GSM Student Association Online MBA (GSMSA OMBA)

Ian Johansson
Co-President

Ian is a MBA candidate with the Summer 2020 Cohort. He was born and raised in Northern California. Ian attended UC Davis, where he received his bachelor’s degree in Political Science. After graduating, Ian joined a community-based health plan called Partnership HealthPlan of California (PHC). In his 10 years at PHC, he worked his way up from an entry level position to the Associate Director of Regulatory Affairs. Ian helped coordinate several programmatic and geographic expansions, helping PHC grow to serve Medi-Cal beneficiaries in 14 counties. After a brief stint in Honolulu, Hawaii, Ian accepted his current position of Chief Compliance Officer at the Health Plan of San Mateo (HPSM). As a member of HPSM’s leadership team, Ian contributes to the organization’s strategic planning, plan-wide communication efforts and oversees HPSM’s compliance program. Ian recently moved from San Francisco to the East Bay, and along with his wife, eagerly awaits the birth of his first child in the Summer of 2021.

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Meredith Roberts
Co-President

Meredith Roberts is a second year MBA student. She serves on the Women in Leadership Online Board as Vice President, is a Student Ambassador, Keller Pathway Fellow and 2021 Big Bang participant. 

She is currently consulting in the energy sector and working to grow her own business. She was previously the Director of External Relations at Sierra Energy, a waste-to-energy technology startup based in Davis.

Roberts earned her B.S. in Entomology at UC Davis and has been in the environmental field for over 15 years, working in business development, strategic planning, communications and fundraising for both private industry and the nonprofit sector.

Roberts’ interests and research include strategy, technology management and organizational behavior. She is active in her local business community and serves on the Davis Chamber of Commerce Ambassador Committee where she was chair in 2018–20. 

Outside of her time working and in school, Meredith can be found on ski and hiking trails or at home in her garden.

Axel Lopez
Co-Vice President

Axel is an MBA candidate with the Fall 2020 Cohort. He was born in Mexico City, Mexico and raised in Davis, CA. Axel holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Chicana/o Studies from University of California, Los Angeles. His experience comes from 15 years of leadership roles in retail sales and operations. He specialized in leading high-performing teams,  training and development, and creating sales strategies that deliver performance results.  Currently, Axel is Head of Operations for a social media/tech company. Post-graduation, he hopes to continue a career in marketing/innovation and focus on strengthening diversity and inclusion in the workplace. On his days off, you will find Axel at the dog park, exploring new recipes, listening to podcasts or hunting for a new graphic novel to read.

Matvari Maharaj
Co-Vice President

Matvari is an MBA candidate with the Summer 2020 Cohort. She was born and raised in Redwood City, CA. Matvari holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management with a minor in Project Management and International Studies from California State University, Chico. Her experience is compiled from two industries: education and agriculture. Matvari worked as a substitute teacher for K-12 schools across two districts. She also worked as a project coordinator for an organic rice company leading new product development projects from idea to launch. Post-graduation, Matvari hopes to pursue a career in strategic financial planning for a technology-based company or create a successful podcast brand. On her days off, you will find Matvari hanging out with her dog, listening to podcasts, reading a book or coming up with a new macrame pattern.

Abby Flores
Director of Student Services

Abby is a MBA candidate with the Spring 2020 Cohort. She was born in Los Angeles and raised in San Jose. Abby attended Cal State East Bay, where she received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. After graduating, Abby joined an IT consulting firm in the peninsula. Since then, she has worked in the construction industry in Project Accounting and General Accounting functions. More recently, she has worked her way up to an Accounting Manager role leading a new accounting software implementation.

She lives in Hayward with her husband, two kids and two dogs. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends and tries to squeeze in Crossfit workouts.

