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Ciocca Center Hires Diversity Student Liaison

Student at Women in Business Conference

Starting this fall the Ciocca Center has hired a new workstudy position, Diversity Student Liaison, in an effort to reach the diverse populations on campus.  Nalani Ramos Ruiz ’21, a sociology and psychology double major pursuing the Certificate in Business Fundamentals, was already involved with the office through Women in Business. As the student committee began working to create a more inclusive and diverse conference and network, it became clear that this was an area that needed more focus.  Nalani readily stepped forward and was recognized for her efforts. 

“I have a passion for engaging minorities on campus to become successful students and future alumni.” commented Nalani.  “I am working to find new ways to increase student awareness and involvement.” 

The Diversity Student Liaison will be working with various campus partners including Career Development, Office of Multicultural Education, Athletics and the various student organizations on campus.

Please join us in welcoming Nalani Ramos Ruiz ’21 to the Ciocca Center team!

 

 
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Holy Cross Student Investment Fund Gains Traction

The HC Student Investment Club (HCSIF), is set to begin it’s third year this fall through the Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society. The goal of HCSIF is for students of all majors and class years to gain experience in the fields of asset valuation, equity research and portfolio management with the Bloomberg Terminal on campus.  And as of last week, the students also have access to Capital IQ, an investment analysis tool used to inform investment strategies.

Students are taking the initiative to immerse themselves to gain technical skills and access to the alumni network and all of the hard work seems to be paying off as students are landing internships and full-time jobs.  Co-founders, Andrew Smith ’19 and Sean Manning ’19, have secured employment at Goldman Sachs and Raytheon respectively, and the three new student leaders are interning at the following firms this summer.

2019-2020 Holy Cross Student Investment Fund Leaders

  • John McConville ’20: Equity Research Analyst, CTMA
  • Margaret Burd ’20: Securities Division Summer Analyst, Goldman Sachs
  • John Boyd ’21: Summer Analyst, inspire11
HCSIF March 2019 Isenberg Pitch Competition Winners

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continue reading “Holy Cross Student Investment Fund Gains Traction”
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Holy Cross Graduates 46 Business Certificate Program Recipients

Established in 2006 with limited offerings for students to explore business at Holy Cross, the office was recently named the Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society.  Parents, students and alumni alike have found the Center’s experiential learning opportunities to be a valuable addition to the liberal arts education and student interest in these business certificate programs is booming. As of the spring 2019 semester, there are more than 470 students participating, and they come from all majors. Enrollment in the workshop about supply chain management doubled from 2017 to 2018, from 20 to more than 40 students. The workshop on business ethics and principled leadership had so many students enroll that Prof. David Chu, Director and Prebusiness Advisor,  hopes to offer multiple sessions in the future.

“With the center, we’re going to be able to significantly expand opportunities to meet student demand. The purpose of the center is to provide students with multiple pathways to learn about business — pathways that can complement any major in the curriculum. We don’t try to replicate a business school curriculum; we take a distinctively liberal arts approach” Chu comments.

Today, the Ciocca Center is proud to graduate 46 students from the Business Certificate Programs.  See a list of students below. Continue reading “Holy Cross Graduates 46 Business Certificate Program Recipients”
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Ciocca Center Offers Alumni-led Tutorial

Classroom

This spring semester the Ciocca Center offered a new course through the Academic Internship Program.  Professor David Chu, Director of the Certificate Programs and Prebusiness Advisor at Holy Cross,  partnered with Katharine Quigley ’13, Digital Marketing Manager at Centage, to teach an Introduction to Online Marketing tutorial.

Complementing the Ciocca Center’s mission to connect the liberal arts to the job market, this new tutorial covered introductory marketing content through various readings and in-depth discussions with a focus on the Google Ads Platform. The five students then applied this to the design, implementation and assessment of an actual online marketing campaign for a non-profit, West Seattle Junction.

“A strong liberal arts education prepared me for an ever-changing digital marketing landscape.” starts Katharine.  “It was rewarding to help current Holy Cross students learn new digital marketing concepts and vocabulary, and then see them pair those tools with their existing critical thinking and leadership skills to make a real impact on a nonprofit client.”

Thank you to Katharine for reaching out and offering to work with students on this technical topic.  She worked with Professor Chu to identify readings, design a syllabus and spent every Wednesday night on campus working with students interested in a career in marketing communications.

