Our team

Teri is an associate at Galaxy Digital, focusing on investing and investment banking in the blockchain industry. Previously, Teri was an investment banking analyst at Barclays in the Financial Institutions Group. Teri graduated from NYU Stern School of Business with a Masters in Accounting, Bachelors in Finance and a minor in Gender and Sexuality Studies. At Stern, Teri was president of Pride Corp, Stern’s LGBTQ business organization, where Teri founded Stern’s annual Ally Week and initiated the corporate sponsorship program. Teri was also nominated as 1 of 2 NYU students on Poets and Quants’ “Best & Brightest Class of 2016 Business Majors.”

On the side, Teri models for fun. Teri has modeled in fashion shows, including DapperQ’s NYFW show, and was also featured in an Audi commercial alongside Bayern Munich soccer players. Teri dreams of one day becoming a model for kids’ clothes - you can follow Teri’s journey on Instagram @ziddy10

Teri has had 8 years of O4U involvement and is excited to lead the O4UB team this year!

Evelysse Vargas is a Senior Investment Analyst for the Board of Education Retirement System (NYCBERS). In her capacity as Senior Investment Analyst she identifies and selects fund investments for the Board of Education Retirement System’s pension fund. She is a native New Yorker and attended OUBC twice as a student and twice as a mentor. She’s super excited to be a part of the O4U team this year.

Samrudhi Vaghmare is a Consultant at EY in the Technology Risk practice for the Financial Services sector. After working at a startup, a bank, and an asset management firm, she has a passion for designing and driving forth innovation strategies. Besides being occupied with how to automate a process or derive insight from big data, Samrudhi is also involved in social justice and diversity & inclusion initiatives. She is deeply committed to increasing civic engagement and ensuring fair and accurate representation from minority communities in the systems that govern us.

Samrudhi graduated summa cum laude from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a B.S. in Information Decision Sciences and Accounting, concentrations in Data Analytics and Management Information Systems. She is a founding member of the Kappa Chapter for Delta Kappa Delta Sorority, Inc., a South Asian service sorority on her undergraduate campus. Born in Mumbai, raised in Chicago, and now living in New York, Samrudhi enjoys exploring different cities and immersing herself in their cultures. Her other interests include trivia and spicy foods.

Peter is a Consultant at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) out of Los Angeles, where he works with a variety of clients in energy, industrial goods, and private equity. Prior to joining BCG, Peter graduated from the University of Southern California (USC) in 2018, where he majored in Chemical Engineering. At USC, Peter was involved as a tour guide, a leader in Greek life, and a member of Society 53 - the student-led alumni organization.

Peter first attended O4UB as a senior in college, and wanted to be involved in the years ahead. He has attended once as a sponsor for BCG, and is excited to be a part of the Programming team this year.

Peter enjoys traveling, rocking out at various concerts and music festivals, and exploring LA’s food scene.

Rachael Stein is a Consultant at Boston Consulting Group, and splits time between Boston and New York. She primarily focuses on digital transformation for consumer retail clients, including digital marketing, personalization, and operations transformation. At BCG, Rachael serves as the co-leader of the Boston PRIDE@BCG network, and supports PRIDE North America as Director of Communications. Before BCG, Rachael attended Harvard College, where she majored in Sociology and played on the Varsity Women’s Rugby team. Rachael attended both the O4U Tech and O4U Business conferences as an undergraduate and has continued her involvement with O4U during her time at BCG. In her free time, she enjoys urban exploring and hiking with her dog.

EB is currently a Strategic Partner Manager at DoorDash. EB previously worked in various B2B tech sales roles across growth stage startups ranging from Series B to Series E in the Boston area, including Panorama Education, Salsify, and Formlabs.

EB studied Women’s & Gender Studies and French Cultural Studies at Wellesley College, where they were elected head of Café Hoop, a student business cooperative, and co-founded the Queer & Trans People of Color Collective, a constituted student organization uniting BIPOC LGBTQ students. EB served as an O4UB Sponsorship Director last year and is excited to return as a Programming Director this year.

Kevin is an Associate in the Merchant Banking Division at Goldman Sachs on the Real Estate Investing team, where he works on real estate acquisitions, dispositions and originations. Before joining Goldman Sachs, Kevin attended the University of Chicago where he majored in Economics and worked as an experimental & behavioral economics research assistant, with a focus on early childhood education. While in college, Kevin was a co-founder and co-president of the UChicago LGBT Business Alliance, the first business-oriented LGBT organization for undergraduate students on campus. At Goldman Sachs, he is the Recruiting Lead on the Transgender Workstream within the firm’s LGBT Network. Kevin attended O4UB three times as an undergraduate and was a Programming Director for the 2019 O4UB Conference. His hobbies are limited.

