CDO Team

Carla Akalarian is an executive career coach for the EMBA students and alumni providing customized and personalized coaching for career development. She specializes in the discovery process, identification of values, and development of an ideal career vision and  authentic value proposition.  Carla is part of the Executive Career Development Team that provides executive career services to our executive populations to guide them in making successful career transitions.

Contact Carla for:

• Executive Career Coaching
• CDO Liaison for the Astropreneurship and Space Industry Club

Top Strengths: Empathy | Developer | Maximizer | Relator | Arranger

Krys Ardayfio is a Career Coach with a background in economic development and an expertise in workforce development. Most recently she was a Workforce Development Consultant at Ivy Tech and has worked as the lead diversity officer at two institutions. She’s passionate about growing and living in her purpose; and she’s equally passionate about helping others do the same in their personal, academic, and professional pursuits. Krys earned her MBA from University of Indianapolis.

Laura Maloney Angoff is a career advisor for the Master of Finance students, providing individualized advice on each aspect of the career development process.  She manages the design and delivery of career education programs and workshops for the MFin program. Additionally, Laura supports Career Education for the Master of Business Analytics students, providing expertise across Specialty Masters programs. Laura is part of a dedicated team of CDO professionals here to support students across recruiting, advising, and career resource needs. 

Contact Laura for:

• MFin Student Advising
• Career Development Workshops and Programming
• CDO Liaison for Quantitative Financial Markets and Investment Management Club

Prior to joining MIT Sloan, Laura worked at Goldman Sachs as a private wealth advisor in the Investment Management Division. She has over a decade of financial industry experience across banking, sales and trading, private equity, and investment management, and at various companies from small boutique firms to bulge-bracket banks. Laura holds a B.S. in Applied Mathematics and Economics from Trinity College in Hartford, CT and an M.B.A. from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

Laura’s Top 5 CliftonStrengths are Learner, Achiever, Futuristic, Strategic, and Relator.

Julie Bae is a recent addition to the Employer Relations & Recruiting team at MIT Sloan, and brings with her over 20 years of diversified financial services experience. A licensed CPA® and CFP®, Julie graduated with an MBA in Finance from the NYU Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Accountancy from Bentley University. She started her long career on Wall Street with Morgan Stanley in New York City, then transitioned her way to the flagship Merrill Lynch office where she advised clients and corporations on retirement planning & investment strategy for over 15 years. Over the last two years she also launched two startups, a kids/baby e-commerce company designed for new moms and a holistic handmade skin products company focused on Korean beauty elements. Julie grew up in Wellesley, Massachusetts and recently relocated back to New England to be closer to family.

Contact Julie for:

• Company relationships in: Financial Services, Education, Non-Profit, Government & Defense, and Manufacturing

Top Strengths: Positivity | Achiever | Learner | Intellection | Individualization

Shauna is an Alumni Engagement Strategist and Executive Career Coach. She provides tailored coaching that empowers alumni and mid-level career professionals to reach their highest potential.

Shauna’s passion is enabling others to make authentic career connections that transform their lives. She does this by leading the Sloan Industry Advisors Program and facilitating student-alumni mentoring relationships. She is part of the Executive Career Development Team that provides executive career services to our executive and alumni populations and helps them to make intentional choices in their evolving careers.

Contact Shauna for:

• Executive Career Coaching
• Alumni Networking
• Values and Vision Setting
• Career narrative development
• Social Media branding to enable industry or functional switching

Career Communities:
CDO Liaison for the Entertainment, Media and Sports Club and the Hispanic Business Club

Programs:
EMBA/Alumni

Top Strengths: Developer | Empathy | Input | Relator | Command

Steve began his career like many of our students, excelling in an intense Master’s program in New England. Steve’s foundational years were spent developing skills in Big 4 Public Accounting before transitioning into an Accounting & Finance Recruiter and Business Development professional. Those experiences granted him with invaluable experience auditing, advising, and partnering on business strategy with (domestic and foreign) organizations of diverse industries. Steve was raised in Montclair, NJ and attended Bryant University as a Division-1 Football student athlete for his undergraduate and graduate studies. His previous organizations include: KPMG, PwC, Hollister Staffing, and Atrium Staffing.