Who were the lucky students involved?  18 students applied for this opportunity and only five were selected: Joe Egan ’19, Tim Haemmerle ’19, Olivia Lozy ’20, Lilly Puccia ’19 and Madeline Thero ’19.

UPDATE:  Each of the students involved won a “Top Marketer Certificate” from Google! The award is based on successful completion of the Google Ad Grants Online Marketing Challenge, passing the Google Ads Fundamentals Assessment, and a positive client experience survey rating from their nonprofit. Congratulations on the excellent work!

Read more about the Google Awards here.

Thanks for reading! Cassie

Cassie Gevry, Associate Director
Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society
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Ciocca Center Intern to Interview Anne Fink ’85, P17

 

Anne Fink ’85, P17
President of Global Foodservice, PepsiCo

“One of my mentors has been a real model for servant leadership. This notion of putting others first stands out to me: just because you’re at the top of the organization, doesn’t mean that people are serving you.”

On April 1, 2019, Ciocca Center Student Intern Sarah Anderson ’20 interviewed Anne to learn about her journey in the food and beverage industry.  Anne is the President of Global Foodservice at PepsiCo and is a member of the Holy Cross Board of Trustees.

What did you want to be when you grew up?  Did you always know you wanted to work in the food and beverage industry?  I grew up in a business family.  My father and mother started a business when I was in grade school and it ended up being a family affair.  It was a company called Mats Incorporated, a commercial floor matting business. My father started it from the trunk of his car selling doormats to businesses.  Little by little, he grew the business into a pretty large and successful entity. Actually, my three brothers own the business and run it today and they have hundreds of employees.  My mother would type the invoices at night and I used to help her. So, it was very much a family business. I grew up interested in business, curious and involved. I knew I liked business and was interested in pursuing a career in it.  I had a good feeling for that pretty early on in life. Continue reading “Ciocca Center Intern to Interview Anne Fink ’85, P17”
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Ciocca Center Intern Interviews Bill Abbott ’84

Bill Abbott ’84
President & CEO of Crown Media Family Networks

“This is where being a major in English really comes in handy.  I feel like I learned story, characters, and emotion and all the things that comprise great storytelling at Holy Cross.”

Bill Abbot Headshot

On March 29, 2019, Ciocca Center Student Intern Sarah Anderson ’20 interviewed Bill to learn about how he turned his English Major into a career in the entertainment industry.  Bill is the President and CEO of Crown Media Family Networks.

What did you want to be when you grew up?  Did you always know you wanted to work in the entertainment industry?  No, not at all. I was an English major, with a lot of political science classes mixed in there.  I was really focused more either on law school or teaching when I was at school. But, after college I felt like more school wasn’t really where I wanted to be my first year out.  So, I was fortunate enough to get a job in the media world, loved it from the beginning, and decided that’s what I would focus on. Entertainment is not something I intended on, but the liberal arts education provided me with a great backdrop for really anything I wanted to do because it teaches you and gives you a good sense of how to communicate and critically think and write.  All of those are crucial aspects to any job. Continue reading “Ciocca Center Intern Interviews Bill Abbott ’84”
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Ciocca Center Intern Interviews Bob Guillocheau ’82

Bob Guillocheau ’82
Chairman & CEO of Ascensus

“We are very much a mission based company, values driven, and a lot of that came from my learnings at Holy Cross.  The ‘men and women for others’ very much resonated with me and it’s something I bring with me everyday when I go to work.”

Bob Guillocheau headshotOn March 22, 2019, Ciocca Center Student Intern Sarah Anderson ’20 interviewed Bob Guillocheau ’82 to learn about his journey from HC into the financial services industry.  Bob was an economics and accounting major and currently serves as the Chairman & CEO of Ascensus.

