Bentley Magazine Summer 2021

SUMMER 2021

Inspiration for a fresh star t

On the cover and above, an early spring day at North of Boston farm.

Meet owner Justin Chase, MBA ’09 on page 20.

PHOTOS BY GRETA RYBUS

Contents SUMMER 2021

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COLUMNS

9 | The Falcon Files: Tracking athletics and recreation through the years 10 | Take Two: Unpacking change with real estate insiders Mitch Roschelle ’83 and David Missirian 12 | Inside Job: Holly (Aydar) Gagnon ’85, P ’20 crafts a winning career in casino gaming

FEATURES

13 | Wellness by Number: Tend to mind, body and soul with help from Bentley experts 19 | Rooted: Justin Chase, MBA ’09 and Tom Wilkins ’81 on the pull of forests, fields and family 24 | Good Influence(r): Economics, fashion and TikTok come together for Agustina Panzoni ’18 28 | C LASS NOTES

Magazine Editor Susan Simpson

BETWEEN THE LINES

Senior Director Strategic Communications John McElhenny

If 2020 found you outdoors more often than ever before, you were not alone.

For good reason: Health experts credit spending 120 minutes a week in nature with improving immunity, blood pressure, stress levels, sleep and more. Great benefits at any time, but a particular balm in lives upended by a global pandemic.

In this issue, we spend time with two confirmed “outsiders.” Justin Chase, MBA ’09 and Tom Wilkins ’81 have connections to the land that are lifelong — and a livelihood. The respective farmer and sawmill operator are also working to preserve fields and forests for the rest of us. Their stories start on page 19.

If nature isn’t calling, use the guidance in “Wellness by Number” to chart your own fresh start in the post-COVID world. The prescriptions for a mindful workday, restful sleep, a happy gut and more come from Falcons with deep expertise on the topics at hand.

The relentless search for entertainment/distraction in 2020 led me to TikTok on slightly more than one occasion . Where bite-sized bursts of creativity, humor and inspiration are concerned, Agustina Panzoni ’18 is a master of the form. Meet the analytical, fashion-forward alumna on page 24.

You are also invited to share some pictorial moments with Bentley’s ninth president. E. LaBrent Chrite and his wife, Phyllis, were unfailingly gracious as we documented their first week on campus.

His warmth and energy are very welcome as the university heads toward a full campus this fall.

Also welcome: Life is feeling more normal by the day. But as its demands return to pre-pandemic levels, I’m working on remembering to take a breath — and a walk. May this issue inspire you in all directions.

Project Manager Vanessa Salas Writers Michael Blanding Hayden Field Mary K. Pratt Donna Talarico Kristen Walsh Creative Director Greg Gonyea Senior Associate Director Creative Services Claire S. Anderson Art Direction & Design Juliana Freire Multimedia Producer Kevin Maguire

😉

Associate Director Print and Production Judy Metz

Editor Executive Director Advancement Communications Terry Cronin Senior Associate Director Advancement Communications Caroline Cruise Associate Director Content Development Kristin Livingston Class Notes Editor Molly McKinnon President E. LaBrent Chrite, PhD Vice President Marketing and Communications Christopher Joyce Vice President University Advancement Maureen Flores

HERE SAY I enjoyed the article, “From Classroom to Colleague” in the Bentley Magazine [Spring 2021].

I had a similar trajectory.

I received my MBA from Bentley in 1995. I was a “recovering engineer” who had degrees from WPI and RPI. I pursued an MBA because I wanted to move into a marketing trajectory for my career. Three of my favorite instructors were Perry Lowe (New Product Development), Gul Butaney (Marketing Research) and Abdi Esghi (Strategic Marketing). I stayed in touch with all three after

completing my MBA and often did guest lectures for them.

In 2002, Perry asked me to teach a course at Bentley and I have been teaching here ever since (10 years as an adjunct and nine as a full-time lecturer). Perry was my mentor in so many ways and I was particularly fond of teaching alongside him in the Corporate Immersion program.

Over the years, I’ve taught all three of the MBA courses I had taken with professors Lowe, Butaney and Eshgi. It was surreal to come to Bentley and teach with the faculty members that

I admired so much as a student.

It was even stranger to be teaching the very topics they had taught me so well.

I tell my students that human relationships drive business and life. The connections I made with these faculty members changed the course of my career. These days, I often wonder which of my students might someday come back and teach at Bentley!

Jim Pouliopoulos, MBA ’95 Senior Lecturer, Marketing Director, Professional Sales Program

We welcome your feedback.

Send your compliments and critiques on the stories inside — or suggest one for the future.

MAGAZINE@BENTLEY.EDU || @BENTLEYU || @BENTLEYALUMNI || 781-891-2076 175 FOREST STREET, WALTHAM, MA 02452 Bentley University is more than just one of the nation’s top business schools. It is a lifelong-learning community that creates successful leaders who make business a force for positive change. With a combination of business and the arts and sciences and a flexible, personalized approach to education, Bentley provides students with critical thinking and practical skills that prepare them to lead successful, rewarding careers. Founded in 1917, the university enrolls 4,200 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate and PhD students and is set on 163 acres in Waltham, Massachusetts, 10 miles west of Boston. For more information, visit bentley.edu.

73M6/21AP.MC.563.21

Commencement Bentley’s 2021 commencement on May 1 was the first college graduation ever held at Boston’s iconic Fenway Park.

See more photos of the historic celebration on pages 36 and 37.

BENTLEY MAGAZINE | 3

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First Week of School

E. LaBrent Chrite took office as the university’s ninth president on June 1 and quickly got to work, meeting and talking with people across campus. Pictured clockwise, from top: Brent Chrite with his wife, Phyllis, at the President’s House as he begins his first day; in a lighthearted moment with mascot Flex; introducing himself to men’s basketball coach Jay Lawson and other members of the Athletics staff at the Dana Center; talking with students outside the Student Center; learning about campus operations from Facilities Management staff; and on a tour of the library. Learn more at bentley.edu/president-chrite.

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PHOTOS BY KEVIN MAGUIRE AND BILLIE WEISS

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Three Join Board of Trustees Meet Dan Farley, MBA ’95, Melanie Foley, MBA ’02 and Bill Pappas ’94, MBA ’95, P ’25 INTERVIEWS BY KRISTEN WALSH

Dan, you’ve been with State Street Global Advisors for more than 25 years. What keeps you passionate about your work?

I always try to keep in mind the end purpose of what we do.

We’re managing money for people, but what is that money for?

It’s about how people save for retirement or college, for example.

All of this money has a use or a purpose, and it’s interesting to be able to influence those things to make sure we’re putting together good investment outcomes for people to do all the things they’ve been planning for. It gives the industry a lot of responsibility and trust.

You’ve been a member of Bentley’s Business Advisory Council and, now, the Board of Trustees. Why have you stayed so involved?

Earning an MBA at Bentley was a good springboard for my career development, and giving back is important. I have also enjoyed being a part of the big-picture conversation about Bentley’s mission. Education is very important to me, and higher education is at a crossroads, particularly with COVID. I want to be a part of helping ensure that, going forward, people have access to the same high-quality Bentley education that I had — and more.

Melanie, your work at Liberty Mutual centers on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. What’s it been like seeing DEI gain momentum during the past year?

While it is painful to witness the events that have served as a catalyst to this gain in momentum, I am encouraged by the level of investment, transparency and commitment to making things better for all people. Making real progress in this space will

require everyone to be open to exploring and trying on new perspectives, sharpening their DEI skills and challenging the status quo — especially when it is uncomfortable. I believe that it’s only when the work gets hard that real progress is being made; if it were easy, we would not still be living in a world with systemic injustice.

You have served on the university’s Business Advisory Council and as Liberty Mutual liaison to the Gloria Cordes Larson Center for Women and Business. Why stay connected?

Bentley’s commitment to learning and making the world a better place resonates with me. I want to give back to the institution and support the students who, like me, share the same values and aspire to excellence.

Bill, in 2020 MetLife hosted a major conference on women in tech. Has the industry become more diverse?

The needle really hasn’t moved on diversifying the industry.

We have so much more to do to attract, develop and retain women in technology. In fact, data show that we’ve lost ground during the pandemic, so we must identify practical solutions to reverse the trend. I’m personally committed to diversity and inclusion, and pleased that Bentley is as well.

Why did you say “yes” to joining the board?

Bentley takes amazing kids and turns them into business leaders. It really was my ticket to the life that I love today. In fact, not only did I meet my wife there, but her sister and my brothers went to Bentley. We’re truly a Bentley family. At the end of the day, the school gave me a lot, and I need to give back.

New trustees, from left, Dan Farley, Melanie Foley and Bill Pappas PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ALUMNI

BENTLEY MAGAZINE | 5

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Racial Justice Task Force

RELEASES DOCUMENT The university’s Racial Justice Task Force released a discovery document after an eight-month process in which the group’s 114 members identified practices at Bentley that sustain systemic racism.

The 32-page document, “Framing for the Future: Committing to Racial Equity at Bentley,” describes four patterns of behavior that have prevented Bentley from achieving racial equity and justice.

STATUS QUO OVER AWARENESS

CONTENT OVER PROCESS

Bentley is a historically and predominantly white institution.

The lack of representation creates blind spots that prevent people from questioning assumptions or cultural norms. Consequently, there is little value placed on learning about race and racism because there is little awareness that these phenomena exist in the community.

A sense of urgency drives the culture, allowing little room for discovery and long-term thinking. Priority is placed on achieving more, faster; only outcomes that can be measured are valued.

Short-term impact takes precedence, limiting the ability to understand the true, long-term cost of decisions. There is a false confidence in objectivity and meritocracy, with little regard for systemic inequality, resulting in policies that favor those in the majority.

APPEARANCE OVER SUBSTANCE The culture at Bentley rewards those who preserve the appearance of perfection, not those who reveal concerns.

