12 minute read
A culture of giving back
expectations Exceeding
Saba Siddiqui ’14 on giving back to SOM
Saba Siddiqui ’14 is a director with EY-Parthenon’s (EYP) Corporate & Growth Strategy practice, serving clients across the consumer, media and telecom industries. A Binghamton native, Siddiqui has remained involved with the School of Management (SOM) since graduation as a member of the school’s Young Alumni Board.
QWhy did you choose Binghamton University? As a senior in high school, I was certain that I wanted to go to Syracuse University to study law. I also grew up in the area, and like any 17-year-old, wanted to experience a new place. I had been accepted to both Binghamton and Syracuse, and my family really wanted me to consider Binghamton. Incidentally, after accepted students’ day at Syracuse, my dad was judging a SOM case competition. He didn’t have time to drop me off at home, so I had the opportunity to join.
As I sat in the case competition audience with a class of SOM juniors and seniors, I had no idea what to expect. What I witnessed was an incredibly welcoming and smart community at work. The students on stage were presenting insightful analysis, and eloquently answering questions from seasoned, professional judges. The students in the audience were incredibly patient and kind in answering my questions about the competition and the school. I was inspired and wanted to be that kind of student. After that, it felt very simple to decide to shift my focus and attend Binghamton.
QDid SOM live up to your expectations? SOM exceeded my expectations. I realized that I wanted a people-oriented career that would allow me to experience a variety of interesting challenges and solutions. SOM not only helped me understand the breadth of available opportunities, but also jumpstarted my path to EYP.
And then there’s the social element. As a college student, you want an environment that’s going to be really engaging, and I got to experience that at Binghamton, even as a commuter student. There was just this overarching sense of community and collegiality that I really enjoyed.
QWhat student organizations were you involved with? I was heavily involved in the Dean’s Mentoring Program. I was also a PwC Scholar, a Zurack Scholar and served on the executive board of Beta Alpha Psi.
These opportunities gave me a lot of skills that directly translate into my job today. I didn’t realize that at the time, but in hindsight I was getting invaluable experience in leading peers, organizing events, communicating effectively and managing stakeholders. The skills that I built up through those experiential opportunities are the same skills that I continue to build upon in my job today. They provide an opportunity to learn what your style is and build a foundation before jumping into your career.
QWhy do you stay involved with SOM? When I was a student, and even now as an alum, my mentors and role models were the alumni who spent time working with me. They dedicated their time to helping me grow and learn through their experiences, and their support was critical to my success.
I think that’s one of the best things about the School of Management — it has a culture of giving back. I try to give back my time and my attention in the same way that alumni did for me. If others can benefit from my experiences and involvement, I’m more than happy to help.
QWhat have you noticed about the current SOM students you speak to? I’m surprised at how sharp they are. They are much more prepared to have serious career conversations than I was at their age. Dean Dhillon and the SOM Career Services Office deserve a lot of credit for preparing students for the next big steps. We all want these students to succeed, and to see the level of depth and specificity in their questions is impressive. It gives me a lot of confidence in the school’s trajectory.
QIf you taught a class, what would you want students to take away from it? I would teach strategy because I’m deeply passionate about my job and the types of problems I get to solve. I’d love to have more SOM students decide to pursue careers in strategy. I’d hope the biggest skill that students could take away is how to frame and structure problems to ask the right questions and crisply communicate their solutions. It’s a fundamental skill for any profession that is often overlooked in favor of other hard skills.
QWhat’s your favorite spot in Binghamton? Laveggio Roasteria in downtown Binghamton is my favorite coffee spot. They do an amazing job sourcing a variety of beans from around the world. They hand roast the beans in-house, and serve only the freshest in their espresso drinks. The Nutella Latte is an especially amazing treat!
Thank you to all the alumni and friends who have invested in the future of the School of Management. Your support ensures that our students have access to a top-ranked business education. This support also allows us to introduce new, cutting-edge opportunities such as our Innovation Lab, a stateof-the-art collaborative space for students to design solutions to some of the biggest problems facing our community and world.
