Dr. Cindi Love previously served as the Executive Director of ACPA. She is a professional educator, human rights advocate & activist, tenured Fortune 500 corporate executive, award winning entrepreneur and author.
Love was a member of the predecessor committee and the Working Advisory Group to the US Secretary of State on Religion & Foreign Policy from 2010-2018 and served as plenary speaker at the final session of the United Nations UUO Compass Coalition for LGBT Human Rights during that time. Love also served as a thematic country specialist for LGBT human rights with Amnesty International and currently serves as one of 112 Expert Panelists convened globally for the Diversity Collegium Global Diversity & Inclusion Benchmarks project (www.diversitycollegium.org). She was a “serial entrepreneur” from 1981 to 1996 when she sold her last company to the TORO Company (NYE: TTC). She was an inaugural member of MIT’s Birthing of Giants program and received the David Boehnett Fellowship to the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education Program for State & Local Officials. Love has been the invited guest of two US Presidents in recognition of her advocacy work with underrepresented populations. Stetson Law awarded Love its Facilitator Award in 2016 for her groundbreaking work in improving campus safety. Love is featured in Dr. John Dugan’s interdisciplinary text, Leadership Theory: Facilitator’s Guide for Cultivating Critical Perspectives.
Amanda Zielinski Slenski is a passionate advocate for undergraduate students and supporting opportunity and access within the higher education landscape.
She served Alma College (MI) for nearly 12 years in a variety of roles in enrollment, career development, and advancement. In her most recent position as the Vice President for Enrollment and Special Assistant to the President, she led the college’s strategic recruitment efforts; coordinated President’s Office operations and communication, strategic planning, and college goal setting; and directed campus-wide initiatives.
Prior to her work at Alma College, she was a resident director at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, a leadership advisor for Alpha Gamma Delta International, and a recruitment coordinator and graduate resident director at Miami University.
She earned a bachelor’s degree from Alma College and a master’s degree from Miami University (OH).
View our full organizational chart.
Board of Directors
Admissions Team and Early ID Team
Audrey works at J.P. Morgan in the Public Finance group with a focus on transportation and infrastructure. Audrey attending the University of Washington where she majored in International Studies and Political Science. She attended the Out for Undergrad Business Conference as a student and is ecstatic to support the organization within the strategic operations team.
Audrey grew up in Marin County, California and currently reside in San Francisco after extended stints in Seattle and Portland. In her free time, she enjoys partaking in any transit that isn’t driving, spending extended time outdoors, learning languages and dreaming about living all over the world.
Kevin (he/him) is a Senior Consultant at Oliver Wyman. Previously he worked as a Senior Associate Consultant at the Topline Strategy Group, and an Investment Banking Analyst at J.P. Morgan. Kevin attended Yale University where he majored in Global Affairs and Education Studies. While in college, Kevin was a co-founder and co-president of Pride Corp at Yale, the first campus organization for LGBT students interested in business careers. He attended O4U twice as an undergraduate and was previously a Campus Ambassador. He is based in Boston. Outside of work, Kevin enjoys spinning on Peloton, watching crime dramas, and exploring Boston.
Suede Graham (he/him/his) currently serves as a Campus Recruiter at Moelis & Company, where he primarily focuses on diversity recruitment and DEI initiatives for the team. Prior to his role at Moelis, Suede served the Coordinator for Student Development at Pace University, where he oversaw student activities, orientation, and all student organizations. Suede graduated from Arkansas Tech University with a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Minors in Communication and Psychology, received a Masters of Science in Educational Leadership and Counselor Education from Mississippi State University. Suede currently serves on the Board of Directors for PrideWorks, which hosts an annual conference for LGBTQ+ youth in the tristate area, and volunteers with the NYC LGBTQ Community Center and the Ali Forney Center. In his free time, Suede loves to dance and listen to Beyoncé, travel with his partner, and go on long walks in the park with his dog, Boseman.
Alumni and Special Events Team
Olivia is passionate about reproductive justice, anti-racism, immigrant rights, and queer liberation. Currently living in New York City, she serves as a Data Specialist for CAI, a health non-profit that uses the transformative power of education and research to foster a more aware, healthy, compassionate, and equitable world. Prior to working at CAI, Olivia served on the Digital Integration Team at Briya School, the educational arm of Mary’s Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center in DC. Briya provides culturally responsive two-generation education for immigrant families.
She has worked and volunteered as a Sex Educator at Planned Parenthood, WUSTL’s Student Health Services, Women in Transition, and Kentucky Health Justice Network and lived in a social justice commune! Olivia loves to go to happy hours with friends, play board games, and compete at trivia.
Olivia majored in Systems Engineering and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. She participated in O4U as a student in 2017 and a sponsor in 2018 before serving three years on the Engineer Programming Team. She is excited to join the Alumni and Special Events team to shape alumni opportunities and get to know more of the stellar O4U community.
Jay Nam (he/him) is an Associate at Blackstone Strategic Partners where he focuses on private equity co-investments and concentrated continuation funds. At the firm, he helps lead LGBTQ+ events and recruiting with OUT Blackstone. Previously, he was at J.P. Morgan in the Healthcare Investment Banking group. In addition to O4U, Jay is involved with the Ali Forney Center Emerging Leaders Council and the Boston College LGBTQ+ Alumni Council. Jay studied Philosophy, Finance, and Information Systems at Boston College.
Quang is an Asset Integrity Engineer at Williams, a Mid-stream oil and gas company which handles 30% of all Natural Gas in America. In this role, he works with different disciplines in his team including Welding, External & Internal Corrosion, Metallurgy, and Integrity Management Program to ensure Natural Gas is transported safely, sustainably, and reliably to essential areas.
Quang is a First Gen graduate with a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Houston (Go Coogs!), and he is currently working on his MS in Mechanical Engineering. At UH, he held various leadership roles within the Student Government Association, University Administration and Finance, Engineering Career Center, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. Currently, he is a committee member for the Southern Gas Association and Young Pipeline Professional at work.
After having a life-changing experience, he joined the O4U Engineering team in 2021. He is excited to join the Alumni and Special Events team to continue giving back to our community. While not busy with work, life and school, he enjoys taking care of his house plants, having board game nights, and catching up with friends.
Antonio (he/him) is a Manager at National Grid, currently overseeing global Special Projects in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team. Prior to his current role, he led the design of a multi-year strategic roadmap for the US capital construction business of National Grid. Antonio is a first-generation college graduate, immigrant and DACA recipient, and studied civil engineering at Stony Brook University ('17). In his free time he enjoys dancing and listening to electronic music, eating out, and raving about NYC! He's currently pursuing a MS in Artificial Intelligence from Johns Hopkins University and lives in Boston, MA with his husband, Keegan.
