GCNYC - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Strategy and Business Development at Howden Group
Briana Seferian is a fashion designer with global manufacturing experience across multiple categories, seeking to reimagine and reengineer today's legacy systems into ones that are circular, healthy, and inclusive. Currently Briana is the Senior Manager, Circularity and Sustainable Product at Macy's, Inc. where she oversees the Circular Economy strategy for Macy's, Bloomingdale's and bluemercury. She also manages
Briana was a designer of women's apparel for 17 years at Liz Claiborne and JCPenney, where she was also Circularity Lead and led the Jeans ReDesign project for Fall 2022. She earned her BFA from the University of Connecticut and her MBA in Sustainability from Yale University's School of Management. At Yale SOM she was a Panel of Peers coordinator & producer of biweekly panels and participated in the Climate Solutions Generator at the Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale & the Center for Business and the Economy at Yale (Tsai CITY and CBEY).
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- Founder and CEO, Dan Bena LLC
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- Program Director, Business for Social Impact & Sustainability
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- Founder and President of All Things Diverse LLC
Dr. Hodo is the founder and President of All Things Diverse LLC, which provides consulting services to businesses, academic institutions, non-profit organizations, and government entities who value diversity and want to develop a high performing inclusive workforce. All Things Diverse, LLC is dedicated to helping organizations realize the full potential that can only be achieved through deliberate action. The company is committed to helping its clients create a workplace culture of belonging where everyone can thrive. Some of the services her company offers include diversity, equity, and inclusion training and workshops, assessments and surveys, strategic diversity planning and diversity audits. She worked in academia for over 18 years in a variety of positions to include faculty and administrator.
Her company has had contracts with the City of Jacksonville addressing policing and trust with minority communities (Safer Together). The City of Tampa training employees on Cultural Inclusiveness, Diversity and Implicit Bias as well as the Federal government division of Veterans Administration in which she taught employees about Cultural Competency, Microaggressions and Communication Styles, just to name a few.
Dr. Hodo has written course content for an educational vendor on Implicit Bias and
Royal Academician, singer-songwriter, highly-respected social activist and philanthropist, Dr Annie Lennox OBE was formally installed as Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University on the 2nd of July 2018. Dr Lennox was inspired to launch the SING Campaign to raise funds to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS after taking part in the inaugural concert of Nelson Mandela's 46664 HIV Foundation in 2003, and visiting Uganda with Comic Relief and Malawi with Oxfam. An Ambassador for UNAIDS, Oxfam, Amnesty International and the British Red Cross, Dr Lennox received the Nobel Woman of Peace Award at the 10th Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in 2011 for her work on HIV/AIDS prevention and control, especially for women and children. In 2011 she received an OBE in the Queen's New Year Honours for her humanitarian work.
Job Titles:
- Dean, School of Business, Medgar Evers College
Eivind Lorgen is the former CEO & President of Nordea Asset Management (NAM) in North America. NAM is a global leader within responsible investment, sustainability & ESG. He is today an unconstrained advisor to corporate issuers, asset owners & managers, management consultants as well as non-profit organizations and leading business schools. He is a founding member of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Investor Advisory Group (IAG) and the Chair Emeritus for SASB's IAG (today the ISSB).
Eivind is on the Reiman School of Finance Advisory Board for the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. He holds a BSBA from the University of Denver and he also did his master's studies at the University of Denver. His Executive Management education is from IMD, Switzerland and The London Business School. Eivind is a frequent public speaker and lecturer at Daniels College of Business.
Eivind served in the Norwegian Royal Air Force and played varsity soccer for The University of Denver. He lives in Harlem, Manhattan with his family.
Education
BFA Summa cum Laude with Honors, University of Connecticut
MBA in Sustainability, Yale School of Management
Job Titles:
- Publisher and Editor in Chief, Amsterdam News
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- Co - Founder and Managing Partner of BDA Partners, Global Investment Advising
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- Philanthropist, Activist, and Former Board Chair of Free the Children
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- Director of the Master of Science
Gardy Guiteau is Director of the Master of Science in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program at Glasgow Caledonian New York College (GCNYC). A social justice educator and consultant who has worked with faculty, staff, and students at schools, colleges, and universities across the United States, Gardy is an accomplished leader in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). He is experienced in student development, success and mentorship, and education administration in higher education and in 6-12 independent schools. Gardy is an Intergroup Dialogue facilitator with close to 20 years of experience working in secondary schools, colleges and universities, community organizations, and businesses. Gardy's work focuses on developing opportunities and spaces that support and enrich the personal, academic, and professional experiences of all members of an educational institution.