$250,000 - $499,999 YS Kim Foundation, Inc. Mr. Charles M. Kim ’98 Ms. Jean Su Maeng‑Kim
$100,000 - $249,999
The Blackbaud Giving Fund ^# Fidelity Charitable ^ Mrs. Lenore M. Goldstein ’90 Mr. Mitchell S. Goldstein ’89 Morgan Stanley Global Impact
Funding Trust The Mark Zurack & Kathy Ferguson
Foundation Dr. Mark A. Zurack ’78, LHD ’03
$50,000 - $99,999
EY ^ The Barry and Alison Goodman
Foundation # Mrs. Alison Goodman # Mr. Barry A. Goodman ’79 # Mrs. Anna M. Montovano Mr. John L. Montovano III ’97 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP ^# Mr. Stephen D. Raich, MS ’78 Mrs. Toby S. Raich Saw Mill Capital Mrs. Caryn Unger Dr. Howard D. Unger ’82, LHD ’19
$25,000 to $49,999
Mr. Scott A. Bigman # Mr. Marc S. Dieli ’89 Mr. Gary C. Meltzer ’85 # Mrs. Rina R. Meltzer ’85 # Mrs. Debra Rappoport‑Bigman ’88 # Mrs. Cristin M. Singer ’96 # Mr. Matthew R. Singer ’96 # The Sloan Family Foundation # Mrs. Francine Sloan # Mr. Fred P. Sloan ’78 #
$10,000 - $24,999
Mrs. Beth Akel ^ Mr. Ronald Akel ^ Mr. Chris Chang Ms. Jacqueline Cyran Mr. Michael E. Cyran ’87 Mr. Daniel J. Damon ’88 ^ Mr. Vincent Daniel ’94 ^ Davidson Fox & Company, LLP Mrs. Sadev K. Dhillon ’92, ’95 Dr. Upinder S. Dhillon + Ms. Rebecca Guilbert ’90 ^ Mr. Todd D. Jacobson ’88 Ms. Maggie Chan Jones ’96 Stuart and Nicole Kovensky Family
Foundation Mr. Stuart R. Kovensky ’89 KPMG Foundation ^ Mrs. Fran London ^ Mr. Jay H. London, MBA ’82 ^ Mr. Martin Luskin ’77 # Ms. Jenny Mark Mr. Gregory J. McGahan ’89 # Ms. Patricia McGahan ’90 # Mosaic Wealth Management LLC Mr. Kevin M. Myers ’97 Mr. Anthony J. Nappo ’94 The Newman Family Foundation,
Inc. ^ Mr. Mark S. Newman ’71 ^ Mrs. Sharon M. Newman ^ Ms. Constance A. Olson ’90 ^ Mr. James W. Orband ’81 Mrs. Theresa A. Orband Ms. Ali Porcelli Mr. Thomas J. Porcelli Jr. ’96 Mr. Sam Schwartz ’85 ^ Mr. Michael L. Sheptin ’91 Mr. Marc F. Thewes ’88 Vanguard Charitable Mr. Brian J. Zakrocki ’99
$5,000 - $9,999
AllianceBernstein LP Mr. Daniel R. Black ’94 Mrs. Lisa J. Black ’95 Mr. Seth H. Blackman ’95 ^ Ms. Stacey A. Blackman ’98 ^ Ms. Tracy A. Caliendo ’97 Mr. Brian S. Chase ’99 Ms. Randa Barsoum Cholera ’94,
MS ’95 # The Community Foundation for
South Central New York Mr. George W. Curth Jr. ’90 Mr. Christopher P. D’Emic ’85 ^ Mrs. Sue A. D’Emic ’85 ^ Mr. Eishpal Singh Dhillon Mrs. Simi Dhillon Mr. Seth G. Drucker ’06 ^# Ms. Elsa Eng ’92 ^ Mr. David A. Farber ’96 # Dr. Jodi Guttenberg‑Lipkin ’81 ^ Mr. David J. Kaplan ’89 ^ Ms. Gayle Kraden ’90 # Mr. Steven B. Kreinik ’97 ^ Ms. Mini P. Krishnan ’90 Mrs. Wendy Yeh Lee, MS ’70 ^ Mr. Scott H. Lipkin ’81 ^ Dr. Allan R. Lyons ’62, LHD ’07 ^ Ms. Alison N. McNerney ’96 # Mr. Eugene E. Peckham Mrs. Judith C. Peckham Pfizer, Inc. Mrs. Linsy Kochupaul