Rebecca (she/her) is an Account Manager and Pride ERG Co-Chair at 3Q/DEPT. Rebecca has always been interested in social impact and the influence of business on society. Previously, she worked in film as a writer for Crash Course and an executive assistant at 1Community, a social impact production and co-financing firm in Los Angeles. Rebecca attended Emory University’s Goizueta Business School as a Goizueta Scholar, where she majored in Strategy and Management Consulting, double majored with a B.S. in Environmental Sciences, and minored in Business & Society. While in college, Rebecca co-founded Goizueta Pride, the first campus organization for LGBT+ students interested in business careers. She was also a NCAA All-American for Emory Swimming & Diving. She served as a mentor for O4U’s 2022 Marketing Conference. She is based in Charlottesville, VA. Outside of work, Rebecca enjoys hiking and camping, painting, and reading.
Brand and Digital Content Team
What drives me to do anything in life are the connections that I easily make with people. I love the idea of meeting new people, new cultures, new places and creating roots everywhere I go. I have always been an independent person, and I never feared the unknown regardless of any insecurity I had. The curiosity and excitment of travelling and experiencing a new country, new cities really turned me into an adventure seeker. I like to think of myself as a collector of memories and knowledge. Everywhere I go I learn things that I didn't know before and once I realized the person I became after living abroad I made it my main goal to continue learning and sharing my personal experiences and all of what I learned to others. So my purpose now is to help other people have the same experiences that I had abroad, and make their travelling dreams come true as well! The more I learn, the more I want to continue experiencing new thing to always have something new to share to my students. Therefore, to me travelling means new beginnings, positive transformations, knowledge, growth and work.
Sam (she/her) is the Senior Manager of Content at SHEIN in Washington, DC. Previously, Sam has held Communications and Marketing roles at The Walt Disney Company, KPMG, and Nestle. While Sam was pursuing her bachelors at UCF, she participated in a cappella, volunteered with state and local LGBTQ organizations, and attended O4UM as a student in 2019. In her free time, she makes the people around her try her amateur chef recipe ideas, plays keyboard & guitar, and loves to kayak and hike - but can usually just be found making the most of an NYT Games subscription.
Digital Transformation Team
Mitchell works in Product Operations at Facebook on the Virtual Reality team where he provides strategic and operational support to launch new products and features. Prior to working at Facebook, Mitchell spent three years as a management consultant at Deloitte Consulting working on large-scale digital transformations. He graduated from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business in 2017 where he majored in Business Administration. Mitchell’s involvement with O4U began back in 2019 when he served as a volunteer for the O4U Tech Conference. He served as a Sponsorship Director for the O4U Tech 2021 Conference and has been managing the O4U Job Board as part of the Digital Transformation team since 2020. Mitchell is currently the Sponsorship Lead for the O4U Tech 2022 Conference. In his free time, Mitchell enjoys exploring new cities, cooking recipes from TikTok, and finding the best food deals in the Bay Area.
Sam Cahoon is a Product Marketing Manager at HubSpot. He's thrilled to be a part of O4U's Digital Transformation team. He graduated in 2020 from Brigham Young University (BYU), where, for years, he faced homophobic policies and rhetoric, and kept his sexuality in the closet in order to graduate. He understands the pain of what it's like to grow up in places where LGBTQ+ acceptance isn't given - and wants to make change in those communities. His mission with O4U now is to empower LGBTQ+ youth and students, to give them mentorship, resources, and an example of how to live and thrive as an LGBTQ+ person in every way possible.
Sam currently lives in Portland, OR, and is moving to SF in January 2023, where he will be attending Berkeley-Haas as a part of their 2026 MBA Class with their deferred admission program. Outside of work, Sam is a Tiktokker, runner, photographer, and hiker. He's also the oldest of six kids. You can always find Sam running a mountain trail or reading the newest queer novel.
Mitch Conzemius is currently a Digital Interactive Consultant at Accenture and passionate about scaling new technology within the workspace to help innovate a more significant and more efficient impact through human experiences. He is an advocate for empathy, DEI, and mental health as he grew up independently since he was 17, being an LGBTQ+ homeless youth survivor.
Before Accenture, Mitch was a Product Manager at U.S. Bank after attending the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, majoring in Management Information Systems and graduating in 2.5 years. As a student, he was Co-President of the University of Minnesota's LGBTQ+ Business Group: Compass and attended/volunteered at six conferences while in his undergrad, including Business, Engineering, and Tech. He previously was an elite-level gymnast and enjoys solving Rubik's cubes, running, reading, and photography in his free time.
Dylan is a PhD student working on Interactive Data Visualization at MIT’s Visualization Group. Previously, he developed visualization and data analytics services as a software engineer at Microsoft. In 2019 he graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in bioengineering. On the side, Dylan enjoys vagabonding and taking care of his numerous plants.
Khirin is a Strategy Associate at KPMG and graduate in Accounting and Management Information Systems (MIS) from the University of Arizona's Eller College of Management. Additionally, he graduated from Harvard Business School's Summer Venture in Management Program, where he completed a condensed MBA experience and is part of the alumni association. These experiences have taught him core skills like navigating ambiguity, leadership, and strategic thinking. He looks forward to solving unique business and technology conundrums to create large-scale value.
He is passionate about entrepreneurship and empowering people to reach their potential. In his free-time, Khirin enjoys working on his startup, hiking, and exploring new local eats.
Mentoring Team
Dimitri (he/him) is a Growth & Strategy Associate at Kin Insurance, a fintech startup in Chicago that targets homeowners who are affected by climate change. He was formerly a consultant in Accenture's Strategy practice, where his engagements focused on data-driven solutions to client concerns in the health, utilities and financial services sectors. Dimitri attended O4U Business in 2016 and 2017, which sparked his interest in the Strategic Operations team a few years later. Dimitri graduated from Yale in 2018, where he double majored in Economics & History.
As a Marketing and Communications Talent Strategist and site lead at IBM. I execute our NYC based M&C internship program, assist with various early professional activities, and recruitment efforts. I started my career journey at a tech recruitment agency, then joined IBM's sales organization. In a few short years, I found my passion lies in a few different areas: empowering early professionals, D&I efforts, and delivering exceptional candidate experiences.
I am so thrilled to be volunteering for O4U. At first, I didn’t have the easiest time being “OUT” in the workplace; but now am a fierce advocate for others who may be struggling with their identities and navigating their career. I hope to help empower the next generation of queer leaders. In my free time I enjoy camping, hiking, international travel, binge watching Netflix and exploring Brooklyn with my dogs.
Learning Community Team
Andrés is the Chief Learning Officer for Maestro Group, a sales accelerator based in Northern Virginia. In his work he focuses on enabling sales professionals to become more deliberate practitioners of the sales craft through training and coaching. His past work experience include both client service roles and internal learning and development roles at various management consulting firms. Outside of work, he is pursuing his Masters degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. In his free time, he is a husband, dog dad, and gaymer.
