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I’m the CEO at Direct Development, which is the parent company to two industry-specific marketing agencies (DD Agency and Novus), which serve the education and nonprofit sectors, along with a media company (Enrollify) and a video production company (DD Studio). Our four company divisions share the same overall goal and mission – to help Davids beat Goliaths – and our entire approach to marketing, communications, media production is focused on breaking conventions and scientific experiments. I get the opportunity to lead and collaborate with incredibly talented digital marketing technologists and brand strategists who are constantly pursuing the “new and next” in marketing and communications for schools and nonprofit organizations. I’m a profound believer in a “less is more” approach to tackling the business challenges that we face, as well as maintaining a team culture that is comfortable with different points of view, confident in strengths-based performance, and willing to fail forward to achieve success.

This course will teach students how to build a digital marketing campaign by first understanding the difference between Strategy vs. Tactics. The course would begin with the basics and examples of a few different kinds of marketing campaigns, including the use of Campaign Briefs that agencies use to outline the strategy, audience, and channel tactics to be used in a particular marketing campaign. Then, the course would move into live exercises where students get to work in small teams to select a real client, analyze the back-story, context, and data, and then build their own marketing campaign strategy. They would need to decide which tactics and channels to include, allocate media budget, determine target audiences, and outline the game plan for the entire marketing campaign from start to finish, including timelines for delivery, targets and KPIs to measure, and projected results. Finally, beyond the practical work of learning how to strategize and plan a marketing campaign, this course would also have a professional development and teamwork aspect that includes having students cross-evaluate the members of their team, providing constructive criticism, and also a self-evaluation to review what it was like to work with different people who have different ideas on how to create the best marketing campaign for a given client. This will help students experience what it’s like to work in a real-world agency that cares not just about the work you do by yourself, but HOW you work with the rest of the team to own your part and make their work amazing as well.

In my role as a CEO and senior marketing consultant at DD, I get to consult with many schools and nonprofit organizations who are facing big challenges with their digital marketing communications, brand awareness, and marketing tech skills. I get to bring their situations into my team of marketing technologists, creative writers, designers, digital advertisers, and content marketers — and they have to work together to take a high-level annual strategic plan and break it down into actionable marketing campaigns. I have dozens of real-life clients with 3-6 years’ worth of content, marketing campaigns, performance reports, and new challenges they are facing. I’ve had to synthesize and break down where each client has been seeing the impactful results, and I can use that experience to do the same with students in the BiP program as well as give them specific new marketing challenges that need new marketing campaigns with detailed strategy and tactics.

I want my students to know (1) how to build a rock-solid marketing campaign to accomplish a business objective; (2) how to adapt and improve the marketing campaign midway through the initiative (when some things don’t go to plan); (3) how to make decisions about what channels and tactics to include and NOT include as part of a time-bound marketing campaign; (4) understand how strategy drives tactics, and brings everything together to produce a larger total impact than trying to do the same things without the coordination and goal-planning of a well-thought-out marketing campaign; (5) to be more comfortable with different points of view and understand their strengths and areas of improvement in working with other team members.

Students will start with basic fundamentals led by lots of “show-and-tell” examples so they become familiar with what makes a great marketing campaign, and the difference between strategy and tactics. Then, after learning the basics, they will get to step up to the plate and think through a marketing campaign of their own while having to collaborate with other students on their team. They will have to own individual assignments and bring their work together in order to craft a comprehensive marketing campaign, and this will challenge them because no one student will get to control the project from start to finish, and they will have to divvy up responsibilities based on their pre-existing experience/understanding with certain marketing tactics. Finally, each student team will have to present their campaigns to the entire class, and answer questions to justify their plan.

This was described above, but to add more detail I would prepare 4-6 client scenarios (some schools, some nonprofit orgs) for each team to select from. Each client scenario would come with background history, current opportunities, challenges, and goals, along with data, reports, and actual content pieces available to review. Each student team would then need to work together to create a comprehensive marketing campaign that attempts to make an impact on one of the challenges or goals of the client scenario, including making a summary Campaign Brief as well as outlining the details of each channel and tactic within the marketing campaign. After submitting the marketing campaign, the next part of the project includes fast-forwarding into the future somewhere in the middle of the campaign, and I will provide a “campaign update” that includes where the performance is at midway through the campaign, and then ask each team to provide an “Adapt and Improve” adjustment to the campaign based on the fictional scenario update I provided. This will enable the teams to gain a realistic understanding how to tweak marketing campaigns on the fly before it’s too late to optimize results to achieve the best possible outcomes.

I am currently an independent financial consultant/advisor serving multiple clients as a fractional CFO, strategic & financial due diligence executive (venture capital), and related financial advisory focused on data-driven decision making. My focus is primarily on smaller, start-up businesses, and I am able to bring a diverse corporate financial knowledge base to help these businesses grow and prosper through more formal financial expertise that is typically absent in new ventures.

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The premise is built around intentional reporting, that is, using data (financial, operational) to tell a purposeful and meaningful story. Traditional courses teach formulas, valuation methodologies, and then perhaps presentation skills separately. The idea for this course is to marry those two areas by asking student groups, using the exact same data sets, to evaluate and present the information to an audience for different reasons or purposes. One group may use the information as a way to inform the audience, while another may use it in order to persuade an action such as buy/sell investment. The idea is to show that the data is not always sufficient in getting your point across and that how it is evaluated, presented, and ultimately communicated, will dictate how it is received and used.