Difficult conversations are avoided, especially when race is involved. People who raise a concern are often blamed rather than encouraged. This results in a lack of transparency and accountability because issues are not identified.

ISOLATION OVER COLLABORATION Power and decision-making are concentrated in silos. Access to information is controlled, limiting the potential for inclusive and informed decisions. There is no effort made to solicit different perspectives, as those in power assume they can make the best decision for everyone. Decisions are made for, not with, those most impacted, resulting in unintended consequences.

INVESTING IN ACTION The task force identified three areas where students, faculty, staff and alumni can take action, including investing in: Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities; intentional anti-racist knowledge and skill development; and the institutionalization of systems and practices that ensure racial justice and equity. In April, Board Chair and then-Interim President Paul Condrin ’83, P ’19 ’22 created an Inclusive Excellence Council to implement the task force’s recommendations, including launching a campus-wide climate survey and developing a racial equity plan ­— the first two recommendations from the task force.

Task force co-chair Katie Lampley ’96 encourages members of the community to explore the task force’s document and identify actions that they can take.

To view the full document and learn more about the task force, visit bentley.edu/racialjustice.

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114

17

TASK FORCE MEMBERS

CORE TEAM MEMBERS

30+

50+

MEETINGS HELD

HOURS OF MEETINGS PER TASK FORCE MEMBER

350

270+

ATTENDEES AT TASK FORCE EVENTS

BENTLEY COMMUNITY MEMBERS PARTICIPATED IN THE EIGHT-WEEK RACIAL HEALING PRACTICE CHALLENGE

“ Achieving racial equity and justice is not a destination but a practice.

We all have a role to play, and we believe that the discoveries and priorities identified here, as well as the accompanying resources, will encourage and equip everyone to do their part.

Katie Lampley ’96, Vice President and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer

BENTLEY MAGAZINE | 7

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WELCOME TO THE

CIS SANDBOX Hands-on lab logs 10 years of teaching tech

BY MARY K. PRATT

Bentley students are digital natives, but Mark Frydenberg knows that as technology changes, there’s always something new to learn.

“Students today don’t worry about breaking their computer, but they might not know where to start in working through a problem, so they need someone who can guide them,” says Frydenberg, a senior lecturer in Computer Information Systems (CIS). “They’re also looking for a place where there’s freedom to experiment, whether it’s developing an app, exploring virtual reality, or leveraging digital tools to their full potential.”

He founded the CIS Sandbox to be that place.

Since 2011, it has served nearly every undergraduate, with peer-led tutoring services and online resources as well as through events such as the Topics in Tech alumni speaker series. Moreover, students gain a space to collaborate on pet projects and test out tech tools.

Some, like Felicia Dodge ’17, discover a passion. She came to Bentley to study marketing, but was drawn to technology after taking courses and visiting the CIS Sandbox.

“They solidified my interest in the tech space,” says Dodge, an audience insights lead at Twitter who gave a Topics in Tech presentation in April.

Tyler Miguel, MSBA ’17 credits the CIS Sandbox for “democratizing technology education.”

Miguel, a senior data scientist at Devoted Health, worked as a peer tutor during his student days, but says he learned a lot from

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his Sandbox colleagues. “They were really good at explaining what I needed to know.”

Ming (Maggie) Qian ’18, MSHFID ’21 values the CIS Sandbox for the connections it enables and the extra dimensions it added to her Bentley education. Tutoring other students during her graduate study even helped her hone skills for a new job: user experience researcher with Dell.

“I need to interview people to understand their frustration using systems,” she says. “Working in the Sandbox, I saw firsthand where people struggled and was able to help them move ahead.”

That preparation for the work world is critical, says Chad Wright, MSCIS ’01.

Wright is the first-ever CIO at robotics firm Boston Dynamics and an adjunct instructor in Bentley’s CIS program. He sees the Sandbox as an invaluable resource that shows students the role of technology in business.

“Knowing technology,” he says, “makes you a more prepared professional.”

Visit bentley.edu/sandbox to learn more and see recent Topics in Tech presentations

by Bentley alumni.

PHOTOS BY BEARWALK

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THE FALCON

FILES

BY JAIMIE FRITZ, UNIVERSITY ARCHIVIST

Let’s Get Physical: Athletics and recreation through the years

Bentley’s move to Waltham in the late 1960s was a boon for sports. The pastoral location had plenty of room for athletic fields, practice spaces and courts. It’s difficult to imagine that this student would have had room for a javelin throw on our former campus in Boston’s Back Bay. (1) One sport that was easy to play on the Boston campus was bowling. A group of students organized a Bowling Club that competed against other schools. Of course, in true New England fashion, it was candlepin only. (2) The Ski Club was a favorite early extracurricular activity for Bentley students. Trips to the slopes offered a change of scenery and time for snowball fights, dances and bonding. Though skiing was a club-level sport, students’ recollections make it clear there was a competitive atmosphere. (3) The early 1970s saw the advent of women’s sports at Bentley. At first, a few informal clubs organized — soccer, volleyball and basketball were popular early choices.

Pictured here are the 1974 “Falconettes,”

as women’s teams were called then. In this game, they outscored the women’s basketball team at Endicott College by eight points. (4) It may be hard to imagine today, but some students in the early 1980s practiced archery in the Dana Center. It wasn’t a formal sport, but that didn’t stop students from sharpening their bow-and-arrow skills. (5) Swimming and diving are perennially popular in the Dana Center pool, but it hosted a new activity in 1985. In this photo, Bill VanderClock of the Computer Information Systems faculty instructs students in scuba diving. (6) Getting a football program off the ground was a labor of love for Bentley students and staff after the move to Waltham. Calls to create a team and student-led fundraising made football a club sport in the 1970s.

Here, Kevin Lucey ’90 plays during the team’s first varsity season, 1988-1989. (7)

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF BENTLEY ARCHIVES

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TAKE TWO >>

A Tough Sell Digital home tours. Fevered bidding wars. Rock-bottom interest rates. Empty office buildings.

Real estate experts Mitch Roschelle ’83 and David Missirian explore whether the pandemic will unpack permanent change for the industry.

INTERVIEW BY KRISTEN WALSH The real estate business adapted to COVID-19 by digitizing buying and selling. H ​ as it done enough?

Mitch Roschelle: Real estate has been an analog business in a digital world for a long time. This period has gotten industry leaders to realize the value of digital in terms of how space is used, how they keep track of people and space, and how they determine space utilization. The user experience for commercial real estate and for residential real estate — all of that will change permanently and perhaps for the better.

David Missirian: From a legal perspective,

the industry doesn’t like change and traditionally lags behind society. Even during the pandemic, our solution of what to do with the courts was to close them down and require people to mail documents.

There’s a balance that has to be struck between efficiency and keeping the system safe. Legal documents need to be private and protected. With paper, it’s easier because there’s only one copy. If we use digital means, it’s easy for a sophisticated hacker to destroy things. When that happens, we have a huge issue.

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MR: It costs banks a lot to invest in

technology to enable digital transactions — not just the bank itself, but the entire chain of custody of that mortgage loan.

Residential mortgage closings and transactions are strong candidates for blockchain, for example, but that would wipe out an entire industry of title closers who make their money showing up at closings with paper documents for people to sign. There’s a lot of resistance to adopting technology in this industry because there are always analog businesses involved.

DM: Another issue is that the real estate industry has different rules in every state and even from county to county.

So adopting a universal closing system would be a tough sell.

Which changes in the real estate market have surprised you?

MR: The falloff in the supply of homes for sale. It’s been staggering. I never anticipated this outsized demand for homes. Now we are in a vicious cycle: People won’t sell their homes because they don’t know if they’ll be able to buy something, because there’s nothing on the market. Part of that is low interest rates and part is cabin fever during the pandemic.

In commercial real estate, what surprised me is the number of office tenants in cities who are putting a lot of their space on the market for sublease. They are going to need that space when employees return to the office.

<< TAKE TWO

DM: On the residential side of things, the supply is basically nonexistent. If the interest rate gets any lower, which is prompting a lot of people to buy, I am a bit concerned. During my 35 years in the industry, I’ve seen the market superheat at least three times. I am nervous because there’s so little supply that we’re going to start to see crazy bidding wars with people paying way more than they should.

That is problematic because they start to think, “I have to win; I have to have this house.” Well, no, you don’t need to have a house that is overpriced, because what will ultimately happen is the market will superheat up, reach a certain point and then readjust. The market will realize that you paid $400k for a piece of property that should have sold for $350k. Then the market drops again, and we’ll have a lot of people who’ve lost all the equity in their homes.

As to

subleasing space, I see that as a short-term strategy. Some companies have lost income due to COVID, and they’re trying to make money somehow with what they have. But people are going to want to go back to work in offices. Online communication is efficient and productive, but it is not fulfilling.

Has the pandemic changed the real estate market for good?

MR: In general, I give companies high marks on agility d ​ uring the pandemic. ​But in terms of what’s next, most companies continue to kick the can down the road. ​In my view, indecision is not strategic.

DM: These changes in the market will remain for at least the next year if not longer. It’s unlikely that the Fed will raise interest rates given the desire to stimulate the economy. But we should keep in mind that low residential supply has happened before and caused prices to rise. To keep prices from reaching unsustainable levels, people should resist the desire to pay more for a home than it is worth.

Founder of Macro Trend Advisors Mitch Roschelle ’83 is a nationally recognized thought leader on real estate, housing, finance, the economy and capital markets. In addition to being a regular guest on outlets such as Fox Business, Fox News Bloomberg, OAN and Cheddar News, he created and co-hosts “The NoPo Podcast.”