Malik Patton is an Analyst at BlackRock and is based out of their New York City Office. He is a member of their Finance rotational program in which he currently works in the Financial Planning & Analysis group supporting the firms U.S. Wealth Advisory Business. Malik graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2018 as a first-generation student, with a concentration in Finance & Marketing.

Malik was first introduced to the O4U Business Conference in 2018 as a BlackRock Sponsor Volunteer. He continued to stay involved with the organization, returning as a mentor in 2019, Admissions director for the 2020 O4UB Conference, and currently a Programming Director for the 2021 O4UB Conference.

In his free time, he enjoys playing recreational volleyball and watching queer shows/movies.

Erica Lezama currently works as an Associate Consultant at The Bridgespan Group, a non-profit strategy consulting firm that advises non-profits and foundations in the social sector.

Morgan Cheatham is an investor with Bessemer Venture Partners where he focuses on healthcare, internet marketplaces, and enterprise software from the seed to growth stages. Before joining Bessemer, Morgan worked at Goldman Sachs in the Consumer Retail and Healthcare Group in the Investment Banking Division. He also worked as a Data Scientist at Kyruus, a healthcare IT startup focused on patient access and provider data management. Morgan was accepted to Brown Medical School at age 17 and Harvard Business School at age 21. He graduated magna cum laude from Brown University with a degree in Neuroeconomics.

Evan is a first-year MBA student at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. Prior to leaving work for his MBA, Evan spent four years as a consultant in Boston at Putnam Associates, a boutique life sciences consulting firm. In addition to casework, Evan worked to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion within Putnam Associates including driving involvement with O4U and founding Putnam’s LGBTQ+ affinity group. Before Putnam Associates, Evan earned a degree in biological engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was also involved as a member of the varsity swim team, an orientation leader, and a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity.

Evan’s involvement with O4U began when he first pitched sponsorship of the 2017 Business Conference to Putnam Associates. He attended the conference as a sponsor for three years, served as a Sponsorship Director in 2020, and is a Sponsorship Co-Lead for the 2021 Conference. In his pre-COVID free time Evan enjoyed traveling, brewery/distillery exploration, spin classes, frequenting locations with fog machines, and distance running.

Aishwarya is currently a Hardware Product Manager at Harry’s, a Direct-to-Consumer startup where she leads cross-functional teams in bringing razors, packaging, and accessories from designs to tangible products. She previously worked as an Associate at the Boston Consulting Group, where she worked on cases in a variety of industries, including CPG, Healthcare, Industrial Goods, Education, and Retail.

Aishwarya graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2016 with a major in Mechanical Engineering and minors in Public Policy and Economics. As a student, Aishwarya sang with MIT Ohms a cappella, was a member of Pi Beta Phi, and led the MIT chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Aishwarya volunteered with O4UB in 2019 and served as Programming Director in 2020. In her spare time she also enjoys writing, discussing politics, singing classical music, and reading and watching diverse queer media.

Cristian is an investment analyst on the Cross Asset Strategy team at AIG Investments. He also leads AIG Investment’s diversity recruiting strategy and is generally passionate about improving representation at finance and asset management companies. Prior to joining AIG, Cristian attended the University of Chicago, where he majored in economics. Alongside studying, Cristian was an assistant to Professor Raaj Sah of the Harris School of Public Policy, co-founder of the dining concept Nous, a project manager for PRISM Consulting Club, and a violinist in the Firebird String Quartet. This will be Cristian’s sixth time participating in an O4U conference and the second time he'll be participating a conference director. Outside of work and O4U, Cristian is an avid cyclist, foodie, contemporary art enthusiast, and was looking for people to start a string quartet with until COVID screwed that up. More than anything, Cristian misses sipping coffee at the Met Breuer Flora cafe on the Upper East Side on Sundays.

Alex is a Senior Associate in the Banking and Capital Markets assurance practice at PwC. Born and raised in Frankfurt, Germany, Alex attended the O4U Business Conference three times during her time as a student at San Diego State University. After graduating in 2018, she began her career in New York, which allowed her to volunteer at the O4U Business conference three additional times. In 2019, Alex moved to London where she continues to build her expertise in auditing top tier investment banks. As a sponsorship director for the 2021 O4U Business conference, she is excited to further develop new and existing relationships with the variety of sponsors affiliated with O4U to ensure both students and sponsors can benefit from the best possible conference experience.

Angie Gonzalez is an Electronics Engineer at Northrop Grumman, and a part-time graduate student at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, pursuing a Master’s in Systems Engineering on the Engineering Management track. She was born and raised in New York and graduated from New York University with a BS in Physics from the NYU College of Arts & Science and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. Angie first attended the O4U Engineering Conference as a student in 2017 and then joined the conference team for the 2018 Conference. She has had two years of Admissions experience and one year of Programming experience. Angie is also a former Point Foundation Scholar, a former National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) Scholar, and a former INROADS Intern. She serves as the Human Resources/Talent Acquisition Liaison for Adelante (Northrop Grumman’s Hispanic/Latinx employee resource group) and her mission is to help Northrop Grumman recruit and retain Hispanic/Latinx talent. Angie’s hobbies include CrossFit, rock climbing, traveling, trying new foods, and volunteering with local veteran communities.

