Tag: Emerging Leaders

Olin Business School will proudly honor three recent Olin alumni with the Emerging Leader Award at a ceremony next month. The Emerging Leader Award was first bestowed in 2015 to honor alumni who exemplify leadership, innovative thinking and vision. Olin recognizes Emerging Leaders for their service to the school, thought leadership, business acumen and impact.

The awards ceremony is at 4 p.m., April 20, in Knight Hall with a cocktail reception to follow. Register here.

Megan Berry, MBA 2015, MArch 2015

Megan Berry graduated from Washington University in 2015 with an MBA and a master’s degree in architecture. During her MBA, Berry founded by REVEAL, a retail services platform providing turnkey pop-up stores with on-demand data. by REVEAL operated for six years, growing to 20 cities. It was acquired in 2021.

Upon the company’s acquisition, Berry assumed the role of product director for clean beauty conglomerate Amyris. She works cross-functionally on digital projects and content partnerships for the portfolio’s 12 consumer brands.

Deeply passionate about entrepreneurship, Berry is a partner at Mentors Fund, where she advises and invests in disruptive technologies. She was named the Forbes Next 1000 list of “upstart entrepreneurs” in 2021 and is a frequent keynote speaker at industry-leading conferences, including SXSW and the World Congress IoT.

Zoe Hillenmeyer, MBA 2013

Zoe Hillenmeyer is the chief commercial officer for the artificial intelligence company Peak. Peak provides the platform, applications and services to help businesses harness the potential of AI to increase revenues, profits and efficiency. Hillenmeyer  has a decade of experience in the artificial and decision intelligence field, and she has been part of more than 20 product launches in the category during her time with AI pioneers including Peak, Amazon Web Services and IBM.

Hillenmeyer holds an MBA from Washington University and was trained formally in the fine arts as a sculptor. These experiences have informed her approach to AI, which combines a human-centered outlook with business impact and strategy. She focuses on building teams and communities that thrive on collaboration, creativity and diversity.

Hillenmeyer lives in Seattle with her wife and two dogs. She is committed to and active in advancing equity, diversity and representation in technology and AI.

Alixandra Henick Iger, BSBA 2010

Alixandra Henick Iger is the North America and the UK music marketing lead for artist services at TikTok, responsible for marketing strategy and plans for various music products and services. With more than 10 years of experience in marketing, she’s held positions at LeadDog Marketing Group, Thrillist Media, New York Magazine and Conde Nast, in addition to previous roles within TikTok. Throughout her career, she has focused on helping brands build their digital strategy and reach new audiences. 

Iger was born and raised in New York but now calls Los Angeles home with her husband and daughter. 

Photo: Clockwise from left, Megan Berry, Zoe Hillenmeyer and Alixandra Henick Iger.


Olin Business School honored four recent Olin alumni with the Emerging Leader Award on April 22. The honorees exemplify leadership, innovative thinking and vision. We recognized them for their service to Olin, thought leadership, business acumen and impact.

From top left clockwise: David Eckstein, Beth Frattura, Ryan Rakestraw, Jimmy Sansone Jr.

David Eckstein, BSBA ’09

David Eckstein is the chief financial officer of Menlo Security, a Series E cybersecurity company. In his role, he oversees all matters relating to finance, accounting, human resources and legal. During his tenure at Menlo, he has raised over $200 million across three rounds of financing.

In addition to his role at Menlo Security, Eckstein is a scout for Sequoia Capital, where he has made more than 50 investments across seed and Series A companies. He is also the sole GP of Eckstein Capital, an $8M mid-stage investment fund.

Previously, he was head of finance for Cisco Cloud Security, via its $635 million acquisition of OpenDNS, where he had served as senior director of finance. Before OpenDNS, Eckstein was a senior finance manager at Box, where he focused on corporate finance, capital markets, investor relations and treasury. He also has worked as a technology, media and telecommunications banker at Barclays in New York.

Eckstein obtained his BSBA from Olin and his MSc in finance from the London School of Economics. He lives in New York with his wife and two sons.

Elizabeth Frattura, EMBA ’16

Beth Frattura has spent the past 15 years with Morgan Stanley as a financial adviser for high-net-worth clients, helping them create a roadmap for their future and manage their complex financial affairs amidst ever-changing circumstances. As a certified financial planner and senior portfolio manager, she provides comprehensive advice on investment management, retirement planning, tax strategies, employee benefits, insurance and risk management. Her practice is based on implementing the best actions and strategies available to help her clients prepare for retirement and reach other financial goals.

