Reflecting on a Successful Economics Career Day

On October 18th, the UC Santa Barbara Economics Department hosted an inspiring Career Day, attracting over 100 eager students ready to engage with our distinguished alumni! 

The day kicked off with a dynamic Young Alumni panel moderated by Professor Emeritus Jon Sonstelie, panelists included:

• Vikram Abraham (Co-Founder, Cuadrilla Capital, Class of 2013)
• Sam Karlin (Head of Legal Operations, Blee, Class of 2015)
• Elika Mazhar (Private Wealth Advisor, Goldman Sachs, Class of 2015)
• Savannah Perkins (Finance Manager, Google, Class of 2014)

Their insights into post-graduation journeys energized the crowd, and students eagerly sought advice and resume critiques afterward.

Following this, we held two panels from 12 to 12:50 PM: one on Accounting, moderated by Teaching Professor Bree Lang, featuring:

• Joel Boyer (Internal Audit Division Chief, Santa Barbara County, Class of 2001)
• Mariah Cotnoir (Staff Accountant, Nasif, Hicks, Harris, Class of 2015)
• Jody Dolan Holehouse (Partner, Nasif, Hicks, Harris, Class of 1981)
• Keith Lupton (Assurance Practice Partner, Ernst and Young, Class of 1990)

Simultaneously, our Real Estate panel was moderated by Gene Deering (Principal, Radius Commercial Real Estate, Class of 2004) and included:

• Caitlin Hensel (Partner, Hayes Commercial, Class of 2010)
• David Kim (Founder, DK Group, Class of 2003)
• Henry Nivens (Principal, NALS Apartment Homes, Class of 1972)
• Shahin Yazdi (Executive Managing Director, Colliers, Class of 2005)

In the afternoon, we had the Finance and Entrepreneurship panels starting at 1 PM. The Finance panel, moderated by Larry Sherman (Senior Director, Bridge Bank, Class of 2005), featured:

• Kerri Chiu (Senior Vice President, Sun Capital Partners, Class of 2014)
• Dannell Stuart (President and Partner, Mission Wealth, Class of 1996)
• Tom Tournat (Managing Director, Merrill Lynch, Class of 1986)

The Entrepreneurship panel was moderated by Daniel Martin, our Wilcox Family Chair in Entrepreneurial Economics, with panelists including:

• Bentley Adams (CEO, Way, Class of 2005)
• Colin Coggins (Senior Vice President, Clegg Inc., Class of 2005)
• Greg Rohl (Founder and Principal, The Rohl Model, Class of 1990)
• Steve Wells (Founder / CRO, ClearPathGPS Inc., Class of 1990) 

Career Day was a fantastic opportunity for students to explore diverse industries, sharpen their networking skills, and gain professional insights. We are deeply grateful to all our alumni for their participation and for generously sharing their time and expertise. Your contributions make a lasting impact on the next generation of economists!

We look forward to more opportunities to connect alumni and students in the future.

If you would like to participate in future panels, please contact Courtney Jerge.