Emil Yongoueth is a satellite systems engineer at The Boeing Company and is based out of their El Segundo Office. He primarily works on creating software enhancements on On-Orbit satellites while also playing a key role in satellite anomaly resolution. He is also involved in various Boeing Employee Resource Groups such BEPA (Boeing Employee Pride Alliance), and those specifically catering towards volunteering and k-12 outreach. Before joining Boeing, Emil graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering with a concentration in astrodynamics.

Emil’s involvement in Out of Undergrad started back in 2017 as he attended three times during his undergraduate career. This will be Emil’s first time serving as a conference director and he is very excited to be a part of the team! In his free time, Emil enjoys making music from whatever instruments he has laying around the house, driving, fishing, and cooking.

Francine Marie Reyes Vega is a Mechanical Engineer at Logistic Services International (LSI) in Jacksonville, FL. She was born and raised in Puerto Rico, and moved to Florida in 2019, after completing her undergrad studies. Francine graduated from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus, with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. She attended the 2017 and 2018 O4U Engineering Conferences as a student, and in 2020 she participated as a volunteer. 2021 will be her first year as a conference team member. Besides her involvement in O4U, she has been an active member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) since 2013.

Francine's hobbies include traveling to new places, visiting museums, trying new foods, spoiling her cat, Pepperoni, and as a tropical island native she tries to visit the beach as much as possible. She is very passionate about activism, crafting, and pottery/ceramics. She dreams about owning a pottery studio to practice her passion and develop a side business.

Sarah is a Production Engineer at The Mosaic Company in Tampa, FL. She works at the minerals processing plant for their largest phosphate mine. Her day to day role includes improving plant recovery by evaluating and improving current processes, creating and implementing standardized procedures, increasing operator engagement, and pushing technology forward to increase efficiency.

Sarah received her Bachelor’s in Mining Engineering from the University of Kentucky in 2019. While at UK she had numerous leadership roles in the Wildcat Marching Band, Kappa Kappa Psi (band service fraternity), the Engineering LLP, and Women in Mining. She was also involved in the university’s SWE chapter, her department’s Mining Competition Team, and a Christian campus ministry.

Sarah first became involved in O4U by attending the 2018 Fall Conference as a student her senior year. She joined the Sponsorship Team for the 2019 conference as a late recruit, helping the team plan during the final months before the conference. She joined the Sponsorship Team again in 2020. When not busy with work or O4U, she enjoys playing with her cat, having board game nights, obsessing over pennies, and finding four-leaf clovers.

Alex graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering with a concentration in Biotechnology and a minor in Health, Medicine, and Society. He is currently a Management Consulting Senior Analyst at Accenture in Raleigh, NC. At Accenture, Alex is aligned to the Public Services industry, and specializes in work with Medicaid and other public health clients. He has served in roles such as project management and compliance support at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS), component processing and testing for the NC DHHS Medicaid Eligibility Platform, and analytics and value targeting for Kaiser Permanente of Georgia. Alex is passionate about public health and plans to continue advocating for inclusive healthcare access.

Alex enjoys volunteering on various internal social justice and public health efforts at Accenture. On the North America Career Development Program Leadership Team, which oversees the strategic operations of ~2500 Management Consulting Analysts throughout North America, he has served as the Inclusion and Diversity Lead and the Training Lead. Alex is currently the Analytics/Communications Lead for the LGBTQ+ Leaders Learning (L3) Conference, a conference that brings together LGBTQ+ Leaders at Accenture to learn through shared experiences. In his local office, Alex is heavily involved with the Pride and Mental Wellness ERGs, and is the Community Engagement Lead for the Social Justice and Anti-Racism Pillar. Alex enjoys mentoring small businesses in his community and provides pro-bono marketing strategies to minority-owned businesses with knowledge and resources from his Facebook Blueprints Digital Marketing Associate Certification.

Alex first attended the O4U Engineering Conference in 2018 while he was a student at Georgia Tech. Since then, he has served O4UE as a 2020 Programming Director and the 2021 Logistics Director

Joey Saad is a Software Engineer at Capital One, based out of their McLean, VA office. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in May 2020 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, focused on Process Systems and Product Engineering, and a minor in Business Administration. At Capital One, Joey is active in the Hispanics in Tech (HIT) and OutFront LGBTQ+ business resource groups. He even had the opportunity to represent Capital One in the 2020 O4U Pass the Flag video!

Joey attended the O4U Engineering Conferences from 2017-2019 and served as a Campus Ambassador from 2018-2019. He is so excited to be volunteering as part of the Programming team, and staying involved with O4U! Joey is passionate about representation in professional spaces, climate change, and equal access to education. Outside of work, Joey loves dancing, trying new food, and being a cat dad to his beautiful daughters, Titi and Cleo!