“ Residential mortgages are strong candidates for

blockchain, but that would wipe out an entire industry of title closers, who show up at closings with paper documents for people to sign. MITCH ROSCHELLE ’83

”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ALUMNUS (TOP) AND BY KEVIN MAGUIRE; ILLUSTRATION BY D1SK/SHUTTERSTOCK

Assistant Professor of Law and Taxation David Missirian is a general practice attorney with a concentration in real estate law, from both the residential and lending sides. He teaches courses focused on business law and real estate law.

BENTLEY MAGAZINE | 11

INSIDE JOB >>

Casino Ace INTERVIEW BY MICHAEL BLANDING

Holly (Aydar) Gagnon ’85, P ’20 graduated in accounting, but fell in love with the gaming industry during an auditing job at Foxwoods Resort Casino. She rose through the ranks at Harrah’s Entertainment, MGM Mirage and Seneca Niagara Resort, among others, and joined Spectrum Gaming Group in 2020 as senior strategic adviser. The alumna is a founding board member of Global Gaming Women, which aims to improve the odds for other female leaders in the industry.

Playing the Percentages It’s great to be in a business that is so dynamic and has so many facets: restaurants, hotels, spas, big legal and IT departments. There’s a lot of complexity that is invisible to the customer. Successful operators are progressive with big data — looking at predictive modeling, the service profit chain, lifetime value of guests.

I’m a numbers person by education, so I really enjoy those aspects.

Inside Game The design of a space creates emotion: It can make you feel warm, cold, or even beautiful.

At Seneca, we tried to create something welcoming and contemporary, but not overly designed, so people wouldn’t feel like they didn’t belong. We had a great representation of tribal symbols, but subtle, with shapes inspired by nature.

People could go to digital kiosks and learn what the symbols meant.

Dealing in Loyalty At Harrah’s they did robust surveying on the guest experience. We had what we called “key results areas” like the car attendant, who was the first person to greet you and the last person you saw before you left.

With automation, the majority of your transactions might happen at a slot machine, so those human interactions are key to creating a bond of loyalty with customers.

Betting on a Boom After COVID, I anticipate we’re going to have a rebound that will be a challenge for companies that aren’t ready. People are ready to get out, and are craving experiences. They’ve also become very good at digital interfaces, and I predict a rapid acceleration of digital experiences and transactions. Companies that are slow to adjust will be playing catch-up.

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Beating the Odds If you watch any casino movie, you won’t see a female casino boss. The reality is there were very few women in the industry for a large part of my career. Through Global Gaming Women, I’ve worked with some amazing women in senior roles. The relationships and camaraderie bolstered our ability to make an impact. Now there are three women running properties on the Las Vegas Strip and the majority of properties in Atlantic City are run by women. I subscribe to the theory that whenever you have barriers that exclude part of the population, you are limiting your ability to find the most talented people you can.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ALUMNA AND BY KUCHER SERHII/SHUTTERSTOCK

<< FEATURES

By Mary K. Pratt

ILLUSTRATIONS THROUGHOUT BY VECTORNATION/SHUTTERSTOCK, STOCKSMARTSTART/SHUTTERSTOCK AND INSPIRING/SHUTTERSTOCK

BENTLEY MAGAZINE | 13

FEATURES >>

The pandemic set a lot of us on a quest for wellness.

Falcons with health-related expertise rallied to the cause, with many hosting virtual presentations sponsored by the Office of Alumni and Family Engagement. Here’s some of their best advice for staying well in body, mind and spirit.

Habits Wrecking Your Sleep You can achieve the dream of consistently refreshing sleep, says sleep wellness coach Kali Patrick, MSHFID ’04. Start by putting these bad behaviors to rest. n Using substances to help you sleep. Taking sleep

aids, even natural ones such as melatonin, won’t address the root causes of insomnia and other sleep issues. Many substances are not intended for prolonged use and can create dependency (physiological or mental). n Failing to release or reduce excess energy. It

Paths to a Happy Gut Deanna Rose Ahigian ’10 is a licensed herbalist and the founder of Indigo Elixirs, a botanical body care company in Honolulu. Through her herbal practice, she helps clients find digestive wellness for better health. n Choose foods that are closest to how they are found

in nature. Infuse your diet with fresh herbs, dried spices and seaweeds, as well as fermented foods such as kraut and kimchi to help gut flora thrive. n Eat prepared foods only in moderation, and avoid

highly processed food altogether. n Practice good posture while eating, chew food

to a mush before swallowing, and enjoy drinks before or after your meal. If necessary, take small sips of water while you eat. n Keep meals simple, limiting the number of

ingredients, but varying what you eat at each meal to make sure you get the full range of nutrients needed for good health. n Aim for a warm, simple meal such as oatmeal

for breakfast. Consume any raw or cold foods at lunchtime, when your digestive system is most active. End the day with a cooked, nourishing meal at least three hours before bedtime. n Track what you eat. Note when you feel heavy,

bloated or uncomfortable, and remove aggravating foods from your diet.

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should take 15 to 20 minutes to fall asleep, but many people find they just can’t shut down even after a bedtime routine. Certainly turn off TV and other screens well before bedtime, but also be mindful of what kind and how much information stimulates you throughout your day. Notice which interactions with others rev you up. Practice setting healthy boundaries and release any extra energy through exercise and relaxation practices. n Believing your challenges with sleep are simply a

nighttime problem. To get consistently refreshing sleep, it’s best to honor the natural ebbs and flows of energy throughout the day. Be mindful of your “rest rhythms.” Learn how to support yourself instead of powering through when your energy lulls.

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Strategies for Healthy Eating Making better food choices begins with planning, says exercise and nutrition coach Heather Buda ’08. n Understand the three foundational elements of

healthy eating: complex carbs, which include fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes; healthy fats, especially Omega-3 and Omega-6; and lean proteins. n Hold ingredients to a minimum. The healthiest

peanut butter, for example, contains only peanuts and salts. n Group foods into three categories — green,

yellow, red — instead of “good” or “bad.” Eat yellow foods in moderation — a couple of times a week — and red only occasionally. The green light goes to lean proteins, vegetables, fruits, whole grains and healthy fats such as almonds and olives. Yellow foods include cottage cheese, flavored yogurt, granola and pancakes as well as certain fats such as coconut oil. The red category includes fried foods, sugar, butter and shortening.

Pay attention to how a food makes you feel, limiting items that make you feel lousy. n Plan meals and snacks in advance, aiming for

“green” foods to compose most of your diet. n Build a collection of favorite recipes to make meal

planning quicker and easier. Program in personal preferences, such as favorite foods and a willingness to have leftovers. Vary flavors using spices, herbs and citrus, and repurpose leftovers, for example, salmon fillet one night, salmon burgers the next.

Keys to Unlocking Creativity Being creative is a natural mood booster. Author, speaker and comedian Bill Connolly ’10 urges people to find their inner Picasso, Mozart or Lenny Bruce. n Identify your own brand of creativity. If you struggle

to name your creative talents, think about what you enjoy doing, how you stood out as a child, or what other people tell you you’re good at doing. n Create new routines and seek high-growth experi-

ences that support and foster creativity. It’s all about breaking your usual scripts, learning new insights to apply to a creative outlet you already have. A singer, for example, might try a visual art for inspiration. n Take action. Some recognized strategies to pump up

the creative juices are doing calisthenics, deliberately coming up with bad ideas, and engaging in a creative activity besides the one you want. Even small steps can move you toward your goals. n Find a community. Look for online or in-person

groups that share your creative desire, with members who can inspire and work collaboratively with you.

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FEATURES >>

Secrets to a Mindful Workday

Building Blocks for Meaningful Connections Relationship coach Molly Godfrey ’14 shares these insights for forging stronger connections with the people in your life. n Pay attention. When you’re with someone,

whether a romantic partner or longtime friend, be fully present and genuinely curious about what they’re thinking and saying. Ask questions, listen and don’t let your mind drift to other thoughts.

The quality of our attention is what determines the success of our relationships. n Say thanks. It’s important to notice and acknowl-

edge all that other people do for you, whether that is making dinner — or the reservations.

Don’t take such thoughtfulness for granted. n Share your thoughts and feelings. Too often we

have the expectation that others can read our mind. Instead of relying on people to guess at what you’re thinking, offer what’s on your mind and give space to discuss it. n Have regular check-ins. Romantic partners

should set aside a time each week to ask whether anything needs discussion or pinpoint areas that require more help and support. Friends, too, benefit from check-ins to make sure all is good; do so on a schedule that fits the relationship. n Connect “just because.” When someone

crosses your mind, reach out and say, “Hey, I’m thinking of you.” It makes people feel chosen, acknowledged and a priority.

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How do you stay calm even in a stressful job?

Career coach Alicia Ramsdell ’03, MST ’06, founder and CEO of Mindful Career Path, recommends these moves. n Pay attention to your breath. One option is the

4-7-8 technique, also known as “relaxing breath.”

Breathe in, through the nose, for a mental count of four seconds; hold for a count of seven; and breath out, through the mouth, for eight.

Breathing exercises can lower stress, reduce blood pressure and boost energy. n Consider the 5-4-3-2-1 coping technique. It can

ground you in the present moment when your mind is bouncing between anxious thoughts.

Start by acknowledging five things that you can see around you, then four things you can touch and actually touch them, then three things you can hear, two things you can smell and lastly one thing you can taste. n Start each day with mindfulness, movement

and mindset. Cultivate mindfulness through meditation, for example, and movement through physical activity. Adjust mindset through affirmations. If you say something enough, your brain will start to believe it.

<< FEATURES

Ways to Start Journaling for Self-Care Keeping a journal can help keep anxiety and depression at bay. Get started with these how-tos from Latonia Francois ’05, principal of Let’s Write Life. n Make journaling enjoyable. Write about aspects

of your life that motivate you and reflect on the reasons that led you to want to write. n Use self-care prompts. For help in getting words

on the page, look to guided journals or journaling inspiration online to determine how you might like to improve your self-care routines. n Keep it personal. Create a journaling practice that

works for you. Write about what’s on your mind, without worrying about grammar or punctuation.

