ABOUT US
Feona Castro
Feona is a second-year MBA student at NYU Stern specializing in Finance and Sustainable Business and Innovation. Prior to Stern, Feona served as Director of Communications and Investment Analyst at the Community Development Venture Capital Alliance (CDVCA), a 501 (c)(3) network of impact investing funds in the US. She has also played an active part in the development of the social enterprise sector in the Philippines. In 2014, she co-founded an internationally recognized social enterprise, which aims to revolutionize relief operations management in disaster-stricken areas. Feona holds an undergraduate degree in Business Management from Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines.
Eleanor Margaret Conlee
Ellie is a second-year MBA student at NYU Stern, specializing in Finance and Sustainable Business & Innovation. She holds a BSBA in Marketing from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown. Prior to pursuing her MBA, she worked in the Buying Corporate Office for Bloomingdales, later moving to a Product Manager role at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. She also was involved as a mentor and Associate Board member for non-profit, Minds Matter NYC. In the summer of 2019, she was an investment banking Summer Associate at Morgan Stanley.
Eli Emigh *Deal Team Leader
Eli is a second year MPA student at NYU Wagner Specializing in Social Innovation, Impact, and
Investment. He has expertise in policy & advocacy, social impact, finance and investment, and
sustainable development. Eli currently works with 17 Asset Management’s Research and Asset
Management departments to develop thought leadership around innovative finance and developing he some of the world’s first SDG-aligned private investment vehicles. Prior to NYU, Eli spent four years working in politics, education, and nonprofits driving social impact through youth advocacy at the state& local level. He holds a BA in Global Political Economy from Pitzer College, a member of the Claremont
Colleges.
Jamie Friedland
Jamison Friedland is a second-year MBA student specializing in Sustainable Business and Corporate Finance. Prior to NYU, Jamison graduated from Northwestern University as an economics major. He began his career trading, first in equity options before transitioning into fixed income, primarily interest rates. Before starting at Stern, Jamison interned with multiple impact-focused organizations organizations including Rainforest Alliance and NYU Stern's Center for Sustainable Business. This past summer he interned within the World Bank Group at the International Finance Corporation in their Climate Business Department.
Jennifer Fung
Jennifer is an MPA candidate at NYU Wagner specializing in Social Impact, Innovation, and
Investment. She currently serves as a Management Reporting Associate at the Federal Reserve
Bank of New York focusing on process optimization and automation initiatives. Prior, she spent 4
years at JPMorgan Chase & Co. where she held roles in Asset Wealth Management and Mortgage Operations. She earned a BA in Economics and Business Management from Skidmore College. Jennifer is originally from San Francisco, CA.
Paul Gao
Paul is an MPA student at NYU Wagner specializing in Financial Management and Public Finance. Prior to NYU, he has obtained his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Babson College, concentrating in Finance and Business Analytics. This summer, he worked at Guidehouse, a management consulting firm that is formerly PwC Public Sector. At Guidehouse, he supports Financial Services Practice with the management of a large Federal loan program. He has a strong interest in finance and has gained demonstrated internship experience in the financial services industry, including private equity and investment banking. He is a CFA Level III Candidate.
Kyungye Hyun
Kyungye is a second-year MBA student at NYU Stern, specializing in Finance and Sustainable Business and Innovation. Prior to pursuing her MBA, she was a corporate banker at KEB Hana Bank. She holds a BS in Economics and Business Administration at Ewha Womans University. While pursuing her MBA, she served as a student team member for Ashoka Social Financial Services, which collaborated with NYU Wagner. In the summer of 2019, she was an investment banking Summer Associate in the Financial Sponsors Group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Sindhu Janakiram
Sindhu is a second-year MPA candidate at NYU Wagner specializing in Social Impact, Innovation, and Investment. Previously, he was a Senior Associate with PwC Advisory Financial Services based in New York, NY for seven years, and primarily focused on executing large scale technology change programs for Asset Management clients. This past Summer, Sindhu was selected as a Fellow at 17 Asset Management, an asset management company that seeks to achieve its clients’ financial objectives while advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. He serves as the Co-Chair of the Social Innovation & Investment Alliance (SIIA) and holds a B.S. in Computer Information Systems from Arizona State University.