Who/What inspired you to enter the business world?  I graduated Holy Cross with an economics accounting degree and, typically if you have a accounting degree, you get recruited by what was back then the big eight accounting firms.  There have been mergers and today it is the big four accounting firms. The world has changed a lot from 1982 when I graduated, but getting recruited is what got me into financial services and the business world.  I took an accounting class in high school, taught by a woman by the name of Mrs. Ellis. She made it really fun and interesting and she was a businesswoman who explained to us how the world works and how accounting and finance plays into any aspect of company. Continue reading “Ciocca Center Intern Interviews Bob Guillocheau ’82”
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The Holy Cross Student Investment Fund Wins First Prize

On March 28, 2019 the Holy Cross Student Investment Fund competed in the  UMASS Minuteman Equity Fund.  With twelve teams competing, including MIT, Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown, Penn State, UConn, Northeastern and Babson, Holy Cross won $3,000 for first prize!  The four students, (pictured below, pitched CVS. Congratulations!

HC Student Investment Fund Left to right: Hayden Ivatts ‘21, Jack Boyd ‘21, Jack McConville ‘20, Hannah Callaghan ‘20

The HC Student Investment Club, now in its second year through the Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society, is a group of 37 students from all class years and majors.  After a competitive application process, students work in teams to gain experience in the fields of asset valuation, equity research and portfolio management with the Bloomberg Terminal on campus.  The students work closely with alumni and have scheduled site visits in NYC and Boston, MA.

“On our recent trip to New York, we showcased this feat and the work of our club to key alumni in the financial services industry.” comments Jack Boyd ’21. “There, the Industrials and Technology Group showcased their pitch-decks on United Rentals (URI) and Square, (SQ) respectively. The rigor and quality of these presentations were amplified with the use of our Bloomberg Terminal and strengthened after weeks of hard work within their coverage groups.”

Thanks for reading! Cassie

Cassie Gevry, Associate Director of Student Engagement
Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society
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Ciocca Center Intern Interviews John Andreoli ’82

 

John Andreoli ’82
President & CEO of Sullivan Group Insurance

“With an economics background, I knew I wanted to be in business for myself at some point, so this opportunity gave me the chance to build a business from the ground up and join a firm that had already been in existence, and then have built that for the past 35 years.” 

Andreoli Headshot
On February 25, 2019, Ciocca Center Student Intern Sarah Anderson ’20 visited John’s Worcester office for an interview and to learn about his journey from HC into the insurance industry.  John was an economics major and currently serves as the President & CEO of Sullivan Insurance.

Who/What inspired you to enter the business world?  My path was a little unconventional.  My dad was in the business on the life insurance side for 56 years. And I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do. I wanted to play football when I got out of HC, which I did.  For 2 ½ years I played professionally with the USFL (a league that’s not around anymore). I spent a little bit of time with the Patriots on injured reserve. So, I knew I wanted to get involved in the business world at some point, but I wasn’t sure exactly where.  And I had my insurance licenses, and I decided that while I was playing, I would get into this business on a part-time basis in the off-season, which I did in 1983. It’s been continuous since then. With an economics background, I knew I wanted to be in business for myself at some point, so this opportunity gave me the chance to build a business from the ground up and join a firm that had already been in existence, and then have built that for the past 35 years. Continue reading “Ciocca Center Intern Interviews John Andreoli ’82”
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Ciocca Center Intern Interviews Rick Patterson ’80

Rick Patterson ’80
Founder of Coniston Capital

Rick Patterson ’80 was an economics major and currently serves as the chair of the Holy Cross board of trustees and is a director of Global Weather Corporation and RedShelf Inc.  Rick has been a trustee on the Holy Cross Board since 2011 and became chair in Aug 2018. As a first generation student, Rick’s time on the hill was dedicated to working hard and knowing he wanted a career in business.  After Holy Cross, Rick went on to earn his M.B.A in finance and international business from Columbia University.  Rick began his career in 1982 as a banking officer at Mellon Bank, where his first assignment was actually as a driver for a corporate golf event!  Before founding Coniston Capital, Rick was a founding partner of Spire Capital (1999-2015) and previously a partner at Waller Capital Corporation (1986-1999).  As founder of Coniston Capital, Rick drove investment opportunities within the media and communications sectors. Based in New Jersey, Rick dedicates much of his time to the Holy Cross community.  Since becoming chair of the board in September 2018, Rick’s visit to Worcester in February 2019 marks his 8th trip back to the hill.

Most important qualities of CEO/President:

Rick values natural leaders with a vision and the ability to express that vision.  The best CEOs are people who “can select and motivate talent.”
Continue reading “Ciocca Center Intern Interviews Rick Patterson ’80”