Marion Anderson
Women@Anderson
Transformative Leaders
Sofia Mandel (’24)
President, Women’s Business Connection
When I enrolled at Anderson, I joined the leadership of the Women’s Business Connection because of my strong belief in its mission to cultivate a network of influential and inclusive business leaders. This year, we’ve stepped up our awareness of what it means to be inclusive, partnering with the school’s other identity and professional groups to appeal to a wider audience by highlighting our members’ far-reaching cultural and professional perspectives and encouraging greater awareness of the issues affecting women worldwide.
Juhie Rathor (’24)
President, Anderson Student Association
John Wooden Global Leadership Fellow
“A good leader empowers and creates more leaders. A good leader sets you up for success.”
Tiffany Lin (FEMBA ’24)
FEMBA Council President
John Wooden Global Leadership Fellow
“I strive to become a servant and solutions-oriented leader.”
We Share Success
“I believe that women should be there for one another in a world where competition takes over too often.”
Fanny Pinoul (’23)
President, Women’s Business Connection
President, Women’s Business Connection
“I’ve aimed to increase Anderson’s positive impact, not only within the UCLA community, but in the larger L.A. community.”
Akshita Saxena (’23)
Co-President, Challenge for Charity
Co-President, Challenge for Charity
“One of my goals was to increase networking value for my peers as we came out of a mostly virtual classroom situation.”
Anh Cao (’23)
President, Entrepreneur Association
President, Entrepreneur Association
“I’ve had the incredible opportunity to start a new tradition at UCLA in collaboration with USC.”
Gabriella Eliezer (’23)
President, Marketing Association
President, Marketing Association
“I strive to be an inclusive, fair leader who leads by example.”
Caroline Nahas (B.A. ’70)
Senior Advisor, Korn Ferry
Senior Advisor, Korn Ferry
“It should not be women’s sole responsibility to close the pay gap; men in the workplace need to champion equal pay and equal representation in leadership positions.”
Annette Blum (’10)
President, Anderson Women
President, Anderson Women
Meet the Entrepreneurs
NEWSROOM
What Would Any Parent Do?
UCLA Anderson alumna Jane Zhang’s (’20) otoscope makes telemedicine more accessible
POETS & QUANTS
Most Disruptive MBA Startups of 2023 Include This AI “Copilot”
Natalie Dranchuk’s (’23) Odyssey connects patients to social services
Hello Bello Co-Founder Connects the Dots to Her UCLA Anderson Network
Jenn Pullen (’07) is now launching Zenn Capital to help promising startups
HipLATINA
¡Digame! How a First-Gen Afro-Latina Entrepreneur Launched Luna Magic
Shaira Frías’ (CERT ’23) makeup line is sold at Target, CVS and Walmart
Venture Accelerator at Anderson Expands Network of Industry Experts
Lauren Browning’s (’23) sustainable swimwear brand Ricki Rum sails ahead
Femtech Founder Secures $1.3 Million to Scale
Mitchella Gilbert (’21) incubated OYA in UCLA Anderson’s Venture Accelerator
The Sharks Must Love It
UCLA Anderson Accelerator alumnae tamed judges with soy-free vegan ice cream
Youtube
You Can Have Fun and Be Sober
Ashley Johnson (’22) launched Wine Not to create inclusive experiences
Success Stories
UCLA Anderson students, alumnae, faculty and staff are paving the way to success and inclusion for future generations of women worldwide.
NEWSROOM
UCLA Anderson Alumna Elected President of the Los Angeles City Planning Commission
Monique Lawshe (’90) pairs real estate finance skills with a commitment to service
NEWSROOM
Fascinated by Finance
Payden & Rygel’s Asha Joshi (’85) considers the people behind the numbers
MBA insider
Behind the Scenes of UCLA Anderson’s Velocity Women’s Leadership Summit
For Sarah Gerlach (’24), planning the conference was 5% stressful, 95% thrilling
NEWSROOM
An Olympian Legacy That Keeps the People in Its Heart
Mariana Behr Andrade’s (’02) Olympic education program continues its profound impact in Brazil
NEWSROOM
UCLA Anderson Assistant Professor among NIHCM Research Grantees
Jennifer Kao’s work on the controversial topic of drug repurposing will inform policymakers
UCLA MAGAZINE
Game On
Maddy Wojdak Marquissee (’19) helps level the playing field for women in gaming industry
NEWSROOM
UCLA Anderson’s Net Impact Achieves Gold Status
Nkemdilim Chukwuma (’24) envisions putting social impact into daily practice
Los Angeles Mayor Taps the Talents of a UCLA Anderson Alumna
Small business veteran Sonya Blake (’92) applies her MBA training to transition team
Q&A
A U.S. Army Dentist Disproves Stereotypes
Dr. Katherine Loi (FEMBA ’25) says people are surprised she’s a veteran
Newsroom
Former CPA Owes Her Career Pivot to Consortium
UCLA Anderson MBA Gabrielle Clark (’20) found an ideal fit at LA28
Seize the Data!