Silas Burke is a Virtual Design and Construction Engineer at Turner Construction in Seattle, WA. He graduated from The University of Minnesota - Twin Cities in May 2o2o with a Bachelors of Mechanical Engineering degree. Silas attended the O4U Engineering Conferences in 2016-2019 and acted as a Campus Ambassador for the conference. At Turner Construction, he is a member of the Allyship team within the Inclusion, Diversity, Education, and Awareness (I.D.E.A.) employee resource group. Outside of work, Silas is a voracious reader, spends time herding his cats, and likes to get outside as much as possible.

Olivia (she/her) is passionate about reproductive justice, anti-racism, immigrant rights, and queer liberation. She serves on the Digital Integration Team at Briya School, the educational arm of Mary’s Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Washington, DC. Briya provides culturally responsive two-generation education for immigrant families.

Previously, Olivia completed a service year in a social justice commune! She has worked and volunteered as a sex educator at Planned Parenthood, WUSTL’s Student Health Services, Women in Transition, and Kentucky Health Justice Network. Olivia loves to go to happy hours with friends, play boardgames, enjoy walking tours, and compete at trivia.

Olivia majored in Systems Engineering and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. She participated in O4U as a student in 2017 and a sponsor in 2018. This is her third year as a programming director.

Em (they/she/he) is a human, a sibling, a partner, and a friend, currently based in St. Louis, MO. They are passionate about the outdoors and can often be found listening to podcasts, walking in the woods, or taking care of the numerous plants in their household. They love to explore and are passionate about preserving and bettering the world around them.

Currently, Em works as a Management Consulting Senior Analyst at Accenture in the resources sector, supporting utility clients and large energy providers. They spend their time during the workday in various roles like project management, technical system integration, and change management implementation. After hours, Em spends time collaborating with teams focused on Clean Energy Transitions and Sustainability in the business world - ask them about the eMobility movement or how SMART grid implementations allow for better incorporation of renewable energy!

Before their current line of work, Em attended the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, studying Mathematics, Aerospace Engineering & Mechanics, and Arabic Language & Literature. They spent time working as a teaching assistant, an education consultant, and a musician in the University of Minnesota Marching Band. Em also worked part time in a research lab learning about the mating patterns of butterflies and the ability of small fliers to perform in turbulent flows. Em attended O4UE first as a student in 2018, then as a volunteer in 2019, only growing fonder of the organization as they continued to engage. 2020 was Em’s first year as a programming director and they are ecstatic to be back again as a programming director for 2021.

Savannah Rush (she/her) serves on the Enterprise Strategy team at Securian Financial, a F500 insurance company based in Minneapolis. She is currently on secondment from McKinsey & Company, where she was a Senior Business Analyst and part of the insurance practice. At McKinsey, Savannah was a campus lead for WashU recruiting and was a founding member of the St. Louis office, opened in 2019.

Savannah graduated from WashU with a degree in Systems Engineering and was active in student government, Greek life, and the women’s club basketball team.

In her free time, Savannah enjoys traveling and exploring local breweries.

Jacki (she/her) is the Global Business Planner for Aftersales Engineering at General Motors in Southeast Michigan. She is also pursuing her Masters in Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Her O4U journey began as a student in 2016, a recruiter in 2017, and she has been a Sponsorship Director since 2018.

Prior to her move up north, Jacki grew up in Oklahoma outside of Tulsa. She got her Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Oklahoma. While on campus Jacki took on many leadership roles. She was the Vice President of the Society of Women Engineerings, President of her panhellenic sorority, and a peer educator in LGBTQ+ Allyship and Active Bystander Training. Through her undergraduate experience, she would say her greatest accomplishment was giving a TEDx talk about her experience being an out lesbian in a sorority.

Jacki currently lives in Saint Clair Shores with her wife and two rescue dogs. When she isn’t working to recruit sponsors to participate in the O4U Engineering Conference, you can find her at her kickboxing gym (wearing an athletic mask of course), playing Dungeons and Dragons, or making someone roll their eyes via terrible pun jokes.

Julian is a Management Consulting Senior Analyst with Accenture in Los Angeles, CA. He specializes in technology development for multimedia clients. In this role, he uses his expertise in business facilitation as well as his engineering skills to develop processes that optimize product development and roll out. Aside from his professional work, Jules is also involved in the PRIDE ERG as a student leader buddy and is a member of the recruiting team.

An alum of the University of Southern California, Julian graduated in 2019 with a B.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering. While enrolled at the university, he had numerous leadership roles in the school’s Queers in Engineering, Science, and Technology (QuEST) and Alpha Phi Omega chapters. He also competed with Chaotic 3, the university’s premier competition dance team.