Contact Steve for:

• Company relationships in: Bio/Pharma/Healthcare, East Coast Technology, Energy, Entertainment/Sports/Media, Real Estate, and Telecom

Top Strengths: Achiever | Command | Positivity | Restorative | Relator

Susan Brennan is the inaugural Assistant Dean of the Career Development Office (CDO) at MIT Sloan School of Management. In this role, she provides strategic vision and management of the 24 staff member CDO serving students and alumni across MIT Sloan’s diverse portfolio of graduate business programs. Susan oversees the CDO’s Career Education, Executive Career Development, Employer Relations & Recruiting, Technology and Operations functions.

Contact Susan for:

• Overall CDO leadership and strategy
• CDO Liaison for Entrepreneurship & Innovation Club, Entrepreneurship Career Community and Diversity and Inclusion Affinity Community

Top Strengths: Strategic | Relator | Woo | Ideation | Activator

Bryn is a career strategist and executive coach focused on MIT Sloan’s alumni population.  She  serves as a secondary coach to the Executive MBA population.

Bryn believes people are most fulfilled, professionally, when they pursue a career path that leverages their strengths, aligns with their values and presents opportunities to grow and stay challenged.

She partners with students and alumni as they:

• clarify core competencies (skills, attributes and knowledge)
• illuminate values and priorities
• set achievable career goals, relative to one’s background and the market
• tell their career story in a compelling and concise fashion
• cultivate their professional brand and position themselves effectively
• approach compensation conversations and salary negotiation confidently

Relator | Positivity | Strategic | Communication | Responsibility

Danielle joined MIT Sloan in 2009, as part of the Employer Relations & Recruiting Team in the Career Development Office.  In her current role, she oversees Operations for the Employer Relations & Recruiting team, including communications to students and employers, events and special projects.

Prior to MIT Sloan, Danielle was at the Kogod School of Business at American University working in Undergraduate Programs and Academic Affairs.  Danielle started her career at Fidelity Investments in HR Operations and the Defined Contributions Group.  Since 2011, Danielle has been an active member of MBA CSEA, which is a global alliance of graduate business career management professionals and employers.  As part of MBA CSEA, she has served on the Board of Directors, co-chaired the 2017 Global Conference and led several other committees within the organization. She graduated from Saint Anselm College with a BA in Sociology.

Contact Danielle for:

• Recruiting Operations
• Recruiting Events
• Employer Advisory Council inquiries
• Employer & Student Recruiting Communications

Top 5: Empathy, Harmony, Positivity, Consistency, Adaptability

Sumayya Essack is a Career Coach with a background in psychology and HR/talent management. Most recently she was the Head of Talent at an award-winning global fintech startup. She’s passionate about supporting professionals in career discovery and transitions and empowering others to forge their own paths. Sumayya received her MSW and MBA from Boston College.

Schedule an appointment with Sumayya in Career Central.

Gayle Grader is an Executive Career Coach and the Director of Executive Career Development for the Sloan Fellows MBAs, EMBAs, and Alumni populations. She oversees the Executive Career Development Team and is responsible for setting the programming strategy, creating and delivering career education workshops, and providing one-one-one executive coaching.

Top 5 CliftonStrengths: Strategic, Achiever, Learner, Individualization, and Input

Contact Gayle for:

• Executive Assessment and Development Coaching
• Career Advancement Coaching
• Career Transition Coaching
• Branding Coaching
• Mi3 (Social Impact Investing Club) – CDO Liaison

Reporting and Data Analyst for the Sloan School of Management’s Career Development Office. Prior experience in the biotechnology industry. Currently focused on internal and operational reporting, with data project collaboration across Sloan and MIT.

