Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society Blog

May 23, 2019

Holy Cross Graduates 46 Business Certificate Program Recipients

Established in 2006 with limited offerings for students to explore business at Holy Cross, the office was recently named the Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society. Parents, students and alumni alike have found the Center’s experiential learning opportunities to be a valuable addition to the liberal arts education and student interest in these business certificate programs is booming. As of the spring 2019 semester, there are more than 470 students participating, and they come from all majors. Enrollment in the workshop about supply chain management doubled from 2017 to 2018, from 20 to more than 40 students. The workshop on business ethics and principled leadership had so many students enroll that Prof. David Chu, Director and Prebusiness Advisor, hopes to offer multiple sessions in the future.

“With the center, we’re going to be able to significantly expand opportunities to meet student demand. The purpose of the center is to provide students with multiple pathways to learn about business — pathways that can complement any major in the curriculum. We don’t try to replicate a business school curriculum; we take a distinctively liberal arts approach” Chu comments.

Today, the Ciocca Center is proud to graduate 46 students from the Business Certificate Programs. See a list of students below. Continue reading “Holy Cross Graduates 46 Business Certificate Program Recipients”

May 9, 2019

HC Launch Celebrates Inaugural Year

HC Launch held an end-of- year dinner on Tuesday, May 7th at Volturno in Worcester, MA to celebrate its inaugural year with the Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society. This event reviewed the first year of the incubator, announced several awards and new leadership, and recognized the seniors.

HC Launch is a student-run incubator in the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Program focusing on turning innovative business ideas into real ventures. This year the incubator supported eight student-run ventures covering a wide range of concepts.

At the event Ja-Nae Duane, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, highlighted the many successes of the incubator. She referenced key accomplishments such as the first annual Entrepreneurship Week held during the spring semester, the Innovation Challenge held to address systemic issues on campus, and the most successful Shark Tank pitch competition to date.

Joe Egan ’19, managing director, was recognized for his contributions. “We were so happy to be able to honor and highlight the hard work and dedication of the HC Launch Incubator this year.” Egan commented. “It has been an honor to be able to work with the incubator and celebrate the members.”

Duane, Egan and Paul Wiley ‘20, current managing director, announced the following awards:

Innovation Award: Sanctuary (Mike Brown ‘19, Nolan Howard ‘19, Mike Lyons ‘19 & James Gould ‘20)
Dedication Award: The Equanimity Project (Tim Doyle ‘21, Kerry Grumka ‘21, Max Krause ‘21 & Tom Cremins ‘21)
Growth Award: Wilox (John Bowen ‘22, Mike Brown ‘19, Joe Egan ‘19, Nolan Howard ‘19, Luke Knox ‘22, Eric Lane ‘21, Mary Anne Wiley ‘22 & Paul Wiley ‘20)
Leadership Award: Luke Knox ‘22
Rising Star Award: Tolu Akin ‘20

As a graduating senior, Egan announced his replacement for the new managing director for HC Launch, Tom Cremins ’21. “I am looking forward to the opportunity to work with some of the most talented and innovative students on campus.” Cremins stated. “I know I have big shoes to fill, but I look forward to bringing HC Launch to new heights in the years to come!” Cremins has worked with HC Launch as an associate since January 2019.

The incubator saw incredible success in its inaugural year, and the future is looking bright. See photos from the event on Facebook. Thanks for reading!

Cassie Gevry, Associate Director of Student Engagement
Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society

May 7, 2019

2019 Women in Business Keynote Announcement

The Women in Business student committee is excited to announce the keynote speaker for the 14th annual conference! Meet Maggie O’Neill ’99, the co-founder and chief creative officer of SWATCHROOM, a DC based design, art and fabrication firm. As an artist herself, Maggie’s movement SUPERFIERCE is designed to empower, connect and advance female visual artists and to make sure the work of underrepresented women artists is seen worldwide.

2019 Conference Theme — BECOMING BOLD: Life in Color

Maggie received her degree from HC in political science, believing that her path was law school. Get excited to hear about her journey from political science into the art studio. Save the date for Saturday, November 2, 2019.

May 6, 2019

Ciocca Center Offers Alumni-led Tutorial

Classroom

This spring semester the Ciocca Center offered a new course through the Academic Internship Program. Professor David Chu, Director of the Certificate Programs and Prebusiness Advisor at Holy Cross, partnered with Katharine Quigley ’13, Digital Marketing Manager at Centage, to teach an Introduction to Online Marketing tutorial.