Julian has been involved with Out for Undergrad since 2016 when he first attended as a student. He participated in 3 conferences as a student and 2 as a director, first with programming and now with sponsorship. When not working with O4U, Julian also donates his time to the Point Foundation - for which he is a past scholar - in numerous roles. He also enjoys photography, dancing, fitness, and (recently) building furniture by hand.

Antonio is a Senior Strategy Program Manager at National Grid, where he is oversees the Strategic Roadmap for the company’s US Capital Programs. Prior to that, Antonio served as an operations team lead where he managed an operations team to implement infrastructure upgrades and respond to gas emergencies in NYC.

Antonio is a Venezuelan-Born New Yorker who grew up in Queens, NY and is currently a DACA recipient. He graduated from Stony Brook University with a B.E. in Civil Engineering and is currently pursuing his M.S. in Artificial Intelligence from Johns Hopkins University.

Antonio became involved with the O4U Engineering Conference in 2019 for the first-time as a Sponsorship Director, and lives in Brookline, MA with his husband. When not at O4U, he enjoys dancing and listening to house and acoustic music, watching the Crown and eating fried chicken.

AC is an R&D Scientist at The Clorox Company in Pleasanton, CA. As the product developer for Clorox liquid bleach (CLB), they are in charge of leading innovation for cross-functional CLB projects, answering technical questions about the brand, and ensuring bleach products are advertised accurately.

In May 2020, AC graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering. During their time as an undergraduate student, they founded their school’s chapter of oSTEM and were involved in multiple other I&D organizations. They attended O4U four times as a student (2016-19) and served as an Admissions Director in 2020.

AC enjoys collecting house plants, cooking new recipes, and exploring the outdoors. They are always happy to talk about plant babies, existing in nature, trans/gnc experience, getting involved with O4U, UNHhhh, and homemade cocktails.

Anne is an infrastructure engineer at Peloton, where they focus on building tooling to support massive scaling efforts. Anne also founded and co-leads Peloton Pride and Allies, Peloton's LGBTQ+ employee resource group, which aims to make Peloton the best place to work for LGBTQ+ folks through internal education, community building, and policy improvements.

Before Peloton, Anne studied computer science and played ultimate frisbee at Wellesley College.

Anne has been involved with O4U as a student, volunteer, or director for the past five years, and is so excited to lead the tech conference this year.

Mitchell is a Product Development Specialist at Facebook on the Facebook Reality Labs team where he provides strategic and operational support to launch new products and features. Prior to working at Facebook, Mitchell spent three years as a management consultant at Deloitte Consulting in San Francisco, where he worked on large-scale digital transformations in a variety of industries, including Technology, CPG and Entertainment.

Mitchell graduated from UC Berkeley in 2017 where he majored in Business Administration through the Walter A. Haas School of Business. As a student, Mitchell served as the Executive Vice President of the Haas student government and the COO of the Cal Alumni Student Association.

Mitchell's involvement with O4U began back in 2019 when he served as a volunteer for the O4U Tech Conference. He currently serves as a Director on the Strategic Operations team and launched the first-ever O4U Job Board in 2020. He will continue to provide strategic direction for the platform and will also serve as a Sponsorship Director for the O4U Tech 2021 Conference. In his free time, Mitchell enjoys riding on his family’s Peloton bike, cooking and discussing about people’s Myers-Briggs personality types

Joe’s current area of focus is on strategy and experience management at SAP, specializing in employee engagement and development efforts including their flagship program- Silicon Valley Next Talent (SVNT). This initiative strengthens 90 new software engineers, data scientists, and UX/UI designers as they launch their careers at the company. Joe is also the co-Lead for the Bay Area Chapter of SAP’s global LGBTQ+ employee resource group, Pride@SAP.

Originally from San Diego, California, Joe pursued a double bachelor’s from U.C. Berkeley, then received his MBA at the University of San Francisco. He continues his professional trajectory in organization and talent development programs through the array of social and educational opportunities the region has to offer.

Outside of work, you can find Joe sharing his various culinary adventures in the kitchen @OtherTraderJoe. If he’s not in the kitchen, he is preoccupied by his 1-year-old puppy, Grigio, who is constantly getting into various bags of treats.

It’s Joe’s first year as part of the directors for O4U, and is excited to continue the organization’s passion to bring an energizing experience to all attendees.

Chris is currently a software engineer at DoorDash focusing on data infrastructure engineering. Prior to joining DoorDash, he worked as a software engineer at SpaceX and Boeing. He has degrees in business administration from the University of Southern California, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Bocconi University.

This is Chris's second time volunteering as a sponsorship director with O4U Tech. Based out of San Francisco, he enjoys hip hop dance, classical piano, and photography in his free time.

Xavier is a product manager at Industry Dive, a business media company based in Washington, DC. He graduated from Georgetown University, having attended O4U Tech in 2018 and 2019, with experience at Dropbox, JPMorgan Chase, and CoStar Group.

