MASTER MENTORS

William Arruda is the Founder of Reach Personal Branding, the #1 provider of personal branding services to Fortune 500 companies and leading universities. He also serves as Chief Content Officer for Beyond B-School. William is a regular presenter at top tier graduate schools of business, including Harvard, Duke, NYU, Berkeley, Wharton, University of Michigan, UCLA and Cornell, and he lectures and consults for executives at top corporations, such as Johnson and Johnson, Price Waterhouse, Sheraton, Microsoft, Disney, Ogilvy and J.P. Morgan. William is the co-author of Ditch, Dare, Do : Stand Out By Building Your Brand, a guidebook with the tools managers need to differentiate themselves from their peers and thrive in today’s job market.

Ross Macpherson is the President of Career Quest, an executive resume writing and career marketing business, and a recognized expert in advanced career strategies – the strategies that have consistently put his clients miles ahead of their competition. Macpherson is a Certified Personal Branding Strategist, Certified Interview and Job Search Coach, and is recognized as one of the best resume writers in North America. Ross has 15 years experience in career development and specializes in the senior and executive market with clients throughout the U.S. and Canada and overseas.

Viveka is known internationally as the “LinkedIn Networking Expert.” Author of “LinkedIn Marketing: An Hour A Day” for John Wiley & Sons, she is also a regular source on LinkedIn for prestigious news outlets such as Forbes, Money Magazine, Mashable.com, Ragan.com, SocialMediaExaminer.com, CNN and The Miami Herald. Viveka is the host of the biggest LinkedIn chat on Twitter: #LinkedInChat (Recently quoted by Mashable as one of the top 10 business blogs) and co-moderator of LinkedStrategies, the largest LinkedIn strategy group on LinkedIn. She is constantly learning, sharing and transferring social media skills and strategies to her tribe. She has over 29,000 first level connections and a network of over 31 million people on LinkedIn, and 52,000+ followers on Twitter. Her seminars, webinars and workshops have taught and trained well over 100,000 people. She is distinguished among the elite in social media:

Steve Dalton is Senior Associate Director of the Career Management Center at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, and author of The 2-Hour Job Search: Using Technology to Get the Right Job FASTER. He earned his own MBA at Fuqua, as well as a chemical engineering undergraduate degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Prior to entering the career services industry, Steve was an associate marketing manager at General Mills and a strategy consultant at A.T. Kearney.

Sean Campbell is the CEO of Cascade Insights, a specialized market research firm focused on providing competitive and market intelligence services to Fortune 500 and mid-market tech companies.
Sean is regularly asked to educate companies and business groups on the process of conducting real world competitive and market intelligence projects. Past events have been hosted by organizations such as the Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals Society, the Marketing Research Association, the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, the Silicon Valley Product Management Association, the Investigative Reporters and Editors association, business schools such as MIT’s Sloan Management School, and the campuses of well known organizations such as Microsoft, T-Mobile, Symantec, Merck, Exxon, and 3M.
Sean is also the author of several books; his latest is 

Going Beyond Google: Gathering Intelligence</em>, now in its 4th edition.
Finally, Sean regularly gives his time to worthy causes. Over the last few years he has volunteered as a youth baseball and soccer coach, served on the board of the Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals society, and taught Industry Analysis and Competitive Intelligence courses as a Contributing Assistant Professor at the Atkinson Management School in Salem, Oregon.

Hannah Morgan is a speaker and author on job search and social media strategies. She delivers fresh advice and serves as a guide to the treacherous terrain of today’s workplace landscape. Hannah’s experience in Human Resources, Outplacement Services, Workforce Development and Career Services equip her with a 360-degree-perspective on job search topics. Recognized by media and career professionals, Hannah is an advocate who encourages job seekers to take control of their job search. Hannah is frequently quoted in local and national publications and she writes a weekly column for U.S. News & World Report. Hannah is the author of The Infographic Resume (McGraw Hill Education, 2014) and co-author of Social Networking for Business Success (Learning Express, 2013). You can learn more about Hannah on CareerSherpa.net and by following her on Twitter at @careersherpa.

Taura Prosek is Director of Career Management for Evening & Executive MBA Programs at the Wisconsin School of Business. She is responsible for providing career services for MBA students and alumni, which consists of one to one coaching, workshops, speaker events, networking events, and virtual career offerings. Taura joined the UW-Madison in 2013 after spending over 20 years in the corporate sector, including 6 years in various recruitment and talent management roles. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1993 and her Master’s degree from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in 2000.