I began my career in a Fortune 100 finance organization, learning the ropes of corporate financial planning and analysis over a decade in numerous accounting, finance, and internal strategy roles. I specialized in financial reporting, specifically transforming data and metrics into meaningful information to make smart business decisions. I spent a few more years leading an internal strategy team at one of the largest and fastest growing franchises in the country, using my experience in financial and operational analytics to support the most critical strategic business decisions. Most recently, I have spent time running a small venture capital fund as well as working as an independent financial executive, supporting businesses evaluate strategic investment decisions and perform formal due diligence on new opportunities.

The ability to: Elevate evaluation and analytics to the next level to show the important of language and presentation of financial and operational information; Synthesize how data can be translated and manipulated to tell different stories or express different points of view; Identify and highlight the most critical information to get the point across and achieve a specific goal – Whether that be informing, persuading, or a call to action for the audience.

The idea is start with the basics, using real-world data (press releases, earnings reports, stock information, etc.) to see how financial and operational data is manipulated, presented, and operationalized to help inform and make decisions. We will then build up to more specific uses of similar information (e.g. a venture capital / startup company pitch for seed fundraising). Using real case studies and in-class working groups, the goal will be to learn both the data and analytics used in specific scenarios, as well as how it is turned into a meaningful story to achieve an action by the audience (such as a buy or sell investment decision). The most critical goal will be to learn how similar data can be used for different purposes, and how it can be transformed depending on the audience. The class will conclude with capstone presentations, with the class presenting different scenarios using the same data sets to show how different call to actions/purposes for presentations will produce very different analyses.

Dave Best is a 20+ year technology industry veteran. Most recently, Dave worked as the Global Head of Executive Programs at Silicon Valley unicorns Zscaler (2019-2021) and Delphix (2014-2019). In this role, Dave has been responsible for driving relationships, messaging and overall brand positioning across the Technology C-Suite. Prior to joining Zscaler, Dave spent 8 years in program management for CIO Magazine’s Executive Council where he produced custom events and programming for hundreds of IT leaders and their teams. While at CIO, Dave gained a reputation as an “Executive Super-Connector” with a knack for bringing together leaders with common interests and challenges. Before CIO, Dave managed a portfolio of conferences within Gartner’s Worldwide Events division spanning across various industries, sectors and functional areas. Dave holds an MBA Degree in Marketing from the University of New Hampshire and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Bowdoin College.

The course concept is to explore and learn how marketing and event professionals design experiences for professional business audiences. Creating memorable and valuable experiences is a major strategic initiative for every company across every industry. Starting from the big picture goals and objectives of why companies do this, to the detailed goals for real life program scenarios and how companies execute and measure the success of an experience program are all important for future business professionals to learn and understand.

Starting over 20 years ago I worked for event production teams as a full time employee producing a portfolio of executive conferences. As my career has evolved, I have consistently been a part of the technology ecosystem partnering, sponsoring, producing and attending every type of immersive program experience, both in-person and virtual.

My experience is specific to the Technology industry, but it is applicable across every industry (Hospitality, Retail, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Biotech, Healthcare, Media, Agriculture, Consumer Electronics, Gaming, among many others). Understanding why and how professionals across all industries are participating in these experiences and how experiences are created and operated is something that I am passionate about.

I would like the students in this course to walk away with a deeper understanding of the variety of business experiences and events taking place in the marketplace today and perhaps some new ideas around how they can be part of this ecosystem as a future professional.

Students will grow and develop by thinking, learning and exploring various types of professional experiences and the different components that go into the design and execution of these experiences. Trade Shows; Executive Conferences; Workshops; Roundtables; Think Tanks; Dinners; Hospitality outings and everything in between will be explored, along with all of the various functions that go into their operation. Students will have the opportunity to learn from real-world industry professionals, consider what type of role they could take in executing these various programs as part of their future career and perhaps even participate in actual professional experiences and events. It is my hope that exploring these different experience programs at a high level during their college experience will open up future career opportunities or to participate as young professionals.

Design an end-to-end experience/event. Students select an industry that interests them and select an experience type. Students can then develop the different components to the experience and create an experience plan and/or select a functional role on the experience team. This allows a “choose your own adventure” type of scenario and hopefully create a flexible but immersive experience tailored to the student’s specific interests.

I am currently a Partner in the Future Commerce Initiative focused on educating leadership teams on how both commerce and work at changing…and how these changes will impact business. I joined FCI after 12 years with One Door (formerly RBM Technologies) where I was COO. I helped the company grow from infancy to $20m+ in recurring SasS revenue. Prior to One Door I was involved with a variety of companies focused on retail and consumer products. I have lived in Europe, speak Spanish, enjoy dual citizenship (US/German) and reside in Newburyport with my wife and two sons. We are a VERY active family and spend our free time hiking, camping, skiing, surfing…and just being together.

The Future of Commerce (FoC) curriculum will teach students, utilizing a case-based model, how leading companies are transforming the concept of “Commerce”. The FoC curriculum will simplify complex topics such as Algorithmic (Automated) Commerce, Platform Commerce, and China Commerce by bringing examples from current companies based around the world. The curriculum is a collection of inter-connected topics that will be taught congruently.

