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Alumni Conference 2024

Feed Your Curiosity

 
Friday, May 3
UCLA Anderson School of Management
Alumni Conference 2024 will explore recent trends, industry developments, and societal shifts affecting various facets the business landscape. Examine a variety of relevant and timely topics together with Anderson’s thought leaders and alumni.
 

ALUMNI CONFERENCE & NETWORKING RECEPTION HAVE BEEN CANCELLED.

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Conference Details
 
10:00 a.m.
Check-in
11:00 - 11:15 a.m.
Welcome Remarks 
Jill Baldauf (’79, ’81), Associate Dean, Alumni Relations
Zubin Davar (’15), President, UCLA Anderson Alumni Network Board of Directors
11:15 - 11:45 a.m.
State of the School 
Tony Bernardo, Dean and John E. Anderson Chair in Management
11:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Alumni Survey Results
Kerry Edelstein (’02), President and Founder, Research Narrative, Inc.
12:00 - 12:30 p.m.
Economic Forecast: What the Data Says about the Future of the Economy
Dr. Jerry Nickelsburg, Faculty Director, UCLA Anderson Forecast; Adjunct Professor of Economics
For the past 70 years, the UCLA Anderson Forecast has supplied the public, the media and policymakers with critical insights on the economy. It is the most widely followed and oft-cited forecast in the state. In this session, Dr. Jerry Nickelsburg will provide vital analysis to help alumni understand current developments and what it means for the future economy.
12:30 - 1:40 p.m.
Networking Lunch
1:55 - 2:55 p.m.
Breakout Sessions Round 1
Anderson’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem  
Los Angeles is the fastest growing region for technology and third largest for venture funding in the United States. Learn about the UCLA entrepreneurial ecosystem and how The Venture Accelerator at UCLA Anderson is supporting early-stage startups through tailored programs year-round. Experience a mini showcase featuring six fast pitches from current and alumni Accelerator founders from UCLA’s community and the broader Los Angeles ecosystem. Challenge them with questions and network with the Accelerator community!

Fairness in the Marketplace: Strategic and Ethical Considerations  
Franklin Shaddy, Assistant Professor of Marketing and Behavioral Decision Making
In the modern marketplace, the common response to increased demand is to raise prices. But just because you can charge more, are there instances when you shouldn’t? Price gouging laws exist for this exact reason. From the pandemic, toilet paper to Taylor Swift and concert tickets, there are several examples of instances when people might wish for more “fairness”. Professor Franklin Shaddy explains why firms should think critically about how to fairly allocate scarce goods and services in the marketplace—and how understanding and anticipating these concerns can create durable value for customers, employees, and ultimately, the bottom line. 