Michael Goodman is founder and President of Dialogue Marketing Group, a management consulting firm specializing in strategic planning, product and corporate positioning, branding, and optimizing the elements of the traditional marketing mix. He is author of four business books, including The Potato Chip Difference: How to Apply Leading Edge Marketing Strategies to Landing the Job You Want, and is an expert interviewer. Michael’s formal education includes an undergraduate degree in industrial engineering from Purdue University, a master’s degree in business, and PhD-level studies at Stanford University in marketing/business.

Joshua Waldman is recognized as one of the nation’s top authorities in using Social Media to drive an executive level job search. He is the author of Job Searching with Social Media for Dummies. Joshua is in demand across the nation for radio, TV, and press interviews. He conducts trainings, speeches and webinars for career and professional organizations, including MBA career services professional organizations and graduate schools of business. Joshua worked in technology marketing for over 10 years, including account management work at Cisco, and has an MBA from Boston University.

Assistant Dean, MBA Career Curricula of the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business. Patty worked for over 20 years as Master Recruiter, Trainer and Human Resource Manager. She managed recruiting efforts for major employers and served as a relationship agent, navigating employer/employee relationships to complete placement assignments. Patty shared this expertise with professionals new to the recruiting industry as Trainer. Her final ten years in industry also included the performance of HR generalist functions.

Susan Whitcomb is founder and president of The Academies, including Career Coach Academy, Job Search Academy & Leadership Coach Academy. With more than two decades of experience as an author and speaker, Susan motivates her audiences to tap into the awareness, attitudes, and action plans that cause a life-changing shift from stagnant or stuck to unstoppable. Susan is co-author of The Twitter Job Search Guide and author of Job Search Magic, Interview Magic, and Resume Magic. Her book, 30-Day Job Promotion: Build a Powerful Promotion Plan in a Month, is part of JIST’s popular Help-in-a-Hurry series. Susan has been a careers columnist and featured chat guest for numerous media outlets.

Sara Canaday presents at and leads workshops on leadership and emotional intelligence for top companies, including Charles Schwab, IBM, Dell, VM Ware, Deloitte Consulting and Allstate. She speaks to MBA students at the University of Texas McCombs School of Business and for the National Society of Hispanic MBAs. Sara graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Communications, and from Incarnate Word University in San Antonio with an MBA. Her post-graduate studies include certifications in communication, business image, and emotional intelligence. Sara also has taught MBA-level courses in human relations at St. Edward’s University in Austin.

Deb Dib is President of Executive Power Brand, a CEO Coach and co-author of the Twitter Job Search Guide (2010). She has helped pioneer several industry best practices, including the composition and use of leadership addenda, case studies, networking resumes, branded bios, branded value propositions, creating LinkedIn profiles as a service, and (in the new Twitter Job Search Guide) the 160me Twitter bio, Twit-Fit resumes, 10-tweet cover letters, and the Twitter “Brand to Land Plan.” In addition, Deb Dib is a Reach Certified Personal Branding Strategist and holds professional certifications in numerous related specializations. She is a contributor to 30+ career guides, and is a regularly featured presenter and keynote. Deb is co-author of Ditch, Dare, Do.

Darrell Gurney is a 25+-year recruiter and career advisor who coaches professionals at all levels to make profitable career transitions or to create thriving businesses. Conferring with a career-coaching firm right out of business school, Darrell used a “backdoor” job search method to meet with seven CFOs of the top Hollywood entertainment studios, landing an international financial position with MGM/United Artists Pictures. Darrell has since taken his knowledge of effective networking and developed a way to share it with others. Darrell is also the author of Never Apply for a Job Again: Break the Rules, Cut the Line, Beat the Rest.

Leslie Grossman has 25 years of professional experience as an entrepreneur, CEO of a marketing company, and founder of Women’s Leadership Exchange. Leslie speaks around the world, consults and trains on leadership, entrepreneurship, business development, marketing and career development. As the Chief Connections Officer at Cojourneo, Leslie develops business and learning opportunities through collaborative partnerships. At the core of her strategy is the ‘link out’ model of building life long collaborative relationships, as detailed in her forthcoming book “Link Out: How to Turn Your Network into a Chain of Lasting Connectors” (Wiley, Feb, 2013).