She holds a BS in business administration from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (SIUE) and an MBA from Olin. She has been featured in the St. Louis Business Journal as a recipient of the NABCAP Top St. Louis Wealth Managers Award and as a 30 Under 30 Honoree in 2014. Frattura also received St. Louis Magazine’s FIVESTAR Wealth Manager Award in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

After struggling with infertility, in 2020 she founded a nonprofit, the Stork Foundation for Infertility. Its mission is to provide financial grants to low-resource couples who require costly medical infertility treatments to conceive a child. A strong advocate for education, she also serves on the board of directors for the SIUE Foundation and Endowment.

She resides in Edwardsville, Illinois, with her husband, Todd, and their two children, Mary and Ellis.

Ryan Rakestraw, MBA ’13

Ryan Rakestraw is a director at Temasek International, where he focuses on making venture capital investments in early-stage food and agriculture companies. Given the importance of innovation necessary to feed a growing global population, to support better nutrition and to increase the sustainability of global agricultural production, Rakestraw seeks to back promising entrepreneurs and teams that can profitably address these needs with new technologies and business models.

Previously, he was an early-stage investor with Monsanto Growth Ventures, Cultivation Capital and the Yield Lab, which he helped to found. Earlier in his career, Rakestraw was a systems engineer with Northrop Grumman, where he helped design and implement military platforms ranging from undersea to space applications.

He holds a BS in electrical engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, a Master of Science in electrical engineering from Johns Hopkins and an MBA from Olin.

Jimmy Sansone Jr., BSBA ’10

Jimmy Sansone Jr. started The Normal Brand clothing company with the help of his family in 2015. He was quickly joined by his brothers, and they own and run it together equally.

He grew up in a big family that always encouraged an entrepreneurial spirit; both his mother and father run their own businesses. He inherited his love of clothes from his father and grandfather, the sharpest men he’s ever met.

Sansone graduated from Olin with a BSBA in finance and played football for Coach Larry Kindbom.




Olin Business School is proud to honor four recent Olin alumni with the Emerging Leader Award. These honorees exemplify leadership, innovative thinking and vision. We are recognizing them for their service to Olin, thought leadership, business acumen and impact. An awards luncheon is on Friday, April 22. Register here.

David Eckstein, BSBA ’09

David Eckstein is the chief financial officer of Menlo Security, a Series E cybersecurity company. In his role, he oversees all matters relating to finance, accounting, human resources and legal. During his tenure at Menlo, he has raised over $200 million across three rounds of financing.

In addition to his role at Menlo Security, Eckstein is a scout for Sequoia Capital, where he has made more than 50 investments across seed and Series A companies. He is also the sole GP of Eckstein Capital, an $8M mid-stage investment fund.

Previously, he was head of finance for Cisco Cloud Security, via its $635 million acquisition of OpenDNS, where he had served as senior director of finance. Before OpenDNS, Eckstein was a senior finance manager at Box, where he focused on corporate finance, capital markets, investor relations and treasury. He also has worked as a technology, media and telecommunications banker at Barclays in New York.

Eckstein obtained his BSBA from Olin and his MSc in finance from the London School of Economics. He lives in New York with his wife and two sons.

Elizabeth Frattura, EMBA ’16

Beth Frattura has spent the past 15 years with Morgan Stanley as a financial adviser for high-net-worth clients, helping them create a roadmap for their future and manage their complex financial affairs amidst ever-changing circumstances. As a certified financial planner and senior portfolio manager, she provides comprehensive advice on investment management, retirement planning, tax strategies, employee benefits, insurance and risk management. Her practice is based on implementing the best actions and strategies available to help her clients prepare for retirement and reach other financial goals.

She holds a BS in business administration from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (SIUE) and an MBA from Olin. She has been featured in the St. Louis Business Journal as a recipient of the NABCAP Top St. Louis Wealth Managers Award and as a 30 Under 30 Honoree in 2014. Frattura also received St. Louis Magazine’s FIVESTAR Wealth Manager Award in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

After struggling with infertility, in 2020 she founded a nonprofit, the Stork Foundation for Infertility. Its mission is to provide financial grants to low-resource couples who require costly medical infertility treatments to conceive a child. A strong advocate for education, she also serves on the board of directors for the SIUE Foundation and Endowment.

