The purpose of the center's Student Leadership and Ethics Board is to foster a culture and safeguard a tradition of principled leadership throughout the Columbia Business School community. The Board fulfills its purpose by developing, implementing and monitoring programs that cultivate leadership, build character, and promote ethical decision-making, which, in turn, enable Columbia Business School students to become productive, moral, and caring participants in their companies and communities.

Working with Bernstein Faculty Leaders, staff, alumni, and other student clubs, members of the Board develop, organize, and promote high-profile speakers through the Montrone Seminar Series on Ethics as well as sponsor Leadership and Ethics Week , various panels, and experiential learning activities throughout the year. These programs provide our Board members with the opportunity to interact closely with distinguished speakers, panelists, alumni and professors, as well as directly contribute to the student experience surrounding the topics of leadership and ethics. 

If you are interested in applying for the Board, please review our requirements and recruitment timeline.  For more information, please contact [email protected]. 

Board Members for 2020-2021

Sai Akshay Arun EMBA '22

Sai is a Vice President in the Treasury division of Bank of New York Mellon, where he focuses on optimizing the banks’ balance sheet and formulating the organizations long-term growth strategy. He has a keen interest in the intersection of finance, technology, and entrepreneurship. Outside the professional sphere, Sai enjoys sports and has represented India in international soccer matches. Sai holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Loyola College, India, where he graduated with a gold-medal for exemplary academic achievement.

Jake Axelrod MBA '22

Jake Axelrod is an MBA candidate at Columbia Business School. Prior to coming to CBS, Jake spent three years working in Client Strategy for the Impressionist & Modern art department at Christie’s, a global auction house. Prior to joining Christie’s, Jake worked as a management consultant at Kearney, formerly known as A.T. Kearney. Jake holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Geography from Northwestern University.

Donald Bradford EMBA '22

Donald Bradford (he/him/his) is an EMBA 2022 candidate at Columbia Business School. Donald has 18 years of New York City fashion design industry experience. He is currently the Senior Director of menswear design at Calvin Klein and has the honor of leading an international team. At his current role at Calvin Klein, he believes that he has an opportunity to leverage the brand within the industry and to actively push best practices within the supply chain. He is currently the Consumer Engagement Committee Chair at Calvin Klein. His goal as Committee Chair is to find opportunities to engage, partner and support the diverse local communities adjacent to the retail stores with the goal to foster long-term positive impact. Eventually, he would like to create an ethically and sustainably sourced brand.

Neimy Escobar MBA '22

Neimy is an MBA candidate at Columbia Business School with a focus in Finance. She is originally from Las Vegas, Nevada and holds a bachelor's degree in the Comparative Study of Religion from Harvard University. Prior to business school, Neimy worked as a strategy and impact investing project coordinator for the Lemann Foundation in São Paulo, Brazil. She is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and is drawn to a cross-sector partnership approach to philanthropy and the potential of leveraging private-sector platforms to make social change.

Robert Flock MBA '22

Robert Flock is an MBA Candidate at Columbia Business School. Throughout his 12 year career in government relations and public policy, he has formulated and implemented non-market strategies for businesses within highly regulated industries and market growth strategies for startups entering the government and political campaign marketplaces. As a policy entrepreneur, Robert has worked with industry leaders and government officials to reach consensus on legislative and regulatory issues that impact businesses, consumers, employees, shareholders, and other stakeholders. In addition to roles with two presidential campaign finance committees and a Presidential Inaugural Committee, he has advised House and Senate candidates on fundraising and get out the vote efforts. Nonprofit board service has also enhanced his governance and management experience. Robert received an AB in Government from Georgetown University and lives with his wife in New York City.

Thomas Goldenberg EMBA '22

Tom Goldenberg is a second-year Executive MBA student at Columbia Business School. He is currently an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company where his focus is on working with public finance organizations to improve their performance. He is passionate about his local community in New Haven, CT, and works with several non-profits there to foster inclusive economic growth and to address food scarcity. Tom is also a former entrepreneur and educator.

