Meet our Officers

President: 
Jesse Karp is a full-time MBA student at the Foster School of Business. He has over five years of work experience in business development and regional management in the travel and hospitality industry. Prior to returning to Foster to pursue his MBA, Jesse earned his BA in Sociology and French from UCLA and then worked for an international adventure travel company, spending his time working and traveling between Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia. He is passionate about traveling and intends on working in the international arena after graduation with a focus on marketing and strategy.
In addition to his role as Global Business Association President, Jesse also serves as the MBAA treasurer and is an advisory board member for the Center of International Business Education and Research (CIBER). This summer, he will be interning at Lenati Consulting and when he is not working, he will most likely be found searching for the best Pad Thai in Seattle.

 

Jesse Karp
Treasurer:
Yuan Uccello grew up in China and moved to Seattle in 2005. Before pursuing an MBA at the Foster School of Business, Yuan worked as a Loan Servicing Team Lead at Bank of America. Prior to her role at Bank of America, she worked in an international education consulting firm in Beijing, China. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Education of Chinese Language from Tianjin Normal University. Her personal interests include traveling, badminton, and hiking.

Yuan Uccello
VP of Speakers:  
Sonia Kuriakose is an international student from India. She did her Bachelor of Engineering and went on to work in different sectors – Banking Operations; Industrial Research based Consulting and co-founded a company with the primary goal of changing the education system in India. At Foster School, she will be focusing on Finance and Operations. Her interests include travelling, trying out new cuisines and sports.

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Sonia Kuriakose
VP of External AffaiArs:
Ananta Batra graduated from University of Washington’s Biochemistry department in 2008 and is back at Foster Business School as a first year full time MBA student. Originally from New Delhi, India, she has work experience in business development, clinical research, journalism and public relations. At Foster, she is focusing her efforts on developing skills in key business areas as well as on attaining fundamental knowledge in positioning herself in a global business environment.

Ananta Batra
VP of Events:
Mike Metcalf graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelors in Anthropology and a Bachelors in Marketing. 
Upon graduating Mike moved to Seattle and began what was to be a 7-year career at a global software company (GMI), which operates in the market research space.  While at GMI Mike served as a manager in their Client services department, and Director of Operations for North America.  A significant portion of his responsibilities was to manage the global vendor network, which spanned across India, USA, and Bulgaria making frequent onsite visits.  In conjunction with vendor management duties, Mike also rolled out new software initiatives to the company as a whole, including all divisions worldwide.
Mike is a current member of the World Affairs council and Japan-American Society. If you’re looking to practice your Japanese (Mike needs it), or just enjoy a glass or Pакия (Rakia) be sure to find Mike.
 

Mike Metcalf
VP of IT:
Ragesh Kumar C graduated from Visvesvaraya Technological University with Bachelors in Computer Science and Engineering. After graduation, Ragesh worked with Keane Inc., a Boston based MNC and offered his services as a technology consultant in the Banking, Finance and Insurance vertical for Goldman Sachs and the Royal London Group. Ragesh also have an entrepreneurial background. He ran his family owned private bank for 5 years and simultaneously completed his bachelors. Ragesh plans to complete MBA with a focus in Marketing and Strategy. His dream is to set up a chain of education institution in India.

Ragesh Kumar C
VP of Events: 
Aspasia (Sia) Bartell is focusing on marketing, international business, and project management here at the Foster school. She graduated magna cum laude from the UW's Jackson School of International Studies. She studied abroad in Brussels Belgium and Ioannina, Greece.In 2007 she was named a Mary Gates Leadership Scholar. At graduation, she received her departmental award for Outstanding Graduating Senior.  She has worked as a research assistant in the Jackson school and as a data analysis intern at the International Trade Division of the Washington State Department of Commerce. She currently serves as a board member on the Puget Sound Association of Phi Beta Kappa Board of Trustees. This summer she will be attending a policy tour out of the American Hellenic Institute Foundation (a Washington DC based think tank) and will be working on a marketing project at Microsoft.
 

Sia Bartell
Evening Program Representative:
M. Mark Ninomiya was born and raised in Seattle and holds an undergraduate degree from the UW.  He has worked for a Japanese freight forwarding company to start up a warehousing operation and is currently employed as a Commercialization Manager at Starbucks Coffee Company.

Mark’s upbringing in an immigrant household has been a strong influence on his cultural sensitivity, interest in global business and his love of international travel
Mark Ninomiya
 
  
First Year Evening Student Representative:
In the past 8 years, Young Zhang has lived and worked in 4 different
countries (China, Canada, US and Japan) holding various roles at
high-tech companies.   He is a Computer Engineering graduate of
University of Waterloo in Canada and had worked initially as a
Software Engineer at Amazon.com and Epson, then a Sales Engineer in
Beijing for Nuance and currently a Project Manager back at Amazon.com
within the Amazon Prime team.  At Foster, he is excited to build up
new networks with classmates from various background and especially
interested in the areas of entrepreneurship while pursuing his evening
MBA degree.  His personal interests include traveling, photography,
snowboarding, hiking, basketball and reading.
 
 

Young Zhang

 

First Year Full time Student Representative:
Ryan Loren is the full-time MBA first year representative at the Foster School of Business. Since completing his undergraduate studies with a BA from the University of Oregon’s Lundquist College of Business, he spent seven years living and working in Tokyo, Japan gaining valuable experience in both the financial and legal sides of major international companies. He has also had working secondments in Hong Kong and London. He is fluent in Japanese and has begun studying Mandarin Chinese.

With the travel bug still not cured, you will find Ryan itching to get out of the United States and experience new and interesting places and cultures whenever possible. His personal interests include soccer, basketball and snowboarding.

Ryan Loren

 

First Year Full time Student Representative:
Autumn Barnett is one of the full-time MBA first year representatives at the Foster School of Business. Since graduating from UCSD, Autumn has worked for a global medical devices company in a Finance capacity, often supporting the relationship between her company and its’ Japanese vendor.  Autumn minored in Spanish Literature in undergrad and has a strong desire to study abroad in Madrid during her time at Foster.  While overseas, she hopes to pursue job opportunities. 

Autumn has always enjoyed traveling overseas, most recently spending several weeks traveling through Israel. In her free time, she enjoys running and playing soccer.

Autumn Barnet

 

First Year Evening Student Representative:
Rakesh Saini is an evening MBA student at the Foster School of Business. He holds a Bachelors of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Warangal. Rakesh has over seven years of software development and management work experience with various MNCs such as Philips. He is currently managing strategic initiatives of a company providing HealthCare information systems. He plans to graduate with a focus on Corporate Strategy and Business Development.
 

Rakesh Saini


 

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