She resides in Edwardsville, Illinois, with her husband, Todd, and their two children, Mary and Ellis.

Ryan Rakestraw, MBA ’13

Ryan Rakestraw is a director at Temasek International, where he focuses on making venture capital investments in early-stage food and agriculture companies. Given the importance of innovation necessary to feed a growing global population, to support better nutrition and to increase the sustainability of global agricultural production, Rakestraw seeks to back promising entrepreneurs and teams that can profitably address these needs with new technologies and business models.

Previously, he was an early-stage investor with Monsanto Growth Ventures, Cultivation Capital and the Yield Lab, which he helped to found. Earlier in his career, Rakestraw was a systems engineer with Northrop Grumman, where he helped design and implement military platforms ranging from undersea to space applications.

He holds a BS in electrical engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, a Master of Science in electrical engineering from Johns Hopkins and an MBA from Olin.

Jimmy Sansone Jr., BSBA ’10

Jimmy Sansone Jr. started The Normal Brand clothing company with the help of his family in 2015. He was quickly joined by his brothers, and they own and run it together equally.

He grew up in a big family that always encouraged an entrepreneurial spirit; both his mother and father run their own businesses. He inherited his love of clothes from his father and grandfather, the sharpest men he’s ever met.

Sansone graduated from Olin with a BSBA in finance and played football for Coach Larry Kindbom.

Pictured clockwise from top left: David Eckstein, Beth Frattura, Ryan Rakestraw, Jimmy Sansone Jr.


Alison Berger, senior associate director of University Advancement at Olin, wrote this blog post.

Olin honored five recent alumni with Emerging Leader Awards today. The event included a panel discussion featuring the 2021 honorees and a virtual celebration.

The Emerging Leader Award honors recent Olin alumni who exemplify the business school’s mission to create knowledge, inspire individuals and transform business.

We are proud to recognize these five honorees:

Ryan Cameron Courson, BSBA ’10

Chief Financial Officer, EagleView

Ryan Cameron Courson is the chief financial officer of EagleView, a world-leading provider of Geospatial Intelligence. At EagleView, he is responsible for accounting, finance, corporate development, corporate strategy and legal.

Courson

Prior to joining EagleView, Courson was the CFO of Atlas Corp. (NYSE: ATCO), a $10 billion global asset management firm that owns Seaspan Corp. and APR Energy. During his tenure at Atlas, the company invested over $4 billion of capital across both portfolio companies.

Before he became an executive, Courson developed his career as an investor, spending three years at Falcon Edge Capital, a diversified investment firm with more than $3 billion in assets under management. He focused on researching and investing in equities across North America and Asia. Before that, he worked at Teton Capital, a private family office, as an investment professional and acting CFO of Teton’s Davos Brands. Courson began his career working at Berkshire Hathaway as an investment analyst.

Fluent in Mandarin, Courson graduated summa cum laude from Washington University, where he serves as a visiting professor teaching a course on investing. Ryan married Rebecca in 2016, and they have two daughters, Cameron and Quinn.

Elise Miller Hoffman, BA ’11, MBA ’16

General Partner, Cultivation Capital

As general partner at Cultivation Capital, Elise Miller Hoffman invests in digital health and life sciences startups in the seed to Series B stage, focusing on healthcare companies that are solving the pressing problems exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. She supports the Cultivation Capital portfolio as a board member at Healthy Bytes, board observer at ImageMoverMD, and former board observer at NarrativeDx before its acquisition in 2020. 

Hoffman

In addition to her work at Cultivation Capital, Hoffman is active in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, serving as co-chair of the board at the St. Louis Equity in Entrepreneurship Collective and an advisory council member at Arch Grants. In addition, one can often find her on the Washington University campus, serving as an investor in residence at the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship and a director of the Holekamp Seed Fund. In the St. Louis community, Hoffman serves as a board member at Forward Through Ferguson, an advisory board member for the Center for Civic Research and Innovation, and a member of the St. Louis Forum. Hoffman holds a BA in Spanish literature and Latin American studies and an MBA from Washington University. The St. Louis Business Journal recognized her as a “30 under 30” awardee in 2018. 