Chris Westfall is the national elevator pitch champion, and the author of The NEW Elevator Pitch. He has appeared on CNN, ABC-NEWS, NBC-TV, and in The New York Post. He’s coached clients on Dragon’s Den, and helped secure multi-million dollar revenues, opportunities and investments for a variety of organizations. Campus seminars and keynotes include OSU, Alpha Omicron Pi, The University of Pennsylvania, The University of Texas, Booth School of Business/ University of Chicago, Southeastern Panhellenic, TCU, Kansas State, Texas A&M and many many others. And, he’s an award-winning instructor at the #12-rated MBA program in the country! For student organizations, Chris unlocks the secrets of leadership, influence and persuasion with a high-energy, interactive presentation.

Jason Alba is the author of I’m on LinkedIn—Now What? and I’m on Facebook—Now What? and CEO of the career management tool JibberJobber.com. He is passionate about all things related to career management, from understanding the job search environment to knowing what professionals can do to create some kind of “job security.” Jason brings passion and energy in speeches and workshops to leading graduate schools of business, including UCLA, Queens College (Ontario, Canada), Pepperdine, University of Virginia and IE (Madrid, Spain). He has an IT and business background, and earned a Jason Alba: Computer Information Systems degree and an MBA from University of Michigan.

Scott Swigart is the co-owner of Cascade Insights, founded in 2006 and focused on providing competitive intelligence, qualitative market research and strategic marketing services to clients in the hardware and software industries so that they can more effectively assess, compete with and surpass the competition. He is co-author of Go Beyond Google: Gathering Internet Intelligence and 3 books on technology industry best practices and regular writer and presenter on qualitative research and competitive intelligence topics.

Jordan Friedman is the author of The Stress Manager’s Manual, and the voice of ‘Alice,’ the first online source of straightforward answers to questions about stress, sex and other wellness topics on Columbia University’s acclaimed Go Ask Alice website. As longtime director of Columbia’s health education program, Jordan also penned hundreds of Internet and newspaper columns on everything from muscular relaxation to bedtime communication, and he co-authored the popular Go Ask Alice Book Of Answers. Jordan’s dedication to sustained stress reduction also drives his Stressbusters program, a continuous outreach magnet that now connects nearly 200,000 students and staff with stress reduction and wellness information at Harvard, St. John’s, the University of Missouri and other schools.

A nationally-known pioneer and thought leader in career coaching, Jack has helped thousands of people to find work that is satisfying and well-paid. He has helped them to develop a vision for their long-term future, then provided the structure and support to help them reach it. His book, “Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1000 a Minute” has helped people across America to get fairly compensated for their work. It is recognized nationally as the “bible” of salary negotiations. His one-on-one coaching has helped high-profile executives to add hundreds of thousands to their compensation, middle managers to finally get paid for the value they bring to the company, and hourly-wage workers to bargain for extra benefits or perks.

Paul is a former corporate finance attorney, software executive, and serial entrepreneur. As a nationally recognized time management expert, he helps lawyers and legal professionals regain control of their day, get more done, and enjoy greater personal and professional satisfaction. Paul is the creator of the revolutionary QuietSpacing® productivity method and speaks regularly to professionals about making better use of their limited time.

Author of The 11 Laws of Likability and Heroes Get Hired, keynote speaker, executive coach, and founder of Executive Essentials, a training company that provides communications and leadership programs, as well as executive coaching services. Michelle was an Adjunct Professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business and served on the faculty of the American Management Association. Michelle has appeared on a multitude of TV and radio shows across the country including CBS Money Watch, Fox 5’s Good Day NY, and over 100 radio shows such as; Gayle King, NPR, Martha Stewart Living, and The John Tesh Show. She has been quoted in the New York Times, The Star Ledger, Working Mother and Real Simple magazines, US News & World Report, on MSNBC, and Monster.com among others. Her book, articles, quizzes and videos have been featured on USA Today, AOL, Forbes, CNBC, and About.com. Michelle spent ten years in finance beginning her career as a Certified Public Accountant in Arthur Andersen’s audit practice, later joining Primedia as a mergers & acquisitions analyst. Her experience ranges from venture capital to hedge funds and includes positions as a financial strategist with Deloitte Consulting, a hedge fund investment adviser for HypoVereins Bank, and a director of communications at Investor Analytics, an alternative asset risk management firm. Michelle is involved in extensive volunteer and community advocacy. She received her MBA, with honors, from Columbia Business School, and her coaching certification from the Institute for Professional Empowerment Coaching and is accredited by the International Coaching Federation.