Fill the pages with your life: words, photos, significant moments and more. n . . . and purposeful. Think about what you want to

achieve — whether that is to vent and de-stress, track goals or work through ideas — and let that guide you. Doing so makes journaling that much more meaningful.

Ways to Unplug Prithvi Kudva, MSHFID ’21 was surprised to learn how much time she spent checking Instagram — even on her busiest days as a grad student and staff member in Bentley’s User Experience Center. Here are her recommendations for a healthier relationship with digital devices. n Monitor how you spend your time using tech to gain insight into problem areas. n Identify your triggers. Ask yourself what makes you reach for your phone or favorite app.

Is it boredom? Fear of missing out? Or something else? n Plan a redirect. To bypass the triggers that prompt you to mindlessly engage with the

digital world, have a plan to redirect to activities that you prefer. For example, keep reading material close at hand, so you reach for a real book rather than scrolling through Facebook. n Turn the tables on technology. Look for built-in tools that let you obstruct or restrict

access to the internet. Shut off notifications or turn on your phone’s gray scale to reduce temptation. Try apps that help you set and reach goals or those that provide a reward for hitting your targets.

BENTLEY MAGAZINE | 17

FEATURES >>

Tricks for Sticking with Exercise

Routes to Everyday Happiness Senior Lecturer in Marketing Jim “Pouli” Pouliopoulos, MBA ’95 offers top takeaways from his co-authored book, How to Be a Well Being: Unofficial Rules to Live Every Day. n You can control your happiness by making

conscious decisions every day about where to focus your attention. n Practice “strategic selfishness” by taking good

care of yourself so you’re better able to care for those around you. n Be grateful. Keep a journal where every day you

list three things to be grateful for — even if they’re small. Express your gratitude to others, too; it spreads happiness. n Listen to your regrets. Often, they are clues to a

Ann-Sophie Klee ’21 graduates in August with a degree in Corporate Finance and Accounting.

A four-year member of the varsity track team, she learned these strategies for staying in shape even during the offseason. n Mix up your regular exercise regimen. New

workouts often exercise different muscles or the same muscles in different ways. Plus, the novelty can keep you motivated and engaged. n Switch out workouts weekly. Alternating between

strength and endurance training will help balance muscle development, promote strength and reduce the risk of injury. n Ask friends to share their favorite exercise

routines or choose a workout for you to do.

It’s a physical and mental challenge. n Find your inspiration. It could be setting a goal

to achieve such as running for a longer time or mastering a new swimming stroke. Or, choose a mantra to push yourself. Mine is “better your best.”

story that you want to be able to tell. Take them as lessons and identify steps you can take now to avoid future regrets. n Break out of your regular routines by learning

something new or trying a new activity. Take a free online class, for example, or return to an instrument you played as a child. This exercises your brain and creates new pathways and neurons. n Keep at it. The more you focus on your well-being,

the better your setpoint of happiness will become.

Watch alumni- and faculty-led webinars on wellness and other topics. bentley.edu/bewell

18 | SUMMER 2021

<<<<FEATURES FEATURES

The Pull of Forests, Fields & Family For one, it’s the same land. For the other, it’s the same dream. For both, it’s a natural way to make a living — and a life. Meet Justin Chase, MBA ’09, a 12th-generation family farmer, and Thomas Wilkins ’81, the eighthgeneration operator of a family-owned sawmill.

By Donna Talarico

PHOTO BY GRETA RYBUS

BENTLEY MAGAZINE | 19

FEATURES >>

New Growth

“We’ll walk and talk together, how’s that sound?” Justin Chase, MBA ’09 is on the phone in his greenhouse. While trellising the season’s new raspberry growth, he shares his family history.

Since 1683, the Chases owned and operated Arrowhead Farm in Newburyport, Mass. Like three centuries of relatives, he worked the land growing up. After earning his bachelor’s degree in conservation biology, he became a marine biologist for Boston-based Earthwatch.

In 2018, Chase’s father called. Could he help with the farmers markets?

“I discovered the farm was in disarray — and so was my dad,” says Chase, whose two young sons joined him to pitch in. “It was heartbreaking to see the place so run down.”

And, after three seasons, it was clear they had lost the fight. His dad sold the land. However, the new owners did not have rights to the Arrowhead Farm name or business.

That year, says Chase, “It was clear I had fallen in love with farming all over again, but no longer had a farm. What do you do with that?”

20 | SUMMER 2021

In 2019, Chase and his wife, Jamie, bought a five-acre plot of land in Boxford. Naming it Arrowhead Farm didn’t feel right. They chose North of Boston, a tribute to Robert Frost’s second book of poetry.

“It’s about small farms, New England life and the market we serve,” explains Chase, who’s fond of quoting Frost, Ralph Waldo Emerson and other local literary lights.

The return to real ingredients was a revelation. “People forget how good a potato can taste,” he says. “You don’t even think about the taste of a potato; you think about the stuff you put on top of it.”

Taste. One of the biggest benefits of eating local. “Factory farms” must consider packaging, transport and other elements that affect how produce will arrive and, ultimately, look on a shelf.

“We produce food that’s meant to be eaten, not shipped,” Chase says of growing heirloom varieties, which are naturally more resistant to pests and are softer, sweeter, juicier.

Yield is everything to a small farm. The Chases aim to optimize theirs by turning multiple crops throughout the year and growing crops among crops. For example, seeding an annual crop such as beets between rows of a perennial crop like grapes, once the latter are harvested. The plan is to do in five acres what others do in 20. In addition to fruits and veggies, they raise heritage-breed pork as well as beef at a friend’s farm.

Today, North of Boston spreads its bounty through seasonal and year-round farmers markets and offers home delivery to 48 towns on Boston’s North Shore. They also donate a portion of their produce to communities that might otherwise go without. Chase hopes, in 2022, to open his farm to the public, complete with a restored 1685 barn that will resemble a 1920s- or ’30s-style farm stand.

Lay of the Land Digging into his new landscape unearthed a learning curve or two: new practices, new equipment and, in one case, discovering the hard way which areas are prone to flooding. It’s all part of the experience, says Chase: “We’re getting more familiar with each other, this land and me.”

It is land that Chase is committed to managing intentionally. He’s seen what corporate farming — “Big Ag” — does to soil and food systems.

“I understand it, and I don’t want to fault anyone, but I don’t like what I see,” he says. “I know there’s a better way.”

Studying conservation biology taught him that when a system is created with sustainability in mind, nutrient and resource management become easier, quality increases, yields increase, yield per acre increases. So Chase set out to build an infrastructure around those

PHOTOS BY GRETA RYBUS

<< FEATURES

goals. That included working with the National Resource Conservation Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to earn the designation “USDA Conservation Farm.”

“It just makes sense,” he says. Those raspberries he’s trellising?

Growing them in the greenhouse increases yield by about 500%, uses far less water, precludes the need for pesticides and has less impact on the soil.

A Taste for Entrepreneurship To complement his biology background and lifetime of farming experience, Chase pursued a graduate degree.

“People think an MBA is for someone who’s going to wear a suit, work in a big building. Doesn’t need to be.”

He soaked up the lessons in finance, e.g., do I borrow for this now or bootstrap it with revenue earned? And he found his North Star for business decision-making in a course called Managing Collaborative Relationships. Embracing the proverb “a rising tide lifts all boats,” Chase operates North of Boston as an aggregate farm that supports everyone involved. The food he buys comes from farmers he knows and trusts — relationships often sustained over generations. With nearly every move, he tries to help a partner rise right along with him.

More Than ‘A Pretty Tomato’ The global pandemic sprouted a massive acceleration for North of Boston. To meet demand, the farm built out in one year what had been planned for five.

“Before 2020, it felt like people appreciated local food. They liked to go to a farm stand or farmers market and buy a pretty tomato, a couple ears of corn, socialize — it was a nice scene,” he says. “But with COVID, suddenly they’re buying food they eat every day, and that’s a big distinction. I feel relevant again.”

Small farms have largely operated in a shadow economy since the advent of the North American Free Trade Agreement in the early 1990s, Chase explains. He’s grateful for the newfound (or rediscovered) sentiment that people want to support local farmers, but he says it’s backward: Local farmers want to support their communities.

“You can be a functional and contributing member of your local food system without being a 100-acre farm,” he says. “You can support your customers, support other farmers, and still grow on a small, thoughtful scale. And you can do it while helping other people along the way.”

The future alumnus at age 8 on his family’s Arrowhead Farm and now on his own farm, North of Boston BENTLEY MAGAZINE | 21

FEATURES >>

About 50 miles away from North of Boston farm, Thomas A. Wilkins ’81 has just finished making a delivery. As the only employee at his Milford, New Hampshire-based sawmill with a commercial driver’s license, he spends part of many days traveling the back roads of New England.

Like Chase, Wilkins grew up on land cultivated by the same family for generations. Sawdust, he says, is in his veins.

A Seedling is Planted Wilkins’s father was a teacher who spent summer “vacations” building and remodeling homes. In 1972, at age 12, Wilkins spent his own break from school assisting his dad. Their final project was putting a new roof on a building at the family sawmill. Summer wasn’t quite over, so the young man thought, “Now what?”

“My grandfather offered me a job there for two dollars an hour, and I told him, ‘Well, now that’s better than what Dad pays me!’”

He was all in — and spent weekends and summers at the sawmill through high school. Even while attending Bentley, he returned home during every break. At one point, knowing where his future lay, Wilkins questioned the value of a college degree. Grandpa told him to keep studying.