My background brings a unique collection of experiences from different verticals, industries and geographies. You cannot begin to explain how “Commerce” is changing without direct experience and knowledge of what commerce has been and is now. The retail and CPG worlds play key parts in this understanding as well as the technologies and innovations driving transformation. I have extensive experience in these areas and my network will allow me to bring relevant in interesting guest speakers from these companies to the discussion.

I want students to believe that they have grown their understanding of how commerce has changed…and will continue to change! The myriad of career options that are open to the students almost all connect to technology, commerce and/or labor. We will explore all of these areas in the BiP course and discuss examples of how companies are evolving. I believe that these examples will help the students form their own perspectives and strategies that they will employ when they hit the workforce.

My HOPE is that the majority of students will embrace the concepts we discuss and become more inquisitive as the course progresses.

I hope to bring a company to the program that will challenge us with a concept that the students (in groups/teams) can explore. I would like it to be commerce technology related where the teams and research “best solutions” for the company.

I work for an early stage start up called DUST Identity out of Framingham, MA. Our company allows our customer to secure their physical objects by applying DUST tags (small tags made up of the random entropy of diamond DUST). DUST tags are then linked to a digital identity where it they can be tracked throughout the supply chain. At DUST Identity, I am the Head of DevOps and Security. As the Head of DevOps, I am responsible for managing our software pipelines and ensuring our software can be run efficiently and at scale in the Cloud, on-premise, and within air gapped environments. As the Head of Security, I am responsible for DUST information data and security. I ensure that our company maintains compliance across a variety or security programs and help the business reduce its overall cyber risk by apply best practices and rolling out security initiatives.

The main objective of the course is to help students gain an understanding of most the prominent cybersecurity risks affecting small and medium sized businesses. Students will learn about cybersecurity fundamentals, the tools needed to evaluate a company’s state of security, and the playbooks need to reduce the chances and impact of a security attack.

I have held a number of different roles in software development, engineering, IT and, security throughout my career within different business verticals including non-profits, healthcare, enterprise software, and startups. During my time at PTC, I led PTC Cloud Services engineering efforts and guided them to their first Fedramp Authorization. Fedramp is a government-wide program that provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud products and services. Shortly after, I helped build out a new datacenter and standardize our cloud security practices and procedures to help obtain PTC first IL5 certification to help secure DOD most sensitive unclassified data.

https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2019/02/disa-announces-new-impact-level-5-certification/154860/

In my current role at DUST I help lead our company’s security efforts across the organization and at a product level.

I want students to walk away with practical knowledge and skills they can use to help businesses reduce their cyber risk. Students should be able to assist companies conduct a cyber security assessment, understand the companies security vulnerabilities, and help create mitigation plans, procedures and practices they can use to maintain safe business operations for their data, customers, and employees.

Students will get practical, hands on experiences with tools, techniques, case studies, and simulated scenarios. For eg. one idea for a class is to walk students through the anatomy of a Ransomware attack by running an actual ransomware attack on a (disconnected of course) computer. Students will get hands on exposure with industry tools and also participate in scenario based learning.

Find one or several SMBs in New Hampshire that students can work with over the course of the provide a cyber risk assessment with the goal to provide a compressive report detailing risks and practical steps for the company to implement mitigations.

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I am transitioning into a new role as the U.S. MRO Sourcing Manager for our 3 businesses within Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany (EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma, and EMD Electronics in the U.S. due to ongoing legal battle of name with Merck & Co.) – I will be creating the sourcing strategies for our lab equipment, PPE, and uniforms for over 40+ sites in the U.S. Previously, I was a Sourcing Manager in an international team and I was creating the sourcing strategies for our Savannah, GA plant for raw materials, toll processing, and packaging activities. It is here that I created our group’s Sustainability Strategy and within that implemented a conflict minerals strategy and a palm oil strategy. I have been in the Procurement world for almost 8 years in various fields and positions. I previously worked for International Paper as a Buyer and before that I interned with The Boeing Company in the Supply Chain group.

The course will allow students to work in groups to analyze a business’ procurement strategy and submit a proposal, or new strategy, to include an improvement in sustainability efforts. Examples include: reducing a business’ Scope 3 emissions (working with their suppliers to reduce their carbon footprint and/or emissions) creating educational programs for suppliers on sustainability, implementing reverse logistics within the company (i.e. recycling packaging, minimizing waste from procured goods & services, etc.).

I currently work in Procurement (for almost 8 years) and I have worked in many different departments sourcing for different goods and services. This experience has given me an understanding of how Procurement operates cross-functionally within an organization. I have also become the Sustainability Subject Matter Expert within my Procurement group, specifically surrounding conflict minerals and palm oil. I was able to create our Sustainability Strategy and later share my knowledge within our Procurement group as a whole as they implemented a Procurement-wide Sustainability Strategy.

My goal is to have tangible results that the students can be proud of at the end of the class – I want them to walk away knowing that they helped “make the World a better place” by their efforts. I want them to feel empowered to look at all supply chains in the future and have the skills to spot a problem or need and then accordingly create a strategy or product to fix the problem or fill the need.