Jodi is an expert in training young people how to be Great on the Job. Jodi is an entrepreneur, author, public speaker, consultant and regular blogger for Harvard Business Review. She is a faculty member of the Johnson School’s Leadership Program at Cornell and a contributor to Fortune.Com and Business Insider. Her new book: Great on the Job, What to Say, How to Say It, The Secrets of Getting Ahead has been described as a veritable master class in workplace success. Jodi has trained some of the best and brightest young minds in business—her clients include Harvard Business School, Wharton, NYU Stern School of Business, Kellogg School of Management, BofA/Merrill, Citigroup, Baird & Co., The Forte Foundation, and 85 Broads, among others. Jodi has appeared on MSNBC and her career advice has been featured in the New York Times, USA Today, Business Week, WSJ finance, CNN Money, Woman’s Day, Real Simple Magazine, MSN Careers, Yahoo! and Career Builder.com.

Ellis has had a diversified, extensive experience in career and executive coaching, management consulting, and training in corporations, consulting companies, private practice, and colleges and universities. His corporate clients have included Deloitte, General Electric, Estee Lauder, Goldman Sachs, The Gartner Group, Purdue Pharma, Swiss Re America, ING Capital, Penguin Putnam, American Civil Liberties Union, Hess Corporation, and Citigroup. His employment history includes several years as Managing Director at Right Management Consultants and Systems Staffing Officer with the Chase Manhattan Bank. Ellis was an instructor with the Center for Career, Education, and Life Planning at New York University from 1987-2006, and, since 2001, has been a retained consultant to Columbia Business School in Alumni Relations, Career Management, and the Program for Social Intelligence. He has appeared on CNN, CNBC, and several radio programs, and has been a regular contributor to career websites and newspapers. He is a founding member of the New York Chapter of the Association of Career Management Professionals International.

Philip has developed, delivered, and supervised communication training programs for a wide range of managerial, administrative, and technical professionals in corporate, government, and academic environments. He has also taught writing and presentation skills on the graduate and undergraduate university levels, most recently for the Beijing International MBA program at Peking University. He has provided writing coaching and assessment services for thousands of corporate employees. Dr. Vassallo is the author of the popular blog Words on the Line and the books How to Write Fast Under Pressure, on writing efficiently; The Art of On-the-Job Writing, on work-related writing;The Art of E-Mail Writing, on business email. He holds a doctorate in educational theory from Rutgers University and is a past- president of the New Jersey College English Association.

Brenda Bernstein is the #1 best-selling author of How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile—a book that has been featured in Forbes and Fortune Magazines and that has outpaced sales of books by the Harvard Business Review. An admissions consultant as well as a Certified Master Resume Writer and Certified Executive Resume Writer, Brenda holds a B.A. in English from Yale University and a J.D. from the NYU School of Law. Her team at The Essay Expert LLC works personally with hundreds of MBA applicants and businesspeople to bring their academic and professional careers to the next level.

Miriam Salpeter, M.A., founder of Keppie Careers, is a well known and influential job search and social media subject matter expert. CNN called her a 'top 10 job tweeter you should be following' and Mashable listed her as a 'top 5 career influencer.” Quoted in a variety of publications, including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, Miriam’s writing regularly appears in outlets such as Business Insider and U.S. News & World Report. Forbes named Miriam’s blog a 'best career resource.' Author of Social Networking for Career Success (in its second edition) and co-author of 100 Conversations for Career Success and Social Networking for Business Success, Miriam is a preferred career coach partner for the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan and a highly-regarded keynote speaker, trainer and coach for job seekers, business owners and organizations.

Katharine (Kathy) Hansen, Ph.D., creative director and associate publisher of Quintessential Careers, is an online educator, author, and blogger who provides content for Quintessential Careers, edits its newsletter QuintZine, and blogs about storytelling at A Storied Career. Kathy, who earned her PhD from Union Institute & University authored You Are More Accomplished Than You Think,Tell Me About Yourself, Dynamic Cover Letters for New Graduates, A Foot in the Door, Top Notch Executive Interviews,Top Notch Executive Resumes; and with Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D., Dynamic Cover Letters, Write Your Way to a Higher GPA, and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Study Skills.

Jaymin J. Patel is a coach, speaker, and author of 7 books including The MBA Guide to Networking Like a Rockstar and Confessions of an MBA Interviewer. Jaymin received his MBA from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University and leveraged his Rockstar networking and interview techniques to land a position at a top management consulting firm at the age of 24. He has been “on the other side of the table” working as a recruiter/interviewer in charge of assessing and hiring MBA and industry candidates into his firm for ~4 years. Jaymin is a popular MBA speaker, having delivered well over 100 presentations and webinars, reaching tens of thousands of MBAs and industry professionals around the globe with his Rockstar Approach. He is also a career coach providing services to a variety of universities and colleges throughout North America.

