SEBA Student Graduate Award Winners Announced

Master of Business Administration Award:   Jennifer Fox, EMBA

Bio: Jennifer Fox graduated from St. Mary’s Executive MBA Program in March '17. Jennifer began her career in advertising, after receiving a BS in Marketing from Oakland University. Jennifer has worked at various advertising agencies, most notably Goodby, Silverstein and Partners, where she was an Associate Partner. 

She led award-winning campaigns for Saturn, Nextel, and Sprint, as well as established the global advertising operational structure for Chevrolet and Cisco. Jennifer recently joined Kodak Alaris as the Global Advertising and Marketing Director for Direct-to-Consumer products. Combining her years of experience with her MBA education Jennifer is now focused on re-inventing Kodak, one of the world’s most iconic brands

Master of Business Administration Award:  Trushar Patel, EMBA 

Bio: Trushar Patel currently works at Cobham as Project Manager/Team Lead for Mechanical Design Department (Since Feb 2006). His job is to create industry leading designs that create profit and reliable products for our customers. The Concord division, where he works, designs satellite communication antenna for the marine industry. During his tenure with Cobham, Patel has acquired more than 2 patents in satellite tracking antenna technology.

Trushar worked in India for Larsen and Toubro, from 2000 to 2002. After being selected for two companies during campus interviews, he went with Larsen and Toubro (L&T) in Project manager capacity. He passed Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering with Distinction (Honors) from MS University of Gujarat India. Trushar came to US in August 2002 for the MS in Mechanical Engineering at Cleveland State University, Ohio, which he completed in 2005. He then moved to California in 2005 and worked for a company in Silicon Valley for less than a year.

"I joined the MBA program in order to advance in the management area. The EMBA program has helped me tremendously," said Patel.  

Master of Science In Accounting Award:  Teresa Hawk, MS Accounting 

Bio: Teresa Hawk received her BA in Political Science from Vassar College, her International MBA (IMBA) from the University of South Carolina, and her MS in Accounting from Saint Mary's College.

Hawk worked for the Chase Manhattan Bank for 10 years in trading and sales of interest rate derivatives in the New York and Tokyo offices. She also owned and managed a small retail business in Charlotte, North Carolina for 7 years. Most recently Hawk worked as the Treasurer and Chief Administrative Officer of a start up, Derivative Path, Inc., in Walnut Creek. She will start working in audit for KPMG in the fall.

Master of Science in Financial Analysis and Investment Award: Maxime Olivan, MS-FAIM 

Bio: Olivan was born and raised in France. He moved to the USA in 2009 to attend Saint Mary’s College and play tennis for the College. "I graduated with a Bachelor’s in Finance in 2012 and found a job immediately after. I worked for 3 years as a Financial Analyst for a publicly traded manufacturing company where I was responsible for the forecasting, budgeting and P&L analysis of the Aftermarket Parts business line. In 2015, I decided to further my education and came back to Saint Mary’s College to do a masters in Financial Analysis and Investment Management. I worked part-time during FAIM as I felt it was important for me to dedicate most of my time to learning and understanding the material taught in class. I graduated in September 2016 and got a job at Bank of the West as a Senior Financial Analyst shortly after with responsibilities such as Risk Weighted Assets analysis, forecasting and budgeting under European regulatory rules (Basell III). In December 2016, I sat for the CFA Level 1 exam and successfully passed the test. I am a CFA Level II June 2017 candidate," said Olivan.

"Saint Mary’s has taught me most of what I know today. I feel the FAIM program has prepared me in the best possible way to tackle the challenges I encounter at work. It has also prepared me well for the CFA curriculum. I will always remember the faculty of FAIM. I cannot say enough how valuable it was for me to learn from professors who all had brilliant backgrounds and careers. Most importantly they have made themselves available during and after the program to help in any way they could. Thanks to them, I got an education, a job, and friends for life!"

Master of Science in Management Award:  Alexander Brooks, MS-Management 

Bio: Alexander Brooks grew up locally going to school at Miramonte High School before attending Pepperdine University. At Pepperdine he excelled academically graduating with honors as a member of Psychology and Philosophy honors societies. He worked a variety of jobs during his undergraduate career including a librarian, an ambassador for MEDAIR and an aquaponics farmer, but mostly worked in education. During the summer he worked as an Extended Care Coordinator at Camp Galileo in Oakland and during the school year worked as a tutor and at the Boys and Girls Club in Malibu. After graduation Zander will be headed to Tunisia to teach English and film with Lights Camera Learn, an international non-profit dedicated to cross-cultural creative education. He is very honored to be here tonight representing the first MSM cohort at Saint Mary’s.

Master of Science in Business Analytics Award: Imani Dunbar, MS-Business Analytics    

Bio: Imani Dunbar will be graduating this June in the Master of Science in Business Analytics Program. Imani is a business analytics and strategy consultant with over 15 years of professional services experience at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC). She is currently a Director in the Advanced Risk & Compliance Analytics practice. In her 15 years at PwC, she has worked on projects for nearly all of the Fortune 100 companies, with professional travel taking her to Mexico, Toronto, Singapore, London, Dubai, and beyond.

Dunbar is an eternal student whose passion lies equally in learning and in educating others; with an unparalleled ability to be self-motivated and to motivate others to perform at optimum levels.

Her accolades include being a recipient of PwC's "Chairman's Team Award"; a recipient of the firm's "Lifetime Achievement Award", and winning an NCAA Women's Basketball National Championship with the University of Notre Dame.

Master of Business Administration Award:  Shelby De Mello, Professional MBA

Bio: Shelby De Mello grew up in Sonoma County, and pursued her undergraduate education at UC Davis. She cultivated a passion for communications at a PR agency in Sacramento, before developing her skills in marketing at Raley’s where she supported competitive marketing initiatives through the award winning Something Extra loyalty program. Soon, she caught the bug, and knew that she had a talent and passion for marketing. Shelby returned her roots at HALL Wines in the Napa Valley, as a Marketing Coordinator where she drove winery and ecommerce sales through targeted digital marketing initiatives. During that time, Shelby decided to continue to develop her skills and knowledge in marketing and business strategy in the Professional MBA program focusing on Marketing at Saint Mary’s. Most recently, Shelby has joined Peet’s Coffee in Emeryville, where she is an Associate Marketing Manager, supporting the development and marketing of your favorite beverages at your local Peet’s coffeebar.