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- Chairman of Finance and General Purposes Committee, Glasgow Caledonian University
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- Vice President and Provost
Jacqueline LeBlanc, Ph.D. is an experienced leader in higher education with expertise in academic affairs administration, accreditation, assessment, and strategic planning. Dr. LeBlanc's broad experience and expertise in higher education has developed through her substantial work with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the New York State Education Department, the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs, and the American Council on Education.
Job Titles:
- Director of Operations, Title IX Coordinator
Jessica Chang-Russell is GCNYC's Director of Operations and Title IX Coordinator.
She leads College operations and planning to deliver an effective and efficient working and learning environment. As a member of the leadership team, she supports strategic and operational planning, policies, procedures and change management. Jessica also leads on GCNYC campus safety, development of inclusion and diveristy intitiatives and serves as the College's Title IX Coordinator. Jessica has over 10 years of events and project management experience and holds an MS in International Fashion Marketing from Glasgow Caledonian New York College.
Job Titles:
- Director of Academic Engagement
Jessica leads all efforts to support student engagement and success. She monitors student progress, and manages academic advising, course registration, and the thesis process. Jessica is a candidate for an Ed.D. at Hofstra University and has 15 years of experience in higher education. Most recently, she served as the Project Director for CSTEP (College Science and Technology Entry Program) at New York City College of Technology, CUNY where she worked to recruit and retain minority and economically disadvantaged students pursuing STEM fields and careers.
Job Titles:
- Leader
- Dean of Enrollment
- Director of Operations & Title IX Coordinator
John F. Albanese is an experienced leader in admissions, enrollment, and student affairs. He is student-centered and data-driven, with expertise in recruitment and enrollment strategy and curating the student experience. John closely follows the data and trends in the prospective student marketplace and has led enrollment growth at several universities. He is inspired by the transformative experience students achieve with the right direction and support and has focused on integrating key functional areas to optimize student success. John's most recent roles prior to joining GCNYC include leading recruitment, enrollment, and student services for MBA and MS programs at Baruch College-City University of New York and the University of San Francisco.
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- Partner, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliff LLP
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- Independent Corporate Board Member
- Senior Business Executive
Marcela Manubens is a global senior business executive with over 25 years of experience developing and leading sustainable business with an integrated triple bottom line approach. A world class leader in sustainability, human rights, and social impact.
At present, Marcela is an independent Corporate Board Member and a member of the Responsible Investment and Business Advisory group at Sierra Global Management.
Marcela is in the Advisory Board of the Center for Business and Human Rights at the Geneva School of Economics and Management. Marcela had been an active member of World Economic Forum.
Prior, Marcela joined Unilever in 2013 and led the creation of its social sustainability strategy and global goals, resulting in the expansion of the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) with the Enhancing Livelihoods ambition and its three pillars: fairness in the workplace, opportunities for women, and inclusive business models. She created Unilever's human rights policy framework and the Responsible Sourcing Policy and promoted transparency by publishing Unilever's first Human Rights report.
Prior to Unilever, Marcela led the vision, strategy and implementation of one of the first Global Human Rights and Corporate Responsibility programs in the fashion industry, including environmental stewardship and social impact, at PVH Corp in the early1990s.
Job Titles:
- Director of Counseling, Disability Services Coordinator
- Director of Student Counseling & Disability Services
Michael Cohen, PhD is Director of Student Counseling & Disability Services at Glasgow Caledonian New York College (GCNYC); and President of the Michael Cohen Group, LLC (MCG), an internationally renowned applied research and consulting firm. Dr. Cohen is a psychologist, clinician, researcher and educator with forty years' experience in the areas of mental health and post-secondary, adult & life-span learning & education. Dr. Cohen is widely published, a member of the American Psychological & Counseling Associations (APA & ACA), and received his PhD in Developmental Psychology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
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- Director of Career Services & Strategic Partnerships
- Program Director, M.S. in Sustainable Fashion
Michelle Gabriel serves as the Director of Career Services & Strategic Partnerships as well as Program Director for the M.S. in Sustainable Fashion. In her roles at Glasgow Caledonian New York College, she brings her years of industry experience in social business strategy, design, branding, product development, supply chain, and operations for impact and sustainability-focused fashion brands such as Mara Hoffman, Old Navy, and Li & Fung. Michelle is a Ph.D. candidate at the Yunus Center, Glasgow Caledonian University. She holds an MS in International Fashion Marketing from Glasgow Caledonian New York College.