Dan is the author of the book Power Ties: The International Student’s Guide to Finding a Job in the United States. He was the Campus Recruiting Manager for Monster.com where he constructed and managed the company’s first formal university recruiting program, including the growth and management of Monster’s MBA Executive Development and Leadership program. Prior to joining Monster, Dan was the Associate Director of Corporate Recruiting for the Boston University School of Management where he developed the international student employment series. Dan began his career in management consulting, and also spent time as a headhunter during the dot.com boom and bust. He now works in business development for two international organizations, providing career content and international relations software to the higher education industry.

Mark is a Director of the Immigration Practice Group of the law firm of McCandlish Holton, PC. Mark regularly provides immigration advice and visa processing services to US employers as well as university career services offices from coast-to-coast. He has extensive expertise in all temporary work visa categories and permanent resident categories. Mark is listed in Best Lawyers in America in Immigration Law, and is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Steven uses his UNIQUE 3-STEP JOB SEARCH COACHING APPROACH to help international business school students, recent grads, executives and professionals to identify and land meaningful careers and jobs through his books, seminars, workshops, and job search and career coaching practices. Steven's job search and career workshops are sponsored by over a dozen colleges and universities. In 2014, he continues as career and job search coach to the MBA programs at Northern Illinois University and the primary career coach at InternshipDesk. Steven is the author of the #1 job search book for international students, 3 STEPS TO YOUR JOB IN THE USA. Prior to career coaching, Steven's career included management at IBM and U.S. subsidiaries of Indian, Chinese, and French global technology companies. Steven holds a degree in Psychology from CUNY and a Certificate in Marketing Management from Wharton. He is on the the Advisory Boards of The Careers College, InternshipDesk, and Consult Global.

Dr. Deirdre Mendez is the Director of the Center for International Business and Education Research (CIBER) in the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. In this role, she oversees the development and implementation of programs designed to enhance the competitiveness of U.S. business through the internationalization of business education. She holds a PhD in linguistics, and worked as a consultant to U.S. corporations developing international strategies for 20 years before coming to UT-Austin. Since returning to academia, she has been a leader in CIBER’s work to develop resources that strengthen students’ and executives’ adaptability to the international context. Dr. Mendez teaches intercultural management and teambuilding to undergraduates, MBA students and executives. She has developed an academic framework and training system to facilitate intercultural adaptability and problem solving. The Executive Tool Kit is currently used at The University of Texas and other universities to teach international management and leadership courses, help students and businesspeople adapt to new cultural environments during study abroad, international internships, and service learning programs, and facilitate integration of culturally diverse teams of executives.

Susan Masson is the Senior Associate Director of MBA Career Management at the McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin. Before coming to McCombs, she honed her advising skills in a variety of roles including Assistant Director of International Studies at Villanova University and Director of International Programs at Presbyterian College. Susan began working with the Texas MBA Program in 2006 as an Academic Advisor and Exchange Coordinator and moved on to run short term study tours in 2008 as part of the MBA+ team. Nearly 700 Texas MBAs explored new destinations under her guidance. Susan began working in career advising in 2011 with a focus on the recruiting needs of international students and now manages the full-time career management team.

Nancy has devoted herself to coming up with innovative approaches which enable Internationals to quickly adapt to North American culture and feel confident in challenging social situations. She is the co-author of Soft Skills for Hard Situations and co-creator of the American Business Communication curriculum. She has helped thousands of international students thrive in U.S. business culture. Nancy owned a graphic design firm for 18 years and holds a BA in Education and a MA in Teaching English as a Second Language, both from Arizona State University.

Lilly is the CEO of Savvy Rookies, leading a team of top-notch career and industry experts in the U.S. to provide the best job search and career skills training and resources for international students to compete in the global job market. As a former investment banker at Morgan Stanley in NYC and a consultant in Boston, Lilly has recruited, trained, and mentored hundreds of graduate and undergraduate students from top schools who aim to pursue highly competitive career tracks globally. Lilly has also worked closely with senior diversity officers to recruit talent at leading companies on and off Wall Street such as Goldman Sachs, Citi, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, Federal Reserve Bank of NY, Moody’s, Capital One, American Express, Vanguard, and ExxonMobil. Previously an international student and having lived in the U.S. for the past 17 years, Lilly is passionate about accelerating the career success of international students. A decade before founding SavvyRookies, Lilly was one of the co-founders of Career Counseling for Chinese (CCC), the first US-based non-profit organization dedicated to providing career workshops to 500+ international students and young professionals in the greater Boston area. Lilly holds an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, an MA in Economics from the University of Washington, and a BA in Finance from Tsinghua University in China.