Namita Kallianpurkar (’18) parlayed her MSBA experience into a key role at Google
UCLA Anderson’s MFE Prepared Cryptocurrency Expert for a Capital Career
Portfolio manager Sarah Schroeder (MFE ’15) is a leader in hedge funds and tech
UCLA Anderson’s Connections to Tech Drew This International Talent
Tiphaine Grosse (’23) makes a habit of moving outside her comfort zone
An Accessibility Expert Cultivates Allies for a More Inclusive Campus
UCLA Anderson FEMBA Carolanne Link (’23) is recognized for her EDI leadership
Award-Winning Management Consultant Took a Chance on Kearney
UCLA Anderson alumna Leslie Parker (’03) came to a fortuitous crossroads 25 years ago
Univsion’s Mission to Inform and Empower Communities
GM Veronika Moroian (’03) finds promise in the nation’s fastest-growing population
Friday, March 15, 2024
Velocity is a celebration of the power and impact of women. In 2024, current and future leaders of all backgrounds explore ideas for a more equitable future in business and society under the theme Empower. True to tradition, the summit will inspire our passionate and forward-thinking community to continue its learning, growth, leadership and empowerment through all stages of life and career.
Research Spotlight: Gender Bias
UCLA Anderson faculty across our areas of study publish research that empowers people and their organizations to understand and address bias in the workplace. Read about their findings in UCLA Anderson Review, where leading journalists report on Anderson faculty’s latest and most provocative work.
RESEARCH
A Bottom-Up, Instead of Top-Down, Path Away from Sexist Bosses
Corinne Bendersky, Professor of Management and Organizations
RESEARCH
How a Stock Analyst’s Face Affects Their Earning Estimates
Siew Hong Teoh, Lee and Seymour Graff Endowed Professor; Professor of Accounting
RESEARCH
Why So Few Women in STEM Fields: The Role of Middle-School Peer Influence
Sherry Jueyu Wu, Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations and Behavioral Decision Making
RESEARCH
Removing Words With Gender Bias in Job Ads: More Diverse Applicants
Joyce C. He, Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations
RESEARCH
COVID-19 Tactics Varied by Gender Among Brazilian Mayors Running for Reelection
Clemence Tricaud, Assistant Professor of Economics
RESEARCH
The Art of Selling Corporate Gender Equity Initiatives
Jennifer Whitson, Associate Professor of Management and Organizations
RESEARCH
Shorter Workweek Could Help Close the Gender Wage Gap
Melanie Wasserman, Assistant Professor of Economics
RESEARCH
Warmth vs. Competence: a Way to Organize Study of Job, Gender and Racial Stereotypes?
Joyce C. He, Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations
RESEARCH
The Dollar Store Fix for Vaccination Deserts
Elisa Long, Professor of Decisions, Operations, and Technology Management;
Fernanda Bravo, Assistant Professor of Decisions, Operations and Technology Management
Fernanda Bravo, Assistant Professor of Decisions, Operations and Technology Management
RESEARCH
Math Gender Gap: Nonexistent for Blacks, Notable for Affluent Whites
Paola Giuliano, Justice Elwood Lui Endowed Term Chair in Management and Professor of Economics
Research
Wage Transparency Might Make Income Inequality Even Worse
Hengchen Dai, Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations and Behavioral Decision Making
Conducting research is often solitary. Even the welcome opportunities for collaboration can be limited to fellow academics whose work falls within similar lines of interest. One of the great pleasures of serving as UCLA Anderson’s dean is that it’s afforded me the opportunity to widen my circle and develop important relationships with a multitude of strong and creative students. Among the standouts are women leading some of Anderson’s most ambitious initiatives.
The women in our alumni network include the CEOs of tech giants and innovative health care companies who continually redefine what accounts for possibility. The women on our Board of Advisors and my colleagues within Anderson’s faculty and administration are crucial to the school’s mission of education, research and service. Most important, the women in our student body reinvigorate and reenergize our scholastic and professional experience. I’m proud to serve as their colleague and ally.
— Tony Bernardo,
Dean and John E. Anderson Chair in Management
How the World Works
UCLA Anderson faculty influence markets, industry, consumer behavior and public policy. Listen to lively conversations with researchers who are confronting the greatest challenges in business today.