Branching Out Wilkins’s great-great-great-grandfather, Frank Hartshorn, was the third generation to live on the land — and the first to recognize a bigger opportunity in the sawmill. Until then, the family of dairy farmers had used it only during the offseason. Hartshorn’s daughter and her husband, Aaron Wilkins, made it a full-time enterprise. That included acquiring additional timberland — more than 1,000 acres worth — and upgrading to a steam-powered mill.

When Aaron died unexpectedly at age 56, his sons, Harold and Aaron, returned to help their grandfather. Throughout the decades, the mill endured the Great Depression and great destruction. Between a major fire and strong hurricane winds, the family lost hundreds of acres of timber — and the mill itself. Yet they persisted.

By the time Wilkins was old enough to make a few bucks doing odd jobs around the mill, it was operating as Wilkins & Son. Ownership then passed to a seventh generation: Wilkins’s second cousin, Robert.

Wilkins was a student of his family’s rich history and a future steward of its land. But first, that degree.

22 | SUMMER 2021

PHOTOS BY JARROD M C CABE

<< FEATURES

Major Pivot While heeding the advice to stay in college, Wilkins did change majors — but not until his junior year. Some warned there was no way he could switch from accounting to business management and still finish in four years.

“I said, ‘Watch me!’” he recalls.

The family tenacity, and a wise use of elective credits, enabled Wilkins to graduate on time — with not only a BS in management, but also an associate’s degree in accounting.

When he returned to the mill in 1981, it was full time. He took over the books but yearned to be elsewhere: among the logs. As his role grew, Wilkins married, built a house and farm on 19 acres of land and started a family. He became his second cousin’s business partner and, ultimately, the sole owner of Wilkins Lumber Company.

Keeping Things Green According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, New Hampshire is the second-most forested state in the nation. But the landscape around the family’s property has certainly changed since 1808, when E. L. Hartshorn built his small, water-powered sawmill by a babbling brook on the family farm.

“People like to say this is rural,” says Wilkins, referring to the newest residents of an area that has largely become a bedroom community for Boston. “But it’s not the country, it’s suburbia.”

A satellite view of the Amherst area on Google Maps illustrates the shift from rural to suburban. But large swaths of green remain. A few years ago, disheartened by urban sprawl, the Wilkins family put nearly 90% of their land into conservation.

The move had tax benefits and so much more: preserving wildlife habitat and preventing luxury subdivisions and big-box complexes.

Other timberland owners in the region have taken the same route, helping ensure that future generations have forest to enjoy. That bodes well for post-pandemic life.

“I definitely see people wanting to spend more time outside,” says Wilkins, whose outdoor bona fides include hiking the entire Appalachian and Muir trails. “Instead of going to the gym, people are taking up trail running and mountain biking.”

Pandemic times have boosted business for Wilkins Lumber Company — a surge that follows a nationwide trend. In May 2021, Bloomberg reported that lumber prices reached a record high and called the increased demand and uncertain supply a “lumber frenzy.”

“I’m busy. Almost too busy,” he says. “I could be sawing 24/7.”

Blazing a Trail The paradox is not lost on Wilkins: having a deep love of the great, green outdoors and dedicating a career to carving out pieces of the forest. The fact is, cutting timber is integral to land management.

This is where selective harvesting comes in.

“You take about a third of the timber — some of the best, some of the worst. And you open areas in the forest that will help the next generation of trees to come up,” explains Wilkins, likening the process to farming, where you might pull out a third of your carrot plants to help the rest grow better. “Over time, the quality of timber gets better because you’re taking care of it.”

Despite his passion for nature and the work, at 62, Wilkins is bracing for the day he won’t be able to handle the physical demands of cutting lumber. A long-time employee has committed to keep the sawmill running. And his youngest son has a renewed interested in joining, which means Wilkins Lumber Company will pass, in part, to a ninth generation.

He has even spotted the grandchildren picking up bits around the yard — a sign the 10th generation isn’t far behind.

Wilkins and his grandfather, Harold Jr., in 1986 BENTLEY MAGAZINE | 23

FEATURES >>

GOOD INFLUENCE(R)

By Hayden Field

24 | SUMMER 2021

<< FEATURES

Welcome to TRENDTOK. That’s what Agustina Panzoni ’18 (@thealgorythm) captioned her first TikTok to go viral. In the video, she outlines four trends for spring and summer 2021: otherworldly knits, sheer delights, exuberant draping and repurposed remixes. Comments ranged from “Can we slow down, I’m broke” to “I’m so thankful for actual fashion people on TikTok! Thank you for showing trends and not just pieces.”

Brooklyn-based Panzoni is an “actual fashion person” indeed.

She works in community development at Depop, an online platform where 21 million (mostly Gen Z) shoppers buy, sell and trade opinions on fashion. Her previous employer, WGSN, is the world’s leading trend forecasting company. From that first viral video onward, she has been sharing deeper dives into upcoming trends and — in her most popular video so far, with 1.8 million views — explaining how trend forecasting works and her path to the industry.

“That one video made my account what it is today,” says Panzoni, whose mini trend reports and analysis have 198,000 followers.

Panzoni moved from her native Argentina to the United States in 2014 to study economics at Bentley. She had always

been drawn to the fashion world, watching trends unfold in real time, but had no idea there was a career dedicated to predicting them.

Her aha! moment came while she was studying abroad in Australia.

A presentation by WGSN, during Melbourne’s fashion week, showcased how analyzing the economy, politics, media, cultural touchstone moments and more could predict what we’ll wear up to two years in advance. As Panzoni listened, she felt like a light turned on in her brain: This was an entirely new use for her economics degree, one that combined both her interests in an exciting way.

From then on, she pursued her new career goal with single-minded determination, applying to WGSN many times — and getting just as many rejections.

“It’s hard to get your foot in the door, even more so when you come from a non-fashion background,” Panzoni explains. “WGSN looks at the economy, but they don’t always hire economists to do this job.”

Combing through the company’s staff on LinkedIn, she found a kindred spirit in another economics major, who believed that economists have unique skills to offer the trend-forecasting sector. That connection led to a job offer.

She learned a lot at WGSN, starting with how the fashion industry used to predict consumer and design trends. For

example, catwalk analysis at fashion shows and traveling around the world to study “style tribes” (e.g., punks, goths, rave culture).

Now, it’s all done with data. Trend forecasters use small, real-time insights in health, politics, entertainment and more to predict and decide the future of fashion, in much the same way as data analysis startups use ultra-niche insights — from the prices of meat cuts to the amount of traffic in a certain area — to make “nowcasts” about economic trends.

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ALUMNA

Anything going on in society is fair game for trend forecasters.

Say, a national election or a global event (think: COVID-19) along with touchstone moments in pop culture, such as the aesthetic of Taylor Swift’s next album or a popular Netflix show like Bridgerton. The latter, set in England during 1813, helped kick off the corsets trend underway now; online searches for the clothing item have increased 1,000% since the show began in December 2020, according to social shopping service Like to Know It. But it’s important to note that trend forecasts and culture shifts in general are very much a “chicken or the egg” case: Although small cultural moments do a lot to push trends forward, there are many unseen forces that make them happen. Panzoni points to a post on TikTok by influencer Emma Chamberlain (@emmachamberlain).

“She single-handedly started the GAP hoodie trend that everyone was talking about a couple months ago. At the same time, there’s a preparation there: People study that Emma Chamberlain can start trends and just ship a product to her.”

Four months into her job at WGSN, Panzoni’s visa expired. It was during the Trump administration and a tough time to get a renewal. She felt defeated, like she wasn’t in control of her own future, and had no idea what her next move would be.

That led to another aha! moment. Why not use her insider knowledge of the trend forecasting world to make her own predictions?

She didn’t have access to WGSN’s resources or software, but she did have unique experience and a platform to share her insights. In October 2020, she posted her first TikTok — and by the end of January, it had racked up 4.8 million views.

BENTLEY MAGAZINE | 25

FEATURES >>

Her user name on TikTok — @thealgorythm — nods to the role of social media in dictating trends. “Algorithms of social

media are always testing what we like, what we don’t like, what we’re engaging with — and showing us more of it,” she says, noting that the “For You” recommendations on TikTok have sped up the trend cycle in a brand-new way.

The ugly side of the trend cycle has become part of the conversation on TikTok and other platforms: how accelerated trends promote fast fashion, unethical labor practices, consumer waste and more. Panzoni knows the downside well.

“The fashion industry works on a schedule. For most brands, there’s a longer production time that is required for a collection to go out — so you really can’t speed up,” she says. “At the same time, you have fast-fashion brands working so fast, and doing things so unethically, that they actually can provide [for] this accelerating trend cycle.”

So, are consumers the ones dictating trends now, fueled by social media algorithms? Or is the fashion industry still calling the shots?

Panzoni says we’re seeing a major divide — and as things continue to speed up, we may be headed for a time when the trend cycle implodes entirely.

Where does Panzoni go from here? She’s still figuring it out. “I usually think about my work as, ‘I’m highlighting talented

designers; I’m highlighting design innovation.’ But I always get the question, ‘Where can I get this cheaper?’ or ‘I can’t wait until [fast-fashion retailer] Shein makes a dupe of this,’” she says.

“It breaks my heart.”

Though passionate about charting trends and analyzing what they say about us, Panzoni knows that taking them to a large platform gives her a hand in encouraging the overconsumption she wants to fight. She can’t help but think about that in planning her next move.

“I would love to see a way to change the trend narrative, or the public narratives around trends,” says Panzoni, from an in-or-out, buy-it-or-toss-it-out approach to something more sustainable.

But she knows that idea opposes the very nature of a trend — something that, by definition, has a beginning and an end.

Follow the alumna on TikTok

<< FEATURES

Nicole Karagianis ’12 and Alyssa Minchella Helms ’11 own boutique short-term rental consulting and management firm HelmsBnB. This post, featuring a reel of new property listings paired with a popular song, received nearly 11,000 views. Says Karagianis: “The virtual experience of touring the home really resonated with our audience, who loves to travel and appreciates beautiful interior design.”