Job Titles:
- President
- Principal
- Vice President of Global Engagement, Glasgow Caledonian University
Professor Mike Mannion is the Interim Vice-Principal for Global Engagement and President of GCNYC, and former Dean of the School of Computing, Engineering and Built Environment. He is also a Professor in the Department of Computing.
He gained his first degree in Computer Science from Brunel University and went on to graduate with an MBA from the Open University and a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Bristol. After several years working as a software developer, Mike took up the roles of Lecturer and Senior Lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University from 1992 to 2000.
He joined Glasgow Caledonian University in 2000 as Head of the Department of Computing and subsequently became Dean of the School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences in 2002 and then Dean of School of Engineering and Computing 2007-2008.
From 2008-2016 he was a University Vice-Principal, covering three different portfolios: International (2008-2010), Learning and Teaching (2010-2012) and Research (2012-2016). In 2016 he stepped down from this role to focus on his principal research and teaching interests in Computing. He has successfully supervised more than 10 PhD students across a range of topics in software engineering, network management and artificial intelligence.
Job Titles:
- Chancellor Emeritus at Glasgow Caledonian
- Professor
International anti-poverty campaigner and Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Muhammad Yunus was installed as Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University in October 2012. As Chancellor, he provides leadership, advice and support to the University and has pledged his inspirational stewardship in support of GCU's undertaking to harness its intellectual, social and emotional capital and collaborate with others to find solutions to some of society's most pressing challenges.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of NHS Lanarkshire
Job Titles:
- Director of Institutional Effectiveness and Online Learning
Rebekah Chow leads the accreditation programs and assessment activities of GCNYC and
ensures compliance with external reporting requirements. She also manages GCNYC's online
Job Titles:
- Events Manager
- Office & Events Manager
Sandra MacDonald is the Office and Events Manager at Glasgow Caledonian New York College (GCNYC). In her role, she is responsible for planning, organizing, and managing events and communications for the college; as well as oversees duties in the organization to ensure the office operates smoothly and effectively. She offers 17 years of combined experience in HE administration. Sandra is a Glasgow Caledonian University alumna, with a B.A. in Business & Management and her M.S. in International Fashion Marketing.
Shanley is a serial social entrepreneur, brand strategist, and service designer focused on the intersection between environmental progress, and equitable access to financial and physical health and benefits for under-represented audiences. Through her past work in manufacturing and design, Shanley contributed toward more ethically and environmentally positive supply chain practices in East Africa. As Entrepreneur in Residence, she will be positioned to continue and expand the reach of this work, while engaging with students and the GCNYC community with her current (and third) social venture, ABLE.
Shradha Kochhar (b. Delhi, India) is a textile artist, designer and educator based in New York. Best known for her home spun and hand knitted ‘khadi' sculptures using indigenous cotton strains to India and the US, her work is at the intersection of sustainability, regenerative craft and racial equity through textiles. Focusing on generating a physical archive of personal and collective south asian narratives linked to women's work and invisible labor, the work unravels the words ‘cotton', ‘cloth', ‘colonialism' and community'.
Over the years, Kochhar has worked as a consultant for brands like Tory Burch, Collina Strada, Marshall Columbia, ASHISH amongst others and teaches both as a part time faculty as well as guest faculty at Polimoda, Florence, Central Saint Martins, London, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York and Parsons School of Design, New York.
Kochhar received her MFA in Textiles from Parsons School of Design, New York. She has been an artist in residence at Houston Center for Contemporary Craft and is a Dorothy Waxman Textile Excellence Prize and Van Lier Fellowship Finalist. She has been awarded the John L. Tishman Environment and Design Award for Excellence and has been featured in Paper Magazine, Architectural Digest, Vogue, Crafts Magazine, Harper's Bazaar and others.
