EMBA Alumni
RJ Aenchbacher
C/O 2020
Robert W. Aenchbacher Jr. (RJ) is a Jacksonville native who enjoys traveling and singing.
After spending eight years in the Marine Corps, with two tours in Iraq, Mr. Aenchbacher
enrolled in Jacksonville University. He graduated from JU in 2014 with degrees in
International Business and Economics with a minor in Music. During his time at JU,
he spent a summer studying International Marketing in Barcelona, several weeks in
Costa Rica studying the Economics of the country, and helped start the International
Business Club, serving as the inaugural president. RJ also received the Conductors
Award from the Music Department. RJ started a company while taking classes as an
undergrad and sold the business in 2017. He is currently employed by the Department
of the Interior working at Timucuan National Parks. In his free time, he serves as
Membership Director at Morocco Shrine with Shriners Hospitals for Children and serves
as the Beaches Shrine Club 2018 President, sings at Riverside Presbyterian, and volunteers
with the March of Dimes. RJ is happily married (Lindsay) with a newborn baby boy (Maddix).
Adam Boland
C/O 2020
Born into a Navy family, Adam spent his childhood moving around the country. After
graduating from Concord University in 2006 with degrees in Psychology and Sociology,
Adam spent the next eleven and a half years as a Naval Aviator, stationed in Florida,
Texas, and Washington. In April, Adam transitioned to the Navy Reserves and relocated
to Jacksonville with his wife Becca.
Krissy Bunner
C/O 2020
Krissy has extensive experience in the contact center leading teams and cross-functional
initiatives including training, quality assurance, operations, workforce management,
project management, and sales. As the Director of Workforce Optimization, she led
global projects utilizing six-sigma methodologies to improve quality and profitability. While
in the hospitality and sales industries, she was able to travel domestically and internationally
experiencing diverse perspectives and cultures. She is passionate about career progression
and servant leadership especially for marginalized women. Krissy currently leads
KeHE Distributor’s contact center operations in Jacksonville, FL as the Director of
Customer Care. KeHE is a BCorp with over 5,500 employee owners in 15 distribution
centers and is a national leader distributing natural & organic, specialty, and fresh
products to its retailers. KeHE serves to make lives better.
Olivia Circhirillo
C/O 2020
Olivia graduated from the University of South Florida with a bachelor’s degree in
marketing. She has spent most of her career in the consumer package goods (CPG) industry.
She spent eight years at Catalina Marketing where she worked with consumer purchase
data to build digital campaigns that drove lift and loyalty for grocery retail clients
and CPG brands. Her passion for working with brands drove her to Mario Camacho Foods,
an import and distribution company of specialty foods most well-known for Mario brand
olives. As Marketing Director she created and executed strategy to grow brand sales
via increased distribution, new product launches, and promotional activities. Most
recently Olivia has joined Bloomin’ Brands as brand manager on the Bonefish team.
James Clavijo
C/O 2020
After graduating from college with a B.A. in International Business, James Clavijo
started to work for Polo Ralph Lauren in NYC in Finance and later in Global Production.
Shortly after getting married, James moved back to his home country, Colombia, to
open a business with his wife Juliana. In 2013, James moved back to the US and started
working at APR Energy where he is currently a Senior Global Accounts Manager. James
has over 8 years in finance and accounting and 5 years in operations.
Andy Fowler
C/O 2020
Andy Fowler was born and raised in Atlanta, GA. He graduated from Georgia State University
in 2001 with a Bachelors of Business Administration in Risk Management & Insurance.
Andy has 19 years of Commercial Insurance Brokerage & Corporate Risk Management experience
working primarily with or for Fortune 500 Companies. After spending 7 years working
as an Insurance Broker, Andy moved onto the Corporate Risk Management side of the
insurance industry. He is currently the Associate Risk Manager at Fidelity National
Financial, Inc., (NYSE:FNF) the leading provider of title insurance and escrow services
to the real estate and mortgage industries and holds a 2-20 General Lines Insurance
License.
Bill Germanson
C/O 2020
Bill Germanson works as a Solution Architect and Client Delivery Manager at Black
Knight Financial Services, Inc., the premier provider of technology, services and
data solutions to the mortgage and finance industry. Bill has over 30 years of experience
in the financial services industry and has worked in many areas of IT including infrastructure,
operations and development. His current role is managing a very talented team of seasoned
business and IT liaisons. Efforts begin during the sales process and leveraging broad
skill sets, we work to resolve complex implementation and integration goals staying
engaged until the client goes live on the Black Knight solutions. Bill grew up in
the Florida Keys where he gained a passion for spending time outdoors and on the water.
After graduating from Florida State University, Bill and his wife, DeAnna, moved to
Jacksonville in 1994.