Mark Hardie is the Director of the Entrepreneur Innovation Center at Framingham State University. He’s a serial entrepreneur and start-up veteran with a passion for innovation and growing fledgling operations. The FSU Innovation Center’s hybrid model is similar to a startup incubator concept Mark developed and pitched to area venture capital investors. The son of two teachers, he has taught and lectured on technology issues at Harvard, MIT, University of Virginia, and University of Hartford. He is a career-long mentor at the MIT Sloan School and currently a professional Career Coach at Harvard Business School, working with start-up teams, founders and would-be entrepreneurs. A Massachusetts native, Mark attended primary and secondary schools in Holyoke MA, is a graduate of Tufts University and the M.I.T. Sloan School of Management. He brings extensive experience launching start-ups, driving corporate strategy and business innovation, all with a focus on Internet business models, mobile device platforms, and cloud-based SaaS business models.

Schedule an appointment with Mark in Career Central.

Heather Holland manages operations and marketing initiatives across the CDO, working with CDO leadership, career advisors and coaches, and the recruiting and employer relations team.

Heather is a Community Manager for Entertainment, Media, and Sports.  She is also a CDO liaison for the Design Club.

Contact Heather for:

• Student and staff questions about CDO operations
• Staff questions about CDO marketing

Heather’s LinkedIn Profile

CliftonStrengths
Top 5: Empathy | Individualization | Achiever | Harmony | Learner
Next 5: Maximizer | Discipline | Consistency | Relator | Activator

Emily James is a career advisor for the Master of Finance students, providing individualized advice on each aspect of the career development process.  She manages the design and delivery of career education programs and workshops for the MFin program. Emily is part of a dedicated team of CDO professionals here to support students across recruiting, advising, and career resource needs.

Contact Emily for:

• MFin Career Advising
• Career Development Workshops and Programming
• CDO Liaison for Fintech Club & VCPE Club

Prior to joining MIT Sloan, Emily worked at Bain Capital, where she focused on recruiting, professional development, and training for the Private Equity team. Before that, she worked in recruiting at McKinsey & Company, where she supported the recruiting efforts at MIT Sloan, MIT, and Harvard Business School. Emily holds a B.A. in Psychology from Connecticut College and an M.S. in Human Resource Management from Emmanuel College.

Emily’s Top 5 CliftonStrengths are Communication, Empathy, Achiever, Woo and Includer.

Rose Keating serves as Director of Career Education, leading the teams supporting the MBA, MFin, MBAn and MSMS programs. She is the CDO liaison to the Black Business Students Association & Investment Banking Club. Rose has been designing career outcomes for graduate business students and private clients since 2012 and has coached clients from 120+ countries to successfully land jobs across all 7 continents.  She began her career as a Staffing Consultant at Beacon Hill Staffing Group and later transitioned to project management at a technology start-up and global pharmaceutical company. Rose holds a BS in Business Administration from Questrom School of Business at Boston University and will complete a Master’s in Education Leadership and Policy Studies in 2020 from Boston University.

Contact Rose for:

• Career Education Strategy

Top Strengths: Individualization | Achiever | Learner | Input | Relator

Anna Kerchner is part of the administrative staff, providing support for the entire CDO team. She helps plan career education events, manages the student advising and drop-in process, assists in scheduling resume and cover letter reviews and provides career resources support.

Contact Anna for:

• Career Education Events
• Surveys
• Career Education Team Support

Tops Strengths: Discipline | Empathy | Individualization | Consistency | Relator

Grace Kimball provides support to the entire CDO team through office management. She manages the Assistant Dean’s calendar and travel, as well as any purchases made on behalf of the office. Grace is part of a dedicated team of CDO professionals here to support students across recruiting, advising, and career resource needs.

Contact Grace for:

• Office management/Staff Onboarding
• Financial transactions (Vendor contracts, purchase orders, RFPs, J/V requests)
• Clifton Strengths assessment for students/staff
• Setting appointments with the Assistant Dean

Top Strengths: Discipline | Communication | Activator | Achiever| Focus

Alyssa McMahon supports CDO Operations and Marketing as a Marketing Coordinator. She is a resource regarding CDO services for all programs, and is a member of the team that markets CDO events and resources.

