the Eugene F. Williams, Jr. Lecturer in the Practice of Management at Yale SOM. He teaches Entrepreneurship through Acquisition, the popular SOM elective course on search funds, as well as Leading Small and Medium Enterprises, and Rollups, and Consolidations and Serial Acquisitions. He is interviewed by Max Dworin ’20, a first-year MBA student and former U.S. Senate staffer transitioning to a career on the innovation side of the consumer packaged goods industry.

Jamila Abston ’17 is a partner at Ernst & Young in the wealth and asset management practice, focusing on compliance, regulatory and risk matters for wealth and asset management clients. Prior to this role, she worked at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, where she served as the Assistant Regional Director for the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations. Jamila is interviewed by Laurie Cameron Craighead ’16. Laurie has worked in the financial markets since 1986, helping individuals, corporations and other institutions manage foreign exchange, interest rate and volatility risk. Laurie is passionately dedicated to helping foundations further their social impact by using Program Related Investments to help women and children gain access to education and employment.