GREATEST HITS Falcon entrepreneurs share top-performing posts

Elias Sabee ’18 owns Croii Café in his native Venezuela, with 16 varieties of authentic croissants among its sweet and savory creations. Here, an employee who founded a baseball academy “pitches” a croissant.

“Social media is a window to see what’s going on inside our daily operations,” he says. “People now, more than ever, are looking for values more than just a good product.”

Lucius Firmin ’23 calls his CRAV* clothing line “a movement, not a brand.”

His DMs to NBA athletes resulted in sales to Nickeil Alexander-Walker of the New Orleans Pelicans and the Brooklyn Nets’ Kyrie Irving (above); both put the company’s messages of social justice and respect on a global stage. “If you can influence just one person,” says Firmin, “that’s a successful day to me.”

Alaura (Berry) Westrol ’11 specializes in artful arrangements of charcuterie and cheese. Her 16,000 Instagram followers especially love the boards she creates for holidays; this one, which took about an hour to create, prompted a reshare

by Better Homes & Gardens. “Tons of people recreate their own at home and tag us as their source of inspiration,” Westrol says.

“We give them the opportunity to enjoy food in a fun and beautiful way.”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ALUMNI

BENTLEY MAGAZINE | 27

CLASS NOTES

Virtual Success Close to 600 alumni took part in Reunion 2021, Zooming in for webinars on wide-ranging topics. Some created a charcuterie board like this one with expert help by Alaura (Berry) Westrol ’11.

Check out all the sessions at bentley.edu/reunion2021.

28 | SUMMER 2021

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ALUMNA

<< CLASS NOTES

1971 Dewey W. Martin, MST ’77, Hampden, Maine, retired with professor emeritus status from Husson University in Bangor, after teaching full time for 39 years. He writes: “In 2020, I read 110 books and played golf 104 times, which helped me reach my goal of playing golf in all 50 states!”

Retirement finds Robert Vachon, Manchester, N.H., plenty busy. In August 2020, he left Vachon Clukay & Company PC, while continuing to work with some of his closest clients.

He also extended his longtime association with New England Peer Review (NEPR), taking on a part-time role as COO. NEPR oversees administrating CPA peer reviews in four New England states. Through the years, Vachon has lent expertise to the New Hampshire Society of CPAs, American Institute of CPAs and many other professional organizations. His wife, Kathy, joined him in retiring from Vachon Clukay; the two have a son, a daughter and two grandchildren.

“After being housebound throughout the pandemic, we are excited to consider some domestic travel in our ‘go cart,’ a Mini Cooper convertible,” writes the alumnus, noting they are also planning a trip up the Seine river in France.

1972

50th Reunion Douglas Boettner, Summerfield, Fla., retired in 2006 after a 36-year career in public service with the Office of the State Comptroller of New York.

He went on to form the government procurement consulting firm Boettner & Associates LLC, which remains in operation. He is also a lobbyist in the state of New York. The alumnus has two adult sons and married Debbie Stietzel in 2008.

1978 John P. Napolitano, MST ’87, P ’08 ’09, Braintree, Mass., ranks No. 53 in Massachusetts on the 2021 Best-in-State Wealth Advisors list, published by Forbes. He is CEO of U.S. Wealth Management.

1979 Phil Picillo, Charlestown, Mass., has been appointed to the board of directors for Nacha, the national association that governs the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network. The network connects all U.S. financial institutions, enabling secure and efficient movement of money and information directly from one bank account to another. The alumnus is senior vice president, director of treasury and payment solutions at Webster Bank.

1980 In March 2021, Joseph V. Tringale Jr., Wakefield, Mass., was promoted to vice president and treasurer at World Energy, which provides green-energy solutions for the transportation sector.

1981

1996

1998

Heather (Brown) Colbert, MBA ’87, Windham, N.H., has been installed as the 2021 president-elect for the Granite State South Board of Realtors. A board director for several years, she currently serves on its community service, communications, diversity, education and RPAC committees. The alumna is a senior property manager and realtor for Pater Real Estate Management Co. Inc., licensed in the state of New Hampshire. She focuses on residential leasing and tenant relationships, and has more than 90 properties in her portfolio. An advocate for community involvement, Colbert has volunteered for the Sonshine Soup Kitchen, Salem High School Parents Music Club and Windham Girl Scouts.

In February 2021, Monique (Young) Jefferson, Brooklyn, N.Y., was named chief human resources officer of New York Public Radio, home of WNYC, WQXR, Gothamist, WNYC Studios, the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space and New Jersey Public Radio.

The alumna also reports that she received the 2021 HR Hero Award in the category of outstanding volunteerism through GetFive organization, a leading provider of modern outplacement and career development solutions.

After 21 years with the NYPD, Rudy Hall, Saint Albans, N.Y., retired at the rank of sergeant special assignment. “In October 2020, I accepted a position with the Office of the New York State Attorney General,” he reports. “I am currently the assistant chief of investigations, in charge of the Office of Special Investigations.” His work centers on investigating the case of any civilian in New York state who dies after having contact with law enforcement.

1987

35th Reunion Jim Sano, MBA, Medfield, Mass., retired from Dell EMC after 32 years and has been enjoying writing novels. His first, released in 2019, is The Father’s Son, which recounts the journey of a successful Boston executive from “brokenness to wholeness.”

Gus Busbi (2000) pairs a curmudgeonly 70-year-old Italian man and a Black teen who is battling the pull from gangs in Boston’s South End. Sano’s most recent work is the mystery Stolen Blessing, released in March 2021.

1994 Georgianna Meléndez, Peabody, Mass., was honored among the Bay State’s 50 Most Influential People of Color in Higher Education, compiled by the organization Get Konnected.

1997

25th Reunion Daniela Messina, Newburyport, Mass., has founded Portside Capital Solutions. The accomplished Boston attorney and private equity executive combines her legal, business development and investor relations experience to provide strategic counsel to private equity funds, single- and multi-family offices, emerging funds, independent sponsors and corporate clients. “Portside Capital Solutions brings together my decades of expertise with highly personalized and targeted counsel to help clients source deals, raise capital and provide value to dealmakers across various industries,” she writes. “I’m committed to recognizing meaningful synergies and connecting deal-making stakeholders with a purpose.”

Jim Usseglio, MST, Hollis, N.H., a principal in the New Hampshire office of Baker Newman Noyes, has been named to the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel. He will serve a three-year term alongside 75 members of the tax community, representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. citizens living abroad.

2001 Paul Brassil, MSCIS, Medfield, Mass., has joined Pawtucket Credit Union as senior vice president/chief information officer. He will oversee information technology and digital innovation efforts for the company.

2002

20th Reunion Nicholas J. Leger, North Babylon, N.Y., was appointed chief accounting officer for Newtek Business Services Corp.

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CLASS NOTES >>

2003 Chetan Singh Hayer, MSIT, Nairobi, Kenya, was recognized as the Global Indian of the Year 20202021, an award presented by Asia One. The alumnus is managing director of the Hayer One Group. He has been working in Nairobi for a decade, transforming the way people perceive quality in the real estate market in Kenya.

Michael P. Jordan, Peabody, Mass., is now vice president and branch administrator at The Village Bank. He is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the bank’s branch network, elevating the customer experience and executing best practices for retail banking.

Alana (Krafchin) Toulopoulos, Burlington, Mass., published a children’s book, She’s the Boss. It follows a smart, charming and kind young entrepreneur named Briony as she proves that you are never too young to seize a good business opportunity and help your community.

The book is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Target.

2004 Adam Schlisman and wife Melissa (Brignola) ’05, MSA ’06, Fair Haven, N.J., welcomed Mila Hope on April 1, 2020. She joins big brother Michael.

2005 Melissa (Brignola) Schlisman, MSA ’06 and husband Adam ’04, Fair Haven, N.J., welcomed Mila Hope on April 1, 2020. She joins big brother Michael.

2006

2008

Paola Maynard-Moll, Dedham, Mass., was promoted to executive director of the Scholars Strategy Network (SNN) in March 2021. She will oversee the work of the organization’s staff, financial direction and long-term strategy. SNN helps researchers connect with policymakers, civic leaders and journalists to improve public policy and strengthen democracy.

Yusuf Abdul-Ali, Milford, Conn., started the Bitcoin Classic, a traveling basketball tournament that rewards champions in bitcoin. The former Falcon point guard hosts information sessions on bitcoin, blockchain and NFT technology. Learn more at thebitcoinclassic.com.

2007

15th Reunion Jen Sorenson, Rye, N.H., was named vice president at Highwire PR, a communications agency specializing in technology, health care and consumer public relations, and digital offerings.

In November 2020, Caitlin (Falvey) Cooney, Quincy, Mass., was promoted to senior principal consultant at Slalom, a business and technology consulting firm.

businesses and one of the top 25 sellers on Amazon.

Raising close to $2B in total funding, the company is the fastest U.S. company ever to reach profitable unicorn status. Since its start behind a Dover, Mass., Dunkin’ Donuts in 2018, Thrasio has acquired some 100 businesses; it now sells 20,000 items ranging from standing mats to hiking poles to pillows and everything in between. The alumnus also co-hosts Thrasio’s Private Label Live, a weekly Q&A show with expert guests and category-leading sellers.

2009

2010

Danielle (Millerick) Dougan and husband Jared, Wakefield, Mass., welcomed baby girl Kaylee Ava to their family in July 2020. She joins big brother Andrew.

Brandon Hendrix, Hudson, Mass., is senior vice president of marketing at Thrasio, the largest acquirer of Amazon

Bob and Kristin (Marconi) Belisle, MST ’11, Concord, Mass., welcomed baby girl Mia Rae on September 10, 2020.