Ryan Hwang, BSBA ’09

Founder, Schoology

Hwang

Ryan Hwang graduated from Washington University in 2009 with a BSBA degree in marketing and international business. At WashU, alongside classmates Tim Trinidad and Jeremy Friedman, Hwang founded Schoology as an online learning platform focused on helping K-12 schools continue to advance what’s possible in education. Hwang was a key leader on the product management team. He managed a team of product managers and oversaw product strategy and roadmap for Schoology’s core product, the learning management system (LMS).

By 2019, Schoology had reached more than 20 million students and become the leading LMS provider, leading to its acquisition by PowerSchool. At PowerSchool, Hwang served as director of product management, where he continued to oversee product strategy and roadmap for Schoology, leading to unprecedented growth throughout 2020.

Philip Lewis, BSBA ’07

Partner, Fulcrum Equity Partners

After graduating from Olin, Philip Lewis accepted a position with A.G. Edwards & Sons in St. Louis.  The opportunity proved to be a brief one when Wachovia acquired A.G. Edwards in the ensuing months and opted not to retain recent hires. His next opportunity soon arose in Atlanta, where a start-up growth equity fund, Fulcrum Equity Partners, chose Lewis to be its first hire. Lewis began as an analyst during the initial fundraising, and he is now principal, leading new investments, sitting on multiple boards, and helping source investment opportunities.

Lewis

Lewis also served as CFO of a portfolio company, RivalHealth, from 2015-2017, ultimately guiding the company through a merger and sitting on the new company’s board.

Lewis is deeply involved in Atlanta’s professional and nonprofit communities. He is on the leadership council for Year Up! Atlanta, a nonprofit focused on closing the opportunity gap for underserved young adults through professional skills development, classroom learning and internships. He previously chaired the steering committee of the NextWave Society at the Georgia Aquarium, focusing on raising awareness and funds for environmental research and conservation. In the professional community, Lewis serves on the board of directors and selection committee for Venture Atlanta, the largest venture capital conference in the Southeast. He chaired the 10th anniversary Venture Atlanta conference in 2017. He also serves on the board of the Center for Entrepreneurship & Development in North Carolina. Lewis previously was on the board of the corporate development society for the Technology Association of Georgia, founded the Young Southern Capital Group (Atlanta’s largest community of young investment professionals), and he served multiple years on the selection committee for the Technology Association of Georgia’s Top 10/40 Most Innovative Company awards. 

Tim Trinidad, BS ’09, BSBA ’09

Founder, Schoology

Trinidad

Tim Trinidad joined Washington University as an undergraduate freshman in 2005. During that time, he participated as a member of The Washington University Amateurs a cappella group, the WUSauce salsa team, the Orientation Executive Board, the Dance Marathon Executive Board, and Sigma Nu Fraternity. In addition, he served as webmaster for several university organizations, to which he credits his start in web development and web design. Trinidad graduated cum laude in 2009 with majors in entrepreneurship and computer science.

With the help of The Hatchery course taught by Cliff Holekamp, Trinidad and co-founders Ryan Hwang and Jeremy Friedman refined the Schoology business plan and pitch deck (the original versions of which are still available to see at Olin). Schoology soon received angel funding, at which point the team moved to New York City and grew to over 150 employees with more than 2000 enterprise customers in more than 100 countries. Since then, the founders were recognized by Forbes‘ 30 Under 30 in Education.

During his tenure at Schoology, Trinidad has built a team and infrastructure that has scaled to more than 18 million users worldwide. Through his leadership, Schoology has developed a highly scalable and available infrastructure, an architecture that supports agile development methods and continuous deployment, and a world-class engineering organization. In November 2019, Schoology was acquired by PowerSchool, where Trinidad continues to work on the Schoology platform as a senior principal software architect.




These Olin Business School emerging leaders will be honored at a luncheon on April 13. They’re innovators, dedicated entrepreneurs, and benefactors.

Jessica Fischer, CPA, BSBA ’06, MSBA ’06

Jessica Fischer

Jessica Fischer

Group Vice President/Deputy Treasurer/Charter Communications/St. Louis

Jessica Fischer’s four-year path to both a BSBA and an MSBA at Olin Business School set the stage for her steady rise during her 11-year tenure at EY and to her current role heading up treasury, tax, and risk management at Charter Communications.