One of the Most Important Findings in Cancer Research
Featuring: Jennifer Kao, Assistant Professor of Strategy
Jennifer Kao shows that a high percentage of cancer studies don’t publicly share trial results, despite the federal disclosure requirements
You May Be Experiencing Time Poverty, A Root Cause of Unhappiness
Featuring: Cassie Mogilner Holmes, Professor of Marketing and Behavioral Decision Making at the UCLA Anderson School of Management
Cassie Holmes’ research and book reveal the methods to control your happiness
Here’s Why Conspiracy Theories Work So Darn Well
Featuring: Jennifer Whitson, Associate Professor of Management and Organizations
Jennifer Whitson discovered that believers feel they are losing control, so bad information can feel elegant and validating
What If We Could Measure How Good A Corporation Is for Society?
Featuring: Magali Delmas, Professor of Management; Faculty Director, Center for Impact
Magali Delmas’ new transparency study shows change is possible when companies truthfully report ESG metrics
In a Nation of Increasing Extreme Behavior, a Case for Moderation
Featuring: Aimee Drolet Rossi, Professor of Marketing; Marion Anderson Chair in Management
Aimee Drolet Rossi's discoveries indicate great potential for change
Marketers Connect Better With Consumers Using Headphones
Featuring: Alicea Lieberman, Assistant Professor of Marketing
Alicea Lieberman found that people feel the material more than content through speakers
The Way the FDA Approves Vaccines Should Be Different Now
Featuring: Fernanda Bravo, Assistant Professor of Decisions, Operations and Technology Management
As Fernanda Bravo tells Warren Olney, it should be risk versus reward.
Are You a Woman Applying for a Job? Choose Words Carefully
Featuring: Joyce C. He, Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations
Using masculine words for male-dominated positions will backfire, according to Joyce He
Women Consider Jobs Differently, and Employers Know It
Featuring: Melanie Wasserman, Assistant Professor of Economics
Warren Olney navigates hours, work/life balance and pay with Melanie Wasserman.
Why MBA at Anderson?
Welcome to your behind-the-scenes look at the UCLA Anderson MBA experience. These women entered with a diversity of backgrounds and graduated with a diversity of new business leadership skills. Now they tell you how an Anderson education enabled them to advance in a diversity of extraordinary careers.
Be Open to an International Career
Featuring: Savita Iyer (’05), CFO, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, The Walt Disney Company
Singapore-based Savita Iyer (’05) has worked in finance at the Walt Disney company for 15 years. But she’s had so many opportunities in different roles worldwide that she doesn’t feel like she’ll ever get stuck doing the same thing for long. Now head of finance for Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution businesses across Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Iyer was commencement speaker for her FEMBA class at Anderson, and worked as a consultant in Sweden following graduation. She recommends that MBAs who want an international career be rigid in their goals but open to the path they take, and make it known early to employers that they’re seeking assignments overseas.
The Path to CFO
Featuring: Katie Low Anderson (’09), CFO, Guess?
Katie Low Anderson (’09), CFO at Guess? Walks us through her up and down journey to becoming the CFO of a multi-billion dollar company. How believing in herself, constantly learning and keeping good relationships were the keys to her success.
Close
A Creative’s Career Pivot
Featuring: Ginny Chien (B.A. ’98, ’10), SVP of Global Brand Marketing, Unilever Prestige/Murad Skincare
Double Bruin Ginny Chien (B.A. ’98, ’10) began her career as a print journalist covering, among other topics, fashion, style and beauty. When she decided to earn her MBA at Anderson, she made the connections and gained the confidence and wherewithal to shift careers. Now she brings her interest in beauty full circle as SVP of brand, content and creative at Murad Skincare, a Unilever prestige brand.
Close
A Problem-Solver Finds Unexpected Purpose in a Corporate Setting
Featuring: Neesha Hathi (’00), Chief Digital Officer and Managing Director, Charles Schwab
Neesha Hathi (’00), chief digital officer and managing director at Charles Schwab, felt motivated to help people create better financial futures for themselves. But she never thought that would mean working in a large corporation, leading a team of 1,500 people focused on digital transformation.
Close
Mastering the Craft
Featuring: Melanie Auguste (MBA/J.D. ’13), VP of Global Brand Narrative, Purpose and Athlete Marketing, Nike
Melanie Auguste (MBA/J.D. ’13) harbors a deep-seated passion for sports and a gift for understanding people and trends. From aspiring pro athlete to influential leader in the sports marketing industry, she transformed her career goals into her dream job at Nike. Her secret? Shift from thinking about your work as a “job” to viewing it as mastering a craft. It also helped that she found, in UCLA Anderson, a graduate school that valued exactly what she wanted to do.