Justyn (He/him) is a technology analyst at Accenture Federal Services who mainly works as a developer for federal clients. Prior to graduating from the University of Maryland in May 2021, he worked for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the College Success Scholars program (a program serving Black and Latine males), his department's career center, as the O4U ambassador for his campus, and in a variety of other capacities. In any role he is in, Justyn is committed to making a positive difference.
Shivam is an analyst at Goldman Sachs within the Investment Accounting subdivision under the Controllers division in the Dallas office. He completed his BA in Business with a minor in Economics & Finance and a Master of Science in Accounting from the University of Dallas in Irving, TX. Prior to joining Goldman, Shivam worked for EY in the Assurance services where he worked with clients from oil& gas, healthcare, manufacturing, digital photography, event management, etc. He was also a track& field athlete in college and led several student clubs like International Student Association, Accounting & Finance Club, and Economics club, and was a Student Senator. Shiv became part of the O4U community first as a student at O4UM 2019 and in other volunteer roles eventually leading him to become one of the Programming Directors of O4U Engineering 2022.
Shiv originally comes from India and has a unique experience of living in two different cultures on two different continents. Besides work, you can find Shiv traveling, reading, cooking, being goofy (literally all the time!!), playing volleyball or tennis, and talking about red velvet cake and spicy chicken tikka taco from Velvet taco.
Travel and Logistics Team
Aarthi is an NYC-based Investor Relations Analyst at HPS Investment Partners. Prior to HPS, she held a role as a London-based Investment Banking Analyst at J.P. Morgan.
Aarthi graduated from the University of Washington (“UW”) in Seattle, where she studied Supply Chain & Operations Management and Information Systems. At UW, she was very involved in case competitions, with her teams placing first or second in 15+ on-campus case competitions and selected to represent the Foster School of Business in off-campus competitions at the National Diversity Case Competition, McGill Management International Case Competition, and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology International Case Competition. In her senior year, Aarthi sought to create more case competition resources on campus, and organized workshops with industry professionals and professors to educate students on the case process, analysis, and strategy.
Aarthi got involved with O4U initially as a student, and hopes to continue to be involved with the volunteer team for years to come. Outside of work and O4U, Aarthi can be found walking the Hudson River Walk with a podcast in, at brunch in the West Village, or at Soul Cycle, like most New Yorkers in her demographic.
Robert is currently a Senior Analyst at Parametric Portfolio Associates focused on investment strategy. He serves as a member of the Pride+ group and participates in recruiting efforts. Prior to graduating from the University of Washington in June 2020, he worked for JPMorgan, was an O4U ambassador, and volunteered at a local art gallery in Seattle. Robert is based in New York, where he enjoys running and reading.
Ernst is a Product Marketing Manager at Microsoft through the ACE rotational program. Ernst recently graduated from Emory University in spring of 2022 where he went straight to Microsoft. At university, Ernst was heavily involved in many organizations centered around mentorship and identity. Ernst was born and raised in Chicago. Outside of work/academia, Ernst hobbies include: cinema, exploring, and going to concerts.
Strategic Partnership Team
Andres (he/him/his) is a Consultant with McKinsey & Co, where he's worked on a variety of projects including COVID-19 vaccination operations, provider strategy, and DEI strategy. Andres earned his BS in Business and Political Economy from NYU Stern, where he studied abroad in London, Shanghai, and Abu Dhabi. He has also lived in Bogota, Atlanta, and Miami. Andres has represented McKinsey at O4UB two times, and was a participant twice when he attended NYU. His hobbies include exploring speakeasies in NYC, reading non-fiction books, swimming, and running.
Andrew is a Partner at IBM Consulting, leading their Customer Transformation business for the Telecommunications market. Prior to joining IBM, Andrew worked at UBS Financial Services, led a non-profit Design Studio, and launched a design thinking program at Gensler. He attended Columbia University where he majored in Economics and History of Architecture. He is a passionate New Yorker and loves travel, design, music, and helping others pursue their dreams.
Kelvin is a Trust and Safety Analysis Strategist at Google, where he works on formulating enforcement strategies that keep the global geopolitical landscape safe. Originally from Mexico, Kelvin immigrated to Los Angeles when he was seven. As A DACA recipient, Kelvin is a strong advocate for immigration and access to higher education. He studied Government at Georgetown University and minored in Film and Media Studies and Journalism. He attended the O4U Marketing Conference as an undergraduate in 2019 and will be working with the O4U Strategic Partnership Team. Kelvin is based in New York City but loves traveling back home to California for the hikes, beaches, and friends.
Mark (he/him) is an Analyst at Morgan Stanley, where he supports the firm's Investment Management business as part of their Private Side Compliance team. He is also part of the Communications and Marketing team for Morgan Stanley's Latinx Employee Network. Mark received his BS in Business Administration from Fordham University's Gabelli School of Business and participated in O4UB during his senior year. He grew up in the borough of Queens, New York, and enjoys creative writing, running, and photography.
Kevon (he/him) works in Business Operations & Strategy at NerdWallet, where we aim to provide clarity for all of life’s financial decisions. Prior to joining NW, he worked as a Consultant at Oliver Wyman in Financial Services. Kevon studied Psychology & Economics at Harvard University and has studied/worked abroad in Buenos Aires, Madrid, and Mexico City. He is very passionate about personal finance and politics and can be found listening to a podcast or music at any given moment.
Business Conference Team
Samrudhi Vaghmare (she/they) is a Senior Consultant advising wealth & asset management firms at EY. With over five years of experience in the financial services industry, Samrudhi specializes in solving strategic and operational problems by leveraging data & analytics. Samrudhi studied Information Decisions Sciences and Accounting at the University of Illinois at Chicago and attended O4U Business three times as a student. This will be her third year serving as a Director for the conference planning team. In their spare time, Samrudhi enjoys playing competitive league sports in NYC and partaking in different cultural activities globally.
Cesar (he/him) is a Finance Manager at Microsoft and an incoming MBA candidate at Harvard Business School. He has four years of experience in P&L management and strategic finance in technology. Cesar studied Economics at Harvard College and has served as three-time Admissions Director for O4U Business and Marketing. Cesar is the proud father of Eevee, his mini golden-doodle puppy. He loves exercising with Tonal, practicing yoga, and reading astrological birth charts.
Cam (he/him) is a Manager of Strategy & Process Improvement at Link Logistics, an industrial real estate company. In his role, Cam partners with several teams across the organization to define current state processes and manage continuous improvement. Prior to joining Link, Cam was a Senior Consulting Analyst at Mercer, a human capital consulting firm. Cam graduated from Claremont McKenna College in 2020 with a B.A. in International Relations. His involvement in O4UB started in 2019, when he attended as a student. He joined the organizing side in June 2021 and is thrilled to serve as the Admissions Lead on the 2023 O4UB conference team.