Mauricio has over 10 years of strong HR generalist and specialist background and global, regional, and cross sector work experience. He is currently the International Recruitment & Development (IRDP) Manager at JOHNSON & JOHNSON Corporate, leading a 3-person team to manage the International MBA Leadership Development Program. The team hires and develops talent for all sectors, functions and regions outside the U.S., managing internship, and full – time positions for over 120 new hires per year.

Nell leads University Relations and Recruiting at Pitney Bowes.

She is responsible to:
Interview and source for the best talent coming out of campus
Plan and execute programing and developmental opportunities for interns
Work with Diversity and Inclusion to facilitate diversity initiatives at the campus level
Strategize with HR on workforce planning initiatives
Utilize Taleo, Avature and OrgPlus to manage data
Partner with our Employer Branding department to ensure our story is told at the campus level
Create collateral with campus data for internal stakeholders
Pre-screen every applicant coming out of campus to ensure fit
Partner with Universities on mutually beneficial initiatives, such as recruiting and research projects
 

Senior Associate of ICF International. Licensed attorney with experience in environmental, international, and administrative law. Specialization at ICF International includes the development, interpretation, and utilization of regulations as well as legal research and writing. Also serves as technical liaison for all Eastern U.S. college recruitment activities for environmental, energy, and transportation positions.

Cynthia joined Houlihan Lokey as Global Head of Recruiting to head up the HL's recruiting, training and mentoring efforts. She is responsible for coordinating the on-campus and lateral recruiting, training as well as other related activities. Prior to joining Houlihan Lokey, she worked as Senior Associate Director at The Wharton School's MBA Career Management office. Prior to that, she was with JP Morgan where she specialized in Structured Products, credit and insurance derivative products and Mergers and Acquisitions. While at JP Morgan, Cynthia also managed the firm's Market Analyst and Associate Program and managed the Markets and Securitization Training Programs.

Highly accomplished professional with proven success managing sales, marketing, strategic planning, channel development and project management within high profile organizations. Consistently promoted into leadership roles based on delivered results, adaptability, strategy development & execution, and P&L optimization. Decisive leader with expertise in identifying growth opportunities, penetrating untapped markets and surpassing sales targets. Committed to marketing excellence by improving customer experience and proactively addressing their needs. Native in Portuguese and fluent in English. Additional expertise includes:
 

• Budgeting and P&L Responsibility
• Market Research & Competitive Analysis
• Segmenting, Targeting & Positioning
• Marketing Plan Development
• New Product Development & Introduction
• Channel Development
• Pricing Strategies
• Revenue Growth & Business Development
• OEM Account Management
• Sales Management & Strategic Planning
• 6 Sigma Black Belt Certified
• Coaching & Developing

Qiaoli (Echo) Gao is a MBA graduate (class 2013) from Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland. She currently works as a Business Development Manager for Infosys, a multinational IT and consulting company. Prior to her MBA study, Echo worked in China as a Sales Manager for a manufacturing company for five and a half years. She also holds a Bachelor's of Arts degree in International Business from Hunan University, China. At present, Echo and her husband reside in Dallas, TX, and they both love travelling in their spare time.

Dhruv earned a MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Class of 2012) with a concentration in Strategy and Finance and currently works as an Associate Project Manager for EXL Services Ltd. Dhruv is a seasoned professional with more than 6 years of experience. He has an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering. His work experience is diverse and spread across different industries and roles, from a Business Development Engineer in an Automobile Firm to a Consultant with a Human Resource Consulting Firm and a Professional Services Firm (Big 4). This wide range of experience helps him bring new perspectives to the table.

Marcelo is the International Student MBA career coach at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. While earning his MBA in Finance at the University of Oregon as an international student, Marcelo worked in career services helping address the job search needs of students with F1 and J1 visas. After earning his MBA, Marcelo worked for companies such as Avaya, Cisco and Shoretel as an account manager and a project manager. Throughout his 20-year stay in the United States, Marcelo has mentored and professionally coached many MBAs who have secured quality jobs in the US.