Close
Being Open to New Opportunities
Featuring: Deb Johnson (’99), Chief Learning Officer, Deloitte Consulting
Deb Johnson (’99), chief learning officer of Deloitte Consulting, tells us how a piece of advice her father gave her as a young girl has shaped her entire career and also the skills you should be developing for a career in consulting.
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Don’t Be Afraid to Trust Your Gut
Featuring: Constance Knight (’98), Global Head of Video Curation, Instagram
Constance Knight (’98) talks about how not being afraid to make big changes in your career and trusting your gut can lead to life changing outcomes. Also, why it’s so important to have specific career goals and predictions for the future.
Close
A Fitness Entrepreneur Strengthens Her Resolve
Featuring: Felicia Alexander (’05), Co-Founder and President, BoxUnion; Chief Revenue Officer, TITLE Boxing Club
Despite a “burning desire” to launch in the fitness space, Felicia Alexander (’05), co-founder and president of BoxUnion and chief revenue officer at TITLE Boxing Club, needed to overcome her risk aversion.
Close
Curriculum Innovation
UCLA Anderson faculty bring the kind of research and industry expertise that turn classrooms into launch pads for management careers.
Newsroom
UCLA Anderson’s Healthcare Analytics Course Untangles a Nuanced Industry
Students learn better decision making by tapping into multiple data sources
A “One Anderson” Approach to Curriculum
Vice Chair Elisa Long makes connecting degree programs a priority
From Studios to Streamers, a Radical Reinvention
UCLA Anderson MBA students study the rapidly evolving world of content streaming
Not Just a Game Theory
UCLA Anderson students learn to represent complex situations in simplified structure
Tools of the FinTech Trade
Jinyuan Zhang teaches UCLA Anderson MFEs the latest in financial technology
UCLA Anderson’s Health Care Technology Course Is “All About Disruption”
Jennifer McCaney keeps current as an advisor in the health sector
The Course for Diversity
Heather Caruso’s class focuses on leadership in equity, diversity and inclusion
Professor Corinne Bendersky Offers Students Tools for Leading and Managing Teams
Understanding conflict management and differing points of view is key
A Global Immersion in Cuba, and for Gonzalo Freixes, a Return to Homeland
UCLA Anderson's first class in Cuba was high in intellectual and emotional value
On one of the most beautiful campuses in the country, in a global city teeming with energy and brimming with opportunity, risks are taken, doors are opened and anything is possible. In ways large and small, across the street or around the world, UCLA Optimists are making the world better for everyone.
UCLA Optimists
Linda Liau (Ph.D. ’99, ’16)
Susan Wojcicki (’98)
Martine Rothblatt (B.S. ’77, MBA/J.D. ’81)
Christine Simmons (B.S. ’98)
Anna Lee Fisher (B.S. ’71, M.D. ’76, M.S. ’77)
Nina Gregory (B.A. ’77)
Jorja Leap (B.A. ’78, MSW ’80, Ph.D. ’88)
Shirley Wang (B.A. ’90)
Jaime Nack (B.A. ’98, MPP ’02)
Lula Washington (B.A. ’76, M.A. ’84)
Adriana Galván
Tracy Johnson
Fellowship Spotlight
Nicole Gebriel (’23) Receives the Second Jenessa Shapiro Fellowship
The award commemorates a UCLA Anderson professor’s groundbreaking research on prejudice and stereotype threats
To honor and advance the legacy of Professor Jenessa Shapiro (1980–2018), the UCLA Anderson community established the Jenessa Shapiro Fellowship Fund, now totaling more than $200,000, through the generosity of students, faculty, staff and friends. The second Jenessa Shapiro Fellowship was presented in fall 2021 to Nicole Gebriel (’23). Like Professor Shapiro, Gebriel is a champion of inclusivity. She serves in leadership roles in the Black Business Students Association and AnderTech, and as a Riordan MBA Fellow. She is headed toward a consulting career with a focus on driving societal impact.
DONATEResources
Women’s Business Connection
WBC is a UCLA Anderson professional club that cultivates influential business leaders and fosters a collaborative, inclusive community to champion gender equity and intersectionality on the UCLA campus.
Women’s Leadership Institute
Offered through UCLA Anderson’s Executive Education program, the Women’s Leadership Institute develops savvy, authentic leaders ready to take their careers to the next level.
Forté
Forté fellowships launch women into fulfilling, significant careers through access to business education, professional development and community.
Anderson Women
UCLA Anderson’s alumnae network inspires and engages members seeking new challenges and connects them with like-minded fellow graduates.