Outside of work and O4U, Cam enjoys working out, watching track & field, and finding the best bottomless mimosa brunch in whatever city he is in.
Raquel Barlow has focused on diversity throughout her career through academic research at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), Tuft University, Meharry Medical College, and Vanderbilt as well as professionally in the nonprofit and private sector.
After graduating with departmental honors and a B.S. in Psychology from UTC, Raquel completed her M.Ed. at Vanderbilt with a focus on human development and leadership.
She held multiple roles with Cracker Barrel Old Country Store in the DEI and talent development field where she leveraged community relationships, employee resource groups, coaching, and implement organizational strategies.
Currently, she serves as the Assistant Vice President and Diversity Programs and Partnership Manager for AllianceBernstein where she oversees their HBCU Scholars program and diverse recruitment partnerships.
She continues to seek out opportunities to educate, serve, and advocate.
Duruo works as a Senior Associate at State Street in Boston, MA. Before joining State Street, Duruo graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, MA, in 2021, where he studied Marketing and Social & Cultural Studies. At Babson, Duruo was the President of the Babson PRIDE, the college’s LGBTQ+ and ally organization, and Executive Vice President of Alpha Kappa Psi Fraternity: Gamma Nu chapter. He also spent his years in college studying Arabic and furthering his knowledge of how business is conducted in the Middle East. Duruo lives in Boston, and he enjoys spending time with his partner, and friends and exploring Boston's food and comedy scene on his solo dates.
Matt (he/him/his) is a Product Success Lead at Datavant, a technology company aiming to connect the world's healthcare data for better patient outcomes. Additionally, he is passionate about community change and is involved in a number of organizations dedicated to equity and justice. Matt attended O4U three times as an undergraduate and as a Sponsorship director in 2022; he is excited to return to O4U as a Sponsorship lead. His hobbies include strength training, spending time with his girlfriend and their two cats, and watching Oklahoma football.
Amy (she/her/hers) is an Associate at Insight Partners, a growth-stage technology-focused venture capital and private equity firm based in New York City. Prior to Insight, Amy was an Associate Consultant at Bain & Company and graduated from Vanderbilt University where she majored in Economics and Political Science. On campus, Amy was the president of the student non-profit consulting group, served as a resident advisor, and worked as a teaching assistant.
Amy has attended O4UB as a student, sponsor, and is excited to return as a Director for the second time this year. Outside of work and O4U, Amy enjoys trying out new breakfast bagel locations, frequenting concerts, and shopping around the city.
Reiko (she/her/hers) is an Analyst at Stellex Capital Management, a middle-market Private Equity firm that seeks to identify and deploy capital in opportunities that have the potential to provide stability, improvement, and growth. Reiko is part of the investment team and is responsible for evaluating investment opportunities in the specialty manufacturing, industrial and business services, aerospace & defense, automotive, and government services sectors. Before joining Stellex, Reiko attended NYU Stern School of Business where she majored in Finance and Sustainable Business. While in college, Reiko was a co-president of Pride Corp, working to foster relationships with professional LGBTQ+ networks and promote diversity and inclusion in school and in the workplace. Reiko attended O4UB two times as an undergraduate, and it is her second time on the Director team.
Obinna is a Senior Associate Consultant at Bain and Company, where they advise companies in many different industries ranging from consumer products and technology. Obinna has worked mainly with American-based clients from Bain's Boston office. At Bain, they serve as a recruiting leader and a leader within various affinity groups. Before Bain, Obinna was a data scientist that worked with private equity firms, research institutions, and corporate technology departments to build their data infrastructure and capabilities. Obinna attended Harvard University, where they received a Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering. Obinna is very passionate about healthcare access and fashion
Devyani works in NYC, and is starting her career in finance as an analyst in Citi’s Healthcare Investment Banking team this July. She graduated from Wellesley College in 2021, with degrees in Economics and Mathematics. Over the past year, Devyani completed the Citi Service Year Fellowship, working as a Strategic Operations Associate for the Brooklyn based community development organization Bedstuy Restoration. Alongside her fellowship, Devyani spent her late afternoons working in the product management and marketing teams at Nirvana, a mental healthtech startup based in Union Square. She attended O4UB as a sophomore and junior, and served as a campus ambassador at Wellesley. In her free time, Devyani enjoys golfing or attending late night shows at Comedy Cellar. She lives in Hoboken, NJ with her two cats (even though she’s allergic to both of them).
Anmei is an investment banking associate at Goldman Sachs in the Structured Finance group. Prior to GS, Anmei attended Smith College where she majored in Economics and Studio Art with a concentration in statistical and data science. Her involvement with O4U began in 2022 when she was a mentor for the O4U Business Conference and she's excited to now be part of the team!
Anmei grew up in San Diego and currently lives in Chelsea. In her free time, she enjoys film photography, trying new craft beers, visiting national parks and listening to Taylor Swift.
Chandra (she/her/hers) is based in NYC as a Shopping Strategy & Ops Manager at Pinterest after the company’s acquisition of THE YES, a next generation AI-powered shopping platform with over $30m in venture funding. Prior to THE YES, Chandra was an Associate in the Investment Banking Group at Goldman Sachs, where she supported clients across verticals including internet/direct-to-consumer, consumer packaged goods, music, and retail. Chandra graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelors of Business Administration in 2019. While in school, she was a member of The Sopranos Acapella, a representative in Central Student Government, and president of the Black Business Undergraduate Society and Ross Out For Business (an LGBTQ+ organization for BBAs and MBAs on campus). Chandra attended O4UB three times and O4UM once as an undergraduate. She made the shift to the organizing side as a Sponsorship Director of O4U Marketing in 2019 and returned as Conference Lead of the 2020 O4UM Conference. Chandra now serves concurrently as a Director on the Strategic Implementation Team and as a Programming Director on the 2022 O4UB conference team.
Erica Lezama (she/her/hers) is a Senior Associate Consultant at The Bridgespan Group, where she works advising non-profit leaders, foundations, and HNWI's on social sector business management and strategy. Erica has worked mainly with American based clients out of Bridgespan's NY office for the past 2 years, but currently is positioned in Bridgespan's Johannesburg office to lead work on Bridgespan's Africa Initiative. At Bridgespan Erica serves as the lead for both the Black and LGBTQ+ affinity groups. Before Bridgespan, Erica co-oped at Ashoka, Innovators for the Public and McKinsey and Company. Erica attended Northeastern University where she received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Economics with a concentration in Finance and started an organization called Out in Business, a professional development affinity group for LGBTQ students in the business school. Erica attended O4UB 3 times as a student and this is her third year on the board.
