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 '23

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 - VP of IBSC, MBA Board

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.

Jinhwa Chun EMBA '23

Jinhwa Chun is an EMBA 2023 candidate at Columbia Business School. Jinhwa has a diverse career experience that ranges from chemical engineering in energy & chemical industry to yield/monetization in ad tech. Her background in both technical and business world made her think deeply about ethical leadership since she noticed different leadership style and ethical culture in various fields and industries. Jinhwa is currently the Senior Product Manager of Platform Solutions at NBCUniversal where she manages multiple initiatives around digital ad innovation. Her goal as a SLEB member is to educate herself and her peers to be better and more ethical leaders of future.

Martina Crane MBA '22

Martina Crane is an MBA candidate at Columbia Business School, where she explores the intersection of culture, innovation, entrepreneurship, and social impact. Prior to business school, Martina worked in entertainment as a production consultant on world tours and conferences such as the DNC. Afterwards, she pivoted into an operations role with an Artificial Intelligence startup developing machine vision models for diagnostic medicine. Today, Martina volunteers with New York Cares and Achilles International, where she works to empower underserved and/or underrepresented populations. She hopes to inspire leaders to build innovative cultures which celebrate differences, welcome change, explore far-reaching problems, and drive novel solutions. Martina holds a Bachelor of Science in Entertainment and Arts Management from Drexel University, and Fellowship positions with the Forte Foundation and Laidlaw Foundation.

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.

Paige Finkelstein MBA '23

Dr. Paige Finkelstein is originally from Toronto, Canada, but grew up in sunny South Florida. Paige graduated from MIT in 2014 with double majors in chemical engineering and biology. She went on to earn her Master’s in Public Health and Medical Doctorate from the University of Miami in 2018, graduating with research honors. While in medical school she had the opportunity to intern at the FDA as the very first representative from the American Medical Association. She has also worked in several high-profile laboratories over the years including those of Dr. Robert Langer and Dr. Howard Cedar. Paige holds several medical accreditations and engineering certifications, including the NCEES and is a member of the Order of the Engineer. She is the founder of several public health initiatives, including Project Helmet where she was able to distribute hundreds of helmets to the MIT community after her own bicycle accident, and ERinfo.me, a facial recognition triaging technology for first responders.

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.

Emily Fritz-Endres EMBA '23

Emily Fritz-Endres (she/her) works for Boston Symphony Orchestra as Director of Board Administration supporting governance, strategic planning, fundraising, and communications. She fosters equitable links between the orchestra’s musicians, board members, and staff, and is committed to evolving performing arts organizations by building diverse, high-functioning, collaborative teams. As an arts administrator and clarinet player, she believes that live music is an essential form of communication and community that is for anyone who wishes to participate in it. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science/International Relations from Carleton College.

Becca Gil MBA '22

Becca is an MBA candidate at Columbia Business School. She is originally from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida and holds a bachelor's degree in Public Policy from Duke University. Prior to business school, Becca worked in London, England as Chief of Staff for Vanguard’s European business. She is interested in how asset managers can positively impact society through investment stewardship and ESG (environment, government, social) best practices.

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.

Suvarna Gupta MBA '23 

Suvarna is a first-year MBA candidate at Columbia Business School. Prior to CBS, she worked at Bain and Company in New Delhi for five years. More recently, as a Project Leader, she led strategy and operations for the proprietary data business unit of the firm. Through her professional and volunteer engagements, Suvarna is passionate about advocating for societal change through private-sector engagements. Outside of the SLEB, Suvarna is an AVP of the Social Enterprise Club, Arts Society and South Asian Business Association.

Joud Hadi MBA '23 

Joud Hadi is a first year MBA Candidate at Columbia Business School. Originally from Jordan, she has lived and worked across the Middle East and North America. Prior to CBS, Joud worked for the public sector, a UN agency, and the public sector. Her experiences built her passion for ethical leadership and community service, where she has worked with and led projects related to refugees, food policy, distressed children, and sustainability. She completed her undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto, majoring in Ethics, Society, & Law and Diaspora & Transnational Studies.

Andrea Kaman MBA '23 

Andrea Kaman is an MBA Candidate, class of 2023, at Columbia Business School. Andrea is an active duty Army Officer, with over 13 years serving in various leadership, Human Resources, government relations, and military education roles. Most recently, Andrea served as the senior Human Resources Director responsible for the talent acquisition, performance evaluation management, accountability, and HR policy execution for over 4,600 people. She has also served as a Legislative Liaison to the US House of Representatives, facilitating worldwide Congressional travel for oversight and investigative missions and educating Members and Staff on Army policy and legislative objectives. Originally from Wakonda, SD, Andrea earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Wyoming and has a Masters in Legislative Affairs from George Washington University. She lives with her husband and two children outside of NYC.

Margaret Knowles EMBA '21 

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.

Udaya Malik MBA '22

Udaya Malik is a MBA 2022 candidate at Columbia Business School. After graduating with a Computer and Biomedical engineering degree from Carnegie Mellon University in 2017, Udaya started her career as a software engineer at Goldman Sachs, quickly pivoting into Product Management. Exposed to the financial industry and recognizing opportunities that lie in the fin-tech/health-tech space, Udaya choose to come to business school to expand on her knowledge of the financial markets and learn how to best affect this growing space in an ethical and impactful manner.

Kyle Manley MBA '22 - VP of External Relations, MBA Board

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.