Greg Gowens
C/O 2020
Greg currently is the Trade Marketing Coordinator for E-Alternative Solutions, a sister
company to Swisher International, Inc. His previous position was Territory Manager,
responsible for central and southern coastal Florida. Greg made the transition to
EAS in 2015. Prior to working in the tobacco industry, Greg worked in the golf/ hospitality
operations in Michigan, Ohio, Texas, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.
Branden Hawkins
C/O 2020
Branden Hawkins joined Acosta in 2012 as an intern in the Finance Department-Revenue
Recognition. He is a graduate of Acosta’s Management Readiness Program and the Walmart
Team-Leadership Development Program. Branden has held positions of increasing responsibility,
while developing a diverse background across multiple corporate departments. His growth
with both retail and customer development includes roles as Business Manager, Project
Manager and Program Manager with the Walmart/Sam’s Club Team. During his time in Bentonville
Arkansas, Branden helped lead the launch of a new Division in Acosta with multiple
dedicated teams supporting Acosta’s top initiatives. He won Acosta’s Chairman’s Award
in 2017 as Team Leader for the new programs. Branden has also held positions in Corporate
Finance, as well as Business Intelligence, where he Co-Authored Acosta’s “The Personalization
of Protein” Hot Topic report. He was recently promoted to Sr. Manager-Retail Business
Strategy. Branden was nominated and graduated from several of Leadership Jacksonville’s
Programs and is currently active in the United Way of Northeast Florida Stein Fellowship
Leaders Class of 2019. Branden holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration
from Furman University.
Lee Ann Heck
C/O 2020
Lee Ann Heck currently serves as the Manager of Compensation Analytics at Johnson
and Johnson Vision Care where she is responsible for sales incentive plan design and
strategic execution. She recently relocated to Jacksonville from Pittsburgh where
she worked in the incentive analytics space for 14+ years delivering actionable insights
across various industries including Pharmaceutical, Biotech, Retail and Medical Device.
Alison Kirk
C/O 2020
Alison Kirk is a Product Development Analyst for Deutsche Bank. She previously was
an Investment Advisor for Fidelity Investments and served over 4 years in the US Navy.
Alison holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Finance.
Terri Leach
C/O 2020
Terri Leach is the Division President for CSI Professional and CSI Health, $60M division
within The CSI Companies. In this role, she is responsible for 4 national offices
and 60 direct reports. Terri is responsible for weekly financial reporting, annual
projects to include temps on assignments, managing bill rates, pay rates, division
expenses and internal headcount to maintain a profitable IFO and IFO%. Terri also
has 15 years of accounting/audit prior to staffing. Terri is a native of Jacksonville,
married with 1 daughter that is attending grad school at Vanderbilt University. She
is an avid runner and Committee Member for the American Lung Association.
Todd Lehman
C/O 2020
After graduating from Millersville University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree
in Business Management, Todd moved to San Antonio, Texas and began working for Swisher
International, Inc. as a Territory Sales Manager. After seven years in field sales,
Todd was promoted to Business Analyst and moved to Jacksonville to work in the Swisher
corporate office, where he has been in this position for two years. In his free time,
Todd helps as a volunteer coach at a local high school wrestling program.
Chasity Lowman
C/O 2020
Chasity graduated from Appalachian State University. Since then she has over eight
years of experience working in Corporate Retail. She is currently a Business Manager
for Acosta Sales and Marketing working directly with Southeastern Grocers. This role
plays on her strengths by building relationships with both the manufacturer and customer.
Prior to Acosta, she worked for Daymon Worldwide developing private label CPG for
Southeastern Grocers. In this role, she developed consumer goods from concept to
shelf. Throughout her career, she has worked directly with manufacturers, merchandising,
demand planning, sourcing, marketing, and product design teams. She is a member of
the North Florida Frozen Refrigerated Food Association (NFFRFA).
Shawn Marple
C/O 2020
Shawn Marple is a Database Manager at Black Knight, Inc. His work experiences range
from filleting 100lb Yellowfin Tuna to Graphics Design to Managing a team of database
professionals supporting the backend SQL Database Servers for applications used by
the majority of the largest banks in the U.S. Shawn graduated from the University
of Florida with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business in 2013. He earned his degree while
being a full-time employee at Black Knight, a husband, a father, a baseball coach.
Shawn is a mentor in Black Knight’s Mentorship program. He hopes to alleviate stress
for rising business professionals by sharing some of his own challenges he experienced
along his 25-year journey as a leader.
Jeff Rupp
C/O 2020
Jeff is originally from Lambertville, MI. After high school, Jeff decided to serve
his country and joined the United States Army, serving for twelve years as an Infantryman,
Squad Leader, Platoon Sergeant, and Recruiter. While serving, Jeff attended several
military schools such as the Army Airborne School, Air Assault School, Sapper Leader
Course, and other leadership schools. After being honorably discharged, he worked
in the financial services industry while living in Orlando, FL. While working and
raising a family, Jeff attended Barry University and graduated in 2013 with a degree
in business. Jeff currently works as OSHA outreach trainer for United Rentals.