Ashni is a Technical Program Manager at Peloton, working with Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) teams. They help SRE teams build roadmaps, prioritize feature requests, and build a strong brand within the tech organization. In their spare time, they can be found working out, at a farmer's market, or reading fiction. Ashni is a formally trained sketch comedy writer and occasionally writes both sketches and satirical articles. They are a proud alum of O4U Tech, and have been involved with the conference as a director for the past two years.

Logan is a software engineer at Amazon where he developed a task management system in Alexa that makes user interactions more conversational, less linear, and more flexible to ambiguity. Before joining Amazon, Logan studied Computer Science at the University of Michigan with a focus on AI and social network structure.

This will be Logan’s fifth O4U after two conferences as a student and two as a mentor. He’s so excited to develop programming that leaves each participant with real, lasting friendships and to explore the different avenues in and out of tech.

Logan loves to cook, captains a queer dodgeball team, and tempers his Aries sun with far too much iced coffee.

Connor is a Product Manager at Redfin, a tech-enabled real estate brokerage based out of Seattle. He is the product manager for a new venture called Direct Offers, a first-of-its-kind program that lets buyers purchase listings online without an agent. Before joining Redfin, Connor spent three years as a Program Manager at Microsoft developing post-purchase offerings for Office 365 customers, including Office templates & assisted support. He graduated from Duke University in 2015. This is Connor's third year with O4U as a director. Outside of work, Connor is an amateur sailor, musical theatre enthusiast, and fledgling videographer.

Annie leads product at Column, a technology startup focused on the future of local news and public benefit information. She and the team started Column in the back of a newsroom in Manhattan, Kansas, and have now partnered with newspapers across the nation including the Washington Post.

Before Column, Annie spent time at The New York Times and graduated with a degree in Computer Science from Harvard. Originally from Kansas, she now lives in Boston.

This is Annie’s sixth O4U. She attended both O4U Tech and Marketing as an undergrad, and this is her second year serving as a director. As an Admissions Director, she is very excited to work alongside incredible folks to recruit the most diverse and talented class yet.

Jeremiah comes to O4U from a background IT consulting and diplomacy. After three pre-university gap years working abroad for non-profits dedicated to human rights and international exchange, he returned home as a non-traditional and distance student to study computing and design at Harvard. Studying remotely therefore allowed him to continue traveling—most recently to the Vatican, Saudi Arabia, Peru, South Korea, and Cambodia. Originally from Washington, DC, Jeremiah enjoys rollerskating, cycling, and rowing. He cares deeply about inclusion and equity in tech and is excited to join the O4U team this year!

Ji is a senior tech consultant at EY in Los Angeles. At EY, Ji works with a variety of clients implementing ERPs. Prior to joining EY, Ji graduated from the University of Southern California (USC) in 2017 as a business major. Ji attended O4UB as a sophomore and co-founded SpectrumSC, the only student organization for LGBTQ+ students interested in business at USC based on O4UB. Ji continued to stay involved with O4U after graduating by attending O4UT as a mentor/sponsor and was an admissions director for O4UT2020. In their free time, Ji enjoys travelling, hiking, and drinking an excessive amount of cold brew.

Dylan Wootton is a software engineer Microsoft specializing in empowering organizations to make sense of their data. He’s volunteer for O4U since 2019 as O4U’s data scientist and tech sponsorship lead. On the side, Dylan loves gardening and hydroponics

Maggie Moss is, in no particular order, an advocate, creator, investor, teacher, and change-agent.

Moss is a current graduate student at the NYU Wagner School of Public Service, pursuing a Master’s of Urban Planning. She intends to specialize in urban analytics and to use her education to advocate for socioeconomic equity in urban space. At NYU, she is on the executive board of the Wagner Consulting Group and will serve as a 2021 Gallatin Global Fellow in Urban Practice in partnership with ALIGN NY.

After graduating from George Washington University with her B.S. in geology, Moss worked at a criminal defense law firm in Manhattan for two years. Her experience in law, paired with her public service education, allows her to work at the nexus of legal and professional advocacy, the marriage of which has given her a unique perspective on promoting DEI initiatives across multiple industries.

Moss is an aspiring novelist, identifying with the burgeoning neo-sincerist movement. In her spare time, she consults on television series and spec script projects for independent writers. She also moonlights as a bartender in Brooklyn, NY (pre-COVID) and dreams of opening her own establishment in the future.

Insta: @maggie_moss

Cesar is a Finance Manager at Microsoft. He has worked in Financial Planning and Analysis, Internal Audit, Devices Market Intelligence, and Global Sales and Marketing Operations. He also led the FRP Morale Committee.

Originally from Costa Rica, Cesar immigrated to Morristown, NJ at five and grew up in New Jersey. Cesar’s love for learning propelled him to earn his B.A. in Economics from Harvard in 2018 on full financial-aid. He attended O4U Business and Marketing in 2016 and 2017. After experiencing the O4U magic firsthand, he drove Microsoft’s first ever sponsorship of O4U Business in 2020.

