Career Conversations

Billy Marks ’18 is a Leadership and Career Coach at The Sparrey Consulting Group. Prior to joining Sparrey, Billy earned his MBA at Yale SOM. He previously worked as a Senior Program Manager at J.P. Morgan, where he was also a Global Lead of the LGBTQ+ employee resource group. He received his A.B. from Harvard University, cum laude, where he majored in Language & Culture and Economic Development. Billy is interviewed by Omolegho Udugbezi.

Paras Malik ’10 is a core member of Boston Consulting Group’s Financial Institutions and Technology Advantage practice areas. She leads the Agile for Control Functions topic for BCG in North America and has broad digital transformation experience across geographies. She is interviewed by Evan Ding ’22.

Fed Panfilov ’17 is the strategic advisory lead for technology at Riot Games. Before joining Riot Games and graduating from Yale SOM with his MBA, he worked as a Project Manager at Oliver Wyman and received his MA in Economics from the University of Edinburgh.  In this episode, Fed discusses what a role in strategic advisory looks like, how to use your MBA to pivot into tech, and of course, some of his favorite gaming experiences. He is interviewed by Omolegho Udugbezi ’23.

Logan Yonavjak ’14 is a financial services professional, entrepreneur, author, and angel investor. She's incredibly passionate about building businesses and guiding capital in ways that replenish, restore, and sustain our social, environmental, and economic systems to advance a more holistic future for all. Throughout her career, she has worked as a consultant to a variety of clients, primarily focused on conserving and restoring ecological systems. Most recently, she co-founded a sell-side advisory firm focused on food & agriculture called Provenance Capital Group. She has also held positions with Morgan Stanley, the Yale Investments Office, and CREO Syndicate.  In this episode, Logan discusses ESG factors in investing, women in finance, working in the Yale investments office, and the experience of co-founding her own firm focused on investing in regenerative natural resources. She is interviewed by Jenn Burkha ’21.

Tony Lynn ’14 is a Global Program Lead at Meta, leading strategy development, operations, and execution for Instagram's SMB Advertiser Growth Sales Programs. In the episode, Tony discusses what it is like to work at a highly cross-functional and flat organization like Meta, the importance of cultivating your network both during and after business school, and how to best position yourself to pivot into tech. He is interviewed by Omolegho Udugbezi ’23.

Yousef Aly is a second-year MBA student at Yale SOM. Prior to joining SOM, he was a management consultant for four years focused on the payments and fintech space. This past summer he was a Business Design intern at IDEO in their San Francisco office. This episode is part of a special mini-series of “Career Conversations” focused on MBA summer internships where we ask rising second-year MBA students to check in from their experiences, where they are applying the lessons of their first year at Yale SOM. He is interviewed by Amy Kundrat ’21.

Ikya Kandula ’22 spent her summer as an intern at Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles. This episode is part of a special mini-series of “Career Conversations” focused on MBA summer internships where we ask rising second-year MBA students to check in from their experiences, where they are applying the lessons of their first year at Yale SOM. She is interviewed by Amy Kundrat ’21.

Sam MacAvoy ’22 spent his summer as an intern at NASA and the Ames Research Center. He is also an active duty member of the U.S. Navy. This episode is part of a special mini-series of “Career Conversations” focused on MBA summer internships where we ask rising second-year MBA students to check in from their experiences, where they are applying the lessons of their first year at Yale SOM. He is interviewed by Amy Kundrat ’21.

Camino de Paz is Yale SOM's Assistant Dean of Global Network Programs. She brings 20 years of experience and a passion for global collaboration to her role working with students across all of SOM's programs. 

Natasha Nair ’21 was born in Nigeria to Indian parents and grew up in South Africa. She has lived and worked across seven cities in four countries over the past five years, gaining a unique ability to imagine the world from multiple perspectives. Her expertise lies at the intersection of customer research, human-centered design, and business strategy. At SOM, she was active in the Design + Innovation Club, founded her own venture, and took electives that focused on the consumer perspective. Prior to SOM, she received a B.A in Business Science, specializing in Finance and Economics, from the University of Cape Town, and an MBA from IE Business School.

Sarah Wilson ’15 is a Managing Director on the Responsible Investing team at Nuveen, a TIAA Company. She integrates environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into investment decisions for the firm's $970+ billion assets under management, with a focus on fixed income. She holds an MBA and a Master of Environmental Management from Yale University.  During her time at Yale, Sarah was a finalist in the 2014 Nespresso Sustainability MBA Challenge and the 2013-2014 co-chair of the Net Impact Club. Prior to Yale, Sarah worked at Green Mountain Energy Company, a leading retail provider of electricity from renewable sources to homes and businesses.  Sarah is interviewed by Jenn Burkha ’21. At SOM, Jenn focused on impact investing, venture capital, and entrepreneurship in the sustainable food/agriculture industry. Prior to earning her MBA, Jenn spent 7 years in the food and hospitality sector working for Holland America Line and the Marcus Samuelsson Group, a celebrity chef-driven media and restaurant group.