Marissa Guiang MBA '22 - MBA Board Co-Chair

Marissa Guiang is a 2022 MS/MBA dual-degree candidate at Columbia Business School and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Through the combination of her academic studies, her career interests span areas such as thought leadership publishing, consulting research, and media strategy. Prior to CBS, Marissa started her career at BlackRock, where she has held various roles in business strategy and technology. Outside of the Student Leadership & Ethics Board, Marissa is AVP of Community for the Hotel & Travel Association and part of the Hermes Society. She is also a designated notetaker for all CBS core classes, aiding students on behalf of the Office of Disability Services. Marissa holds a Bachelor of Science in Hotel Administration from Cornell University, with a concentration in Law and minor in Real Estate.

Margaret Knowles EMBA '21 - EMBA Board Chair

Margaret Knowles (she/her) is an EMBA Americas 2021 candidate at Columbia Business School. She has spent her career in the arts and design industry, with tenures in the curatorial departments of museums such as MoMA PS1 and the Museum of Modern Art. She is now the Head of Operations at MINNA, a social enterprise that works with artisan groups in Latin America to produce handmade home textiles with a contemporary aesthetic. Margaret was the first full-time employee at MINNA, and, as a part of building a business from the ground up, she quickly discovered that every single business is an ethical decision. With this in mind, she is enthusiastic about educating herself and the business community about ethical and inclusive leadership. She is especially devoted to supporting and amplifying the voices of female, queer, and BIPOC members of the business community.

Leslie Kuo EMBA '22 

Leslie Kuo is an Executive MBA candidate at Columbia Business School. As Associate Director of Development and Alumni Relations at Columbia's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, she advocates for the importance of designing a more inclusive society through policy-making, development, preservation, and design at all scales of the built environment. Prior to Columbia, she raised support for exhibitions at the Jewish Museum (New York) to ensure that the enjoyment of Jewish art and culture continues to flourish. Leslie has curated an exhibition at the Museum of Chinese in America with Asian Pride Project to bring visibility to LGBTQIA+ members of the AAPI community and served on the Executive Board of the Asian American Arts Alliance. Leslie is interested in contributing to a future where driving social impact through more creative corporate engagement strategies can help businesses and communities thrive.

Rae Lindsay EMBA '22

Rae Lindsay (They/Them/Theirs) is a rising second-year student, an experienced diversity, equity, and inclusion professional, and an out and proud member of the transgender and gender non-conforming community. In 2020 Rae founded Untrivial - a social enterprise that utilizes gamification to promote LGBTQIA+ advocacy. Prior to coming to CBS, Rae worked in grant writing, research administration, and marketing within the healthcare technology space. At CBS, Rae also serves on Columbia's Task Force for Inclusion and Belonging, the Phillips Pathway for Inclusive Leadership Student Advisory Council, and the executive boards for Cluster Q, CBS Reflects, and the Columbia Entrepreneurs Organization. Rae holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the Pennsylvania State University.

Kyle Manley MBA '22

Kyle Manley is a first year MBA candidate at Columbia Business School.  Prior to CBS, Kyle served as an enlisted personnel in the United States Navy within the Navy Seal Teams and supported counter-terrorism and counter-narcotic operations.  He is passionate about the impact awareness can have towards furthering ethical progress within society at large.  He holds a philosophy undergraduate degree from Columbia University.

Lacie Pierre MBA '22

Lacie Pierre, originally from Los Angeles, obtained her B.S. from the University of California, Merced in Environmental Engineering in 2014 and is currently an MBA candidate at Columbia Business School. Prior to pursuing her MBA, she was at accenture for five years where she was most recently a Supply Chain, Operations, and Sustainability Strategy Manager. Outside of work, Lacie is passionate about marrying her technical, business, and policy skills to combat environmental injustice. She currently sits on the board of the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, serves as an appointed official working on strategic tasks for the Mayor of East Point, GA, is a Columbia and Three Cairns Climate Fellow.