San Jewett
Sam is a second-year MPA-PNP candidate focusing on Social Impact, Innovation, and Investment. This past summer, Sam worked for Sonen Capital, an impact investing firm based in San Francisco. Sam performed due diligence on potential deals, developed impact metrics, researched market trends, and wrote a funds impact report on gender. Prior to studying at NYU, Sam developed partnerships between Saint Paul Public Schools and local businesses, social entrepreneurs, and nonprofits for non-school day programming. Sam also served in the Peace Corps Morocco for three years. Sam is passionate about race, equity, and inclusion in impact investing.
Luke Jones
Luke Jones is a second-year MPA student at NYU Wagner specializing in Social Impact, Innovation, and Investment and serves on the board of Wagner’s Social Innovation and Investment Alliance (SIIA). As an undergraduate in Cornell University’s Policy Analysis & Management department Luke worked as Program Administrator for a food justice nonprofit in Ithaca, NY. He now serves as Program Officer for the New Markets Tax Credit program at TruFund Financial Services, a CDFI providing financing in disadvantaged communities across the country, and has managed their growing NMTC portfolio over the past three years.
Minji Kim
Minji is a second-year MPA student at NYU Wagner specializing in Social Impact, Innovation and Investment. She was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, where she worked extensively with North Korean defectors to support their assimilation. Minji graduated from Princeton University with a B.A. in Sociology and prior to NYU, worked as a Development Associate at Association to Benefit Children, a non-profit that provides a range of evidence-based programs to underserved children and families in New York City. Last summer, Minji worked as an Investment Banking Summer Analyst at SMBC Nikko Securities.
Alexis King
Alexis King is a full-time Social Impact, Innovation, and Investment student in the MPA Public and Nonprofit Management & Policy Program heading into her second year at NYU Wagner. After graduating from Spelman College with a BA in Political Science, she moved back to her hometown of Montclair, NJ and shortly after relocated to Harlem to work as a program assistant at Living Cities. For over five years, Alexis has worked in philanthropy at several foundations and collaborative funding nonprofits, and most recently at JPMorgan Chase & Co. within their Global Philanthropy Group. At Wagner, she serves on the board of the Social Innovation and Investment Alliance and is a member of Wagner's Black Student Alliance. She is interested in exploring the intersection of race, equity, and inclusion, and social impact.
Pia Kochhar *Deal Team Leader
Pia is a second-year MBA student at NYU Stern, specializing in Strategy and Leadership & Change Management. Before Stern, Pia worked as a Marketing Associate for a social business start-up in Argentina and spent three years at an international development/public health consulting firm in Washington, D.C. Pia has worked on Ebola recovery projects in Sierra Leone and Liberia and led trainings for NGOs in Haiti. She spent her summer at JP Morgan Chase as part of the Chase Associate Program. Pia graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a degree in Economics and Political Science.
Ben Lawson *Deal Team Leader
Ben is a second-year MBA candidate, specializing in Finance and Accounting. Formerly, he worked in product development for a Lloyd's of London syndicate holder. He focused primarily on pricing specialty products, like cyber and management liability insurance. He also completed Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-B) training and volunteered at a suicide hotline to help satisfy an interest in community health. While studying at Stern, he interned in investment banking within the Financial Institutions Group at Citi, concentrating on fintech and insurance firms. Ben holds a Bachelor's degree with dual majors in mathematics and economics from Boston College.
Ben Levy
Ben graduated from Boston College with a double major in finance and marketing as an undergraduate and then spent 6 years prior to Stern in Fintech focused on Private Equity accounting and reporting solutions. His primary focus during that tenure was in Managed Services and as a product manager in Automated Solutions. Ben spent his summer internship in consulting with Strategy& and will continue in consulting post Stern. Originally from the Philadelphia area, Ben is passionate about Philadelphia sports, dogs, and sustainable business. he is driven to make the world a better place with a focus on improving the current environmental outlook.
Jessica Liang
Jessica is a second-year MBA student at NYU Stern specializing in Strategy and Sustainable Business & Innovation. She grew up in California and holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. Prior to Stern, she worked on crisis management projects at KPMG where she developed a passion for capital allocation for environmental issues. This past summer, Jessica interned with the innovative finance team at the NRDC.