Procurement employees require skills in critical thinking, leadership, and dealing with ambiguity. I hope to inspire students to analyze data and research and apply it with critical thinking skills in the project. Students will need to make decisions and become leaders for a company while not always having all of the information they need in front of them. These are often skills you develop as employees as you get older and more comfortable and confident in your work and skills. If I can help students develop these skills in this class, they will already have an advantage when they get into the workplace.

I would love to work with businesses in conjunction with the BiP program to help create a sustainability strategy or program within their Procurement departments. For this project, I suggest to work with one business, as a class, per semester. Students will work in groups to analyze the business’ purchasing procedures, requirements, and strategy. They will find ways to improve and promote sustainability within. I visual us working with one business per semester, allowing for multiple groups to pitch ideas to the business at the end of the class (this may result in the course being 14 weeks – will need to discuss). The ultimate goal would be for the students to professionally present their proposals to the business, but this would need to be discussed more in detail (if all groups propose the same change or initiative we would need to change the format). I believe it would be beneficial for the class to collaboratively work with only one company per semester as we can discuss the business’ procurement strategy and break it down in class together. The groups can then strategize and compete to create the best business proposal based on everyone having the same beginning data.

https://www.bulfinchgroup.com/team/dylan-b-grocer Joined the firm as an advisor, June 2020. Most of my time is spent on personal advising working with individuals, families, and small businesses. A small portion of my time is now spent in management where I had the opportunity to develop and launch our internship program last summer. I also help with the training and development of our new advisors, mostly working with recent grads and early career changers.

I am currently the Director of Economic Development for the City of Rochester. Previously I held positions as the Executive Director for the Coos Economic Development Corporation, Special Assistant to US Senator Kelly Ayotte, and owner/operator Marie’s Family Restaurants. I have an undergrad in History and an Executive MBA, both from UNH.
I am also an International Economic Development Council (IEDC) Certified Economic Developer (CEcD)

I would like to expose students to the world of Economic Development and how projects are developed and executed. The subject is too broad to be fully covered during a 7wk course, so I would mostly focus on a very broad overview.

I have been involved in both county and municipal economic development for close to 7 years. I have been, and continue to be, the lead on dozens of development projects throughout the city.

I have also taught several classes as and Adjunct at the White Mountain Community College in Berlin, NH (Macro Econ, Business Plan Writing, and Business Strategy)

I would like them to experience breadth of opportunity in the Econ Dev field. We need more young professionals to bring their drive and vision to the industry and help shape the economic future of the areas they represent.

I am pretty sure that when asked most students would liken Econ Dev to attraction of businesses or the creation of jobs, but it is so much more than that. It involves planning, zoning, funding, lifestyle, buying, selling, making, shipping, entertainment, etc. etc. Econ Dev effects everyone in one form or another and I would enjoy helping the students make those connections.

I envision teams of 3-4 students choosing a particular case (project) and creating a pitch on how they would manage the project through completion. They would have to apply the multiple steps of taking an idea from fruition to completion.

I would ultimately like to have them make the pitch to a couple of the local city managers so I may get their input also.

Director of Hypertherm Ventures, Hanover, NH. Solid technical background with long term product development and business growth have led me to this current role. Additional information included in Linked In profile.

This course will utilize the framework of the business model canvas to help students document and test their new business ideas as opposed to the writing of lengthy business plans. Canvases allow for the fundamental capture of key business components and helps to document and test hypotheses. This framework leverage all of the major business education components that student receive in university and pragmatically applies them into a succinct format.

I have used the canvas regularly in my product development and innovation work (since 2012) and I also use the framework to quickly understand key aspects of the startups that I invest in.

A fundamental understanding of the business model canvas approach and benefits to creating new products, businesses. They can apply all that they have learned in business school into this lean approach for new business and innovation.

Introductory baseline of the tool and how it is used. Have students build up canvases within project of their own. Canvas development, voice of the customer, jobs to be done, hypothesis testing, pivoting within the canvas. Options assessment using canvas tools.

I am not sure what is meant by the type of project, but I think process is the best choice. Can we talk further?

project should reinforce the learnings about the canvas but put it into practice. Design a business or analyze a current one with the canvas. What things could be tested with this approach?

I am the founder and content strategist of Good Content, a company that provides content for digital marketing efforts. I write for companies like IBM and Hitchiner Manufacturing, helping them uncover ways of talking about technical topics in an approachable way. I also host and produce a storytelling series called Long Story Short that is held quarterly at 3S Artspace in Portsmouth and will air this year on NHPR. I also have a background in journalism and corporate communications. In both these roles I often took complicated topics and looked for new ways to present the information in a way people can understand.

Storytelling for Business:
Selling products and services relies heavily on connecting to a target audience. Businesses that offer a compelling story behind their products are more memorable and are more likely to convert. This course would provide students with the basics of storytelling and discuss ways in which these elements can be used in R&D, developing a business plan, seeking investors, advertising, web content, video marketing, social media and branding. With each of these areas, we would look at companies that used storytelling effectively. We would also do hands-on exercises in class that would explore how to use storytelling to promote an example business, as well as writing and telling stories about themselves.

I am a writer and marketing professional that hosts a storytelling series and offers storytelling coaching. I often work with clients on how to better tell their brand’s story.

That business and marketing is not just about data and numbers. It first requires a human connection to generate interest, attract customers and build brand loyalty. To cut through the competition, being able to tell a business story will help differentiate a brand. I also want them to see how storytelling elements apply specifically to different aspect of business and marketing and how best to use these elements in an authentic way.