Contact Alyssa for:

• Inquiries about Your CDO website content, including blog posts, events, and resources
• Promotion on CDO social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter)
• Student & Alumni participation in the Career Stories project

Top Strengths: Achiever | Futuristic | Discipline | Arranger | Significance

James Morrison is an award-winning, experienced Global Program Manager/Strategist with 20+ years of diverse leadership and team building experience across numerous industries. James has lived and worked internationally for an extensive period and has managed outreach and recruitment programs, and career development programs in both business and higher education settings. His industry experience includes recruitment, education, government, retail and hospitality with 10+ years executive coaching for career transitions.

Originally from Ireland, James received both his Bachelor and Master’s Degrees from the National University of Ireland, Galway. He has served as Vice Consul of Ireland to New England for the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs.

Contact James for:

• Executive Career Coaching

Top Strengths: Relator | Strategic | Futuristic | Achiever | Ideation

Anjna Motwani is a career advisor for the Master of Finance students, providing individualized advice and coaching on many aspects of the career development process.  Anjna is part of a dedicated team of CDO professionals here to support students across recruiting, advising, and career resource needs.

Anjna also brings her several years of experience in investment banking and management consulting having worked at Credit Suisse and McKinsey in New York.  She has also lived and worked in Hong Kong and Singapore bringing Asia market expertise.  Anjna holds a S.B. from MIT and an M.B.A. from the Stern School of Business at NYU.

Additionally, Anjna started a family foundation focusing on education in South East Asia, did pro-bono admissions consulting and completed the American Express Re-Entry Program.  She currently sits on the Board of Directors of Pratham, an NGO focusing on educating slum children in India.  An active MIT alum, she has interviewed high school students applying to MIT for six years.  Anjna is also a professional and development career coach specializing in individuals who want to return to the work force after a career break.

Anjna’s Top 5 CliftonStrengths are: Achiever, Learner, Belief, Positivity and Individualization.

Devin Murphy manages the Core Fellows program, working to successfully onboard first-year MBA students while providing real-world leadership and facilitation experiences to select second-year MBAs.

Contact Devin for:

• Core Fellows Program
• Retail & Consumer Goods Club (CDO Liaison)

Prior to joining MIT Sloan in 2012, Devin worked at Morgan Stanley and White & Case LLP in Business Development and at Johnson & Johnson in Brand Management.  Devin holds a B.A. in History and Political Science from Colgate University and an MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.

Mark Newhall recently joined the CDO as the Director of Employer Relations and Recruiting. Mark has previously served as an industry advisor to executive-level MIT Sloan students. Mark brings 25+ years of recruiting experience, including 18+ years of executive search work for technology companies ranging from startups to public companies. Mark is also an advisor, mentor, and angel investor in tech companies in the US and Canada.

Top Strengths: Individualization | Woo | Belief | Arranger | Connectedness

Kristen Niarchos provides instructional design for MIT Sloan’s career education programming, along with personalized career advising, small group sessions, and classroom teaching, including Career Core.

Contact Kristen for:

• MBA Career Advising
• CDO Career Education programs
• CDO Liaison for Product Management Club

Prior to joining MIT Sloan, Kristen worked in a similar capacity at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. Before moving into career development, Kristen worked in a variety of roles in higher education and non-profit organizations with positions in corporate relations, event management and human resources.

Kristen holds a B.A. in Psychology from Wake Forest University and a M.Ed. in Instructional Design from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. She is trained in CliftonStrengths.

Kristen’s Top 5 CliftonStrengths: Input | Intellection | Relator | Discipline | Consistency

Cathryn is an Executive Career Coach working with SFMBA students, providing market coaching and personalized introductions to targeted alums.

Christie Reynolds is a career advisor for the MBA students and provides career education services to them through individual career advising meetings, small group sessions, and classroom instruction, including Career Core.