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Brittany Woodard
Director of Student Services

Brittany is a MBA candidate with the Fall 2019 Cohort. She was born in Sacramento, California, and raised within greater Sacramento as well. She attended Cal Polytechnic State University (SLO) and graduated as a student-athlete with a Bachelor of Science degree in 2013. After graduating, Brittany moved to the Bay Area where she worked at Oracle Corporation as an inside sales representative. After a few years, she moved back to her hometown to be closer to family. Recently, she has taken an interest in Community Outreach within Sacramento. She currently works at Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) as a Community Engagement Representative who collaborates with non-profits and determines how SMUD can best support their community outreach.

Brittany is also the Founder of Empowering Youth through Hoops, a safe haven for young kids to learn fundamental basketball skills that are transferable on and off the court. She hopes to continue this venture and support disadvantaged communities within Sacramento.

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Diamond Garcia
Director of Internal Marketing and Communications

Diamond is an MBA candidate with the fall 2020 cohort. She was born in La Mesa, San Diego, but raised in Alturas CA. Diamond has a BS in Communication and a BA in English: Writing Practices from Humboldt State University, and a Masters in Communication Studies from Texas State University. Her undergraduate expertise is in nonverbal and intercultural communication. Her master's expertise is in Media and Political Criticism. Diamond works in the consumable electronics and tobacco industry. Her post-graduate goals will be to transition her role to focus on business analytics in the commercial strategy, or consumer insights departments of her company. In her free time, she enjoys running spartan marathons, competitive pole dance, and getting outdoors with her two sons. 

Robin Stilwell
Director of External Marketing and Communications

Robin is an MBA candidate with the Summer 2020 Cohort. She was born and raised in Modesto, CA. Robin holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations from DeVry University. She recently completed her Executive Coaching and Leadership Certificate from the University of Berkeley, Haas School of Business. Her experience comes from 19 years of veterinary work with 11 years spent in leadership positions within veterinary education. She specializes in conflict resolution, developing high-performing teams, and strategic planning. Post-graduation, Robin hopes to pursue a career in executive coaching and travel cross country with her husband and three dogs in their RV. On her days off, you will find Robin training for half marathons, knitting a variety of creations, and camping.

Sarah Mudgett
Fall 2019 Cohort Representative

Sarah is an MBA candidate with the Fall 2019 Cohort. She was born and raised in Los Gatos, CA. Sarah attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where she received his bachelor’s degree in Agribusiness. After graduating, Sarah moved back to the Bay Area and start a career in sales. She has a diverse background in sales including medical device, pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and biopharmaceuticals. She currently sits on the board of directors for the Pacific Autism Center for Education in Santa Clara, CA and spent time working on different committees for the Junior League of San Jose.  She lives in San Jose, CA with her husband Neal and two young children. In the limited free time, she does have, she enjoys traveling, seeing family and friends, entertaining at their home, and having a glass of wine. 

Dean Seago
Winter 2020 Cohort Representative

Kim-Mai Hoang
Spring 2020 Cohort Representative

Kim-Mai Hoang is an MBA Candidate with the Spring 2020 Cohort. She was raised in San Jose, California, where she still resides. Kim-Mai earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from the University of California, Riverside. Currently, she is a Senior Community Associate with Lyft, where she manages the service floor and metrics. After completing the MBA program, she hopes to find a position in Product Marketing. Outside of work and school, you can find her traveling to new places, searching for yummy restaurants, recording her podcast, or just doing some pilates. If you’re interested in having a virtual coffee chat with her, feel free to reach out! 

Rachel White
Summer 2020 Cohort Representative

Prashant Ladole
Summer 2020 Cohort Representative

Nilanjan Mukherjee
Fall 2020 Cohort Representative

Nilanjan is an MBA candidate with the Fall 2020 Cohort. He was born and raised in the city of joy, Kolkata, India. He is a research enthusiast, bio-engineer, scientist, and entrepreneur. He is the recipient of the prestigious KVPY fellowship from the Government of India through which his entire undergraduate and graduate education were funded. He was granted the fellowship through his innovative idea of generating electricity through household kitchen waste (Microbial Fuel Cell). This had a great potential in helping rural India. Nilanjan completed a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) and Master of Science (M.S.) from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal in 2014, majoring in Biological Sciences with a minor in Chemistry. After his graduation, he continued his research training at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore as a Junior Research Fellow. In 2015, he moved to the United States to pursue his Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) program at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. Following his graduation in 2017, he moved from Chicago to the San Francisco bay area to begin his research at his dream institute, Stanford University, with the School of Medicine. Apart from his scientific research and entrepreneurial interest, Nilanjan is an avid music enthusiast, live theater performer, soccer player, and loves to cook! He is highly efficient in cooking a complete 5-course meal! 