When not working or volunteering, Cesar loves to “ceez” the day and put the vice in Villavicencio. Pre-Covid, he could be found blasting his ears out, while breaking a sweat at Barry’s Bootcamp or breaking it down on a dance floor. Mid-Covid pandemic, Cesar can be found working out with Tonal, spinning on his mom’s Peloton, or facetiming friends. He also enjoys playing dodgeball and led the most racially diverse team in Seattle’s Gay Dodgeball League to victory! If you can throw shade, you can throw a ball!

Sean is a Marketing Analyst at Nielsen in the company’s rotational Commercial Emerging Leaders Program. He works in the digital space providing strategy and insights for clients on their digital marketing campaigns.

He graduated from Emory University and currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia. He first attended O4U Marketing in 2018 and volunteered at the conference in 2020.

In his free time, he enjoys taking hip-hop dance classes, listening to Mariah Carey, and drinking rosé.

Rachel graduated from UVA's McIntire School of Commerce in May of 2020 with a dual degree in management and marketing, and is currently working with the Baltimore digital team at Weber Shandwick. They attended O4UM for the first time in October 2020, and left feeling incredibly empowered, encouraged, and celebrated. From that experience, Rachel knew they wanted to return as a director. Prior to graduating, Rachel competed in the National Student Advertising competition, which gives schools across the nation the chance to create award-winning campaigns for real clients. Her team won first place with a campaign for Adobe, beating out more than 15 other schools, and launching her into the world of PR and advertising. As a published poet, Rachel also enjoys exploring the expression of their queer identity and place in the world through art and communication. They are so excited to be able to work with such an amazing group of directors and students for this year!

Hannah is a Language Strategist at maslansky+partners where she helps brands find the right language to close communication gaps, shift perceptions, and change behaviors. Prior to joining maslansky+partners, she worked to decode cultural trends at Canvas8, a behavioral insights agency.

Hannah graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a MA in Social Anthropology & Politics. For her dissertation she completed ethnographic fieldwork in Malaysia on unintentional activism in the LGBT art scene in Kuala Lumpur.

Outside of work, Hannah enjoys playing rugby, going on walking tours, and trying her hand at new recipes. Her biggest passion in life is traveling – seeing new places, learning about new cultures, and meeting new people. She’s been lucky enough to live in 5 different countries thus far and hopes to live in many more!

Koomar currently works in education as a K-5 science teacher and will soon be joining Accenture Strategy. Koomar recently graduated from Cornell University and studied Data Science, Asian-American Studies, and Entomology. At Cornell, Koomar was very involved with Asian-American advocacy and beekeeping. Koomar is deeply passionate about education equity, APIDA advocacy, and everything bugs!

Kevin is a Strategy Coordinator for the Program Marketing team at HBO, where he works on campaigns for HBO's original programming with strategies for their art direction, media buys, social media, and more from inception to execution. Before joining the Program Marketing team, he worked as an Executive Assistant in the Distribution Business Planning, Strategy, and Operations team, facilitating relationships with external partners such as Comcast, Apple, and Hulu to negotiate deals for the HBO Max launch last spring. Before coming to the WarnerMedia family, he spent a year at Creative Artists Agency covering for assistants in various departments, ranging from Theatre and Brand Consulting to Motion Pictures and Music Touring. A proud New Jersey native, he graduated from Princeton University in 2018 where he studied English Literature with a certificate in screenwriting, which largely contributed to his interest in entertainment and television. You can find him in his spare time listening to true crime podcasts, playing sudoku, or both.

Min is a marketer who grew up half of his life in Seoul, South Korea, and the other half in California. He graduated from Yale University with a degree in psychology, and now is a senior analyst on the LIFEWTR brand at PepsiCo. He was a mentor at the 2019 Out for Undergrad Marketing Conference and a programming director for the 2020 conference, and saw the incredible impact of the organization on both attendees and mentors and sponsors alike. He had to come back to contribute and is now a sponsorship director for the marketing conference.

In his 9-5, Min is focusing on brand communications for LIFEWTR, driving societal purpose and strategizing different creative ways the brand can amplify the voices of underrepresented voices in the creative space across four vertical: Visual Arts, Film, Fashion, and Music. Previously, he has worked on the Mtn Dew brand’s award-winning Dew Nation Rewards platform and long-term premium innovation for the Pure Leaf tea brand.

Min keeps his creativity flowing with photography, and is always looking for ways to change up his skills and technique. He also recently started his own podcast series, UPWARD, focusing on the experiences and advice of Asian Americans in corporate America. In his free time, though, he listens to more than enough KPOP and prides himself in listening to Christmas music in September.

Interested in consumer marketing, the Asian experience in corporate America, or transitioning from liberal arts to a professional job? Give him a ping!

