ALUMNI-IN-RESIDENCE
ALUMNI-IN-RESIDENCE
The Alumni-In-Residence (AIR) program provides mentorship and coaching to current AAMBAA members and alumni interested in learning about and pursuing careers in consulting, corporate finance, technology, marketing, supply chain, venture capital, and entrepreneurship. AAMBAA alumnis are available to meet one-on-one with students throughout the academic year in person and virtually.
Please reach out to Jolene Bernagene (jbernage@chicagobooth.edu) with any questions.
MEET THE ALUMNIS
Title / Current Role: Vice President, Industry Solutions, GAINSystems
Industry Focus: Product Management, Technology, Supply Chain
Short Bio:
Amber is Vice President of Industry Solutions at GAINS, a leading supply chain software provider. She is part of the product management leadership team, responsible for shaping product strategies, enabling go-to-market execution, and strengthening customer success initiatives.
Recognized as a 2024 Supply Chain Pro to Know, Amber frequently shares insights on digital transformation and the future of supply chain management as a keynote speaker. She previously spent more than a decade at Gartner, advising executives on strategies for supply chain innovation. Her earlier career includes consulting roles at Accenture and Booz & Company and operations experience at IBM.
Amber earned her MBA from Chicago Booth, where she was active in AAMBAA and supply chain initiatives. She is passionate about mentoring future leaders at the intersection of supply chain and technology.
Title / Current Role: Senior Strategy Consultant
Industry Focus: Consulting
Short Bio:
Blaise began his career at EY, auditing clients across industries and discovering a passion for education and social impact while working with a city school district. At Booth, he served as an Admissions Fellow, Co-Chair of the Booth Education Group and the African American MBA Association, and a Board Fellow with Lion’s Pride Mentoring.
After interning with Accenture and supporting a charter school’s fundraising strategy, Blaise joined Accenture full-time in strategy consulting. He enjoys mentoring students on consulting lifestyle, nonprofit board service, professional development after the MBA, and sustaining long-term professional relationships.
Title / Current Role: Senior Director of Product Marketing
Industry Focus: Marketing
Short Bio:
Candice is a tech leader passionate about bringing products to market guided by the voice of the customer. She has more than a decade of experience in product marketing, people management, and project management across both big tech and startups. At Meta, she drove product marketing initiatives, and at The Wall Street Journal she led the go-to-market strategy for its mobile app. While at Booth, she co-chaired AAMBA and Christians in Business, reflecting her passion for building community. She is open to mentorship, resume reviews, and mock interviews for aspiring product marketers.
Title / Current Role: Managing Principal
Industry Focus: Entrepreneurship / Real Estate
Short Bio:
Detoy is the Managing Principal of J. Marie Development and Hospitality, a firm he founded in 2017 focused on real estate, construction, and hospitality projects that strengthen communities across Chicago’s South Side and beyond. A native and current resident of the South Side, he brings more than a decade of experience leading large-scale development and capital initiatives in healthcare, commercial, and institutional settings.
He has overseen nearly half a billion dollars in completed construction work, including serving as project lead on a client’s $65 million, 1.1 million-square-foot flagship warehouse development. Detoy also managed capital projects and real estate development for Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital and executed close to $100 million in capital projects for the University of Chicago Medicine, where he was part of the team that built Comer Children’s Hospital.
Earlier in his career, he was a top-performing Quiznos Sub franchisee in the Chicagoland area, blending operational leadership with community-based entrepreneurship. Detoy earned his MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurship from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and his B.S. in Civil Engineering from Tennessee State University.
Title / Current Role: Senior Business Operations Manager
Industry Focus: Financial Technology
Short Bio:
Jason is a consumer financial services and payments technology professional with over 20 years of experience in business operations strategy, driving process improvements across the customer life cycle. Jason began his career in consumer financial services at MBNA / Bank of America N.A. after earning undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Philosophy from the University of Chicago. He later went on to Discover Financial Services, where he continued to focus on customer experience and servicing process technology. He obtained an Executive MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. After graduating, Jason transitioned to Apple, Inc., and continues to focus on financial technology and service operations. Jason is also an active ambassador for the Chicago Booth Sokolov Executive MBA program supporting prospective Executive MBA’s.
Title / Current Role: Managing Vice President, Gartner Marketing & Communication Practice
Industry Focus: Marketing
Short Bio:
Jennifer is a passionate and transformative business leader who embraces a growth mindset and fosters creativity and innovation in others. At Gartner, she leads a team of analysts and advisors delivering client value to Chief Marketing Officers, setting and communicating strategic direction that drives business growth through research and insights.
