Center for Global Management

Lynn Bresnahan (’21)

Who Gives a Crap

LYNN BRESNAHAN is a graduate of the EMBA Class of 2021. She is a senior operations manager and serves as the U.S. tissue manufacturing lead at Who Gives a Crap, a multinational company and fast-growing social business. Prior to this, Bresnahan worked for Kimberly-Clark Corp. for 13 years in various process engineering, operational and managerial roles, where she had an opportunity to work on product development for international brands.

Bresnahan’s decision to attend Anderson was strongly influenced by the opportunity to develop her global perspective and participate in programming offered by the Center for Global Management that would provide a more practical understanding of working and leading in a global company. During her two years, she enrolled in numerous global management elective courses and learned many important concepts and frameworks that she was able to immediately apply to her work as a supply chain leader. In “Global Macroeconomics,” she learned how to hedge foreign exchange risk when assessing various manufacturing locations and creating new market entry strategies. In “Global Trends,” she explored key trends affecting business, including shifting demographics, the rise of authoritarianism and impact of climate change, that have helped to guide her when thinking about which markets to enter. The course also helped her to better understand technology, the impact of accelerating automation and the future of work. Two global supply chain courses provided invaluable frameworks to analyze and build supply chain strategy and better understand the impact of COVID-19. Bresnahan was a regular attendee at the many global forums and discussions to further inform her understanding of the implications of the pandemic.

Outside the classroom, Bresnahan was a mentee in the CGM mentor program. This experience helped her navigate a new company and provided the perspective she needed to be more effective and assimilate faster into her new role. She also served as an equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) fellow providing research and data support to identify and implement key strategic goals to further advance EDI in the Anderson community. Understanding the world around her through a global lens has always been core to who Bresnahan is. Her time at Anderson has been an amazing period of accelerated learning and growth. Bresnahan feels that the global element of that growth has made her a better, more well-rounded leader and will continue to serve her well as her global responsibilities grow in scale and scope.

James Feng (’21)

Flatiron Health

JAMES FENG is a graduate of the FEMBA Class of 2021. Prior to joining the FEMBA program, Feng worked for six years as a management consultant with Accenture in New York and Los Angeles, where he advised Fortune 500 pharmaceutical clients on the role of technology in enabling better delivery of medicine within the U.S. health care system. He received his B.S. in environmental engineering from Syracuse University in New York, where he studied abroad at the City University of Hong Kong. This experience fueled Feng’s global interests, which he wanted to further explore at UCLA Anderson.

During his time at Anderson, Feng had the opportunity to enroll in global management courses and engage in learning experiences that helped to broaden his perspectives on global health. He completed two global immersion courses and traveled to India and the Nordic countries. These firsthand experiences provided vastly different perspectives on health care systems, funding and administration of health care, as well as health literacy and inequalities. Feng also participated in two globally focused case competitions involving developing a global supply chain strategy for cleaning supplies during COVID-19 and solving a global health crisis. Together with UCLA graduate and undergraduate students from various academic disciplines, his team earned first place in the UCLA Global Health Care Competition, where they developed a solution to address adverse health outcomes in Madagascar resulting from natural disasters.

Feng held leadership positions in the FEMBA Student Council and the UCLA Graduate Student Association, and was selected as class speaker for his 2021 class commencement. His leadership positions and global experiences positioned him to think more holistically about global solutions and recognize the importance of understanding the local landscape and working with a diverse team when tackling complex issues such as global health. Courses such as “Global Macroeconomics” also provided frameworks to assess macroeconomic impacts and analyze issues through a business lens. After graduation, Feng will join Flatiron Health, a health care technology and services company focused on accelerating cancer research and improving patient care, as a senior product manager. He looks forward to leveraging his UCLA Anderson global experiences and learnings as he advances in his career and develops as a global business leader to improve health outcomes around the world.

Keerthi Kocherlakota ('21)

Google

KEERTHI KOCHERLAKOTA is a graduate of the full-time MBA Class of 2021 and a Forté fellow. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from Osmania University in Hyderabad before receiving a postgraduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management in Indore. Before joining UCLA Anderson, Kocherlakota worked at Airtel, a telecom company in India, in corporate finance and product manager roles.

To expand her global perspective and enhance her understanding of various economies and markets, Kocherlakota enrolled in a variety of global management courses, including those focused on global macroeconomics, technology management, innovation and evolution in the global mobile industry, and the impact of COVID-19 on global supply chains. She also participated in the CGM’s first Pan-European-focused global immersion course and learned about the challenges and opportunities that the European Union’s structure, Brexit and COVID-19 have created for European and global business through an analysis (though not exclusively) of their effects on five sectors, including technology and entrepreneurship, health care, financial services, sports and entertainment. To further her language skills, she enrolled in the CGM’s “Spanish Language and Culture for Business” course, and for her capstone experience, Kocherlakota worked with Intel on new product development and identified growth opportunities for the company. She also served on the Anderson Student Council (ASA) as director of alumni and graduate connections and was a member of the Investment Finance Association and Anderson Technology Business Association.

During the summer of her first year, Kocherlakota interned at Google as a financial analyst in its Ads business. As part of her internship, she focused on evaluating new market opportunities in alignment with Ads’ business development goals and Google’s priority markets. She was recognized as an “All-Star Intern” for outstanding performance during her internship. After graduation, she will be returning to Google Ads as a financial analyst, where she will use her business school skills, combined with her extensive global technology and finance experience, to drive new revenue opportunities for the company.