Julia Baldaro is our bright and bubbly director based in Toronto, Canada. Her LinkedIn title says she is a Brand Marketer at General Mills but her unofficial title is professional food snacker (self appointed.) She joined O4U first as a student in her third and fourth year of university, volunteered post-grad, and is now in her second year as a director. Through O4U she has instilled a belief that when you bring your whole self to work you bring your best self. This led her to creating the first ever Canadian LGBTQ+ ERG at General Mills after a few months on the job which has been incredibly received from all levels of the company.

Through this work in her first year she has received the General Mills Marketing Beacon Award as well as the company wide Champions Award for fostering an inclusive work environment. Recently she has attended ‘Moonshot’, a General Mills Marketing think tank that chooses 40 General Mills marketers from across the Globe. This year was Mission Equality: creating a better starting point for all.

Besides work Julia is passionate about a kaleidoscope of things. She is a lover of all things puns and puzzles. An athlete ranging from soccer to innertube waterpolo and even dodgeball. An indulger on all things content from podcasts to books to trivia. An avid traveller who creates amateur gopro videos on Youtube.

If you want to learn more about Julia come find her at the conference or on social below!

• O4U Testimonial

• LinkedIn

• Instagram:

Jason is a brand and digital marketing strategist at 1000 Heads, a boutique advertising agency based in NYC, and has worked with brands across various industries including Google and Adidas Originals. Before jumping into the agency world, Jason graduated from Duke University in 2017 where he double majored in economics and art history.

In his free time, Jason enjoys learning new TikTok dances, visiting remote installation and land art sites, hosting supper clubs, and trying out new restaurants. He is also passionate about Asian and Asian-American activism, volunteering as a middle school mentor at APEX for Youth and serving as the communications chair for Duke’s Asian Alumni Alliance.

His involvement with O4U started back in 2016 when he attended O4UB as a junior, before coming back as a volunteer in 2019 for O4UM. He is excited to be a part of the O4UM team this year and looks forward to creating a conference that will empower LGBTQIA+ students to achieve their personal and professional goals.

Garrett is a Software Engineer at Instagram, where he works on making Instagram’s Direct Messaging service more reliable, secure, and easy to use. Before joining Instagram, he held positions at Facebook, Google, and SAS Institute. A Bay Area native, he graduated from UC Berkeley in 2017 and attended O4U Tech in 2016.

Jessica is a Finance Rotation Program Analyst at Microsoft currently based out of Florida. Before Microsoft, Jessica interned at United Technologies, Goldman Sachs, and Sweet Fish Media. She graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2020 after studying Integrated Business and Sales. Jessica’s involvement with O4U began in 2019 after attending the Marketing Conference as a student. Since then, she has volunteered with the 2020 Marketing Conference and is now utilizing her skills as a Sponsorship Director. In her free time, Jessica enjoys stand up comedy, anything broadway, and her dog Finley.

Carlena Neely is currently a senior at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro studying Information Systems. She has a passion for working at the intersection of technology and business which is evident in her work experience. Previously, she has had two internship opportunities with Product Marketing at Microsoft and will begin working full-time in the fall.

Now, she works as an intern on the Marketing and Platform team at Toyota AI Ventures, a Venture Capital firm, specializing in developing and improving their Diversity and Inclusion initiatives. Specifically focused on seeking out startups founded by Black, Latinx, women or LGBTQ+ founders.

Carlena first attended O4UM as a junior in college and participated in the O4UM and O4UTech 2020 virtual conference. She is excited to be serving as an Assistant Director for the 2021 year. Carlena enjoys dancing to Latin, Afro-beats, and Hip hop, catching up on Netflix shows, exploring, and eating good food and listening to good music. She also likes to play sports, spend time outdoors, and consume content on Tiktok.

Heidy is a Digital Strategist at Publicis Media where she focuses on crafting strategies for Publicis agency teams using multiple digital platforms and partners. Prior to Publicis, Heidy executed paid social campaigns at Accenture. She kicked-off her career in Costa Mesa, California as an MAIP fellow for Mazda where she conducted experiential work with activation partners. She currently resides in Chicago and spends one month out of the year in Mexico, visiting family and exploring new beaches.

Heidy graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a B.S in Advertising and a minor in Gender & Women’s Studies. While attending UIUC Heidy found one of her greatest passions: positively impacting the lives of students. She founded the first Latinx Student Association and worked as a Teaching Assistant where she guided students to explore social identities and social issues.

Her O4U journey started in 2016 where she attended the O4UM Conference as a student and then served as an Admissions Director in 2018. Heidy is thrilled to be part of the programming team this year and ready to be involved with her fifth O4U conference. Outside of work and O4U, Heidy enjoys volunteering as an MAIP (Multicultural Advertising Intern Program) Coach, trying new spicy foods, exploring the outdoors, and filming sunrises and sunsets along the way.