Sophomore Connections is an exclusive career conference offered to second-year students during winter break.

About

Career Services is bringing in our best resources to help you think about your most pressing career questions. Sophomore Connections is a two-day event specifically for sophomores featuring workshops, alumni panels, and networking events to identify and explore your career areas of interest. The event, housing, and food are free for all registrants for the duration of the event.

The 13th annual Sophomore Connections was held January 17–18, 2025. Our staff welcomed students, panelists, and Alumni Council to celebrate a weekend of career development and connections.

Event schedule

Meet the 2025 Sophomore Connections keynote speaker

Career Services presented Toby Bozzuto ’96 as the 2025 Sophomore Connections keynote speaker. Toby is president and CEO of Bozzuto and chair of Colgate University’s Board of Trustees.

As president and CEO of Bozzuto, Toby Bozzuto ’96 provides strategic and day-to-day leadership for more than 3,400 employees nationwide. The real estate company has been nationally recognized as a “Great Place to Work” and named a “Top Workplace” by The Washington Post for nine consecutive years and a “Top Company for Executive Women” by Seramount for four consecutive years.

In July 2024, Toby was named chair of Colgate University’s Board of Trustees, becoming the youngest person to serve in that position.

He is also an executive committee member of the Policy Advisory Board for the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University and a member of the Board of Visitors for the Shock Trauma Center at The University of Maryland Medical Center, M&T Bank’s Directors Advisory Council, Catalyst CEO Champions for Change, and CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion. Toby’s clear vision, approachable nature, and progressive thinking guide the company to create extraordinary experiences and maintain a culture of kindness for residents, clients, partners, and each other.

Toby has been featured in leading media outlets such as CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Bloomberg, The Washington Post, the Washington Business Journal, Huffington Post, and the MIT Sloan Management Review.

Toby strives to share his insight and passion for creating community. He is a regular guest lecturer at Harvard Business School, Harvard Business School Executive Education program, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate, Georgetown University, Cornell University, the University of Maryland, and Johns Hopkins University.

Applied Sciences

Meeann Dingman ’09, Medical Laboratory Scientist, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

John Sanders ’00, Director, Business Development and Licensing, Merck

Jamie Wasylenko ’01, Principal Scientist II, AbbVie

Business Development and Sales

Michael Cruz ’11, Manager, Customer Success, Travel, Hospitality and Sports, Adobe Inc.

Greg Kafaf ’12, Director Enterprise Strategy and Business Development, Novo Nordisk

Courtney Mitchell ’19, Category Manager, Wayfair

Abigail Speight ’15, Engagement Delivery Manager, Salesforce

Sara Wolf ’03, Director, Customer Onboarding, Americas, Google

Business Operations

Amanda Bradshaw ’06, Director, People Operations, Great Expectations

Jamie Foley ’94, CEO, Foley, Incorporated

Ashley Grove ’04, Sr. Director, Organizational Development, Vail Resorts

Julia Kaplan ’17, Senior Director, Health System Solutions, Trilliant Health

Emily Klein ’18, Director, Servicing Transfers, Valon Technologies, Inc.

Matt Muskin ’10, Pricing Manager, Corning Incorporated

Natalie Ramirez ’19, Director of Operations, LA Opera Connects

Computer Science and Technology

Liam Emmart ’19, Senior Software Engineer, Scythe

Ali Jordahl ’20, Software Engineering Manager, Pega

Randall Joseph ’01, Cloud Delivery Practice Lead, Eviden

Samantha Kaden ’15, Product Strategy and Marketing, BigBear.ai

Jeff O’Connell ’94, Chief Operating Officer, Spring & Bond

Maggie Orr ’17, Senior Software Engineer, Hopper

Consulting

Bailey Graves ’16, Associate Director, Macro

Niall Henderson ’16, Senior Associate, Teneo

Dipesh Khati ’22, Senior Associate, EY-Parthenon

Nicholas Quinn ’20, Senior Associate, Quinlan Partners

Nazma Rosado ’96, Principal, Avion Consulting, Inc.

Counseling

Caroline Callahan ’11, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, The Family Institute

Laynie Dratch ’17, Genetic Counselor, Penn Medicine

Ashley Ludwinski, LCSW ’08, Private Practice Owner and Therapist, Redbud Counseling Services

Molly Molendyke ’11, Resident Intern, Mental Health Counseling, New York University; The Boundary Therapy Practice

Creative Arts and Design

Jesse Allen ’19, Architectural Designer, RAMSA

Taylor Dumas ’20, Photographer, Taylor Monet Photography

Julia Segal ’20, Singer-Songwriter, Teaching Artist, Marketing Associate

Data Science

Courtney Diamond ’12, Director, Digital Analytics, Hilton

Ahmad Emad ’13, Staff Data Scientist, Google

Molly Emmett ’12, Lead Consultant, Atrium

Veronica Genco ’11, Director, Reporting and Yield, Everyday Health Group

Jack Pitfield ’12, Lead Analyst, University of Chicago Alumni Relations and Development

Education

James Carino ’16, Admissions Counselor, George Mason University

Kelly Johnson ’94, Math Teacher, Highland Park High School

Britt Milano ’13, Director of Admissions, Yale Law School

Sarah Miller ’07, Classics Department Chair and Upper School Community, Inclusion, and Equity Coordinator, Gilman School