Puthiyamadam # Mr. Thomas J. Puthiyamadam ’97 # Mrs. Marnie Raymond # Mr. Stephen Spencer Raymond,
MBA ’78 # Mr. Evan Roth ’10, MS ’11 ^# Mrs. Laura J. Roth ’10 ^# Schwab Charitable ^ Mr. Marc D. Silverman ’85 Mr. Howard T. Spilko ’89 ^ United Way Worldwide # Ms. Ellen A. Vellensky ’99 Mr. David S. Yass ’83 ^ Mrs. Kara Yass ^
$2,500 - $4,999
Ms. Lisa M. Abbott, MBA ’93 ^ Mrs. Louise W. Akel ^ American Online Giving Foundation ^ Mr. Jason M. Baker ’99, MS ’00 # Mr. Peter E. Breckling ’92 ^ Ms. Stacey Breckling ’94 ^ Ms. Bridget Gavahan Buchholtz # Mr. David P. Buchholtz ’73 # Mr. Mario D. Cibelli ’90 ^ Dr. Peter J. Dionne ’88 Dr. Shelley Denise Dionne, MBA ’94,
PhD ’98 + Mr. Mark C. Donoghue ’93 ^ Mr. Kenneth J. Fasone ’83 Mrs. Lisa Fasone Mrs. Lori Goldman ^ Mr. Richard A. Goldman ’79 ^ Mr. Michael Isikow ’87 ^ Mrs. Shari P. Isikow ’88 ^ Mr. Christopher R. Jacobson ’07 Mr. Jeffrey W. Jaenicke ’89 Mrs. Kathryn A. Jaenicke Mr. Adeel H. Jivraj ’93 Mrs. Rozina Jivraj Mr. David F. Lorden ’84 ^ Mrs. Jessica E. Lorden ’83 ^ Mr. Manoj T. Mahtani ’03 Mr. Matthew Parrilli ’82 Mr. Ryan Reiff ^ Mr. Dean P. Schuckman ’73 Mrs. Ilyse N. Schuckman ’73 Mr. Gary M. Stehr ’81, MBA ’83 ^ Ms. Diane J. Zwycewicz Teed ’88 ^ Mr. Patrick Wong ’07, MBA ’10 ^ Mrs. Alison Gould Yablonowitz ’96 Mr. Allen S. Zwickler ’79 ^
$1,000 - $2,499
Mr. Jonathan C. Berger ’90 ^ Mr. Barry Bergman ’83 ^ Ms. Lisa Handler Bergman ^ Mr. George D. Bianco, MBA ’79 ^ Ms. Anindita Biswas, MS ’04, MBA ’06 ^ Mr. Milton Biswas, MS ’03, MBA ’06 ^ BKD CPAs & Advisors ^ Ms. Lucy Bonilla‑Berger ^ Mr. Cyrus Borzooyeh ’93 ^ Mr. Jonathan Brolin ^ Ms. Tamara Brolin ’96 ^ The Busfield Foundation ^ Mr. Alan L. Chan ’97 Mrs. Colleen Chan Charities Aid Foundation of
America ^ Mr. Paul L. Charles ’81 ^ Mr. Alex Chen ^ Ms. Sharon Chen ^ Mrs. Beth A. Coleman ’88 ^ Mr. Kenneth L. Coleman ’66, MS ’68 ^ Combined Jewish Philanthropies of
Greater Boston, Inc. ^ Mr. Lawrence Cyrlin Ms. Nicole J. Cyrlin ’00 Mr. Benjamin L. Daitch ’89 ^ Mrs. Lauren D. Daitch ’94 ^ Deloitte ^ Deutsche Bank Mr. Sean G. Doherty ’89 Ms. Kei Downey ’94 ^ Mr. Jay Duseau ’98, MBA ’11 + Mr. Stephen P. Feehan, MBA ’90 ^ Mr. Edward S. Feig ’85 ^ Mr. Eric Freedgood ’03 Mrs. Rachael Hahn Freedgood ’00 Dr. Marilyn I. Geller ’71, MA ’76,
PhD ’80 ^ Ms. Melanie Whitaker Geller ’83 ^ Mr. Scott Geller ’82 ^ Goldman, Sachs & Co. ^ Ms. Michelle E. Grossman ’06 ^ Mrs. Janet Gruner Mr. Jerry Gruner ’99 Houlihan Lokey ^ Mr. Shane B. Hurley ’04 ^ Mr. David L. Kahan ’04 Mr. Gary A. Kibel ’90, MBA ’92 Haksoo Kim Mrs. Peggy King, MS ’72 ^ Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts &
Company Mr. John Kong, MBA ’88 Mr. Frederic I. Leif ’91 ^ Mrs. Lori B. Leif ^ Mrs. Elaine Z. Leinung Mr. John M. Leinung Mr. Thomas D. Leyden ’98 ^ Dr. Lishin Lin Ms. Carolyn Makuen, MS ’91 ^ Mr. Chett M. Mandel ’09 ^ Ms. Nellie E. Mandel ’10 ^ Mr. Stephen M. Manning ’97 ^ Dr. Meghan A. McGuinness ’98,
MA ’00 Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd ^ Ms. Pamela Mock ^ Mr. Andrew Nawoichyk ’03, MBA ’04 Mr. Robert Okin ’77 ^ Mrs. Susan Goodman Okin ’78 ^ Mr. Deep R. Parekh ’01 ^ Mr. Andrew J. Pennecke ’95 ^ Mr. Robert R. Pim ’17 ^ Mr. Scott M. Porter ’96 Mrs. Beatrice Press ^ Mr. Eric M. Press ’78 ^ Ms. Lauren Renna ’06 Ms. Anna Rizzo ^ Mr. Todd Rothman ’99 ^ Ms. Susan A. Ruderman ’93 ^ Mrs. Bonnie Russolillo ’80 ^ Mr. Raymond G. Russolillo ’80 ^ The Sakhai Family Foundation,
Inc. ^ Mr. David Sakhai ’95 ^ Mr. Daniel E. Schain ’10, MS ’11 Mr. Craig R. Schultz ’97 Mr. Jeffrey B. Schwarcz ’99 ^ Mr. David S. Silberman ’05 ^ Mrs. Alison Silverstein ’89 ^ Mr. David Scott Sloan ’82 ^ Mr. Jonathan Sloan ’94, MS ’96 ^ Mr. Cornell V. Staeger ’01 # Mr. Brian M. Steinhardt ^ Mr. Ryan Swedalla ’05 ^ US Bank Mr. Brian Warshay ^ Ms. Karen Miller Warshay ’06 ^ Mr. Peter L. Weiner Mrs. Sheila C. Weiner Mr. Adam B. Weinstein ’01 ^ Mr. Sean C. White ’93 ^ Mr. David Wong ’95, MS ’96 ^ Mrs. Linda Zhi Wong ’96 ^ Mr. Joseph A. Yacura, MBA ’77,
MS ’82 Mrs. Sharon Yacura Mrs. Cathy A. Yammarino Dr. Francis J. Yammarino + Mrs. Wen Yu‑Chen ^ Mr. Eddie Mingxue Zhang ’05 ^ Ms. Lisa F. Betz Zomback ’90 ^ Mr. Russell C. Zomback ’91 ^
+ Faculty/Staff/Retiree, * Deceased, ^ Binghamton Fund Donor, # Innovation Lab Donor
PwC Scholars complete two community service projects
The PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) Scholars spent much of the spring 2021 semester completing not just one largescale community service project — but two! The scholars were already underway with a project with the American Civic Association in Binghamton in spring 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns hit. While students were sent home for the rest of the school year, they were determined to finish the project. In spring 2021, the scholars completed the installation of a mirror-flower mosaic outside the building and renovated a storage room, transforming it into a computer lab. Additionally, the scholars took on a separate project with Gigi’s Playhouse, a development center for children and young adults with Down syndrome. Scholars converted a back room into a fully functioning kitchen area, as well as created a job-skills development program to help Gigi’s participants land jobs in the community. They also held a number of virtual events with participants, including Zumba and baking classes.
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