Previously, Jennifer served as Chief Marketing and Digital Experience Officer at Feeding America, where she transformed the organization’s marketing vision. Her leadership in brand strategy, creative advertising, and multichannel digital campaigns helped ignite public engagement, fundraising, and advocacy to end hunger.Throughout her career, Jennifer has demonstrated an ability to quickly adapt to business drivers across sectors, build coalitions, and deliver enterprise-level results.
She is active in her community as a Chicago Urban League IMPACT fellow and an alumna of both Chicago Booth and Southern Illinois University. Jennifer is also a wife, mother, and proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.
Title / Current Role: Director, Enterprise Transformation & Strategy, Visa
Industry Focus: Fintech, Retail
Short Bio: Joseph is Director of Enterprise Transformation & Strategy at Visa, where he leads large-scale, cross-functional initiatives to drive organizational change and business growth. He has partnered with senior leaders at Visa and Walmart on transformative workforce and operating model strategies, and earlier in his career advanced education and civic engagement efforts in the nonprofit and tech sectors. Joseph holds a B.A. in Political Science and an M.A. in Sociology from Stanford, and earned his MBA/MPP from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he was co-chair of BoothEd and a member of AAMBAA, Net Impact, and the Booth Consulting Group.
Title / Current Role: Manager, Strategy & Transformation at Highspring Consulting
Industry Focus: Consulting
Short Bio:
Keith is an experienced consultant with over 7 years assisting Fortune 500 companies, private organizations, and small businesses with strategy and business transformation initiatives. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California and works as a manager with the Strategy, Technology, and Transformation practice at Highspring Consulting. Prior to Highspring, Keith worked as a consultant at firms such as Athenian Group, Deloitte Consulting, and The Hackett Group. While at Booth, Keith was involved with AAMBA, Booth Management Consulting Group, and the Booth Media, Entertainment, and Sports Group. Keith would love to support current students who are interested in a career in management consulting and some methods to navigate the recruiting and interview process.
Title / Current Role: Senior Director of Strategy & Business Development, Hargrove Engineers & Constructors
Industry Focus: Engineering, Strategy, Business Development
Short Bio:
Ronnie has more than 38 years of experience across chemicals, petrochemicals, oil & gas, and refining. Today, he serves as Senior Director of Strategy & Business Development at Hargrove Engineers & Constructors and is the author of Cracks in the Wall.
Ronnie is passionate about community service and servant leadership. He currently serves as President of the University of South Alabama National Alumni Association, and sits on the boards of ACCEL Academy and the Mobile Museum of Art. He also established the Ronnie Stallworth Chemical Engineering Scholarship endowment and funded additional scholarships at the University of South Alabama, where he earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering. Ronnie also holds an MBA from Chicago Booth.
Born in Alabama and once a homeless teen, Ronnie has since traveled to or worked in over 70 countries, bringing a global perspective to his leadership and service.
Title / Current Role: Managing Principal, Oglethorpe Capital; U.S. Venture Partner, Beaten Zone Venture Partners
Industry Focus: Venture Capital
Short Bio:
Sean leads Oglethorpe Capital LLC, investing in disruptive technologies across aerospace & defense, TMT, and next-generation energy. He also advises venture-backed firms and serves on the board of WaFd Bank (Nasdaq: WAFD).
Before founding Oglethorpe, Sean worked in corporate finance at J.P. Morgan Chase and served as an Air Force officer, DoD innovation executive, and systems integrator sales executive. He holds a B.S. in Legal Studies from the U.S. Air Force Academy and an MBA in Finance and Accounting from Chicago Booth, where he was a LEAD Facilitator and Military Veterans Student Group Chair.
Sean welcomes conversations on venture capital, capital markets, and national security matters.
Title / Current Role: Senior VP & CFO (Retired), The Family Health Centers of Georgia, Inc.
Industry Focus: Corporate & Healthcare Finance
Short Bio:
William was the first Chief Financial Officer of The Family Health Centers of Georgia, Inc. (FHCGA), a federally qualified health center in Atlanta, where he served for more than 30 years before retiring as Senior VP & CFO.
Earlier in his career, William spent nearly two decades in corporate finance, including roles at American Hospital Supply Corporation, where he evaluated and supported major capital expenditure proposals requiring C-suite and board-level approval. He also taught healthcare finance at Meharry Medical College and accounting at other institutions. His responsibilities often required collaboration with corporate controllers, treasurers, tax executives, and compliance officers — giving him a broad perspective on the diverse roles of a CFO.
William is a CPA and holds an MBA from Chicago Booth and a bachelor’s degree from Tennessee State University. He also completed the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Health Care Executive Program. During his time at Booth, he served as secretary for the AAMBAA chapter from 1972 to 1974.