Complementing the Ciocca Center’s mission to connect the liberal arts to the job market, this new tutorial covered introductory marketing content through various readings and in-depth discussions with a focus on the Google Ads Platform. The five students then applied this to the design, implementation and assessment of an actual online marketing campaign for a non-profit, West Seattle Junction.

“A strong liberal arts education prepared me for an ever-changing digital marketing landscape.” starts Katharine. “It was rewarding to help current Holy Cross students learn new digital marketing concepts and vocabulary, and then see them pair those tools with their existing critical thinking and leadership skills to make a real impact on a nonprofit client.”

Thank you to Katharine for reaching out and offering to work with students on this technical topic. She worked with Professor Chu to identify readings, design a syllabus and spent every Wednesday night on campus working with students interested in a career in marketing communications.

Who were the lucky students involved? 18 students applied for this opportunity and only five were selected: Joe Egan ’19, Tim Haemmerle ’19, Olivia Lozy ’20, Lilly Puccia ’19 and Madeline Thero ’19.

UPDATE: Each of the students involved won a “Top Marketer Certificate” from Google! The award is based on successful completion of the Google Ad Grants Online Marketing Challenge, passing the Google Ads Fundamentals Assessment, and a positive client experience survey rating from their nonprofit. Congratulations on the excellent work!

Holy Cross Hosts Fourth Annual Mock Superday

The fourth annual Mock Superday, coordinated by the Finance Club through the Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society with the Center for Career Development, was held on Monday, April 29, 2019 on campus. This event helps students prepare for the intensive interview process for internships and full-time jobs at Wall Street firms. The evening started with dinner, followed by an alumni panel. From there the group moved into speed interviews simulating a Wall Street Superday.

“Myself, Andrew Smith ’19 and the rest of the Finance Club Executive Board are thrilled with the success of the Mock Superday event this year. This is the fourth year the event has taken place, and we achieved the highest alumni participation to date.” said Jay Mackie ’19, Co-Chair of the Finance Club. “With this new level of engagement, we were able to expand the event beyond just the student/alumni interviews to include an alumni panel open to the broader student body, and an intimate meeting with senior bankers to discuss initiatives the school is taking to increase placements in finance. We think this year was an important step forward in creating alumni awareness around the club’s efforts to prepare students for a career in financial services. ”

This was such a successful year for the Finance Club, in fact all members of the E-board, who were interns last summer, have now secured full time analyst positions at top firms on Wall Street for after graduation.

Stephen D’Agostino ’19: Incoming Analyst, JP Morgan Investor Services
Chip (George) Doherty ’19: Incoming Analyst, Morgan Stanley Investment Management
Hana Ferrari ’19: Incoming Analyst, BNP Paribas Global Markets
Jack McCabe ’19:Incoming Analyst, Blackstone Valuations
Jay Mackie ’19 : Incoming Analyst, Barclays Investment Banking
Andrew Smith ’19: Incoming Analyst, Goldman Sachs Investment Management
Brianna Spencer ’19: Incoming Analyst, Barclays Investment Banking

Continue reading “Holy Cross Hosts Fourth Annual Mock Superday”

April 27, 2019

Brittany Polanco ’12 on Culture Fit

“I think it’s important to build a culture where people feel valued as individuals, supported in their values and able to control whatever balance looks like to them.” — Brittany Polanco ‘12

Brittany Polanco ’12, current Marketing Manager at PepsiCo, was interviewed by Women in Business committee member Margaret Anderson ‘21. She shared her path from Mount St. James to the world of business, holding prominent roles in Frontier Communications, Hilton Worldwide, and PepsiCo.

The Holy Cross PepsiCo community, from left to right: Jessica Vona ’08, Kristen Buonassisi ’12, Robert Santariello ’16, Anne Fink ’85 P17, Alexandra Schiffmann ’15 and Brittany Polanco ’12.

Why did you choose Holy Cross? Going to an all girls, Catholic high school (Mercy High School in Middletown, CT) had a huge impact on my perspective and growth as a female leader. At my high school, you were popular if you were smart, funny and kind rather than based on looks or social status. We were still teenagers so we had our fair share of drama, but the unique environment allowed me to grow and thrive. It was a supportive community that cultivated ambition, collaboration and academic achievement. When I visited HC, it was clear that there was something special about the school and that it was a similarly tight-knit, high achieving community. I immediately felt at home at Holy Cross and knew it would be a place I could build strong relationships while continuing to learn and grow at a new level. Continue reading “Brittany Polanco ’12 on Culture Fit”

April 18, 2019

Ciocca Center Intern to Interview Anne Fink ’85, P17

Anne Fink ’85, P17
President of Global Foodservice, PepsiCo

“One of my mentors has been a real model for servant leadership. This notion of putting others first stands out to me: just because you’re at the top of the organization, doesn’t mean that people are serving you.”