Jorge Seda
C/O 2020
Jorge Seda was born and raised in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and attended the University
of Puerto Rico. He joined the Navy in 1995 where he has completed 23 years of faithful
and dedicated service. He is currently the Department Head for a training unit at
NAS Jacksonville. Jorge earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Business with specialization
in Technical Management from DeVry University (Magna Cum Laude) in February, 2018.
Shaila Sharmin
C/O 2020
After immigrating to the US, Shaila completed her second Bachelor’s Degree in Finance
at University of North Florida. She is currently in a leadership program at Ally Financial,
serving as a Team Lead in Contract Processing Center. In the leadership program at
Ally, she was a key player in several business aspects such as collections, QC administration
& quality initiatives, business strategy & insights, and accounting & ledger management.
Prior to joining Ally, Shaila worked at GE Capital in Industrial Finance Operations
supporting GE Power and GE Aviation. Before coming to the US, she worked as a Junior
Executive in Human Resources in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Shaila is multi-lingual, as English
is her fourth language.
Timothy Sherman
C/O 2020
Timothy serves as the Director of Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) at Yellowstone
Landscape where he has worked since 2008. In his role, Timothy is responsible for
analysis and recommendations on all key issues or potential actions that may have
a material impact on the company. In addition, he leads a team of regional analysts
responsible for all field forecasting, budgeting and related reporting and consolidation
functions. He also leads all acquisition due diligence and the associated financial
analysis, other qualitative and quantitative business analysis, and preparation of
related Board materials. Prior to his roles in finance, Timothy spent seven years
in field operations as a Production, Account and Branch Manager. Yellowstone Landscape
is the premier southern commercial landscape maintenance company with 30 operating
locations in eight states.
Adam Wade
C/O 2020
Adam Wade is a multi-faceted marketing leader passionate about financial services
and media. He co-founded and operates Mercury 13, a virtual digital marketing agency
delivering Madison Ave.-quality content and creative services for a range of financial
services, B2C and B2B clients. He also currently serves as Content Marketing Director
for FIS, one of the world’s largest financial technology companies, in his hometown
of Jacksonville where he oversees several thought leadership initiatives, including
the annual Performance Against Customer Expectations (PACE) research study. Previously,
Adam worked at publisher Wiley and Northern Arizona University, where he introduced
award-winning content marketing programs for both. He spent the prior 10 years in
a variety of marketing and communications roles with Dow Jones, working with such
brands as The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, and Factiva. Adam holds a double-BA in
journalism and advertising/public relations from the University of Central Florida,
an MS in communications from Boston University, and (soon) an MBA from Jacksonville
University.
Drew Upchurch
C/O 2020
Drew Upchurch is the current Director of Auxiliary Programming at the Bolles School.
In his present role, Drew manages many of the school’s lines of non-tuition revenue,
which include but are not limited to summer programs, the campus store, club sports,
and the facility rental program. Prior to his time at Bolles, Drew was employed as
an administrator in the Business Office at Jacksonville Country Day School and a teacher
in the St. Johns County Public School system. Drew holds undergraduate degrees in
both Religious Studies and International Affairs from Florida State University as
well as a Masters in Educational Leadership from the University of North Florida.
An avid Florida State Seminole and Jacksonville Jaguar football fan Drew currently
resides in St. Augustine, with his wife Lindsey and their daughters Sadie and Hadley.
Romina Woodin
C/O 2020
Romina Woodin graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Tourism and Hospitality
from one of the most prestigious colleges in Ecuador. Seeking international experience,
she moved to the United States to work for the Omni Hotels & Resorts as a Front Desk
Agent. Highly driven for success, Romina applied for the Leadership in Development
(LID) program designed to build on the necessary skills for hotel management. Within
one year, she was promoted to Assistant Front Office Manager responsible for leading
fifteen associates within the Rooms Division, consisting of Guest Services, Front
Desk, and Ideal Services. Romina is a professionally motivated leader who, in addition
to pursuing an Executive MBA at Jacksonville University, she is pursuing the knowledge
and qualifications necessary to become a General Manager in the future.
Amanda Young
C/O 2020
Amanda was born in Baton Rouge, LA, and graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University
in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management. Currently, she works for Swisher
International. She began her career in Field Sales where she worked in LA, MS, and
NC. She was then promoted to Sales Operations at the Corporate office downtown, Jacksonville.
As a member of Sales Operations, she analyzes and solves complex problems and assists
in the design of a new CRM for operational changes. She also manages an Inside Sales
department where she plans, prioritizes, and sets goals for campaign phone calls made
to inform customers and increase distribution in existing Swisher Accounts.
