Student Leadership and Ethics Board

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 SLEB@gsb.columbia.edu.

Board Members for 2018-2019

Dhanya Balasubramanian MBA '19

Dhanya Balasubramanian is an MBA candidate at Columbia Business School. After graduating from National University of Singapore with a Civil Engineering degree, she worked in store operations for a clothing retailer in Singapore. Dhanya then spent time planning and managing private labels at a fashion e-commerce company. For the past two years, she has been actively helping conscious clothing brands, promoting their products and advising on retail strategy. She is passionate about driving fashion businesses towards sustainable community impact.

Anna Boatwright MBA '19

Anna Boatwright is a first-year student in Columbia University’s EMBA program and works at The Frick Collection. Anna has spent the past 5 years working in museum fundraising and administration. Prior to the Frick, she worked in corporate fundraising at the Brooklyn Museum. She has a MA in Art and Museum Studies from Georgetown University and is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, where she studied math and art history.

Lawson Curtis MBA '19

Lawson is an MBA candidate at Columbia Business School, Class of 2019. Prior to business school he spent three years in Mergers & Acquisitions at Evercore Group's Canadian office and was most recently an Investment Analyst at Picton Mahoney, a long/short hedge fund, for three years. He is passionate about Corporate Governance and the role ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) factors have on Boards of Directors and Investors. Lawson holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from Queen's University in Kingston, Canada. In his free time Lawson enjoys playing rugby and basketball.

Samy Fouda MBA '19

Samy Fouda is an MBA candidate at Columbia Business School. He attended the United States Military Academy and earned a BS in Economics. After graduating, Samy received his commission and served over nine years in the US Army as an Infantry and Special Forces Officer. He deployed three times to Afghanistan in support of combat and special operations. Samy is passionate about ethical leadership in public service and shaping young minds to become ethically minded leaders.

Elizabeth Goodstein MBA '19

Elizabeth Goodstein is an MBA candidate at Columbia Business School. After graduating from The Johns Hopkins University where she studied Humanities, she embarked on a career in the entertainment industry, bridging the gap between her love of storytelling and business. Most recently, Elizabeth supported the Worldwide Head of Literary at Hollywood talent and literary agency WME|IMG, collaborating with authors, thought leaders, and business leaders throughout the lifecycles of their publishing deals. Elizabeth is passionate about and interested in exploring how for-profit companies can disrupt supply chains and business models in making CSR integral to their business operations.

Emmett Lamb EMBA '19

Emmett Lamb, a native of Minneapolis, MN, attended the United States Naval Academy and earned a BS in Political Science. After receiving his commission, he served over nine years in the Active Duty and deployed three times to support theater security and combat operations in the Western Pacific, Middle East and Central Asia. In addition to being an MBA candidate at Columbia Business School and a Navy Reserve Officer, he works full time leading project management and training teams at a bespoke technology firm focused on the industrial IoT space. Emmett is passionate about the study of ethical leadership and supporting initiatives within the Columbia University community that promote discussion around that topic.

Gladys Ndagire MBA '19 - MBA Board Vice Chair

Gladys Ndagire is a 2019 MBA Candidate at Columbia Business School. Her career began in private wealth management at J.P. Morgan where she oversaw portfolio construction analytics and digitization for goals-based investing. In 2015, she joined Invest Africa as the head of its US business development strategy. At Invest Africa, Gladys partnered with family offices and corporations on their philanthropic and investment strategies in Africa and also launched Accelerating Africa, an early-stage technology investing forum in New York. Gladys attended the United World College program in Canada and graduated from Brown with a BA in Mechanical Engineering and Anthropology. She was raised in Uganda and is extremely passionate about fostering global partnerships, impacting organizational culture as well as applying data analytics and technology to generating new business.

Adam Powell MBA '19

Adam Powell is an MBA Candidate at Columbia Business School in the Class of 2019. Adam graduated from Columbia University with a BA in Political Science. He has worked in real estate investment sales, education and in the social sector for a non-profit. Adam is passionate about giving back to his community and maintaining ethical leadership throughout business dealings.

Mars Shah EMBA '19

Mars is the CFO of RideKleen, a steam based mobile car wash company. The company is based in Philadelphia, but has expanded to 6 other cities and is currently fundraising for a Series A raise. Prior to his entrepreneurial career, Mars spent the last 5 years of his career in capital markets and M&A. In his free time, Mars loves to spend time trying the numerous restaurants that NYC has to offer and is very big in health and wellness. During his undergrad tenure, Mars walked on the Drexel University Men's basketball team.

Favorite quote, " It's better to surround yourself with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you'll drift in that direction." -Warren Buffet

Lauren Schmeer MBA '19

Lauren Schmeer is an MBA candidate at Columbia Business School, Class of 2019, concentrating on strategy. She spent four years in the publishing industry and most recently led a supply-chain management team for Accenture. She focused on transforming processes through digital solutions and automation and is passionate about making transformative impact for clients. She graduated with honors from the University of Pittsburgh, as a triple major in English Literature, English Writing, and Philosophy, and she is an avid reader of literary fiction.

Juan José Silva MBA '19

Juan José Silva is an MBA candidate at Columbia Business School born and raised in Santiago, Chile. After graduating from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile with an Industrial Engineering degree, he worked for BHP Billiton at the Escondida copper mine in the Atacama Desert. Most recently, he spent three years working in Real Estate Investment Banking at Credicorp Capital and American Asset Corporation.

Juan José is passionate about driving change to his community. As an undergraduate, he led several volunteer efforts and was one of the leaders in the Chilean student movement demanding a fairer education system. While working in finance, he participated in pro bono advisory, realizing how much impact can be driven from the private sector. He is deeply interested in impact investing, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility.

Anna Smukowski EMBA '19 - EMBA Board Chair

Anna manages the delivery of services for LISC’s Pay for Success initiative, a new financing tool that allows governments and the private sector to partner with and fund nonprofit organizations that have preventive and long-term benefits. Her duties include project management, financial modeling and stakeholder facilitation for three Pay for Success projects. Prior to this role, Anna worked as LISC’s Credit Officer where she structured and analyzed community development investments across the United States. Anna began her career at Deloitte Consulting with a focus in finance, pharmaceuticals and sustainability. Anna holds a B.S. in Finance and Economics from NYU and was a scholar in the NYU Reynolds Program in Social Entrepreneurship.

Na'ama Yehezkel MBA '19 - MBA Board Chair

Na'ama Yehezkel is a second-year student at Columbia Business School and the current Chair of the Sanford C. Bernstein Student Leadership & Ethics Board. Na'ama comes to Columbia with a background in technology and management consulting, including stints at the Boston Consulting Group and eBay. Na'ama has also been deeply committed to women's and diversity issues for the past dozen years. She was honored with the Israel's highest National Service Award for her volunteer work in anti-human trafficking. She has continued to advocate for women’s issues in New York, and is currently a volunteer with the National Organization for Women. Na'ama also serves as co-President of the Columbia Women in Business group, the Business School's largest student organization. Na’ama graduated from the University of British Columbia with an Honors degree in Economics with distinction, where she was also the recipient of the International Leader of Tomorrow Award. She completed her high school studies at The United World College of India, a 2-year program focused on personal leadership, diversity, and service.

See Past Board Members