Allison (Eckert) Riotto and husband Andrew, Derry, N.H., welcomed baby boy Nolan on March 21, 2021.

Continued on page 33

SPOTLIGHT: DATES WITH A PAST

BY MARY K. PRATT

Fares Horchani ’14 packs a lot of history into his 7-year-old company.

First, the alumnus channeled his family’s generations-long heritage of date farming in their native Tunisia into his own import/export and distribution company. He then invoked the region’s past by naming his venture Kartago, better known in English as Carthage, the ancient city-state that once existed on the North African coast near modern-day Tunis.

His business plan, however, is very forward-looking. Horchani built his strategy on the ever-growing trend toward healthy eating.

“During college, I saw people switching away from traditional sugary snacks and less-than-nutritious foods,” explains the former Finance major. “I knew the future of food would be natural and organic, what we today call ‘clean label.’ So I decided to go with products that are simple, that come from nature, and that taste very good.”

30 | SUMMER 2021

The strategy is working: Forbes named Horchani to its 30 Under 30 list for 2021.

Horchani himself grew up in the capital city of Tunis, but his family has farmed dates for more than a century in Tozeur, near the desert. His grandfather sold the fruit to local markets; his father started a company to can tuna and sardines and, later, to sell the family’s dates as well.

“I grew up around his businesses,” says Horchani, “so I have this entrepreneurship in my blood.”

A course with Bentley Senior Lecturer Fred Tuffile, director of Entrepreneurial Studies in the Management Department, delivered further inspiration. Horchani began formulating a business plan around the nutrition-packed fruit.

He started Kartago in January 2014, just two weeks after finishing his undergraduate classes. The New Jersey-based company sells its dates, rolls, syrups and spreads online and in some 1,000 stores in the U.S., as well as to food manufacturers.

Horchani aspires to have the automatic association that Ocean Spray and Sun-Maid enjoy with their respective fruits. “I want people, when they think about dates, to think of Kartago.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALUMNUS

<< CLASS NOTES

Promises Kept

ERNEST J. WASHINGTON JR. ’73

BY KRISTEN WALSH

It was 1967 and U.S. Marine Corporal Ernie Washington Jr. had just returned to Boston after a combat tour in Vietnam. A neighbor, Henry Workman ’73, told him that Bentley College of Accounting and Finance was inviting veterans to apply.

“And the rest is history,” says Washington, a vocational high school graduate who had planned a career in lithography before deciding to enlist. He enrolled in night courses and worked days at Prudential Insurance. The school was located on Boylston Street then, and his teachers included Harry Bentley.

“I would become the first one in my family to go to college,” says Washington, who was awarded the Purple Heart after being wounded in action and the Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm. “The fact that Bentley provided that opportunity means something to me.”

Black United Body founders (clockwise from far right) Ernie Washington ’73, Robert Brad Haywood ’72, Noel Byers, Thomas Sweeney ’73, Arthur Jetter, Larry McNeil ’73 and Henry Workman ’73. At right, the alumnus and family.

“

Our motto is ‘one team, one goal.’

We strive to lift up local communities where we live and work.

”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BENTLEY ARCHIVES (TOP) AND THE ALUMNUS

EVERYONE AT THE TABLE When Bentley opened its Waltham campus, he and several classmates formed the Black United Body (BUB) to foster discussion around race issues. The group worked closely with campus police and administration to address incidents of racism.

“Following the ’60s, there was a lot of negativity on college campuses,” explains Washington, whose nephew Taj Washington ’05 would play Falcon football and be active in the BUB years later. “We were blessed because we had folks at Bentley, like President Gregory Adamian, who listened to us; students, faculty and staff all sat down together. Today I use this as an example running my own business. I put everyone at the table.”

His 35-year-old business — Vanguard Parking & General Services Corporation — is New England’s only African-American-owned, inner-citybased parking management organization. And the company mission goes far beyond parking operations and commercial cleaning and reception services.

“Our motto is ‘one team, one goal,’” says Washington, who now serves his company as adviser, Employment and Training. “We train employees in soft skills development, parking and revenue control, janitorial services and fundamental life-planning skills. We strive to lift up local communities where we live and work.”

Washington also advocates for fellow veterans, which includes serving as a founding member, treasurer and president emeritus of the Veterans Benefits Clearinghouse Corporation Board of Directors.

“In combat, you make a lot of promises to yourself,” he says. “Mine was, ‘If I’m lucky enough to get out of here alive, I’ll do whatever I can to help my community.’”

In February, Ernie Washington talked with current leaders of the Black United Body about the group’s history and his own career path, among other topics.

See the “Social Justice” series of videos at bentley.edu/bewell.

BENTLEY MAGAZINE | 31

CLASS NOTES >>

In Memoriam 1976 Paul McGee, MSF ’84 Leslie (Norwood) Morrell Yenking Wang

1992 Jay W. Haas Jr. Millicent Maziarski Carolyn White-Krueger, MBA

1977 Thomas Weiser

1993 Jennifer (Supple) Patria

1978 Fred Copeman, MST

1994 Jorge Ramos, MSF ’98

1963 Arthur Landry

1979 Ronald Maheu, MST Mark White

2000 Jane Ritchie

1964 Ernest Gamache Eugene McCue, P ’90

1980 Colleen Cody, MST ’83 Christopher McKinney

1951 Anthony Camardo John Horgan Max Wolfe

1966 Walter J. Barry Joseph Gavin Charles Hoke Robert H. Lang Jr.

1981 Thomas McGrath Neal Silverman

1952 Robert McGraw Pasquale Piscitelli

1967 Daniel Nigro Martin Swartz

1953 Robert J. McIntosh Jr. Pierce Sears

1968 Robert Mattuchio Robert Watmough

1955 Stanley Hodges

1969 Ralph Guarino

1956 Jay Anderson Merton Cade Beryl Tarbell

1970 Richard Palumbo, P ’94

1946 D. Harold Sullivan, P ’78, Trustee Emeritus

1960 Daniel Donegan Leo Grondin

1947 Christo Dadasis

1961 Alvin Neill

1948 Milton Glass Joseph Mangine Helen McCarthy

1962 Jordan Burgess Robert D’Arcangelis John Duffy

1949 Francis Roy 1950 Paul Aloes John Karahalios Tony Poulos

1957 Gerald Aumand Norman Roy 1958 Otis Whittier

1971 Edward Burke Donna (Gilman) Killion, P ’99 1972 Kenneth Craig Joseph Griffin David McQuiggan 1975 Paul Erickson

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1982 Thomas Feeley, MST Karen Marquis Thomas Moran 1983 Evelyn Scibelli, MBA Tim Vinciullo 1984 William Graham, MST Harold Rubin, MST 1985 Michael Bousa Christen Grainger Douglas Swindell 1986 Stewart Don, MST Kimberly Kelly-Oberhauser 1988 Mary Briggs, MSA Peter Haller 1991 Elizabeth Benham, MST

2005 Joseph Isles 2007 Paul Petrucci Faculty, Staff and Friends Paul Berger, Former professor, Marketing Richard Callahan, Former groundskeeper, Facilities Management Mark Davis, P ’95/’06, Former professor, Operations Management Paul Deane, Former professor, English Theodore Kennette, Former systems administrator, Information Technology Lawrence Klein, Former associate professor, Accountancy Carroll F. McMahon, Former faculty member, Mathematical Sciences William Netter, Former student and co-founder, Black United Body

<< CLASS NOTES (Class of 2010, continued from page 30) Ryan Collins, MBA ’11, Charlestown, Mass., has created Happy Hunting, “a pandemic-born mix between escape the room and real-life treasure hunting.” What began as a game to get him and his friends out of the house has become a monthly statewide treasure-hunting competition, with a cash prize and a growing following. Collins was featured in The Boston Globe in April 2021 and, in May, on WCVB-TV newsmagazine Chronicle. Learn more at: bentley.edu/happyhunting.

Meagan (Hockridge) Curry, MSA ’11 and husband Patrick, Canton, Mass., welcomed their second child, Connor Patrick, on December 18, 2020. He joins very proud big sister Abigail.

Laura Jackson Young, Windham, N.H., has earned tenure at Bentley University.

She is an assistant professor of Economics.

2011 Daniel Hackett, MBA, Cohasset, Mass., is now managing director and East Region life sciences lead on the project and development services team at Cushman & Wakefield. Based in Boston, he will focus on advancing the firm’s PDS platform, furthering the growth of its life science specialty practice group along the East Coast.

Jared Sirota and wife Mariel, New York, N.Y., welcomed daughter Blake Shara on June 13, 2020.

Kyle Tuthill and wife Addy, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., are proud parents of Brooks William, born on February 25, 2021.

2012

FOLD 10th Reunion Jessica L. Pieri, Bristol, Conn., has joined Goldberg Segalla as an associate in the general liability practice group in Hartford. Her practice focuses on wide-ranging general liability and insurance matters, for example, defending insurance companies in claims that involve civil rights, personal injury, premises liability and property damage.

2013 FOLD

Nicole Bamford, Norwalk, Conn., is now tech recruiting manager at Noom Inc. In March 2021, Andrew Goodman, MSA ’14, Glastonbury, Conn., was promoted to manager in the Internal Audit Department at CVS Health. He works in Hartford, Conn.

Nikki-Lynn (Boath) Rosbrough, Ansonia, Conn., is featured in Franchise Update magazine as a Female Fast Riser. “The issue is dedicated to women,” she reports, “and they selected 21 to showcase for 2021.”

The alumna is director of marketing at Wayback Burgers, a fast-casual franchised burger concept headquartered in Cheshire, Conn.

Deanna (Desharnais) Sleeper, MBA ’20 and husband Tyler, Wakefield, Mass., welcomed daughter Emerson Laine on January 13, 2021. She joins an older “brother,” 2-year-old golden retriever Grady.