On April 1, 2019, Ciocca Center Student Intern Sarah Anderson ’20 interviewed Anne to learn about her journey in the food and beverage industry. Anne is the President of Global Foodservice at PepsiCo and is a member of the Holy Cross Board of Trustees.

What did you want to be when you grew up? Did you always know you wanted to work in the food and beverage industry? I grew up in a business family. My father and mother started a business when I was in grade school and it ended up being a family affair. It was a company called Mats Incorporated, a commercial floor matting business. My father started it from the trunk of his car selling doormats to businesses. Little by little, he grew the business into a pretty large and successful entity. Actually, my three brothers own the business and run it today and they have hundreds of employees. My mother would type the invoices at night and I used to help her. So, it was very much a family business. I grew up interested in business, curious and involved. I knew I liked business and was interested in pursuing a career in it. I had a good feeling for that pretty early on in life. Continue reading “Ciocca Center Intern to Interview Anne Fink ’85, P17”

April 12, 2019

The Holy Cross Magazine Highlights the Ciocca Center

THINK OUTSIDE THE BOTTLE starts the Holy Cross Magazine article highlighting Art Ciocca ’59 as he pours a glass from the iconic, innovative box of Franzia. His mindset, which led to that revolutionary box, is one he wants to encourage in future generations of transformative business leaders through the Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society at the College of the Holy Cross.

“Based upon my experience, I think Holy Cross-educated people have the potential to become highly successful leaders in business and many other areas of life, and that’s why I think it is invaluable to help those students get their careers off to a smart start,” Mr. Ciocca says. “That’s why one of the biggest focuses of our foundation is principled entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs who take their satisfaction on the basis of merit — I believe those people create real, long-term, sustainable value for society and for others.”

Read the spring 2019 Holy Cross magazine article.

Thanks for reading! Cassie

Cassie Gevry, Associate Director of Student Engagement
Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society

April 9, 2019

Ciocca Center Intern Interviews Bill Abbott ’84

Bill Abbott ’84
President & CEO of Crown Media Family Networks

“This is where being a major in English really comes in handy. I feel like I learned story, characters, and emotion and all the things that comprise great storytelling at Holy Cross.”

On March 29, 2019, Ciocca Center Student Intern Sarah Anderson ’20 interviewed Bill to learn about how he turned his English Major into a career in the entertainment industry. Bill is the President and CEO of Crown Media Family Networks.

What did you want to be when you grew up? Did you always know you wanted to work in the entertainment industry? No, not at all. I was an English major, with a lot of political science classes mixed in there. I was really focused more either on law school or teaching when I was at school. But, after college I felt like more school wasn’t really where I wanted to be my first year out. So, I was fortunate enough to get a job in the media world, loved it from the beginning, and decided that’s what I would focus on. Entertainment is not something I intended on, but the liberal arts education provided me with a great backdrop for really anything I wanted to do because it teaches you and gives you a good sense of how to communicate and critically think and write. All of those are crucial aspects to any job. Continue reading “Ciocca Center Intern Interviews Bill Abbott ’84”

April 1, 2019

Ciocca Center Intern Interviews Bob Guillocheau ’82

Bob Guillocheau ’82
Chairman & CEO of Ascensus

“We are very much a mission based company, values driven, and a lot of that came from my learnings at Holy Cross. The ‘men and women for others’ very much resonated with me and it’s something I bring with me everyday when I go to work.”

On March 22, 2019, Ciocca Center Student Intern Sarah Anderson ’20 interviewed Bob Guillocheau ’82 to learn about his journey from HC into the financial services industry. Bob was an economics and accounting major and currently serves as the Chairman & CEO of Ascensus.

Who/What inspired you to enter the business world? I graduated Holy Cross with an economics accounting degree and, typically if you have a accounting degree, you get recruited by what was back then the big eight accounting firms. There have been mergers and today it is the big four accounting firms. The world has changed a lot from 1982 when I graduated, but getting recruited is what got me into financial services and the business world. I took an accounting class in high school, taught by a woman by the name of Mrs. Ellis. She made it really fun and interesting and she was a businesswoman who explained to us how the world works and how accounting and finance plays into any aspect of company. Continue reading “Ciocca Center Intern Interviews Bob Guillocheau ’82”