Adetola Olatunji '23 

Adetola Olatunji is an MBA Candidate at Columbia Business School, where she is Columbia Fellow, Forté Fellow and Robert A. Toigo Fellow. Passionate about advancing racial equity and systems change in the education and workforce systems, she has a decade of professional experience advising and investing in mission-driven founders building and scaling organizations in these areas. Immediately prior to Columbia Business School, Adetola completed a full-time summer fellowship focused on EdTech and the Future of Work at Kapor Capital, a venture capital firm in Oakland, CA. Prior to this fellowship, she spent five years as an investor and advisor at New Profit, a venture philanthropy firm, where she designed and oversaw a $2 million initiative focused on helping education social enterprises integrate diversity, equity inclusion practices in their work. She also spent four years as a strategist and advisor at Michael Porter-led Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC), and a year as a business analyst connecting startup founders to legal support and investment opportunities at Dhar Law LLP. In 2021, Adetola received the HBCUvc Emerging Venture Leaders Award, and served as a BLCK VC NYC Path Venture Fellow and Dorm Room Fund Female Investor Track Fellow. At CBS, she also holds leadership roles in VC Club and Microlumbia and is a member of the Black Business Student Association, Social Enterprise Club, and Follies Dance. Adetola graduated from Princeton University with a BA in Political Economy.

Ritika Patni MBA '22

Ritika is a second year MBA candidate at Columbia Business School. She started her career as a lawyer at Linklaters LLP, a magic circle firm in London and then went on to run her business focusing on renewable energy solutions in Asia. Immediately prior to CBS, she ran a wellness start-up in Singapore and was recognised by the Government of India for outstanding contribution in promoting the Indian sciences of Yoga & Ayurveda. Ritika has been selected as a part of Milken Institute’s Young Leaders Circle and is passionate about promoting sustainable solutions in energy and healthcare. Ritika holds a dual degree in arts and law from the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, India, from where she graduated with two gold-medals for exemplary academic achievement.

Dominic Perkaj EMBA '23

Dominic is an Executive MBA candidate at Columbia Business School. He is currently a Client Advisor at VTS, a premiere commercial real estate technology company. Dominic partners with the company’s clients to ensure they are maximizing the value of VTS for their organizations and to assist in adoption and engagement of the VTS technology platform so that predictable business outcomes can be achieved. Outside of work, Dominic volunteers with the Columbia Football Players Club and serves as a Board Member and Co-Chairman of the Mentorship Committee (Shadow-A-Lion-Program). Dominic is currently in student government at Columbia Business School as a Community Representative for Cluster E where he spearheads an integral part of the Columbia Business School experience known as CBS Matters. Dominic holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Columbia University in the City of New York where he was a three-year starter on the varsity football team helping the team reach its best standing since 1996 and achieving ALL-IVY recognition as a defensive tackle.

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.

Dom Raymond MBA '23

Dom Raymond is a first year MBA candidate at Columbia Business School. He attended the Rochester Institute of Technology and majored in Information Technology. He has spent his career engineering digital tools and cross platform integrations to help companies transform their IT infrastructure and evolve their architecture for modern platforms. He has always focused on the user experience and how it can be the most accessible and inclusive for users. He is passionate about learning and employing frameworks that consider the effect of new technologies on the individual and social cohesion when creating new digital experiences.

Matthew Rosenbaum MBA '22

Matt is an MBA Candidate at Columbia Business School, where he is a Columbia and Three Cairns Climate Fellow. He is the co-founder of Generation Conscious, a sustainable personal care refill company on a mission to reduce plastic, water, and fuel waste in the personal care and cleaning industry. His passion for the environment began over six years ago as a journalist reporting on the climate crisis for documentary series Years of Living Dangerously and its successor organization The Years Project. Matt graduated from Amherst College with a BA in Political Science.

Brian Roxas MBA '22 - MBA Board Co-Chair

Brian is a member of the Columbia Business School MBA Class of 2022. 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.

Adam Shelepak MBA '23

Adam Shelepak is a first-year MBA candidate at Columbia Business School. Prior to Columbia, Adam was a management consultant at Oliver Wyman where he was an associate in the education and training group usually working with private equity investors. Adam is deeply passionate about his home community in Upstate New York and helped launch a retail grocery business to improve food access in Ithaca, New York. Through all his work, Adam seeks to find deeper meaning and understanding through human connections. He holds an undergraduate degree in public policy analysis from Cornell University.

Michael Simpson MBA '22

Michael is an MBA Candidate at Columbia Business School. He started his career with the United Nations World Food Program in South Sudan conducting humanitarian logistics operations. He then served in the United States Marine Corps as a liaison with nongovernmental organizations across the Pacific and South America. Michael aims to apply private sector practices to non-profit management and hopes to return to the humanitarian sector post-MBA. Michael’s career interests have placed him at the center of non-traditional leadership and ethical decisions he hopes to apply to the Student Leadership & Ethics Board. Michael holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Boston University.

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.

Samuel Sonenshine EMBA '23

Sam Sonenshine is a first-year Executive MBA candidate at Columbia Business School. As an Investment Banking Associate at Sonenshine Partners, Sam has grown the firm's TMT practice, advising clients in the middle market on M&A transactions, refinancings, and capital raises. Clients have included Kino Lorber, Anthem Sports & Entertainment, Visibly, RosettaBooks, Iconic Events, Data Axle, and Solstice Studios. Before joining SP, Sam worked in entertainment production. He created both short- and long-form content for outlets like DUST, Skyhorse Publishing, and Gravitas Ventures. He also served as Assistant Producer on the Drama Desk Award winning Yiddish-language production of Fiddler on the Roof. He is eager to study models for effectively promoting corporate social responsibility – both when they align with a company's financial interests and when they don't. Sam holds a BA in theatre from the University of Southern California.

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