First, I would like to push students to improve their public speaking skills and build confidence by presenting stories about themselves and a sample business both in front of the class and on video. I also hope they see marketing and business in a different way, that it’s about providing products and services TO PEOPLE, not just generating revenue.

Students would tell a 3 minute story about why they chose their major, using traditional storytelling form and techniques.
Students would create an elevator pitch for an example business using storytelling elements and present them to the class.
Students would create a series of five social media posts for an example business that employ storytelling and present them to the class.

This class introduces social entrepreneurship as a foundation for start-ups that have social and environmental impact. The course is taught from a practitioner’s viewpoint designed to be both collaborative and interactive. Students will be placed into teams to engage in the development of social value creation by identifying society’s needs and wants.

In this course, we will first discuss the most challenging problems facing our world today, and then identify its stakeholders. Second, we will explore ideas and opportunities that provide potential solutions to these issues. Third, the teams will create a social impact enterprise with its mission to drive societal change for the benefit of the stakeholders. The course concludes with the development of a business plan and pitch deck necessary for generating investor interest (pre-launch).

Kolanut Capital, LLC: Investor and Board member for the last three years; 10 acre chicken and dairy farm in Njoro, Kenya.
Hearth Community Fund, Inc.: Trustee; community development non-profit corporation that focuses community improvement initiatives and enrichment programs for the residents of Gloucester City

That enterprises can be designed for both the social good and financial returns. Social innovation and impact mindset creates a better world today and for tomorrow.

They will have a firm understanding of how to design and develop a social impact start-up. They will start with identifying a social need or want, then design a business to solve them.

Form a social enterprise, and develop a business plan and pitch deck

VP of Franchise Development. I oversee the development of multiple emerging franchise brands. Brands in the health and wellness space, fitness space, kid services, home services. Sales process leadership and working with people who are looking to make investments in the franchise arena.

I’d like to spend some more time with Jen and Neil really talking through this. Franchising is the space I operate in and I sell these investments through a relatively complex process. Need to bake this out a bit.

Team leadership, public speaking, franchisor/franchisee experience, sales process, financing a business, entrepreneurship, taxes.

Influential information that will help them shorten the learning curve in their careers. I had many, many influential experiences in my MBA at UNH and I want to pay that forward.

Again, need to spend a little more time developing exactly what the programming will be. They will be positively impacted.

Definitely want to include Franchising, Entrepreneurship, process and process development and sales.

I am currently the business side of Dead Archer Records, but I also hold a “day job” with Gannett Publishing. I have been in and around music since 1994, starting with College Radio, and have held positions within Venue Management, Festival Stage Management, Artist Management, Artist Consulting, Promotions, Merchandising and positions with Indie Record Labels.

Start by understanding certain roles within the industry, how they come together to shape a launch, from finding the right “project/artist” to work with, to developing that project for release, to the timeline needed and costs associated within to bring it to life for public consumption.

I’ve worked within this industry, from both sides, as a label owner, guitar company manager, and artist manager for close over 20 years now. I can bring real world stories into hypotheticals, that can hopefully drive home the points being made.

I would like the students to gain a better understanding of the “business” of Music, the costs, the planning, the time lines, the work and struggles that go into this type of product launch, pull back the curtain a bit, so to speak.

I would lean heavily in the beginning using the book “This Business of Music” by Donald Passman as guidepost and reference tool for the students, I wouldn’t make it mandatory reading, but it’s a excellent book. Mr. Passman is still one of the top entertainment lawyers in the business, and his a fantastic tool. By understanding the roles, needed to be successful, we would then transition into a project oriented final few weeks that would enable to put real world, practical application to the roles and theories and stories from the earlier classes.

I envision the students working on finding an artist, hypothetical if need be, but an independent artist, working on initial development of that artist from Visual to Show performance, and then taking that into an “Album” release, figuring out the cost of studio time, mixing, mastering, physical copies, then what that would mean for physical release into the world, publicity, booking/touring. Understanding how long the process takes, the costs involved. Each project would be submitted and discussed.

I currently work as a macroeconomic research analyst on the asset allocation team at Columbia Threadneedle Investments. I’ve held this role for close to five years, and over this time I’ve mostly covered the economies of US and China. Over these years, I’ve gained experience building models that aim to track where we are in the business cycle, forecast recessions, monitor financial conditions, and develop investment strategies. Prior to Columbia Threadneedle, I worked as an economic consultant at Global Economics Group and as a senior research assistant at the Federal Reserve Board.

The idea of this course is to apply macroeconomics with applications to investment strategy. I envision there being three stages in this course.

In the beginning of the course, I want to introduce students to types of macroeconomic data that professional economists look at daily. Most of the data that economists look at are released in one calendar month. So, in this first month, I want the students to breakdown each of the data releases, discuss their importance to the economy and markets, and what it all means in the context of government policy. This part of the course, I envision, would be discussion based in the classroom.

Once familiarized with the data, I want to introduce them to modeling/project-based work in a way I would at work. There are two projects I want to introduce them, which I would help guide them through. First, I want them to understand the business cycle and how a professional economist attempts to measure that. Once they have this “model” and can classify stages of the business cycle, they will describe how various asset classes perform. These asset classes would include stock, bond, and commodity markets.