Javanni is a Senior Consultant in the Transactions group at FTI Consulting where they focus on Merger Integration & Carve-Outs, advising the world’s largest companies on complex deals. Javanni has a background in Valuations spanning industries such as Retail, TMT, Industrials, Manufacturing, and Travel. Prior to FTI, they spent 3 years at UBS in Group Enterprise Risk covering entities in North America, Latin America, and EMEA across all business divisions. Javanni graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of the West Indies with a double major in Economics and Management Studies before starting their career at PwC in Transaction Advisory. Based in New York City, they were born and raised in Jamaica and can often be found DJ-ing, supporting community, eating food or wukking up at a Caribbean carnival. Javanni was introduced to O4UB as a sponsor, has served as a mentor, a volunteer and this is their first year on the Board.
Grace is an associate at JP Morgan in Strategy, aligned to initiatives in the Corporate & Investment Bank.
Prior to JPM, Grace graduated from NYU Stern School of Business where she majored in Finance & Management. At Stern, Grace served as the President of Pride Corp, the LGBTQ+ business club. During her time, she founded a corporate mentorship program and worked with the Dean of Diversity & Inclusion to highlight issues in the student community.
Grace attended O4UB 3 times and is excited to join as a Programming Director. In her free time, Grace enjoys rock climbing and chess puzzles.
Tyler (he/him) is a Private Equity Associate at AEA Investors, an upper middle market private equity firm based in NYC. Prior to joining AEA, Tyler worked at Bain & Company in their DC office. Tyler graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where he concentrated in Management and Legal Studies in the Wharton School.
Tyler attended O4UB as a student and twice as a sponsor, and is looking forward to serving as a Programming Director this year! For fun, Tyler enjoys spending time with his triplet brothers, going for a run, and reading a historical fiction or mystery novel!
Matt (he/him) works as an Associate Consultant at Bain & Company in New York City. Before joining Bain, Matt worked as an analyst in BlackRock's Aladdin FinTech business, where he also interned in the summer of 2019. Matt graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, in 2020, where he studied Political Science and Social Policy. At Northwestern, Matt was the Executive Co-Director of the Northwestern University Conference on Human Rights, and he traveled and competed on Northwestern's competitive Model United Nations team. He also spent three years in college studying injustices in the American immigration and deportation systems in Northwestern's Deportation Research Clinic. Matt lives in Brooklyn, and he enjoys cultivating his houseplants and exploring New York's food scene with his friends.
Dexter is a Consultant at Reference Point in New York City, where he works with clients in the financial institutions and housing finance industries. He is a digital strategy specialist with experience in strategic planning, transformations, and innovation process design. At Reference Point, he leads the LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group and its recruiting initiatives. Dexter graduated from Pitzer College, where he helped run the Student Senate. Dexter has attended O4UB five times - four as an undergraduate and once as a corporate sponsor - and is excited to join the board as a Growth Operations Director this year to help create exceptional experiences for diverse talent. Outside of work, Dexter enjoys all that the city has to offer, including Felix Roasting Co. in Midtown, home to what he believes to be the best Iced Cortado in New York.
Digital Conference Team
Annie is a Product Manager at Google on the Google News team. Prior to Google, Annie served as Head of Product of Column, where she led product from inception through a Series A funding round. She and the team started Column in the back of a newsroom in Kansas, and ultimately partnered with publishers across the nation including the Washington Post. Annie graduated with a degree in Computer Science from Harvard.
This will be Annie’s eighth O4U Conference. She enjoys photography, creative endeavors, and listening to music on repeat.
Rishi is a Senior Associate in Google’s Business Operations & Strategy (“BizOps”) group. He helps Alphabet/Google's senior executives navigate the intersections between technology and business. Before Google, Rishi worked in management consulting at Deloitte. In 2017, Consulting Magazine recognized him as one of the “35 Under 35 Rising Stars of the Industry”.
Rishi attended O4U Business Conference as a student in 2013. He then went on to volunteer with O4U for many years, most notably leading the Business Conference in 2017.
Rishi holds a B.S. in Finance with Honors from Penn State. He lives in New York after spending some time in Pennsylvania and California. He enjoys traveling, following Penn State Football, a good Netflix binge, and spending quality time with friends.
Britney Roberts is a Quality Process Manager supporting Gracenote Content Operations at Nielsen. Before joining Nielsen she spent the better part of her 15-year career focusing on adult learning and development both professionally and in academia. Personally, Britney is an advocate for education and development, and she has utilized both formal and informal development to grow her career. Britney is a big fan of music and enjoys photography. She has become a part-time photography enthusiast for over 10 years.
Dylan is a PhD student at the MIT Visualization Group where he develops applications to make data analysis easier.
His past work includes developing data analysis software for Arctic Sea-Ice Researchers, contributing to open source data visualization libraries, and designing interfaces to make machine learning models more interpretable. Previous to MIT, he was a software engineer building data telemetry systems at Microsoft- ie he made sure engineers fixed their code when you sent back a crash report.
When he’s not fighting chart crimes, Dylan scuba dives, maintains a hydroponic garden, and bakes pastries.
Sean currently works in Audience Measurement Analytics at Nielsen. He serves as a marketing strategy and analytics consultant for Amazon and Twitter, analyzing campaign data for the publisher, agency, and advertiser specializing in Connected TV, Linear TV, and Mobile data. He currently lives in New York City but is from Atlanta, Georgia. Outside of work, his hobbies include going to museums and Broadway shows, taking dance classes, and listening to Renaissance by Beyoncé.
Mitch Conzemius is currently a Consulting Development Analyst at Accenture Song and passionate about scaling new technology within the workspace to help innovate a more significant and more efficient impact through human experiences. He is an advocate for empathy, DEI, and mental health as he grew up independently after coming out at 17.
Before Accenture, Mitch was a Product Manager at U.S. Bank after attending the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, majoring in Management Information Systems and graduating in 2.5 years. Mitch has attended/volunteered at seven O4U conferences, including Business, Engineering, and Technology and will be moving to the Bay Area early next year. As a student, he was Co-President of the University of Minnesota's LGBTQ+ Business Group: Compass. He previously was an elite-level gymnast and enjoys finding new coffee shops, running, reading, and photography in his free time.
Heather Hartel (she/her/hers) is an admissions director for the 2023 O4U Digital Conference. She previously served as a sponsorship director for the 2022 Marketing Conference and as a mentor for the 2021 Marketing Conference. Professionally, Heather is a Senior Customer Success Manager at Wunderkind, where she is responsible for developing and executing personalized campaigns for high-value strategic accounts. At Wunderkind, she also leads the LGBTQ+ ERG, which is comprised of 200+ LGBTQ+ community members and allies. In her free time, Heather enjoys backpacking, reading, crossword puzzles, sunflowers, chamber music, and biking around NYC.