Storytelling for Today’s Business World 
Justin Sternberg (’21), Head of Client Strategy, Snap Inc. 
In today’s world, storytelling is essential to propel your career and business. In this interactive workshop, Justin Sternberg (’21) teaches proven Hollywood secrets to help participants dig deep and uncover something about themselves that sets them apart. Every superhero needs to understand their superpower. Once you have identified yours, Sternberg will walk you through the beats followed by every great movie to create your own Olympic Story that flows like a Hollywood blockbuster. Your Olympic Story is not about selling a product -- it's about understanding and selling yourself. The next time someone asks: "So, tell me about yourself" -- you'll finally have the perfect 90 second story that people hear AND truly feel! 
2:55 - 3:25 p.m.
Refreshment Break
3:25 - 4:25 p.m.
Breakout Sessions Round 2
Can Hot Wheels Reinvent the Wheel? Insights from a New Product Launch  
Andres Terech, Adjunct Professor of Marketing; Faculty Director, Morrison Center for Marketing and Data Analytics
Hot Wheels was the number one selling toy in the world (by unit volume). However, play patterns among children were rapidly changing and children were moving on from physical toys to digital play at a younger and younger age. Professor Andres Terech explores how Hot Wheels approached this change in preferences brought about by new technology. Were they able to reinvent the wheel?  
Insights from Social Networks and Online Communities  
Elisabeth Honka, Associate Professor of Marketing
Through the years, a variety of communities and networks have evolved, each with its own unique culture, norms, and dynamics. Understanding the power of social networks and online communities is essential in today’s world and Professor Elisabeth Honka explores how communities form and the profound influence of these communities and networks on consumer behavior, consumption patterns, and general social interaction. Whether it's the sway of peer recommendations, the amplification of trends, or the formation of subcultural identities, online communities play a pivotal role in shaping customer preferences, informing marketing strategies, and driving brand engagement.  
Storytelling for Today’s Business World 
Justin Sternberg (’21), Head of Client Strategy, Snap Inc. 
In today’s world, storytelling is essential to propel your career and business. In this interactive workshop, Justin Sternberg (’21) teaches proven Hollywood secrets to help participants dig deep and uncover something about themselves that sets them apart. Every superhero needs to understand their superpower. Once you have identified yours, Sternberg will walk you through the beats followed by every great movie to create your own Olympic Story that flows like a Hollywood blockbuster. Your Olympic Story is not about selling a product -- it's about understanding and selling yourself. The next time someone asks: "So, tell me about yourself" -- you'll finally have the perfect 90 second story that people hear AND truly feel! 
4:30 - 4:40 p.m.
UCLA Anderson Alumni Awards
Outstanding Alumni Service Award
Kristin D. Ashcraft (’09) 
Independent Consultant, Independent Consulting Practice 
John E. Anderson Distinguished Alumni Award
Ed Shapiro (’90)  
Managing Trustee, The Shapiro Foundation 
Learn about the UCLA Anderson Alumni Awards.
4:40 - 5:20 p.m.
Social Impact: Changing Models for Changing Times
Blair Taylor ('90), Executive Consultant and Adjunct Professor & Lecturer, Social Impact
Social Impact is the responsibility of us all. It involves making a positive difference in people’s lives and the world, and continues to dominate conversations across industries, from the consumer and business perspective.
5:20 - 5:30 p.m.
Closing Remarks
5:30 - 8:00 p.m.
Networking Reception
Tony Bernardo photo
Antonio Bernardo
Dean and John E. Anderson Chair in Management
During his 25 years at UCLA Anderson, Dean Antonio “Tony” Bernardo estimates he’s taught more than 5,000 students. Bernardo says some of the best moments are when students walk into his office to dig deeper into a business issue — to learn beyond the classroom material. “Everyone on the faculty I know loves meeting with a hard-working, motivated student,” he says.
In 2019, Bernardo was appointed UCLA Anderson’s ninth dean, effective July 1.
Bernardo’s research spans various areas of corporate finance. His recent research on bailouts provided a set of policy recommendations to lawmakers looking to design bailouts for distressed firms. His current research looks at optimal capital structures, or how much debt and equity financing a firm should have. It suggests that capital structure decisions are determined, in part, by the debt choices other firms in the industry are making.
Another area Bernardo is exploring involves optimal compensation of doctors, and designing compensation systems for health providers. “I tend to work on topics that are very diverse,” Bernardo says. “I learn a lot that way.”
In addition to having an impressive list of published papers and working papers, as well as receiving numerous teaching awards, Bernardo serves as associate editor of the Critical Finance Review and Financial Management.
Kerry Edelstein (’02)
President & Founder of Research Narrative

Kerry Edelstein is the President & Founder of Research Narrative, an insights and strategy agency founded in 2011. Since her childhood years as math nerd whose teen idol was Dave Barry (he signed her yearbook), Kerry has embodied a dual identity of analytical thinker and dynamic storyteller. Whether she’s designing a customer segmentation, facilitating a strategic planning workshop, or delivering a keynote to room full of public radio producers, turning data into actionable narratives is her jam. Throughout her career, she’s advised many renowned corporate brands such as Netflix, Disney, Amazon, Discovery, YouTube, and Verizon, public media outlets such as NPR, WNET, KQED, WHYY, and WAMU, and educational institutions such as UCLA Anderson, USC Marshall (try not to boo), UVa, and RIT. A vocal advocate for multicultural strategy and representative research design, she was awarded the Insights Association’s “IA Laureate” designation for her work in championing representation in research. She’s also deeply passionate about arts education and served as Vice President of the Board of Directors for CHAMPS Charter, an LAUSD-chartered media and performing arts high school.

An accidental trendsetter, Kerry possesses an innate instinct for making uncool choices that become disruptively popular a year or two later. Or as one colleague put it before offering her an advisory board position, “If I were Whole Foods, I’d pay a lot of money to find out where you were moving next.” Kerry thus resides in between construction sites, in what Axios calls “the hottest zip code” of Charlotte, NC, where she moonlights as a hip hop dancer, spouse to an award-winning craft brewer, and dog mom to a manipulative Blue Heeler named Barleigh.

