Salute to the Full-Time MBA Class of 2023

Gabelli School of Business graduates go on to highly successful and fulfilling careers. They are leaders in their fields whose impact can be felt across the US and around the world. On these pages, we feature four outstanding alumni from the Full-time MBA Class of 2023, whose hard work and determination are elevating their careers and making us proud!

Born and raised in Concepción, Chile, Josefina Israel chose Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business based upon its reputation for developing business leaders with a global perspective as well as its commitment to ethical leadership. During her time in the MBA program, she was president of the Fordham Graduate Marketing Society and co-president of the Net Impact Club.

Israel was selected as a Poets&Quants MBA to Watch in 2023 during her studies at the Gabelli School. She completed a sales and marketing internship at Nissan North America, eventually joining the company as a full-time marketing analyst, and has been promoted twice since.

Israel believes that Fordham’s collaborative culture provided a tremendous advantage. “I learned so much from my classmates,” she explained, citing her cohort’s capstone experience in London as being particularly impactful. “It was an opportunity for us to work as colleagues through real business challenges.”

Michelle Kogolo’s road to a leadership role at Morgan Stanley started at the Gabelli School. As an MBA student, Kogolo secured an internship with the financial services giant, which led to a full-time offer.

Upon graduation, she joined the firm as a global brand marketing associate and later was promoted to global marketing director. “I don’t think I would be at Morgan Stanley if it wasn’t for the career advisors at the Gabelli School,” Kogolo shared, noting that the Career Development team helped her with everything from interview preparation to navigating multiple offers and negotiating salary.

“There are a lot of proud Fordham alumni at Morgan Stanley,” she said. “Our chief client officer, who earned an MBA at Fordham, always says, ‘Fordham is in the house.’” From her brand marketing coursework to her capstone experience consulting for Shopify, Kogolo firmly believes that Fordham prepared her to succeed. “The MBA program empowered me to lead with confidence,” she concluded.

Karan Kumar found early success in consulting in his native country of India. When he decided to pursue an MBA, there was only one place he wanted to be. “New York is the epicenter of finance,” he asserted.

At the Gabelli School, Kumar found what he was seeking: a supportive network and practical training in the finance capital of the world. “The case studies and real-world applications using capstone projects were unmatched,” Kumar shared. He also gained invaluable hands-on experience through an internship at HP.

Kumar said he draws on lessons from the Financing New Media Ventures and Strategy courses in his daily work developing solutions and presenting them to financial stakeholders at Pilot Company, a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. subsidiary, which operates the largest network of travel centers in North America. He recently was promoted to finance transformation analyst II.

“The Gabelli School provided me with a very good platform to launch my career in corporate America,” Kumar said, adding that one of his biggest takeaways was the importance of emotional intelligence in business. “Empathy is something I learned at Fordham. It’s not all about the numbers. You have to connect—human to human.”

Diana Drautz was working in the fashion industry when COVID hit. While the world was on pause, she re-evaluated her career goals and created a pivot plan. Her first step: earning a Fordham MBA.

Drautz was drawn to the Gabelli School’s prime location and small classes. “The Gabelli School gives you such a tight network,” she said. “Everyone is willing to help you get where you want to be.”

Drautz believes the hands-on learning aspects of her MBA experience—from interning at Sam’s Club’s Arkansas headquarters and a beauty startup, to leading group projects and serving as co-president of the Graduate Net Impact Club—were instrumental in her professional development.

After graduation, Drautz found her niche in consumer-packaged good sales, a field she learned about during her MBA studies. “The program opened my eyes to so many possibilities,” she shared. “Fordham really prepares you to be a leader. It helped me elevate my career on a faster trajectory.”