Once familiarized with asset class performance in various stages of the business cycle, I would then have them produce an “investment strategy”. This would be done through the context of asset allocation – derive a fake investment portfolio that is reliant on the business cycle to present. The “audience” for these projects is for a portfolio manager, so the portfolio manager can make necessary changes to his/her portfolio.

I would model this course like how I work on a day-to-day basis. As it relates to the first section of the course, I breakdown data releases and am required to explain – in English – what it may mean for the economy and markets. Moreover, in the second section of the course, I have done this exact model at work. I can guide them in the right direction, explain to them what the output of the model should be, and which assets over or underperform. The same can be said in the last section of this course.

I want them to read or watch the news and be able to understand what specific economic data means in the context of the economy and financial markets. Moreover, in their own personal (or at some point professional) investing lives, to be able to defend their portfolios in the context of a recession.

I highly anticipate most students will be unfamiliar with economic data. I expect them to learn, in a hands-on manner, what each data point means. Over time, I expect them to gain confidence in understanding these data by not only monitoring them, but also applying them in the projects I would have in mind for them.

– Create a model that describes the business cycle and shows how asset classes perform.
– With the knowledge gained in the first project, create an investment strategy and present its performance over time.

I am currently the Co-Founder of SoHo Creative Studio. We offer web design, photography, videography and copywriting for small businesses. Our mission is the help our clients tell stories that are going to bring them closer to their ideal clients and a thriving business. I also work CIOSE. CIOSE brings together 25, Fortune 70 CIO’s 2X a year for a strategy exchange. This relationship gives me unique insights into the challenges that relate to technology within the world’s largest multi-nationals. I hold a B.A. in Acting and Directing from DeSales University and an. M.F.A. in Acting from Rutgers University. I am also an active duty Veteran of the US Navy.

I believe that story is cellular. That is, it goes beyond the intellectual and it’s written into our DNA. We are all storytellers because we are all human. My course would revolve around the many mediums of storytelling: Presentations, interviews, Zoom meetings and personal stories. This would be workshop where each week the students would have the opportunity to experiment with and discover their own craft of storytelling. They would learn that those of us who embrace authenticity, vulnerability and spontaneity will always present, connect and communicate better than those who don’t or don’t know how to embrace those qualities.

I have been studying and practicing the art of performance and storytelling for over 20 years. My Bachelor’s Degree is in Acting & Directing and my 3 year Master’s program is in Acting. I have been able to study and practice every aspect of storytelling and authentic communication. I continue to coach Founders at ERA NYC on their investor pitches and have access to presenters who are working at the highest levels of business and entertainment. My creative agency, SoHo Creative Studio, works with small business owners to craft and deliver stories through various mediums that help them stand out in the marketplace and connect with their ideal clients. I also continue to train weekly as a professional performer.

My aim for the course is that and the end of the semester the student will walk away being:

1. More authentic, vulnerable & inspiring communicators in various mediums (interviews, presentations and on-camera/zoom meetings).
2. Have a craft or set of tools that they can continue to practice and strengthen as they progress in their lives and careers.

I will work to create an environment where the students feel safe to be their most honest and authentic selves. I believe that the effect we have on others is the most valuable currency there is. I would like to present the opportunity for the students to work past their fears and apprehensions around communicating in a safe space amongst their colleagues. I know from experience that risk taking is contagious and they’ll be able to move further as a group than they ever could on their own.

Everything is an audition. AKA How to be your most authentic self in any environment.

Tasks:

-The one minute impromptu monologue
-Being a good listener means being a good storyteller
-Acting Monologue
-Acting Scene
-In Person Presentation / Investor pitch
-In person Interview
-Zoom Interview
-Zoom pitch

Currently, I’m a financial advisor with Forge Financial, a small firm out of Portsmouth that specializes in helping small businesses and families get organized and plan for their future.
Previously, I was the Director of Partnership Services at Spartan Race, Inc., where I was responsible for the management and execution of current brand partner relationships, as well as developing and valuating new assets and sponsorship programs to be taken to market.

The course would be focused on how sponsorships in sport are created, why they are valuable, who the key stakeholders are in the process, and how they are feasibly executed over the course of the relationship. Sponsorship is typically broken into 3 phases: asset development/packaging, proposal/sales, and servicing/execution. Through this course, we will zero in on the “asset development/packaging” phase and work with a real organization (the Cape Cod Baseball League), utilizing the packages they already have in place, to fine-tune and build on their partnership offerings and help them deliver a more organized, and appropriately valuated, offering to the market.

This is the work I fulfilled for Spartan, a global endurance sports property with 1M participants annually and over 10M social followers. Specifically, I was responsible for working with key stakeholders in marketing, media, and event production within Spartan to create sellable “assets” that could be packaged and sold to sponsors. Once assets were packaged, sales team members were responsible for selling to brand partners, and once sold, my team was again responsible for servicing these clients and executing the partnership packages through the key stakeholders at Spartan (again – marketing, media, event production).