Fernando is a recent Human Resources graduate from the University of Ana G. Méndez in Puerto Rico. Originally, he enrolled in Human Resources following his nature as a problem-solver and wanting to help everyone around him. As he continued his studies and due to being a huge bookworm, he noticed how marketing is all about telling a story and how that story may sometimes lack a way of being truly diverse to connect with some individuals. He currently intends on being part of an organization that allows him to work in a role where he can slowly be an advocate of change towards how Diversity and Inclusion is perceived in business.
After attending his first O4UM in October 2020, Fernando worked as a Campus Ambassador for the 2021 Engineering, Marketing and Tech conferences following the need to pay forward all that sense of empowerment he received while attending. This year, he’s excited to come back for the second time as an Admissions Director and continue to be able to create a wonderful experience for students.
Kevin is a Product Manager at Workday, focusing on building the mobile application (shameless plug to download the app if your employer uses Workday). Prior to Workday, Kevin graduated from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) with a B.S. in Computer Science where he helped organize small to large-scaled events for various groups on campus, ranging from social justice programs for first-year students to the university's bi-annual music festivals.
Kevin was previously on the Tech conference team in 2022. In his free time, you can find Kevin figuring out what plant to buy next, spending time outdoors, traveling, and binge watching trash TV and anime.
Ben is a Machine Learning Engineer at BNY Mellon where they focus on implementing deep learning to personalize financial products and automate workflows. Ben has been involved with O4U since they were a student and is currently volunteering as a director for their second year. Ben currently lives in NYC and is passionate about cooking, the NYC parks, exploring new music, and uplifting low income communities! They graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Masters in Physics and a specialty in theoretical physics.
David (he/him) is a Sr. Sales Development Representative (SDR) at LinkedIn. In this role, he works with VPs of HR looking to recruit and develop top talent in their organization. Before LinkedIn, he was the first SDR at CollegeAdvisor.com and ran a career coaching organization focused on helping students leverage LinkedIn to land their dream jobs.
David attended O4U Marketing three times before graduating from University of Maryland in May 2020 (go terps!) with degrees in marketing and management. In undergrad, he led UMD's award-winning American Marketing Association chapter and was awarded "National Student Marketer of the Year" in New Orleans, LA. This will be his first year as an O4U Director.
Outside of work, you can find him training for his next marathon, spending hours at Trader Joe's, and exploring NYC's comedy scene.
A familiar face to the O4U community, Joey is ecstatic to help build out the inaugural O4U Digital Conference! Having attended eight O4U conferences since 2017 in a variety of roles from student, to sponsor, to his most recent endeavor as the 2022 Programming Lead for O4U Engineering, Joey is thrilled to continue giving back to the organization that he says, “raised him!”
Joey received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, which he still claims as his favorite city! Currently, Joey works as a Software Engineer for Capital One in Washington, D.C., powering the interview platform for all candidates who are interested in joining the company. Joey is also happy to serve students across the country in a recruiting capacity with Capital One, specifically helping diverse candidates apply!
Outside of work and O4U, you will find Joey walking around D.C. (AirPods IN!), trying great new food, singing/dancing in many locations, and being a cat-dad to his daughters, Titi & Cleo!
Kyle Sanok (he/him/his) is the head of growth and marketing at Locket, a photo sharing app that launched at the start of 2022. Before Locket, he joined a Sequoia backed fitness startup called Interval as the first business hire. Prior moving to San Francisco, he also interned at JP Morgan in NY on the Digital Strategy team, wrote for a student travel guide, and worked at another fitness startup that was sold to Under Armour. He attended O4U Business ’17, O4U Tech ’18, and O4U Marketing ’19.
He graduated from Harvard in 2020 with a degree in Applied Math/Data Science and a secondary in Archaeology. Outside of class, he gave admissions and historical tours, sang in a co-ed a cappella group the Harvard Lowkeys, and hosted Harvard Model Congress conferences in Asia and Boston. As far as fun, he frequents Barry’s Bootcamp, loves to run, and will take a board game bit too seriously.
Joseph is an Associate Product Marketing Manager at Google on the Ads Marketing Global App Ads team. At Google, Joseph is also an active member of the PRIDE and HOLA employee resource groups. Prior to Google, Joseph studied Cognitive Science and Consumer Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, and worked at Pinterest as a New Business Account Manager. He attended the 2020 O4U Marketing Conference as a student and will be working on the O4U Programming Team for the 2023 O4U Digital Conference. Joseph was born and raised in Queens, New York and his family is from Ecuador. He is very passionate about community building and empowering other first-generation college grads, and enjoys hiking, watching reality tv and horror movies, and spending quality time with friends.
Jordan is an NYC-based Software Engineer at Spotify, specializing in growth opportunities on the web and supporting seasonal campaigns such as Spotify Wrapped. Before moving to New York, he is originally from Indiana and graduated with a degree in Computer Engineering from Purdue University in 2020. Jordan first attended O4U Tech as a student in 2018 and 2019; he loved it so much he returned as a mentor and speaker in 2020 and 2022. Outside work, he loves tinkering with personal projects, making rugs, and tumbling with the Chelsea Piers gymnastics team.
Marie is an Enablement Program Manager at Teradata, where she leads the onboarding academy for account team new hires. Before joining Teradata, Marie spent three years in various training and enablement roles at Adobe. She graduated from UC Berkeley, receiving a B.S. in Environmental Economics and Policy and a B.A. in American Studies.
Marie attended O4U Business as a student in 2016 and is looking forward to serving as a Programming Director this year! For the past four years, Marie has been moving along the west coast - living in the Bay Area, Seattle, and San Diego. For fun, Marie enjoys seeing live music, exploring new cities, and any water activity.
Michelle is a Software Engineer at Apple, based in the SF Bay Area. Having dabbled in everything from supply chain management to high fashion, their interests lie in the use of emerging technology to leverage and enhance innovation in other fields. Most importantly, they are concerned about the impact of this innovation, and how we can best rethink value metrics to incorporate community / environmental impact into product building.
Michelle graduated from Stanford University, where they studied Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence) and History. At Stanford, they were involved in misinformation research through the Stanford Internet Observatory and research on “vulnerable” populations in urban areas with computer vision and multimodal modeling. They carry those interests on as the founder of Tech For Good @ Apple.
Hit them up for a game of basketball or some good Singaporean recipes!
Jessika (she/they) is an Associate on the Global Corporate Partnerships team at Global Citizen and is based in Brooklyn, New York. Prior to Global Citizen, she was a Customer Success Associate at Wunderkind where she ran onsite and email strategies for retail e-commerce clients. Jessika graduated from the University of North Florida in 2022 with a BBA in Marketing and a minor in Digital Marketing and Analytics. While she was a student, she held several marketing internships, primarily at start-ups with BIPOC and/or women founders.
They attended O4U four times as a student and served as a Programming Director for the 2022 Marketing Conference. They are excited to return as a Programming Director for the inaugural Digital Conference.