Deb Sobelman ’08, Executive Director, Neighborhood House Nursery School

Allyssa Walsh ’08, Instructional Supervisor, Catapult Learning

Caitlin Whittemore ’14, Senior Associate Director, Manhattan Planning, NYCPS

Entertainment and Film

Stephen Brown ’81, EVP Programming and Development, Fox Television Stations

Ria Gazdar ’92, Executive In Charge of Production, Stephen David Entertainment

Kevin Heffernan ’90, Writer, Director, Producer, Actor, Searchlight Pictures

Fred Klein ’96, Media and Entertainment Professional

Jeff Monty ’99, Director Of Production, Carr-Hughes Productions

Lori Scanlan ’92, Data Enablement, Digital Transformation, Sony Corporation of America

Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Taylor Buonocore-Guthrie ’08, Keynote Speaker and Facilitator

Sheila Dunne ’20, President, Toggle Communications

Omer Jilani ’93, Chief Revenue Officer, Digital Avenues

Robert Johnson ’94, Chief Pilot, Avigate Aviation

Michael Miller ’12, Co-Founder, Head of Product, Fan Shares

Environmental and Sustainability

Jessica Prata Cianciara ’01, AVP, Office of Sustainability, Columbia University

Nicole Dienst ’22, Analyst, ESG Center of Excellence, Global Capital Markets, Morgan Stanley

Dr. Maureen Lynch ’06, Resource Management Coordinator, International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators

John Paul Ortiz ’10, Account Executive, Google

Finance

David Bergerson ’93, Wealth Management, Edward Jones

Tim Burkly ’10, Co-founder, Lackawanna

Andrew Colbert ’05, Senior Managing Director, Ziegler

Micah Dirkers ’19, Vice President, Family First Life

Karl Fries ’10, Quantitative Investment Analyst, Arjuna Capital

Rich Grant ’02, Principal, Northlane Capital Partners

Michela Hendell ’18, Investor Relations, Ardinall Investment Management

Government and Public Policy

Cecilia Belzer ’22, Press Secretary and Digital Director, Office of Representative Gabe Vasquez, U.S. House of Representatives

Jane Brogan ’02, Independent Consultant focusing on disaster recovery, resiliency, and public policy

Madeline Canning ’18, Legislative Assistant, U.S. House of Representatives

Salem Hoffman-Sadka ’17, Special Agent, U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service

Jessica Parisi ’17, Refugee Officer, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Scott Worden ’96, Director of Afghanistan and Central Asia Programs, U.S. Institute of Peace

Health Care Providers

Jonny Feldman ’90, Owner/Partner, Feldman Orthodontics

Dr. Craig Macdonald ’94, General Dentist and owner, Craig I Macdonald DMD PC

Dr. Jolanta Macdonald ’96, Pediatric Dentist, Children’s Dentistry of Northborough

Dr. Emily Messing ’12, Medication Safety Officer, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Allison Ramsey ’01, Allergy Immunology Physician, Rochester Regional Health

Sean Rossi ’15, Pediatric Hospitalist, Concord Hospital

Zack Tenner ’20, Medical Student, NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine

Journalism and Publication

Jonathan Dienst ’90, NBC New York Chief Investigative Reporter and NBC News Chief Justice Contributor, NBCUniversal

Matt Elliott ’95, Senior Editor, CNET

Alison King Haley ’84, Adjunct Lecturer, Harvard Kennedy School

Sun Robinson-Smith ’07, Associate Editor, One World, Penguin Random House

Law

Mike Aguilar ’96, Managing Director, JPMorganChase

Nathan Belzer ’93, Founding Member, Belzer PC

Vanessa Puzio Billotti ’98, Deputy Bureau Chief, Sex Crimes and Intimate Partner Violence, Manhattan District Attorney's Office

Judge Samantha Elliott ’97, U.S. District Court Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire

Lauren Hayes ’04, District Counsel, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Clarissa Shah ’10, Senior Director, Legal, LinkedIn

Tushin Shah ’10, General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer, Wrigley Management

Robert Sobelman ’08, Chief, Public Corruption Unit, U.S. Attorney's Office, S.D.N.Y.

Pamela White ’19, Associate, Greenberg Traurig

Marketing and Advertising

Catherine Donne ’09, Senior Vice President and Head of Institutional Marketing, North America, Neuberger Berman

Kimberly Elek ’87, Co-Founder and Chief Communications Strategist, McReynolds Elek Communications

Hillary Kupferberg ’15, VP, Performance Marketing, Exverus Media

Colleen Oberg ’14, Senior Brand Manager, Danone North America

Dana Paolucci ’13, Head of PR and Influence, Dove North America, Unilever

Troy Somero '06, Global Head of Pricing, Inventory, and Yield, Spotify

Museums and Archives

Bob Connelly ’84, Senior Adjunct Professorial Lecturer of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, American University

Jill Ferris ’08, Vice President, Education and Interpretation, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum

Emily Kahn ’19, Executive Director, The New York Preservation Archive Project

Eliza King ’12, Assistant Director of Development, Yale Peabody Museum

Jessica Rossi ’15, Museum Educator and Professional Development Coordinator, New Hampshire Historical Society

Real Estate

Jeff Lessard ’96, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Development, ASM Global

Michael Schonbraun ’96, Managing Director, Investments, Affinius Capital

Travis Snell ’94, President, Concord Property Management, Inc.

Social Impact

Bobby Dorf ’80, Independent Consultant

Cindy Gaete ’15, Union Organizer, formerly at the National Union of Healthcare Workers

Jenna Jacoby ’13, Account Manager, International Rescue Committee

Carolina van der Mensbrugghe ’10, Associate Director, Public Interest Law Center, NYU School of Law

Cortney Renton ’10, Executive Director, Proofing Station

James Speight ’14, Director, Harris Philanthropies

Sophomore Connections