Ideally students will leave with a few key skills/experiences – some directly related to the work and some more general:
1. A an understanding a clearer perspective on sponsorship marketing as a whole, not just in sport. Learning about how two brands align to drive value for one another, and why brands spend money to associate with certain properties. Students will be able to recognize this more clearly in their day to day and see when it’s done well, and when it’s not.
2. The ability to communicate with each other and with external stakeholders to complete a project – the CCBL, as well as other guest speakers will be able to contribute to this course, and I would hope that the students take advantage of that opportunity to learn and network.
3. For those who think they want to “work in sports” – I hope this course will provide an understanding of what that actually means, and the endless variety of opportunities that exist, outside of just working for the Big 4 (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL). Seeing the different departments and positions that exist, as well as all of the groups involved in the “business of sport” will hopefully be inspiring to the students that there are cool jobs out there, and not just with the Celtics.

The students will need to collaborate and be trusting of one another to deliver a quality product. They will also be required to communicate with some stakeholders outside of the classroom, which may not be easy for some, but is necessary to achieve success once stepping off campus. I also hope through the process of delivering real work to a real organization, the students can learn through accountability – to their teammates, to the organization they are supporting, and to themselves for finishing what they start and feeling the impact of that from start to finish.

Working side by side with the Cape Cod Baseball League, an amateur league operating in the summer months that hosts the best college level baseball players in the country who go on to excel in the MLB, the students will have the opportunity to evaluate the current sponsorship packages offered by the CCBL, and work to deliver the following:
– Deliver a more organized “asset inventory” for the CCBL to pull from with details, any key performance data, links to examples, etc.
– Deliver a skeleton of a deck (just lacking final creative touches) for each of the various sponsorship packages so that they can be reviewed by prospective clients more visually. Basically creating slides to support the “Sponsorship Levels” document shared by the CCBL so that prospects can see actual images or mock-ups of the things being proposed, as well as some color language to jazz them up a bit.
– Deliver 2-5 “New Ideas” for the CCBL to potentially pitch out to prospects based on industry trends and what we might see available within the property that isn’t being capitalizing on. This is more of a hypothetical and less likely to be put in place, but feel like it’s something the students can easily get behind and be repeated every year.

SVP Finance Real Hospitality Group – My department handles all of the monthly accounting and reporting for the RHG hotel portfolio (approximately 80 properties). On a daily basis, we are communicating with owners, lenders, brands and tax authorities.

Many hotel managers operate their properties/departments without a thorough knowledge of how to read a P&L and/or attend P&L review meetings without knowing their metrics or their audience. This course would help them use the hotel financial statements to make them better stewards as well as teach them how to tailor their presentations/reviews/discussions to the different financial “audiences”.

I have worked in various Accounting positions, starting with F&B Cost Controller in 1988 as well as various types of companies (on property, hotel owner operator, hotel management company). This has given me a fairy broad base from which to share my experiences.

A solid working knowledge of hotel financial statements and the ability to determine what a particular “consumer” is looking for in a financial statement presentation.

As they familiarize themselves with the hotel financial statements, they will become more comfortable with going outside of their comfort zone to make decisions and advise colleagues on hotel financial matters.

Selecting different audiences (lender, asset manager,owner) and having the students prepare a presentation geared towards their particular view of hotel performance.

I am currently the Head of Global Supply Alert Management at Takeda Pharmaceuticals. My team is responsible for our tactical planning processes, supply disruption notification process and our inventory management process. These processes are leveraged across the organization to help plan our supply chain and ensure we can serve patients.
Prior to joining Takeda, I worked at Boston Scientific for 8 years in various supply chain planning roles.

Data and analysis are a core element to supply chains across all industries. To be competitive in today’s job market, supply chain career seekers must demonstrate knowledge of analytical tools, handling large quantities of data, and effectively communicating the results to business leaders. By connecting these elements to the core pillars of supply chain (plan, source, make and deliver) students will be well prepared with what they can expect should they choose a career in supply chain and would have practical classroom-based experience to speak to in an interview.

My career started in supply chain planning where I learned about statistical forecasting applications and models. I have worked with IBM and MIT on research that looked into machine learning applications for forecasting. My team at Takeda is responsible for implementing our multi-echelon inventory optimization (MEIO) tool and business process for managing inventory. I have experience in capacity planning for supply and materials requirements planning as well using both advanced planning tools/ERP systems and Excel.

Ultimately, I would love for students to walk away with an understanding of how they can best leverage data and analytical tools alongside core supply chain processes to become key business stakeholders in an organization. Just as important as the analysis and supply chain elements will be a focus on how to communicate results to cross-functional stakeholders. Students should expect to leave this class feeling prepared for interviewing for entry-level planning roles or to dive deeper on key elements of the analytics or planning based processes we review.

My goal is to help students develop skills not only in understanding what supply chain is, but how to best present themselves to an organization and accelerate their careers once inside. My hope is that this course would help take students from a passive/early interest in a career in supply chain and transform them into passionate supply chain advocates ready to jump into industry and make real impacts.

My idea is to give students a product(s) that will have a set of associated data. We will then take this product through the full planning cycle and learn how we can apply analytical techniques to plan and run a supply chain. The students will simulate demand planning, supply planning, inventory planning and the practical skills that go along with each. The students will get multiple opportunities to present data and analysis with an emphasis on using common business language that helps clarify the intent and conclusions of the presentation.

I’ve worked in digital marketing since 2011. Since then, I’ve helped small to Fortune 100-sized companies engage with their audiences online. I currently manage the online presence for a couple of online brands.