Contact Christie for:

• MBA Career Advising
• CDO Liaison for the Management Consulting Club (MCC) and Sloan Women in Business (SWIM)
• CDO Liaison for LGOs
• CDO Liaison for HKS dual degree students

Christie has over eleven years of experience advising graduate and undergraduate students on careers at MIT, Boston University Questrom School of Business, The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University and Boston College. Prior to working in career services, she worked in business development for Reed Smith LLP and Baker Botts LLP. In those roles, she worked closely with the Global Projects and Intellectual Property groups on developing business from new and existing clients. While in law school, Christie clerked for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Christie received her B.A. in Communication from Boston College, her J.D. from American University Washington College of Law, and her M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration from Suffolk University. She is a certified MBTI practitioner and trained in CliftonStrengths. Her top strengths are Developer, Woo, Individualization, Empathy and Positivity.

Top Strengths: Developer | Woo | Individualization | Empathy | Positivity

Contact Rachel for:

• Recruiting Events
• Recruiting Logistics
• Companies, Contacts & Job Postings in Career Central

Kerri Tierney is responsible for overseeing the MIT Sloan career management systems and tools used by students, employers and the CDO team.

Contact Kerri to:

• Discuss the usage of current tools or recommend other tools for evaluation.
• Share career content with the Diversity & Inclusion Affinity Community

Top Strengths: Communication | Woo | Harmony | Responsibility | Positivity

Susan Todd is the relationship manager for Sloan’s recruiting partners across the following industries: US Consulting, West Coast (CA/OR/WA) Tech, US Consumer Products, Retail, Transportation, Automotive, Aerospace. Susan works closely with companies to develop their recruiting strategy and to create connections for our student populations.  She also collaborates with the student clubs and advises students on recruiting policies and procedures. Susan holds an M.Ed in Higher Education Administration from Northeastern University.

Top Five Strengths:  Relator, Harmony, Maximizer, Discipline, Consistency

Contact Susan for:

• Company relationships in: US Consulting, West Coast (CA/OR/WA) Tech, US Consumer Products, Retail, Transportation, Automotive, Aerospace.
• CDO Liaison to Clubs: Astropreneurship & Space Industry, Design, Food & Ag, MCC, Net Impact, Operations, PM, Retail & CPG, Pride, and SWIM.

Lew Weinstein counsels people in the MBA, Sloan Fellows, and Executive MBA programs, providing career advice and assisting with resumes and cover letters. The balance of his time is spent as a partner in a Boston-based executive search firm which maintains a broad practice but focuses on working with private equity firms and their portfolio companies to expand or upgrade management, and with venture capital firms and entrepreneurs to build teams for early-stage businesses. Lew was raised in the New York area and attended M.I.T. and Harvard Business School. He then spent three years in corporate strategy consulting with Bain & Company in Boston before moving to Los Angeles, where his activities included 18 months at the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee; two years at a large, international search firm; and four years at a medium-sized, general-practice search firm. He has been back in New England since 1992.

Sign up for an appointment with Lew in Career Central.

Tracy Wishon is a career advisor for the Master of Business Analytics students, providing individualized advice on each aspect of the career development process.  She delivers career education programs, workshops and small group sessions for the MBAn program. Tracy is part of a dedicated team of CDO professionals here to support students across recruiting, advising, and career resource needs.

Contact Tracy for:

• MBAn Career Advising
• CDO Liaison for the Analytics Club
• MIT Sloan Analytics Team (CDO Representative)

Tracy has 10 year of Recruiting and HR experience within professional services and tech industries. Her love of helping others find their passion led her to transition from HR and Recruiting to Career Advising. Prior to joining MIT Sloan in 2018, she spent 4 years at Bentley University’s McCallum Graduate School of Business as a Career Advisor for Master of Science in Business Analytics program. Tracy holds a B.A. in Business Administration and a minor in Sociology from Transylvania University in Lexington, KY and is also a CliftonStrengths Coach.

Tracy’s Top 5 CliftonStrengths are Woo, Positivity, Communication, Includer and Belief.