In their spare time, Jessika enjoys discovering local restaurants, adventuring around Brooklyn, supporting the arts, and consuming queer media.
Garrett is a Software Engineer at Meta, where he works on giving Instagram users more control over their privacy. Prior to his current team, he worked on end-to-end encryption and cross-app messaging in Instagram DMs. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences.
Garrett previously attended O4U Tech as a student and has volunteered as a director for both the Tech and Marketing conferences. He’s a relatively new New Yorker resident and in his free time enjoys exploring the city, running (2024 NYC marathon anyone?), and cooking/baking.
Engineering Conference Team
For the past three years, Sarah was a Production Engineer turned Shift Supervisor at The Mosaic Company in Tampa, FL, working at the minerals processing plant for their largest phosphate mine. She recently moved to Lexington, KY and will work as a Project Engineer for RESPEC, focusing on abandoned mine land projects.
Sarah received her Bachelor’s in Mining Engineering from the University of Kentucky in 2019. While at UK she had numerous leadership roles in the Wildcat Marching Band, Kappa Kappa Psi (band service fraternity), the Engineering LLP, and Women in Mining. She was also involved in the university’s SWE chapter, her department’s Mining Competition Team, and a Christian campus ministry.
Sarah first became involved in O4U by attending the 2018 Engineering Conference as a student her senior year. After having a life-changing experience, she decided to get involved as a volunteer behind the scenes. She joined the O4U Engineering Conference Team after graduating, gaining experience on both the Sponsorship and Admissions teams for the 2019-2022 Engineering Conferences. While not busy with work or O4U, she enjoys playing soccer, having board game nights, and finding four-leaf clovers.
Justin is a supply chain New Product Program Manager at Cisco in San Jose, California, responsible for manufacturing readiness and new product launches for the Catalyst switching business. At Cisco, Justin has been involved with the PRIDE ERO and its Pride Mentorship Program and enjoys mentoring interns and university students.
Justin graduated with a BSE and MSE in Industrial & Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (Go Blue!) as part of the Engineering Global Leadership (EGL) Honors Program in 2015/2016. At U-M, he was involved in the Spectrum Center, Theta Tau Professional Engineering Fraternity, and the Tauber Institute for Global Operations. He then worked as an Industrial Engineer on a Raw Material Analytics team for Boeing in Seattle, Washington for several years before returning to the Bay Area to be closer to family in Palo Alto.
After attending the O4U Engineering Conference at Stanford University in 2015, Justin was compelled to give back to an organization that exposed him to so many inspiring voices in the queer engineering community, and he is thrilled to serve as Sponsorship Lead this year! Justin currently lives in San Francisco and enjoys playing volleyball and tennis, seeing live music, and taking on cooking projects in his free time.
Farzana is a Silicon Design Engineer at AMD working on the Architecture Modelling team for Graphics Hardware. Her team adds timing to the C-model of the computer architecture to run experiments to help decide features (e.g. ray tracing) and configurations (e.g. cache size). Previously, she has interned at Micron, AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm.
Farzana was born in Bangladesh but grew up in New York City. Farzana studied Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), graduating with a Bachelor’s in 2021. She was the External VP for UIUC’s Out in STEM chapter and gave a talk on intersectionality at the national conference (“Being Queer as a Desi-American”). Through internships, study-abroad, and remote work, she has lived in Madrid, Boise, Austin, Sacramento, and Chicago. She now resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.
She attended the 2016 O4UE conference as a student which taught her how to network more authentically and introduced her to some wonderful people. This is her second year as a Sponsorship Director. She came back to O4U in 2022, finding a sense of community and purpose. In her free time, she enjoys playing games (video, card, or board), trying new restaurants, and hiking.
Billie works as an electrical engineer on phased array antennas at Northrop Grumman. Their work focuses on the testing and integration of RF subsystems within the antenna. They received a BS in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech, and they are working on a second BS in computer science through Oregon State's post-bacc program. They intend to grow their knowledge of communication systems and work to become an interdisciplinary team lead. Billie also volunteers for the PrIDA ERG at Northrop Grumman and for Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (oSTEM).
This is Billie’s second year volunteering with O4U, previously supporting the Strategic Operation’s Travel and Logistics team. In their free time, they take care of their orchids, hike, meet up with friends, or enjoy the many offerings of Baltimore.
Anne is an Account Manager with Ecolab within the Food & Beverage sector located in South Carolina. She graduated from Florida State University in 2022 with a B.S. in Chemical-Materials Engineering.
During her time at FSU, Anne served as an Orientation Leader (’19) and was a brother of Alpha Phi Omega (’18). Here, she was also involved in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE), and TEDxFSU.
Anne attended O4U Engineering 2020-2021 and served as a campus ambassador in 2021. She is excited to be a part of the team and give back to the organization and community that has jump started her career. Nowadays, Anne spends her free time running and being a craft beer connoisseur.
Amy is a 5th-year undergraduate student in Chemical Engineering with minors in Spanish Studies and Chemistry at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (UMN), set to graduate in Spring 2023. Last year, Amy participated in a year-long Engineering co-op in Cargill Bioindustrial in Blooming Prairie, MN, and has accepted a full-time position with Brady Corporation in their hometown of Milwaukee, WI upon graduation.
Amy attended the O4U Engineering Conference as an undergrad in 2021 (virtual) and 2022 (Saint Paul, MN), and discovered an incredibly supportive, inspiring community that they were missing in their undergraduate experience.
Amy is a Society of Women Engineers (SWE) member of 4+ years, currently serving as the Corporate Relations director for the UMN SWE section, as well as a committee member for the newly-formed Affinity Groups Committee at the society-level. She is also a founding member of the UMN Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (CEMS) DEI Working Group. Outside of their studies and involvements, Amy loves watching basketball, collecting perfume, visiting new restaurants and coffee shops, and reading.
Micki is Senior Software Development Engineer at Tesla, leading test automation for Supercharger electric vehicle chargers and developing test infrastructure and data analysis tools for the Tesla energy team. Micki is very grateful to be working directly to help accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy!
Micki attended University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and graduated with their B.S in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Gender and Women’s Studies in 2021. In undergrad, they were very involved with their university’s chapter of the Society of Women Engineers, and were involved with the campus LGBTQ+ club Women of Pride. They also did research in power electronics and mentored underclassmen through Women in Engineering (WIE) and as a teaching assistant.
O4U Engineering 2023 will be Micki’s 8th conference, after attending for 5 years, serving as a volunteer for one year, and as last year’s Logistics Director. Outside of O4U, Micki enjoys hiking, yarn-based crafts, caring for their plants, and hanging out with their cat.
Nick (he/him) is an R&D Process Engineer at Ecolab in Minneapolis, MN. Nick primarily supports the scale-up of new hand care and ware wash formulations at their pilot plant facility. Before joining Ecolab, Nick interned in research positions at the U.S. Department of Energy and Washington University School of Medicine.