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Raffi Tashjian
Fall 2020 Cohort Representative

Raffi Tashjian is an MBA candidate in the Fall 2020 Cohort. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. He received his bachelor’s degree in management from California State University, Northridge. Since graduation, he has been employed at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, where he has worked his way up to management and has gained experience in sales and marketing. In the future, he plans on pursuing a marketing career in the tech industry. During his free time, he enjoys traveling, concerts, and sporting events.

Ella Carter
Winter 2021 Cohort Representative

Ella Carter is an MBA candidate in the Winter 2021 cohort. Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama she moved to California in 2014 to attend undergrad at UC Santa Cruz and later transferred to UC Davis where she graduated with a degree in Food Science and Technology. She started working in breweries both in Alabama and California but took an internship with E&J Gallo after graduating from Davis in June 2019 as a research enologist in Healdsburg, California. Since then, she has been working in research and development as a Technologist for just over a year in Modesto. Ella now lives in Lodi, California with her partner and precious rescue pup, Max.

Stanley Leung
Winter 2021 Cohort Representative

Stanley Leung is an MBA candidate in the Winter 2021 cohort. Raised in San Francisco, CA and moved to San Diego, CA to attend undergrad at UC San Diego where he graduated with a degree in Bioengineering: Bioinformatics. He started working in various research institutes like the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California but took on a full-time offer with Illumina, Inc after graduating from UCSD in Winter 2013 as a Software Engineer in Test and ultimately improving health by unlocking the power of the genome. Since then, he has been working in software development as a Sr. Manager for just over eight years in San Diego. Stanley got married to his beautiful wife, Sally, in 2018.  Stanley loves to travel with his wife and has a goal of collecting postcards along with stamped postage sent from all major cities in the world one day.  Outside of work, Stanley loves all major sports and can help you analyze and give his insights in regards to any teams for the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB sectors.

Gennaro Techchia
Spring 2021 Cohort Representative

Gennaro is an MBA candidate with the Spring 2021 Cohort. He was born and raised in Bremen, Germany, and Naples, Italy. Gennaro received his international dual bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina Wilmington and City University of Applied Sciences Bremen through TABSA. Majoring in Management & Leadership, he also played professional NCAA D1 soccer for UNCW. 

During the past ten years, Gennaro has worked for companies in the automotive, luxury goods, SaaS and internet sectors. His fields of experience include (digital) marketing, business development, sales, and event management. He has been responsible for developing and implementing marketing- and branding strategies in his recent leadership positions.

In his spare time, Gennaro volunteers for the Willie Stargell Foundation fighting kidney disease. He loves to travel and enjoys evening walks at the beach with his four-year-old ShihPoo Saskia.

Angel Shabbain is an MBA candidate in the Spring 2021 cohort. She was born and raised in Aleppo, Syria, for ten years before emigrating to California.  She earned a Bachelor's of Science degree in Psychology from California State University, Northridge, and lives in Southern California.

Angel is a first-generation college student and the first in her family to pursue post-secondary education. She has broad experience in both the private and public sectors and currently works in Higher Education.  Upon graduating from UC Davis, she aims to pursue a career in consulting to help firms streamline operations and achieve their goals. 

She enjoys outdoor recreational activities such as hiking, snowboarding, and visiting state and national parks.  Angel likes to do yoga, read, travel, photograph, learn something new, and take her 15-year old rescue Pom mix on long walks in her free time.