She has an MBA from UCLA Anderson and a BS in Biometry and Statistics from Cornell University.

Jerry Nickelsburg
Jerry Nickelsburg
Faculty Director, UCLA Anderson Forecast; Adjunct Professor of Economics
Jerry Nickelsburg joined the UCLA Anderson School of Management and the UCLA Anderson Forecast in 2006. Since 2017, he has served as faculty director of the Forecast. He earned his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Minnesota, specializing in monetary economics and econometrics.
Nickelsburg plays a key role in the economic modeling and forecasting of the national, California and regional economic forecasts. He researches labor economics, industrial organization, statistics and international monetary economics, focusing on the development of new data and the application of economic theory and statistical methods to sector-specific policy issues. His current research encompasses transportation and environmental economics, and the relationships between highly skilled persons and their demand for social insurance. He has conducted special studies into the future of manufacturing in Los Angeles, the economic impact of the writers’ strike, the undocumented construction and manufacturing labor force, and the garment industry.
Formerly a professor of economics at the University of Southern California, Nickelsburg held executive positions with McDonnell Douglas, FlightSafety International and FlightSafety Boeing during a 15-year span in the aviation business. He developed forecasting tools for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and has advised banks, investors and financial institutions. From 2000 to 2006, he was the managing principal of Deep Blue Economics, a consulting firm he founded.
Nickelsburg teaches economics in UCLA Anderson’s MBA program, with a focus on business forecasting and international business economics. He travels regularly with students to Asia as professor and advisor in their global immersion courses.
Nickelsburg is cited by the national media, with frequent mentions in the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Reuters. He has published more than 100 scholarly and popular articles on economic policy, monetary economics, statistics, labor economics and industrial organization, and he is the author of two books on monetary economics and exchange rates.
Andrea Terech
Andres Terech
Adjunct Professor of Marketing; Faculty Director, Morrison Center for Marketing and Data Analytics
Working as a consultant at Accenture in his home country of Argentina, Andres Terech (Ph. D. ’04) became a victim of the Mexican government’s decision to devalue the peso against the U.S. dollar in 1994. The “tequila effect” that this action had on the South American economy was the prime reason Terech left consulting and took advantage of a full EMBA scholarship at IAE Business School, Universidad Austral in Buenos Aires, before receiving a second scholarship to earn a Ph.D. at UCLA Anderson in 2004.
He began his academic career as an IAE faculty member in 1997, teaching MBA students and executive programs. After he received his Ph.D., Terech traded southern hemisphere summers for winters, traveling north to the U.S. to teach elective courses and conduct research as a visiting professor at UCLA Anderson.  He later became a full-time adjunct associate professor of marketing in 2009.
It’s not surprising that Terech’s strongest area of research is in retailing and includes modeling consumer choice behavior and competitive market structure.
“I grew up in the retail environment, as my family had two stores in a town north of Buenos Aires,” he says. His consulting experience covers several marketing challenges, such as new product launches, marketing plans and growth strategies, promotion and communication programs, distribution strategy, pricing and sales promotions, and feasibility analysis. He has advised startups and Fortune 500 clients in a variety of industries, including retailing, agribusiness, financial services, textile and automobile, and sits on the advisory boards of several start-up companies.
Terech’s current work focuses on studying the integration of different methods of shopping available to consumers and retailers performance metrics. He takes a special interest in marketing issues related to branding, pricing, franchising and retailing — evident in the Latin American Franchising Research Council (CLIF) he founded in 2007 in Argentina, which brought together academics and franchisors to help promote intellectual leadership in franchising. He teaches courses in pricing, marketing strategy, marketing analysis and frameworks, retail management, and sales force and distribution channel strategy. He has also taught executive seminars at different business schools in Spain, Mexico, Chile, Peru, and Ecuador.
He enjoys writing cases for publications, describing it as “the ideal way to connect theory and practice, to provide real context to frameworks and theories.” Much of his work has been published in scholarly journals and specialized business publications, such as Case Research Journal, Marketing Letters and Harvard Business Review. When not focusing on his research, Terech can be found occasionally on a basketball court, coaching soccer and baseball, or taking the family on yearly camping trips.
Franklin Shaddy
Franklin Shaddy
Assistant Professor of Marketing and Behavioral Decision Making
Assistant Professor Franklin Shaddy is interested in understanding how consumers form judgments and make decisions in the marketplace. “It’s something we all do all the time — and yet we often have little insight into how we actually make these choices,” he says.