Chana Adebowale
C/O 2019
Chana Adebowale is now a published author but comes from humble beginnings, growing
up in and out of foster homes and homeless shelters. She experienced her first taste
of success in the car industry at 18 and went into the mortgage industry in her early
twenties. Chana has been in the mortgage industry since then and is ready to give
back to people who are struggling with some of the same obstacles she faced in her
youth. She is hoping to use the knowledge obtained in her MBA program to establish
either a rehabilitation center for at-risk youth or a homeless shelter of her own
where she can provide hope for the people by sharing her own story.
Gina Camp
C/O 2019
Gina is a credit analyst at Swisher International and was recently promoted to Senior
Credit Specialist. Prior to working for Swisher, she was a kindergarten teacher in
the Duval County school system. She has worked as a real estate loan administrator
with Wachovia Bank and a construction loan administrator with First Union National
Bank. Gina holds a bachelor's degree in elementary education and will complete her
MBA in April, 2019.
Jason Cupit
C/O 2019
Jason is a Development Director at Black Knight, Inc., the mortgage and finance industry
leading provider of integrated technology, services and data solutions. Jason has
18 years of IT experience and is responsible for Distributed Development in the Servicing
Technologies division. His responsibilities span across a multitude of teams, disciplines,
and technologies. Jason started his professional career as a Java developer for a
DoD contractor immediately following the Y2K push, and cut his teeth on groundbreaking
web and security software. Joining Black Knight in February 2005, Jason worked his
way into management, leading various teams and groups across the enterprise.
Jason was born and raised in a suburb of Denver, Colorado and moved to the First Coast in 1996. He graduated from the University of North Florida in 1999 with a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems and a minor in Business. Jason has 18 years of IT industry experience, including web, mobile, app, and security development. He has led development, delivery, quality assurance, business analyst, system administration, and performance testing teams over his career.
Erik Deppe
C/O 2019
Erik has been employed by Fidelity National Financial, Inc., since August 2010. He
previously worked in the P&C Insurance industry for 11 years (accounting and financial
reporting). He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business degree from Indiana University
(1999), majoring in Accounting, Finance, and Computer Information Systems. He is
an Illinois licensed CPA.
Erik is currently responsible for the Statutory accounting and reporting functions for each of the five insurance companies (over $4.5 billion in revenue in 2016) within Fidelity National Financial, Inc.
Daniel Roach
C/O 2019
Daniel attended the University of Florida and, upon graduating, he joined the manufacturing
industry in procurement and strategic sourcing. He later joined the retail sector
with Southeastern Grocers, and has served in diverse supply chain roles for the last
eight years - including analytics, project management, and supply chain operations.
Daniel currently serves as the Director of Supply Chain Operations where he oversees
a retail supply chain that ships over $5 billion in goods annually. He enjoys the
challenge of seeking efficient solutions to complex logistics and operations problems
while meeting financial objectives.
Amy Waldron
C/O 2019
Amy Waldron is experienced and accomplished in food distribution, marketing, promotions,
category management, trade management and recently consumer insights and trends. Amy
offers a history of business development resulting in strong sales growth and a solid
job progression within the food distribution industry. Amy also has years of experience
in team management, creating promotional selling tools, broker management, cross functional
work on system conversions and new business on-boarding. Her passion lies within the
independent channel with a continued mindset that we should all think globally but
act locally.
Hanna Werede
C/O 2019
Hanna has over 10 years of experience working in manufacturing. Currently, she works
as a Demand Planning Analyst. In this role, she is responsible for improving products
and services for customers by using advanced analytics; standing up big-data analytical
tools; creating and maintaining models; and onboarding compelling new data sets. Previously,
she was a procurement agent responsible for analyzing data, negotiating and buying
parts inside and outside of the USA. Besides her bachelor’s degree in Business Management,
she has an AA in Accounting and certificates in Computer Science, Green Belt and Lean
World Class.
Ken Young
C/O 2019
Ken Young works in the Operations Procurement Department at CSX. In this role, he
oversees a $50 million book of business with key business partners including CSX technology,
financial systems, and public safety departments. Prior to his current role, Ken oversaw
environmental and emergency response operations for the CSX Northeast region, based
in Baltimore, managing regulatory compliance and emergency response operations for
all facilities between Richmond, Virginia and Quebec, Canada. Ken served in the United
States Marine Corps for eight years, with posts at the White House, United States
Naval Academy, Camp Lejeune and in Okinawa, Japan. He also spent several years working
as a private security contractor in Iraq and later served as a member of the Pentagon
Hazardous Materials Response Team. Prior to joining CSX, Ken worked for several environmental
management consulting firms after co-founding a successful marine dock construction
firm in Annapolis, Maryland. Ken holds a bachelor's degree in emergency management
from American Military University.