Tara McHugh
Tara is an MBA student at NYU Stern specializing in Finance, Sustainable Business & Innovation, and Supply Chain Management & Global Sourcing. Prior to NYU, she spent seven years working at FactSet as a specialist for their portfolio performance and attribution tool. During her time at Stern, Tara had the opportunity to work as an MBA Fellow at West Elm on their Social Consciousness & Innovation team, where she studied social compliance disclosures and presented research on how the company can transition to an ESG framework. Tara holds a B.B.A in Finance and International Business from Villanova University
Simone Shaheen *SAB President
Simone is a second-year MPA candidate focusing on Social Impact, Innovation, and Investment. She brings to Wagner 4 years of experience working in Kenya and Uganda in microfinance and business development. In this role she was responsible for managing institutional partnerships and supporting the first-ever Development Impact Bond in Africa. Prior to her field experience, she was a professional equestrian showjumper, managing global operations for a private company. In the summer of 2019, she interned at a hedge fund focused on African investments. She is passionate about private sector development in emerging markets.
Mary McKenna
Mary is a Social Impact Consultant with a specialty in operations and finance. Mary has experience in building and growing several social impact startups in the US and India, including inclusive finance models at ACCION, Milaap.Org, and Gray Matters Capital. Mary holds a BA from the University of Notre Dame and is pursuing her MBA in Finance and Sustainable Business Innovation at NYU. Originally from Chicago, Mary is based in New York City.
Ignacio Paullier *Deal Team Leader
Ignacio is a second-year MPA student at NYU Wagner specializing in Social Impact, Innovation and Investment, currently working in Innovative Finance at UNDP. Previously, he worked for 6 years in fundraising and partnerships for Private Equity & Venture Capital Impact Investing funds at Sarona Asset Management, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Impact Amplifier, and Impact Investment Exchange. Recently, he spent his summer internship working in Innovative Finance at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Ignacio holds a BS in Banking and Finance from Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.
Nicole Shaia
Nicole is an MPA student at NYU Wagner specializing in Social Impact, Innovation, and Investment. She is interested in advancing the intersection of private and public sectors through innovative partnerships and impact investment. Over the course of her career in the non-profit sector, she has helped organizations create successful fundraising strategies, developed national outreach initiatives, and established cross-sector partnerships and collaborations to achieve revenue and impact growth. Nicole is currently the Director of Partnership & Development at PsychArmor Institute, a national organization that is catalyzing change for military communities through the power of technology and education. She has also worked for social impact organizations that focused on public health issues, poverty, and global hunger.
Junyi Wang
Junyi is a second-year MBA candidate specializing in Strategy and Finance. Prior to attending Stern, Junyi spent four years working on project development in the U.S., Asia, and Europe for utility-scale solar energy projects. Prior to this role, she worked in the North American Development Bank focusing on clean energy project financing. Her experience ranged from corporate development, principal investment, project finance, and equity exit transaction. Junyi grew up in China and holds a B.S. degree in Finance and Physics from Trinity University. She joined International Finance Corporate as an MBA fellow in their Climate Business Department in the summer of 2019.
Ziqi Wang *Deal Team Leader
Ziqi is a second-year part-time MBA student at NYU Stern, specializing in Product Management, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation. Ziqi is currently working as a business analyst in CME Group, where she also worked as sales and business analyst in Hong Kong and Shanghai before relocating to the U.S.. Throughout her career in exchange business, she has leveraged the business background to build client relationship and manage projects. She is passionate about understanding technologies applications in financial industry. Ziqi received a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Grace Earle *Marketing Chair
Grace is a second-year MPA candidate at NYU Wagner specializing in Social Impact, Innovation and Investment. Prior to pursuing her MPA, she worked at Taboola, an ad-tech company, as the Global Director of Knowledge Management. She is currently the Head of Impact at MPOWERD, a social enterprise that designs solar-powered lights and mobile chargers for off-grid communities around the world. She also holds leadership positions at NYC Against Hate and Forward Union, both progressive local activist organizations. Grace is passionate about translating her business skills into helping the private sector be a force for good.