Shaddy’s current research examines goals and motivation, the psychology of bundling, perceptions of fairness, and the causes and consequences of consumer impatience.
For example, one project asks: Why do people often think that raising prices is unfair, but asking people to spend time standing in line isn’t? “After all, this is simply raising a different kind of price,” he says. Shaddy’s research suggests that because time is distributed equally (unlike money), people tend to favor first-come, first-served policies, which require people to spend time. He explains, “It’s easier to tell that someone really wants or needs something when they spend a lot of time to acquire it. That’s less true when someone spends a lot of money.”
Another project examines how people value goals and the means necessary to achieve them. This research demonstrates that people are much more averse to paying for means than for goals, which can result in seemingly irrational decision making. For example, Shaddy notes, “If the goal is to order a book, and a shipping cost is the means to achieving that goal, consumers will actually pay more overall when you ask them to pay for just the book (and throw in the shipping for free), compared with when you ask them to pay for both separately.”
Before pursuing his Ph.D., Shaddy worked as a management consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers. At UCLA Anderson, he teaches Marketing Management in the full-time MBA program.
In his free time, Shaddy enjoys visiting breweries, hiking with his Australian Shepherd, and rooting for the Michigan Wolverines.
More information can be found at franklinshaddy.com.
Elizabeth Honka
Elisabeth Honka
Associate Professor of Marketing
Associate Professor of Marketing Elisabeth Honka joined the UCLA Anderson faculty in 2015 after spending four years as an assistant professor at the University of Texas in Dallas’ Jindal School of Management. Her research interests include consumer search and, more generally, empirical industrial organization across a variety of sectors, including financial services such as auto insurance and retail banking.
Honka’s research interests date back to her time as a Ph.D. student at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where she earned her doctorate in 2010. “The empirical IO class during my second year sparked my interest in consumer search. I had just purchased my first car, and had done price quoting for insurance,” she says. “Going through the process of obtaining price quotes for auto insurance showed me that the auto insurance industry would be an excellent context to study consumer search and led to a paper I wrote during my second year. From there, my interest increased and I wrote my dissertation on that subject.”
In the classroom, Honka teaches pricing for UCLA Anderson’s full-time MBA and FEMBA programs.
Justin Sternberg
Justin Sternberg (’21)
Head of Client Strategy, Snap Inc.
Justin Sternberg (’21) is a storytelling executive at Snap (parent company of Snapchat) where he has created an innovative new strategy for sellers and marketers to succeed focused entirely around Hollywood style storytelling. Justin knows this world inside and out, having spent nearly two decades as a Hollywood TV writer where he sold TV shows to Universal, Disney, ABC, NBC, Fox, MTV, TBS, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, to name a few. Justin first started to see this intersection of Hollywood, Sales and Marketing while teaching at UCLA Anderson School of Management about how personal and engaging stories help leaders and companies scale, pivot, and succeed. 
Kristin Ashcraft
Kristin Ashcraft ('09)
Independent Consultant, Kristin D Ashcraft Consulting
Kristin has spent over half her career in the healthcare industry at companies ranging in size and maturity from start-up to the Fortune 500. This background set her up well to today, not only provide consulting and advisory services to companies of all sizes and areas of focus, escalating growth, managing change and motivating teams, but also to begin work founding a new age tech business. Prior to embarking on her consultancy and diving into her start-up, Kristin led organizations from the COO seat as well as in various Commercial and Strategic Operations executive roles.
While a student at UCLA Anderson, Kristin participated in a broad array of coursework and was active in multiple clubs, entrepreneurship-focused programs and social activities. Kristin has felt the immense value of her education and experience at Anderson since graduation which prompted her to get involved with planning her Reunion, five years ago. From that point on, Kristin increased her engagement with the UCLA Anderson Alumni Board first as Alumni Class President, then as Chair of the Class Presidents and Member of the UCLA Anderson Alumni Board's Executive team leading the Reunions and Communications Committee. Kristin has hosted a number of dinners for Anderson alumni at her home and has acted as a mentor to fellow alums and current students. Kristin is passionate about building strong connections between current UCLA Anderson students and our phenomenal alumni network.
Kristin holds her BA in Biology and Environmental Science and Policy from Duke University. Kristin also really enjoys taking Ashcraft Adventures with her husband, Matt, and two kids, Adrienne and Grant.
Ed Shapiro Headshot
Ed Shapiro (’90)
Managing Trustee, The Shapiro Foundation

From 1997-2016, Edward Shapiro, 58, was a Managing Partner and Portfolio Manager at PAR Capital Management, Inc., a Boston-based investment management firm.