Andrew Seth Jacobs ’22, a rising second year in the full-time MBA program, came to SOM after a career in nonprofit fundraising. He serves as Co-President of the Consulting Club, and Co-Leader of Out of Office, SOM’s LGBTQ+ affinity group. He is interviewed by Amy Kundrat ’21.

Emily Averna ’22: I am looking to pivot from the nonprofit sector to corporate sustainability efforts. Before coming to Yale SOM I was fortunate to spend eight years working on sustainable development at a nonprofit organization. Through that work, I caught glimpses of the power and potential of the private sector–both big companies and small businesses–to be engines of inclusive, green growth. I’m eager to build the foundational business knowledge, skills, and networks that will allow me to tackle sustainability issues from within the private sector. An MBA will help me make this shift. Emily is interviewed by Pascal Su ’22.

Reeve Harde ’21 works in the global strategy group at Samsung Electronics in Seoul, Korea. Prior to SOM, Reeve worked at Deloitte M&A as an Advisory Manager, Special Acquisition Services performing buy-side due diligence. During his time at Yale SOM, Reeve was the Student Government president, an SOM admissions guide, and a member of the Media & Entertainment Club, Technology Club, Private Equity & Venture Capital Club, Ski & Snowboard Club, and the Hockey Club. Between his first and second year, Reeve interned in strategy at Comcast.   Reeve Harde is interviewed by Emily Kling ’21 and Amy Kundrat ’21.

Professor Nathan Novemsky is Professor of Marketing at Yale SOM and has an appointment as Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology at Yale University. He co-teaches the Yale SOM core course Modeling Managerial Decisions. He is an expert in the psychology of judgment and decision-making, an area that overlaps heavily with behavioral economics and consumer behavior. His research explores how people make judgments and decisions based on the information in front of them, how they know what they like, how the way they frame decisions affects the choices they make, how they choose and evaluate gifts, how their goals influence their behavior and other topics in judgment and decision-making. He is interviewed by Leon Dong ’21.

Ariana Day Yuen ’19 is the founder and CEO of Forested Foods, a vertically integrated agroforestry venture in Ethiopia. She began her career as a management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton in their D.C. and New York City offices where she advised clients across the government, non-profit, and private sectors. She then joined TechnoServe as a Fellow in their Ethiopia office and joined them full-time thereafter supporting a range of projects that focused on designing and building more sustainable and equitable value chains and market systems. Her accumulated experiences, passion for sustainable and delicious food, and deepening sense of responsibility to tackle complex societal issues are what led to Forested Foods. She is interviewed by Amy Kundrat ’21.

In his 17th year as founder and chief executive officer of Mastery Schools, Scott Gordon ’88 oversees an organization that is known for turning around struggling public schools in Philadelphia while creating better and varied post-secondary opportunities for its students. Mastery created a new college-ready school model while cultivating a supportive environment for students and addressing the racial and economic context of educational injustice central to its work. Scott is also a graduate of The Broad Academy (TBA) 2014-15. He is interviewed by Ezra Nelson ’21, a former high school math teacher at Boston Collegiate Charter School. Ezra is a student leader for SOM’s Education Leadership Conference. You can hear about his summer internship at Robinhood Foundation in this previous Career Conversations episode.

Max Dworin ’21 is the co-founder and COO of Onda, a canned sparkling tequila beverage company. Onda is made with blanco tequila from a woman-owned distillery in Jalisco, Mexico and flavored with real fruit juice. Prior to SOM, Max worked at Boxed as Chief of Staff and on the business development team launching their Wine & Spirits business. Max also worked in politics, serving as Press Secretary for U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer and Vice President of Communications for the Partnership for New York City. He is interviewed by Emily Kling ’21 and Amy Kundrat ’21. 

Uma Krishnan ’19 is a consultant in the Houston office of Bain & Company. In this episode, Uma discusses how her passion for the education industry led her to the MBA program at SOM, life as a Bain employee, and her experiences on one of the company’s DEI taskforce teams. She is interviewed by Andrew Jacobs, a full-time MBA student in the Class of 2022, leads the conversation.

Sunny Mehta ’21 is a MAM student in the class of 2021. He completed his MBA at HEC Paris. Sunny has always followed his passion, first in politics and now on his startup within the sports industry. Sunny speaks about the upsides and pitfalls of working in politics and how his MBA and MAM degrees are aiding him in his transition to a new industry. Sunny also shares key insights into his entrepreneurial journey and the role Yale SOM has had in transforming his idea and building it into a reality. He is interviewed by Natasha Nair ’21.