Denise Pyfrom EMBA '22

Denise Pyfrom is an Executive MBA candidate at Columbia Business School. She is currently a Global Partnerships Manager for the National Basketball Association (NBA), a premiere professional sports league and media business. Denise oversees the strategy and development of partnerships across a variety of industries, such as health care and e-commerce. She also serves on the Leadership Board for the NBA Black employee resource group, Dream in Color. Denise is interested in how the sports and entertainment sectors can inform ethical leadership. She holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in English from Boston College.

Brian Roxas MBA '22 - MBA Board Co-Chair

Brian is a first-year MBA candidate at Columbia Business School. Prior to CBS, Brian was an investment analyst, performing due diligence on a diverse range of investment strategies for financial advisers. Brian believes that while ethical and social responsibility initiatives contribute to the financial success of companies, he also believes that celebrating human dignity and promoting mutual respect are important goals for their own sake. He hopes to encourage leaders to consider the full impacts of their decisions on their employees, their customers, and society as a whole, in addition to the company’s financial stakeholders. Brian holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in Economics and Philosophy from Cornell University.

Chankrit Sethi EMBA '22

Chankrit Sethi is a Global Executive MBA Candidate at Columbia and London Business Schools. With a bachelor’s in clinical neuroscience, she is currently the Research Project Manager for Pediatric Neuro-Oncology clinical trials at Columbia University Medical Center. She has also completed her Master’s in Global Health and Policy, as well as Biostatistics and Epidemiology from Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine. In 2012 she founded a global healthcare delivery non-profit organization- Disaster EPR- that went on to becoming one of the most successful non-profits in northern India, working with tertiary hospitals and medical schools to establish emergency response and ambulatory care programs for underdeveloped communities. She believes in establishing sustainable growth models to create equitable healthcare access for communities around the world. She is extremely passionate about supporting queer and BIPOC female voices in the field of healthcare and medical research. She believes in continuously educating herself on becoming a better ally to those under-represented in and marginalized by the medical community.

Eleonora Smeriglio MBA '22

Eleonora is a dual-degree MBA/ MIA student with the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia, where she has already completed her Master’s of International Affairs focusing on International Security Policy, Gender and Public Policy and Europe. A former partnerships and development strategist, Eleonora worked for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s main philanthropic vehicle in London, on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Presidential campaign - from the first-ever international office of any U.S. presidential campaign - and at the Clinton Foundation in New York. A native Italian, Eleonora holds a Bachelor of Arts in History of Art with minors in Politics and Philosophy from NYU, and has lived in Switzerland, Israel, China, the U.S., France and the U.K. She is passionate about bringing people together and creating synergies across sectors to promote ethical leadership and maximize social impact.

Natalie Telson MBA '22

Natalie is in the MBA class of 2022 at Columbia Business School concentrating on media and technology. Prior, Natalie spent three and a half years counseling corporations in crisis and financial communications at the global, integrated marketing firm Weber Shandwick. In her role, Natalie drove real-time live issue response for non-profit organizations to Fortune 500 conglomerates, developing short and long-term reputation protection and recovery strategies and stakeholder engagement plans. She specialized in leveraging media relations to support clients undergoing issues around workplace sexual misconduct, diversity, equity and inclusion, financial transactions, investor activist campaigns, leadership transitions and regulatory criticism. Natalie has also held communications positions at media properties including HuffPost, VICE and Forbes. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in Bible and Its Interpretations from The Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

Joshua Ward MBA '22

Joshua is a first-year MBA candidate at Columbia Business School. Prior to CBS, he worked in the Private Funds practice group at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP in New York City, supporting clients in raising and operating private investment funds. He is passionate about corporate social responsibility and incorporating an emphasis on ethical leadership and CSR into his MBA education. Joshua attended Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and holds a bachelor’s degree in international politics and a minor in Arabic.

See Past Board Members