Nick received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University in 2022. Throughout his undergraduate career, Nick also served as a lead facilitator with the Multicultural Affairs Office at Columbia and the MITES Semester program at MIT. He is passionate about engineering outreach and expanding access to careers in STEM.
Nick attended the O4U Engineering conferences from 2019 – 2021, served as a Campus Ambassador in 2020, and recently joined the Programming Team for the 2023 conference season. In his free time, Nick enjoys bouldering, candle-making, $5 Tuesday moviegoing, and leisurely sipping Cuban coffee in his hometown Miami.
Lainey is a chemical engineer from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Their prior research is in computational modeling, including molecular dynamics simulations and data-driven reaction classification. At the graduate level, Lainey will be pursuing their interest in computational linguistic algorithms for use in cheminformatics applications. They also have experience doing research and development at a semiconductor startup and working in global quality at The Clorox Company.
After attending O4U Engineering as a student in 2021 and 2022, Lainey is excited to be a first-time director on the Programming Team. They look forward to inspiring the next round of young queer professionals the way they were inspired at their first O4U conference. In their personal life, Lainey’s hobbies include music, poetry, games, and makeup artistry.
Shriprama is a software engineer at Arista Networks in Austin, TX. She has been working on their multilayer networking switch technology for the past 2 years. She received her Bachelor’s in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 2020. While at UT, she was involved in several organizations such as the university’s SWE chapter and Eta Kappa Nu (electrical engineering honor society). She also worked as the lead math tutor at Best in Class Education Center.
Shriprama first became involved in O4U by attending the 2018 Technology Conference as a student her sophomore year. Her wonderful experience inspired her to go to the 2019 Engineering Conference as a junior. In 2022, she joined the O4U Engineering Programming Team to help put together memorable conferences like the ones she experienced for future attendees. She is passionate about disability visibility and diversity in engineering. In her free time, Shriprama enjoys dancing, knitting, and traveling.
Evan is a Clinical Trials Operations Development Program member for AbbVie, located in North Chicago, IL and an Engineering Education research assistant at the University of Michigan, He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign with a B.S. in Bioengineering and a minor in Material Science and Engineering. Their research focuses on equity in education and increasing accessibility and inclusion of engineering faculty into the Engineering Education research field. They look forward to continuing to use their knowledge for O4U and its students.
As a student, Evan attended the O4U Engineering Conferences from 2020-2021, served as a 2021 Campus Ambassador, and as a Programming Director for the 2022 conference season. They are extremely honored to serve as this year’s Logistics Director to continue to share the “O4U Magic.”
Evan is passionate about encouraging others to find what it is that spark’s their fire, culturally relevant resourcing, and living out a message of “loving the becoming of your full authentic self.” Most importantly, he is a coffee nerd, dog parent to Enzo, and an avid believer that the “camera always eats first.”
Francine Marie Reyes Vega is a Mechanical Engineer at Logistic Services International (LSI) in Jacksonville, FL. She was born and raised in Puerto Rico, and moved to Florida in 2019, after completing her undergraduate studies. Francine graduated from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus, with a BS in Mechanical Engineering.
She attended the 2017 and 2018 O4U Engineering Conferences as a student, 2020 she participated as a volunteer, and in 2021 and 2022 she was an Admissions Director. 2023 will be her third year as Admissions Director, this time leading it. Besides her involvement in O4U, she has been an active member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) since 2013, and is currently the Co-Lead for the SWE LGBTQ+ and Allies Affinity Group.
In her free time, Francine likes to visit the beach, travel to new places and try new foods. She loves to spend time with her two cats, Pepperoni and Salemi. One of her goals is to own a mini studio to work on pottery and ceramics, and other crafts.
Haroon is an environmental engineer and consultant at Stantec. He has been working with their STARR2 team that processes MT-2 cases submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) since June of 2022. He graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) with a B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a strong passion for community development.
During his undergraduate years, he was involved with Concrete Canoe and Engineers Without Borders (EWB). He also has two research experiences under his belt. One analyzes the unit hydrograph as a model for predicting rainfall in the state of Maryland and the other investigates the community of Lubbock, TX on its past redlining principles and how it is still impacting the community. He was also the Undergraduate Representative for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee for the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UMD.
Haroon attended o4u Engineering Conference in 2021 and 2022 as a student and fell in love with the Conference. He is honored and excited to be on the team and serve as an Admissions Director for the 2023 conference. He is passionate about the environmental impacts of construction and DEI issues in the engineering field. Haroon is an amateur cook, loves to travel, and is a cat person.
Adela is a Mechanical & Electrical Engineer. She graduated from Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico with a B.S. in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering and is now a R&D Engineer at ZF Group, where she studies and tests functional safety programs for autonomous vehicles in collaboration with Poland and Germany.
During her time at Tec, she was an active leadership student organizing and managing inclusion and city-wide events from chapters such as Rotary International and IEEE Women in Engineering. She also was a Resident Assistant for 5 years, creating and leading programs and events for over a thousand of students, participating also as speaker in leadership conferences in Germany, Canada, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
O4U Engineering Conference in 2020 was her first one as a student, served as a volunteer and Campus Ambassador for Business, Marketing, Engineering, and Tech conferences in 2021 and joined the 2022 Engineering Conference’s Programming Team excited and pumped up to bring y’all the best program experience. Considers herself a learner about any cool topic, loves axolotls, Mexican food and holidays, and watching horror movies.
Alex Young is a Techno-Economic Analyst at Twelve, a carbon transformation company in the San Francisco Bay Area. Their team sits between Technical Development and Business Development, and their work supports strategic planning of the technology roadmap and go-to-market planning. She has a BS and MS in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University. She previously worked as a Testing Engineer at an energy storage startup before moving to Twelve, where she started as a Testing Engineer before pivoting to her current strategy role. Alex is passionate about climate and is grateful to have spent their career thus far working on such a critical issue.
Alex attended O4U Engineering as a student in 2018 and 2019, and served as a Campus Ambassador in 2019/2020, and a volunteer at the 2020 conference. This will be her first time serving as a director!
Alex is originally from Austin, TX, and loves Tex-Mex and barbecue! They also adopted a dog during the early days of the pandemic, and are now a fully obsessed dog parent to Tobias Rhonda, an 11-pound chihuahua mix. In their free time, Alex likes to support local drag (and dreams of getting into drag one day!) and play in queer sports leagues (most recently dodgeball). She can’t wait to return to the O4U community this conference cycle, and hopes to help make an already magical community even more engaging, inclusive, and memorable this year.
To honor and thank our volunteers for the impact they make on the lives of LGBTQ+ students, we began planting trees in their honor for every year of service beginning in 2021. View our volunteer's trees and their impact at evertreen.com/company/o4u.