Mr. Shapiro has served on the board of United Airlines since April 2016. He previously served on the boards of Global Eagle Entertainment (2013-2019), US Airways (2005-2008), Web.com (formerly Interland, 2001-2005), Suddenlink Communications (2003-2012) and Lodgenet Interactive (2009-2013).

At the end of 2016, Mr. Shapiro retired from PAR Capital Management in order to devote his attention to his family’s charitable foundation (The Shapiro Foundation, www.theshapirofoundation.org), and philanthropic activities, with an emphasis on refugee relief and resettlement/sponsorship.

Prior to joining PAR Capital, Mr. Shapiro was a Vice President at Wellington Management Company (1990-1997), an analyst at Morgan Stanley in New York and Los Angeles (1986-1988) and Kayne Anderson Investment Management in Los Angeles (1989-1990).

He serves on the nonprofit boards of RefugePoint, Social Finance and The International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), and The Community Sponsorship Hub (co-chair). He previously served on the boards of Combined Jewish Philanthropies, The Rashi School, Boston Children’s Hospital, and the Wharton Undergraduate Executive board. He also serves on the Finance committee of Boston Children’s Hospital.

Ed earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in 1986 and an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management in 1990.

He lives in Needham, MA with his wife Barbara, and has two adult children—Joshua (23) and Samantha (22).

Blair Taylor
Blair Taylor (’90)
Executive Consultant and Adjunct Professor & Lecturer, Social Impact

Blair Taylor has more than 30 years of organizational leadership experience, having held senior leadership roles across the private, nonprofit, and public sectors. He currently serves as an Adjunct Professor and Lecturer at UCLA’s Anderson School, where he teaches Social Impact. Most recently, he served as the Managing Director of Talent & Organization, and Practice Lead of North American Inclusion and Diversity (I&D) for Accenture, while also serving as a member of the Leadership Team for the firm’s CEO Transformation practice. Taylor joined Accenture, from Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC), where he was a Partner in the People and Organization Practice and led the firm’s DEI practice. Prior to PwC, Taylor served as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of My Brother’s Keeper (MBK), a nonprofit launched by then President Obama. In this role, he led one of the nation’s most dynamic and ambitious BIPOC initiatives, engaging leading corporations, nonprofits, and Mayors from across the nation, advancing opportunities and opening doors for low-income communities and populations. Taylor joined MBK, after serving as a member of the Starbucks Coffee Company’s Senior Leadership Team. At Starbucks, Taylor reported to CEO Howard Schultz and led the company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR), community affairs and government affairs functions He eventually also served as Executive Vice President (EVP) of Starbucks Global Human Resources and President of the Starbucks Foundation. In these various roles, Taylor had a direct reporting staff of more than 500 in an organization of more than 250,000 worldwide employees. He also spent seven years as President and CEO of the Los Angeles Urban League, one of the LA region’s premier nonprofits, and four years as the Executive Vice President of College Summit, then America’s largest college access initiative for low-income students. His private sector experience also includes four years as the President and CEO of a private retail franchising company focused on low-income communities in the U.S. and the Caribbean, and more than eight years of leadership with PepsiCo and IBM, where he held various brand marketing, strategy, and executive sales positions. Taylor has been frequently recognized for his efforts in driving innovative social impact and Corporate Social Responsibility. Fast Company Magazine named him one of the nation’s most creative senior executives, he was named a Top 50 innovator by PR Week, and a Top 50 CEO by the NonProfit Times, to highlight a few examples. Taylor was also named as one of the UCLA Anderson’s Top 100 graduates.Taylor holds a BA in economics from Amherst College, where he also served a six-year term as a Trustee, and an MBA in Marketing and Entrepreneurial Studies from UCLA Anderson School of Management.