Robert Busalacchi (’20)

Barclays Capital

ROBERT BUSALACCHI is a graduate of the fully employed MBA Class of 2020. During the summer following his second year, he interned with Barclays Capital in its investment banking division and accepted an offer to return full time as an associate after graduation. Prior to joining the FEMBA program, Busalacchi served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. He spent seven years on active duty and completed deployments to Japan, South Korea and the Asia-Pacific region as part of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit. Busalacchi received his B.A. in international affairs from Marquette University in Milwaukee. During both his undergraduate years and time in the Marine Corps, he closely studied international political systems and world affairs.

Busalacchi was drawn to UCLA Anderson because of the school’s focus on engaging with the global community through the on- and off-campus programming offered by the Center for Global Management. While pursuing his MBA, he traveled to 12 countries spanning four continents. He completed two global immersion courses and visited Austria and the Czech Republic to compare the two countries and examine the long-lasting effects of authoritarian central planning on economic development. He later traveled to Finland and Sweden to study entrepreneurship and corporate renewal. He also traveled to New Zealand for his Global Access Program field study project with FABRUM SOLUTIONS, an engineering company based in Christchurch that develops cryocooler technology. In the spring quarter, Busalacchi was scheduled to visit Israel for a third global immersion course to explore the agglomeration of entrepreneurial activity and technological innovation. The course was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On campus, Busalacchi enrolled in global management courses focused on global macroeconomics and non-market risks, understanding politics and the global context for doing business, as well as a course offered by the Luskin School of Public Affairs titled “Political Economic Development.” He served in leadership positions for the Investment Finance Association and Anderson Veterans Association. Busalacchi was a mentee in the CGM mentor program and was selected as a 2019 John Wooden Global Leadership Fellow. While at UCLA Anderson, he attended many of the CGM’s global conferences, policy forums and speaker series. For Busalacchi, these global experiences were augmented by the friendships, professional network and deeper understanding of the opportunities and challenges of doing business globally that he acquired through the programming provided by the CGM.

Ania Puczylowska (’20)

Brand Socialite

ANIA PUCZYLOWSKA is a graduate of the executive MBA Class of 2020. She is founder and CEO of Brand Socialite, a technology platform for the experiential marketing sector. Prior to founding her own company, Puczylowska worked for Strategic Group, where she represented the LVMH Moet Hennessy brands for more than a decade and managed annual revenue of over $3 million while achieving annual business goals. Her decision to attend Anderson was strongly influenced by the opportunity to participate in the CGM’s global immersion courses and expand her global network. Born and raised in Poland, and with a distinct passion for global travel, during her two years at Anderson, Puczylowska participated in three global immersion courses that traveled to Japan, Scandinavia and India. She first traveled to Tokyo to understand the effects of Japanese systems on the way business is conducted in Japan. In September 2019, she visited Helsinki and Stockholm to study entrepreneurship and corporate renewal and engage with many successful entrepreneurs and business leaders as well as startup companies. She later visited Mumbai and Hyderabad to explore both the risks and opportunities offered by the Indian market for foreign investors and domestic entrepreneurs alike. For her EMBA international business residency, Puczylowska traveled to Johannesburg and Cape Town to learn about creating a socially responsible business and social enterprise within the context of South Africa and how the country’s history, politics and economic conditions have led to the growth of social entrepreneurship and a vibrant social sector.

On campus, Puczylowska enrolled in the “Global Trends” course, where she explored recent global trends affecting business and their effects on management practices and business opportunities around the world. She was a regular attendee at the many global conferences, policy forums, luncheons and speaker events that the CGM offered. Her two-year MBA journey was life-changing and greatly enriched by her global experiences both on and off campus. These experiences expanded her understanding and appreciation of different cultures and ways of doing business, made her more aware of the importance of diversity and the triple bottom line in decision making and provided her with the necessary skills and knowledge to be a more effective and compassionate global leader.

Lizzeth Rosales (’20)

FUSE Corps

LIZZETH ROSALES is a graduate of the full-time MBA Class of 2020 and a Hispanic Scholarship Fund Scholar. Prior to joining UCLA Anderson, Rosales worked in the nonprofit sector, in the areas of education, housing, urban planning and environmental justice. She served as chief operations officer for an organization that provides after-school and family support as well as gang prevention services to low-income communities in Los Angeles, and she led climate justice policy work as assistant director of equitable development, directing state funds to disadvantaged communities in the city. Prior to this, Rosales spent four years with the Natural Resources Defense Council, assisting with various air quality initiatives in Southern California, and before that, she served as a paralegal for a nonprofit that provides legal resources to low-income tenants facing eviction. She graduated cum laude from Harvard University with an A.B. in government. Rosales in fluent in Spanish.

To expand her global perspective, during her two years, Rosales enrolled in a variety of global management courses, including those focused on global macroeconomics, global trends, international business strategy and global marketing management. For her AMR project, Rosales worked with Conservation International’s impact investing team on a new-market-entry strategy for non-timber forest products to advance conservation efforts in the Amazonia region. She also served on the Anderson Student Council (ASA) as vice president of ethics and professionalism and was instrumental in organizing the 2020 Anderson Ethics Case Competition, which featured a global perspective. She also held leadership positions for Net Impact, the Women’s Business Connection and the Anderson Latino Management Association.

During the summer of her first year, Rosales interned at the Jakarta headquarters of Duithape, a FinTech social enterprise that provides mobile payments to unbanked populations. She focused on social impact analysis and development of a social impact measurement framework in alignment with UN Sustainable Development Goals, with a particular focus on gender and economic impact. During the winter of her final year, Rosales worked for the XPRIZE Foundation on an academic internship. She contributed to the design of a framework to operationalize impact analysis and developed potential impact measurements for its grant-making teams. She also served as a mentor in Anderson’s Riordan Scholars program and as a circle leader for Lean In Los Angeles, a global community that empowers and supports women. After graduation, Rosales seeks to use her business school skills and knowledge, combined with her extensive social justice experience and passion for making an impact, to help empower communities both locally and globally and to advance equity.