Here is the course description I have drafted:

In 2023, there were an estimated 4.89 billion total social media users worldwide. In this course, you’ll learn about various social media marketing tools businesses use to engage with their audience as well as how to use these tools to fuel your social media marketing strategy. Upon completion, students will earn a globally recognized Social Media Marketing Strategy certification credential from HubSpot Academy as well as produce a content calendar of promotional social media content for an online brand. Both of which can be added to a student’s resume.

I’ve spent most of my career managing social media strategies for small to Fortune-100-sized companies. Much of this included managing content promotion across multiple social media channels.

My learning objectives for this course will be to explain how to use various social media channels to support business goals and to create a promotional calendar of content.

They will spend the first four weeks learning how to create a social media marketing strategy. This will give them the knowledge and tools needed to create a final project for the last week of class, applying what they’ve learned to an online brand. To increase participation, I will have a discussion prompt every class for students to contribute to in order to be marked as present. This will help facilitate a meaningful discussion.

Halfway through the course, students will earn a globally recognized Social Media Marketing Strategy certification credential from HubSpot Academy. For the final project, students will produce a content calendar of promotional social media content for an online brand.

Risk management, or Enterprise Risk Management, brings together various disciplines in a structured approach to identifying, assessing, monitoring and controlling the risks that face organizations and which may threaten their profitability and/or existence. The course would highlight the benefits of effective risk management, the role that the board plays in overseeing risk, and implementing effective risk management programs through established risk management frameworks (e.g. COSO). The course could focus on risk in financial institutions (credit, market, liquidity, asset/liability mgmt, regulatory, etc.), or be more general – to be discussed.

Many years of risk management and regulatory relations where risk had a material impact: Bank of New England, SocGen, GE Capital, Citi.

An appreciation for the benefits of sound risk management, an understanding of what effective risk management entails, and the ability to put risk management into practice through established frameworks.

TBD

TBD

The course will focus on sustainability considerations (GHG emissions, social, environmental/biodiversity) throughout the value chain and corporate sustainability reporting (GRI, SASB) with some coverage of “green” financing and regulatory activities.

In addition to my background in risk management, which has significant overlap with sustainability in organizations, I have produced a GRI-compliant sustainability report, a GHG emission report, and worked on PRI certification for asset managers. I also have have SASB certification (FSA), and GARP’s certificate in Sustainability and Climate Risk.

An understanding of multiple ways that sustainability considerations impact and can benefit organizations.

I am currently the New England and Northeast USA Regional Director for the CFO Center, the world’s oldest and largest fractional CFO practice in the world. I have been a fractional CFO for the last 12 years, a C-level executive for 25 years, a CEO three times for VC-backed firms, a CMO/VP of marketing three times, COO twice, and a general partner for an angel capital fund.

For those students interested in a career in finance, often the pinnacle of that field is becoming the CFO of the organization. In my course I would provide students the knowledge of how to think like a CFO, how to manage a finance department, and how to become a CFO or financial leader.

I’ve been a fractional CFO for over 12 years now, working with companies large and small. Working with multiple companies simultaneously in a fractional role provides much wider experience in the CFO role than a full-time CFO, who might only have one or two CFO experiences in their career. I also hire CFOs into the CFO Center, so I see ~1000 CFO resumes every year, and interview close to 100 CFOs every year so I know the career paths, personalities, and success factors that make CFOs successful. I’ve also been a CEO three times, have founded five companies, and started and ran an angel capital fund so I am well-rounded beyond just the CFO role.

How to think and act like a CFO, how to plan their careers to become a CFO one day, how to lead a finance department, and gaining experience through the course projects that will be useful for their resume.

Over the 14 weeks, the topics will grow in complexity. It would start off learning about the CFO as an individual, then the CFO as the leader in a company, then the CFO as an externally-focused strategist and operator in their particular sector. The project work will allow the students to work with a CFO Center CFO directly, on deliverables that will be used with CFO Center clients as part of thought-leadership. There also may be opportunities to get internships or actual post-graduate jobs (lower level jobs in finance in accounting) through their association with me, the CFO Center, and their CFO sector leaders they end up working with.

I have organized the CFOs that report to me across the USA Northeast into sector practices. These include the following sectors: technology, construction, manufacturing, healthcare, education/ed-tech, consumer products, and financial services ( a year from now, we likely would have one or two additional sectors). The projects would consist of working with me and one of the CFOs on my team (the sector practice leads) on developing one or more sector analyst reports and, potentially working on the Semi-annual Sector update webinars we do. I think the experience will be practical, valuable, and provide excellent fodder for student resumes.

Previously the President of Michigan International Speedway for NASCAR. Oversaw the transition from public to private and all facility operations. Then put together an investment group and bought controlling interest of NH Fisher Cats.

Sharing the importance and strategies for personal brand management and networking along with all the subtle ways to implement/execute.

Over the course of a 30 year career and as a parent of a 20 year old there are many instances that illustrate the importance and result of positive personal brand management.

I want them thinking how everyday life is part of their brand and how to maximize its effectiveness on their career and goals.

They will develop a deep understanding of how to use their daily interactions to further their careers and goals in a positive manner. A balance of when to “ask” and when to “give” and how to effectively do both.

Fond ways and write how you have behaved in every day life to impact your career and goals through relationship/networking and what was the result? How did this also positively impact someone else, how did you “give” the development of another individual?