She is the founder and creative director of Imli Dana, an independent textile studio with a focus towards generational textile techniques and celebrating the labor associated with it. Kochhar is also the co-founder of LOTA - A turnkey solution towards a sustainable and scalable system to recycle pre-consumer textile waste efficiently by using 3D digital technology in supply chains and retail experiences. It is also behind India's first CGI model.
Sofia B. Pertuz, PhD is an educator, consultant, and certified executive coach who has led organizational change and transformation in a uniquely varied career spanning over 25 years within higher education, nonprofit and corporate organizations. Dr. Pertuz has worked collaboratively with communities to create affirming and inclusive spaces where everyone can thrive. Sofia serves as Managing Director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Billie Jean King Enterprises and is the founder of Mainstream Insight, LLC, partnering with organizations and senior leaders to help them achieve inclusive excellence. Dr. Pertuz previously served as the Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer for the Jed Foundation, a nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for young people.
Throughout her higher education career Sofia served in senior administrative and faculty roles, forming bridges between student life and academic affairs to create holistic campus experiences. Dr. Pertuz served as adjunct faculty in the Higher Education Leadership & Policy program at Hofstra University and taught Sociology at Wagner College and first-year seminars at Fordham University. At Fordham Sofia launched a campus-wide award-winning LGBTQ ally training program. At Hofstra, as Associate Vice President and Dean of Students, Dr. Pertuz led the assessment efforts for the Division of Student Affairs and served as the co-chair of a campus wide climate survey and diversity and inclusion task force. At Fordham University, Dr. Pertuz launched the first award winning safe zone program, the LGBT and Ally Network of Support. The program consistently received high internal ratings and was awarded the Ignatian Medal for Social Justice from the Jesuit Association for Student Personnel Administrators.
Sofia is committed to creating a socially just world, and dedicates volunteer time to mentoring, professional development, and activities aiming to create inclusive and caring communities. Sofia is the founder and moderator of Latinas Completing Doctoral Degrees, a Facebook community and doctoral support network with over 9000 actively engaged members. She also serves as a board member for 100 Hispanic Women, Long Island Program, a nonprofit whose mission is to inspire Latinas to maximize their strengths and potential in order to become equal partners in an empowered world of equal opportunity with justice, recognition, respect, and dignity. Additionally, she proudly serves as a board member for Cohort Sistas, a nonprofit network that supports Black women pursuing doctorates providing resources, mentorship, and community. Sofia was recently honored for her volunteer efforts with a New York State Assembly Citation from Assemblywoman Judy Griffin as a 2022 Hispanic Heritage Honoree.
Dr. Pertuz has been an invited speaker for international audiences on topics in leadership, change management, social justice, mental health, and LGBTQ+ advocacy, including delivering keynotes in both English and Spanish. Dr. Pertuz received her bachelor's degree in organizational communication from SUNY New Paltz and her master's degree and PhD in Higher Education Leadership, Management, and Policy from Seton Hall University. Sofia holds a Certificate in Diversity and Inclusion for HR from Cornell University and Certificate in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace from University of South Florida. Sofia is a Senior Certified Professional by the Society of Human Resources Management.
Education
SETON HALL UNIVERSITY, South Orange, NJ Doctor of Philosophy, Higher Education Leadership, Management and Policy, May 2017
SETON HALL UNIVERSITY, South Orange, NJ Master of Arts in Education, Educational Administration and Supervision, December 1995
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK, COLLEGE AT NEW PALTZ, New Paltz, NY Bachelor of Arts, Organizational Communication, Cum Laude, May 1994
Stephen has over 25 years of experience in Higher Education administration, in a broad career that has included local faculty academic administration, to planning and implementing large scale organizational change. As well as Registrar at GCNYC, Stephen is Academic Registrar at Glasgow Caledonian University with a wide ranging portfolio from academic technical support to responsibility for academic regulations, administration and Graduations. Stephen has a particular interesting the advancement of sector engagements and sharing of good practice and has chaired various UK and Scottish academic administration related fora.
Thomas is the Part time Help Desk/AV Technician at Glasgow Caledonian New York College (GCNYC). In his role, he is responsible for providing technical expertise and assistance to resolve technical problems. Thomas joins us with 10+ years of experience in the information technology industry and is currently a Senior IT Analyst at Score Media and Gaming
Job Titles:
- Financial Aid Coordinator