Kevin Sun married Pearl Shen on March 6, 2021. The couple lives in Hong Kong, China.

Greg Tourangeau married Nicole D’Achino on September 28, 2018, in Cape May, N.J., in the company of 20 fellow Falcons. The couple lives in Biddeford Pool, Maine.

2015 FOLD

Radhika Bansil, Old Lyme, Conn., is now senior program manager of B2B strategy and operations at Wayfair.

2017

FOLD 5th Reunion In December 2020, Andrew Cardarelli, MSMA ’19, Wilmington, Mass., began a new position as Adobe automation manager for Camelot Illinois.

Reed Snider, MSHFID, Santa Barbara, Calif., is now a senior user experience designer at AppFolio Inc.

2019 FOLD

Timothy Pratico, Falmouth, Maine, received the Elijah Watt Sells Award from the American Institute of CPAs. The honor went to 89 CPA candidates, out of 70,000 individuals who sat for the CPA exam in 2020. Winners must get a cumulative average score above 95.5 across the exam’s four sections and pass all four sections on their first attempt.

In February 2021, Gitanjali Stevens, MSHFID, Medford, Mass., was promoted to senior UX design researcher at iRobot.

She praises the university’s User Experience Center, where she was a part-time staff member. “My degree and experience gained at Bentley has played a huge role in my UX career thus far, including this promotion!”

2020 FOLD

Victoria Stack, Wyoming, Pa., is owner and founder of 1927 Beauty, a cosmetics company that prides itself on offering products that are clean, vegan and made with cruelty-free ingredients. The company name refers to her grandmother’s birth year; it aims to spread a positive message that “pushes people to try new things, and fully embrace who they are,” she says. “Marketing courses taught me that a brand is only as strong as its message, and that is why I’ve made 1927 Beauty an experience, rather than just a product.”

The company offers a line of 10 lipsticks in different shades of red, and plans to launch new products in summer 2021. Visit 1927beauty.com.

Send us your notes and photos! bentley.edu/class-notes

HOLDING COURT: Chanel Batiste ’14 (far left) of Brighton, Mass., and Ashley Ahearn ’14 of Marshfield, Mass., played on Bentley’s women’s volleyball team and now have their sights set on a different kind of court. The friends graduated from New England Law Boston in May 2021. Batiste plans to practice intellectual property law, while Ahearn plans a career in personal injury law.

At left, Batiste and Ahearn at a law school event in 2019 and as Falcon teammates.

BENTLEY MAGAZINE | 33

CLASS NOTES >>

SPOTLIGHT: NOURISHING VENTURE

BY MARY K. PRATT

One day DeAnne Dupont, MST ’88 was prepping for a comedy event.

She ended up starting a charity.

That’s no punch line: The alumna is co-founder of Food Link, which distributes surplus food from farms and grocery stores to people in need.

It all began in 2012, when Dupont and a friend, Julie Kremer, collected donated bread and pastries to serve at a high school comedy night. They learned that the items, baked that morning, were destined for the trash because they had not sold in the daytime hours.

“Here you had two problems — wasted food and people out there who are hungry — with one solution that could help with both,” says Dupont, a longstanding advocate for sustainability.

They were moved to act. Kremer saw an opportunity to combat food insecurity and Dupont, a way to help the environment.

The statistics are startling: According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, about 133 billion pounds of food is wasted every year in the United States. That’s 30 to 40% of the country’s food supply. This isn’t food waste, like food scraps, Dupont stresses. It is perfectly good food that’s getting tossed away.

Launching a nonprofit was new territory for the CPA, who worked in several executive financial roles before retiring from Babson Capital Management in 2009.

She also volunteered with the Parents

Association at Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical High School, which her two children attended.

In classic startup style, the pair first worked from their homes as they connected with local markets, farms and cafés to take their extra food, then identified places to distribute the donations. These include senior centers, community rooms in low-income housing developments and food pantries.

Dupont and Kremer grew the operation from there, adding more donors and recipients over the years. Food Link now has nine employees, 250 volunteers, 50 contributing businesses and its own building with 300-square-feet of cold storage to handle refrigerated items.

The pandemic pushed need higher in 2020, says Dupont. Food Link stepped up to the challenge, distributing 1.2 million pounds of food to help some 80,000 people in 30 communities.

“This just makes sense,” Dupont says of the venture. “Although food rescue isn’t a solution to food insecurity, it can alleviate it.”

IT’S TIME TO COME HOME Get ready to celebrate FALCON WEEKEND September 17 to 19, 2021

This combination of homecoming and family activities is back (in person) and better than ever! We hope you can join us to cheer on the Falcons, “Flex” your competitive spirit at trivia night, test out the ice in the Bentley Arena and celebrate together on our beautiful campus.

LEARN MORE: bentley.edu/falconweekend

34 | SUMMER 2021

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ALUMNA

<< CLASS NOTES

Falcon Honors

BY KRISTIN LIVINGSTON

Choosing exceptional Falcons to honor is just that — an honor — for the Global Alumni Board (GAB).

Each year, board members recognize an alumna/us and a graduating senior who reflect the spirit and vision of Bentley’s founder.

Emerging Alumni Leader Award

Harry C. Bentley Alumni Achievement Award “The way Paul carries on Harry Bentley’s legacy is evident in the attention and effort he puts into helping the school,” says Joe Shaker ’90, P ’21, vice chair of the Bentley Executive Club (BEC).

“It’s what Harry Bentley dreamed to have someday.”

Shaker is speaking of Paul Mastrocola ’90, P ’24, a longtime advocate for bringing fellow Falcons together — to boost their careers, communities and alma mater. His commitments include serving as a founding member of the GAB and BEC, guest lecturer on campus, and mentor to students and alumni. He’s a familiar face at alumni events, leading conversations with industry experts and hosting talks with legends like David Ortiz.

“He’s always open to helping different alumni,” says Grace Doherty, MBA ’01, a former member of the GAB. Mastrocola’s impact extends to his profession. He is an attorney and co-managing partner for Boston-based Burns & Levinson. In his hometown of Hanover, Mass., he was a fixture on the hockey sidelines as a coach for 10 years, having coached his son Justin — who just finished up his first year at Bentley.

“It’s through Paul that I’ve become more involved with Bentley even after I graduated,” Shaker says of his former roommate. Adds Chuck Coppa ’90, chair of the GAB, “I could not think of a person more deserving of this award.”

PHOTOS (ABOVE) BY BRIAN SMITH AND (AT RIGHT) COURTESY OF THE ALUMNA

Over four years, Anjela Maravilla ’21 has demonstrated confidence, conscientiousness, drive and, above all, engagement — all key qualities for earning this award. Not surprisingly, the Marketing major came to Bentley with a few outstanding qualities of her own — inclusiveness, honesty and determination — that made her a natural for leadership roles.

A founder of the Philippine United Student Organization, member of the Black United Body and Racial Justice Task Force, Peer2Peer mentor in the Multicultural Center and member of coed community service fraternity Alpha

Phi Omega, Maravilla has dedicated herself to building bridges across campus.

Most importantly, she says, “I became a learner of and educator for a culture I did not grow up experiencing but understand the importance of.”

The new graduate aims to continue the fight against racial inequity as, she says, “I have seen other inspirational alumni do in the past.” As a soon-to-be student in the MBA in Marketing program, Maravilla will also keep mentoring fellow Falcons.

“I want them to have a support system from someone who has been in their place.”

BENTLEY MAGAZINE | 35

CLASS NOTES >>

A Fenway First

An academic year like no other closed with a commencement like no other.

Bentley awarded 1,378 undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees and certificates during a morning ceremony at America’s oldest ballpark. Former President Gloria Cordes Larson addressed the new grads from the home team dugout — and joined the Class of 2021 herself in receiving an honorary Doctor of Commercial Science degree. An afternoon celebration brought together alumni from the Class of 2020.

Watch the recap at bentley.edu/2021gradhighlights.

36 | SUMMER 2021

<< CLASS NOTES

PHOTOS BY BILLIE WEISS, MADDIE MALHOTRA AND LUCKY NGUYEN

BENTLEY MAGAZINE | 37

CLASS NOTES >>

1.

2.

38 | SUMMER 2021

3.

7.

4.

5.

8.

1. Emerson Laine, daughter of Deanna (Desharnais) Sleeper ’13, MBA ’20 and husband Tyler, with big “brother,” 2-year-old golden retriever, Grady 2. Blake Shara, daughter of Jared Sirota ’11 and wife Mariel 3. Connor Patrick, son of Meagan (Hockridge) Curry ’10, MSA ’11 and husband Patrick, with big sister Abigail 4. Mila Hope, daughter of Melissa (Brignola) Schlisman ’05, MSA ’06 and husband Adam ’04, with brother Michael 5. Nolan, son of Allison (Eckert) Riotto ’10 and husband Andrew 6. Kaylee Ava, daughter of Danielle (Millerick) Dougan ’09 and husband Jared, with brother Andrew 7. Mia Rae, daughter of Kristin (Marconi) Belisle ’10, MST ’11 and husband Bob ’10 8. Brooks William, son of Kyle Tuthill ’11 and wife Addy

6.

BENTLEY MAGAZINE | 39

CLASS NOTES >>

Weddings

1.

2.

1. Greg Tourangeau ’13 and Nicole D’Achino ’13 with their Falcon crew 2. Kevin Sun ’13 and Pearl Shen 40 | SUMMER 2021

RE I M AG I N E

BUSINESS EDUCATION. RE D E FI N E

THE BUSINESS WORLD.

FA L L 2021

175 Forest Street Waltham, MA 02452 USA

Before I built a wall I’d ask to know What I was walling in or walling out, And to whom I was like to give offense.

Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, That wants it down.

From “The Mending Wall” Robert Frost, North of Boston (1914)