Olin’s managerial economics program provided Fischer with the strategic thinking and negotiation skills that set her apart at EY. On a rotation with EY’s National Tax Group, Fischer developed a partnership taxation specialty and became the lead tax M&A adviser to large manufacturing, telecommunications, and media and entertainment clients on their partnership transactions. She was promoted to partner in 2016.

With this accomplishment to her credit, Fischer was ready for a new challenge. In May 2017, she joined Charter Communications as deputy treasurer.

Fischer, who is grateful for the generous support of scholarship donors that made it possible for her to attend Olin, is committed to paying that forward as a member of the Eliot Benefactor Committee. Her community activities include serving on the Missouri Botanical Garden Corporate Council in 2015 and 2016.

Jeff Platt, BSBA ’06

Jeff Platt

Jeff Platt

CEO/Sky Zone Franchise Group/Los Angeles

Jeff Platt took the lessons taught in his entrepreneurship class at Olin Business School to heart. After sounding out a group of St. Louis investors as part of the coursework, in 2006 he opened a second location for Sky Zone—an indoor trampoline park that his dad had launched in Las Vegas two years earlier. The Chesterfield, Missouri, park grossed $400,000 in its first seven weeks, leading Platt to open a third park in Sacramento in 2008 and to begin franchising the business the following year.

As Sky Zone’s president and CEO since 2011, Platt has spearheaded the effort to expand the franchise into a global brand. When Platt did a stint on Undercover Boss in 2013, he was the youngest CEO to ever appear on the reality TV show.

In 2014, Sky Zone was ranked No. 152 on the Inc. magazine 5000 List; in 2015, Forbes magazine ranked the company No. 55 on its list of America’s Most Promising Companies. Today, revenues at the more than 180 Sky Zone locations across nine countries exceed $300 million.

Mark C. Pydynowski, BSBA ’04

Mark Pydynowski

Mark Pydynowski

Senior Director/New Product Development/Experian/Austin

When Mark Pydynowski, BSBA ’04, fresh out of Olin Business School, was among the 10 applicants chosen for Gallup Consulting’s Emerging Leaders Program—from a field of 300—it was clear he was someone to watch. But Pydynowski scored an even bigger “wow” the following year when he leveraged his $50,000 award for the Olin Cup Business Plan Competition into $5 million to support SOMARK Innovations, the life science tools firm he founded in 2005 that was acquired six years later.

After five years at Capital One as senior manager and then director of new product development, in 2017 Pydynowski joined Experian, where he leads the team developing identity-management, credit-management, and fraud-detection products.

These professional achievements have not prevented Pydynowski from giving back to his alma mater. His blog, MondayKarma.com, helps current students at Washington University learn how to land their first job. Last year, he hosted the annual dinner for WashU alumni and parents in the San Francisco area. And in 2014, he gave the keynote address at Olin Business School’s commencement. He also was a speaker at the 2014 Olin Cup Awards Ceremony and moderated the Washington University Club of San Francisco’s IdeaBounce Competition in 2012-14.

Amanda Signorelli, BSBA ’13

Amanda Signorelli

Amanda Signorelli

CEO/Techweek/Chicago

Amanda Signorelli has been on a meteoric trajectory since graduating from Olin Business School with a bachelor’s degree in international business and marketing in 2013. On graduation, she joined McKinsey & Company as a business analyst, completing a two-year rotation. Then, in April 2015, she left McKinsey to join a young business, Techweek, as director of business development.

An international tech festival and media platform in nine markets, Techweek partners with tech leaders, corporations, and the community to build a unique experience for investors, entrepreneurs, and “hero companies”―high-growth businesses that achieve a substantial and sustainable impact and incubate talent, ideas, and, most importantly, spinoffs.

Signorelli’s responsibilities at Techweek quickly expanded to include the operations for the company’s National Startup Competition. Then, she was promoted in quick succession to head of content and operations and to CEO in 2016. Under Signorelli’s leadership, Techweek has expanded to three more cities, extending its North American reach to more than 40,000 people.

In addition to her responsibilities at Techweek, Signorelli owns and operates a 60-year-old family business in Las Vegas, her hometown.