Startups

The school’s Center for Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness (CLOE) launched two new coaching programs in the fall to help managers—and those they lead—become their best.

CLOE’s Leadership Coaching certification is a four-course program in which participants build foundational and advanced leadership coaching skills, gain expertise in assessment and feedback, and get hands-on experience with real-world coaching under the supervision of program facilitators Marsha King and Neil Stroul.

“Coaching is especially important now, when budgets are tight and employees are being asked to do more with less,” says King. “Your employees want to be empowered. They want to do their best. With coaching, you can motivate and inspire them to do just that.”

The first cohort of the Leadership Coaching certification began in October and continues through May. With weekly sessions on Zoom, the certification is open to participants from across the globe, and planning is underway for a second cohort.

“The CLOE Leadership Coaching course has been an amazing experience, equipping me with the foundational knowledge and understanding to become not only a leadership coach, but also a more reflective and curious leader within my school,” says Paul Errickson, head of Middle School, Nichols School. “I feel as though my classmates and I are on a transformative journey together.”

In addition to the Leadership Coaching certification, CLOE now offers one-on-one, customized online leadership coaching. Participants meet with a leadership specialist for a minimum of six one-hour sessions to identify strengths and needs, create a development plan, strengthen leadership skills and improve effectiveness.

To learn more about both coaching programs, visit mgt.buffalo.edu/cloeprograms.

For 70 years, the School of Management has honored outstanding executives at the Alumni Association’s Annual Awards Banquet. But, like so many events last year, a large in-person gathering was not possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Instead, the school quickly adapted and held a new event to celebrate past award recipients and give attendees an opportunity to interact with them in a way that would only be possible in today’s virtual world.

Nearly 140 individuals attended the Nov. 18 Zoom gathering, dubbed “Audience with Honorees.” Forty-six past award winners signed on, as well as more than 90 alumni, students, faculty and staff.

UB President Satish Tripathi and Paul Quebral, president of the school’s Alumni Association, gave brief welcomes, followed by remarks from Dean Paul Tesluk. Next, the group heard from Bob Swan, BS ’83, CEO of Intel, who shared his insights on leadership in challenging times. Swan was the 2016 recipient of the school’s Industry Leadership achievement award, but was not able to attend that ceremony, so he was invited to speak this year.

Next, guests were assigned to small chat rooms, each with a mix of honorees, alumni, students, faculty and staff for some lively and interactive discussions.

First-year MBA Anu Patel, for example, was placed in a breakout room with Bill Gisel, executive vice chair and past CEO and Rich Products; John Scannell, chairman and CEO of Moog; and Marsha Henderson, former president of KeyBank’s Western New York division.

“I had the opportunity to ask them about their leadership journeys and make personal connections with all of the other leaders in the room, too,” says Patel. “It was such a rewarding experience.”

Two current MBA students and one alumna from the School of Management were accepted to the Blackstone LaunchPad & Techstars Global Fellowship program for their venture, Real Talk, a platform that brings people from all backgrounds together for open discussion about important issues.

Janelle Fore, BS/MBA ’21; Malkijah Griffiths, BS ’19, MPH/MBA ’22, Western New York Prosperity Fellow; and Sonya Tareke, BS ’17, MBA ’20, received resources, support and mentorship to help them advance their startup ideas over an eight-week program in the fall. Each fellow also received $5,000 in grant funding to support their time working on advancing their startup.

Real Talk is one of only 40 student startups from across the U.S. and Ireland selected for the fall LaunchPad Fellowship program.

The fellowship was focused on social impact student startups—those with a positive societal outcome, beyond financial success—and featured LaunchPad coaching sessions and weekly entrepreneurial workshops. In addition, students received mentoring from Blackstone campus ambassadors and Techstars entrepreneurs during a “LaunchPad Mentor Week” and talked with social impact entrepreneurs from such organizations as TalkingPoints, All Star Code, River Health, Cloztalk and Imerman Angels.

“The Blackstone LaunchPad & Techstars global network allows us to leverage resources we wouldn’t otherwise have access to,” says Hadar Borden, director of UB’s Blackstone LaunchPad & Techstars. “It’s a great way to support student ventures beyond our own campus programming.”

The school’s Career Resource Center and the Diversity and Inclusion Office co-hosted a panel in October via Zoom where employers heard from students about their expectations for diversity in the workplace.

Paul Tesluk, dean of the School of Management, kicked off the session by sharing a recent teaching experience on the topic and how meaningful it was to his students, all of whom are working professionals. “One of my key takeaways was that we need to build more opportunities to be able to listen, particularly from the student point of view, about the importance of diversity and inclusion,” he said.

Next, Mary Ann Rogers, assistant dean for diversity and inclusion, facilitated the discussion, which drew more than 70 guests, from hiring managers to HR staffers to CEOs. Students Alyssa Brouillet, MS ’21; Kelechi Chillis-Ihenko, MBA ’21; and Janelle Fore, BS/MBA ’21, shared their candid perspectives on tough questions like how employers can make employees feel more welcome and included, and whether there are patterns of employer behavior that they find to be offensive.

Employers also submitted questions for the panelists through a chat feature, and the event provided a safe space for meaningful discourse.

You can view the entire event online at bit.ly/ubdiversitypanel.

Giant garbage patches in the oceans. Confusion over what is and what is not recyclable. Microplastics invading our water supplies and wildlife. These are just some of the problems associated with society’s growing use of plastics.

Aditya Vedantam, assistant professor of operations management and strategy, is part of a multidisciplinary UB research group awarded nearly $2 million from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to assess plastic recycling and educate the public.

The University at Buffalo RENEW Institute is working on an ambitious study of the plastics recycling industry, which was thrown into disarray after China curtailed its waste importing business in 2018.

RENEW harnesses the expertise of more than 100 faculty members from seven schools and colleges at UB, including the School of Management. In addition to environmental issues, it also tackles energy and water issues, with a focus on developing and coordinating innovative research, education and outreach programs.

Learn more about the project, as well as the school's sustainability efforts.

Keith Stolzenburg—a beloved mentor, treasured colleague and dedicated School of Management alumnus—died in September. He was 61.

Born in North Tonawanda, the lifelong Western New Yorker earned his bachelor’s degree and MBA from the School of Management and would often jokingly introduce himself as “Keith Stolzenburg, CPA, MBA and all-around good guy”—a testament to his jovial nature and the pride he took in his career.

After a 36-year career with PwC, Stolzenburg was named executive in residence for accounting in the UB School of Management in 2017, teaching in the MS in Accounting program and providing extensive guidance and mentorship to students on the cusp of their own accounting careers.

Before his retirement from PwC, Stolzenburg specialized in compliance, mergers and acquisitions, financial statements, tax and other accounting issues for the firm. His portfolio consisted of a mix of public and private clients in many sectors, and he served in several leadership positions, most recently as managing partner of the firm’s Buffalo office and Upstate New York market team leader.

Beyond the accounting profession, Stolzenburg was known throughout the community for his dedication to many causes, often called upon by area organizations for his accounting and business expertise. Among other activities, he was a longtime member and chair of the Darwin Martin House Restoration Corp. board, served as a board member and treasurer of the United Way of Buffalo & Erie County, and chaired the United Way’s 2018 and 2019 Campaigns for the Community.

Stolzenburg is survived by his wife, Rosanne, and their children, Anna and Eric.

To honor him, his family created the Keith M. Stolzenburg Endowed Scholarship Fund, enabling his incredible impact on students to carry on through those who benefit from the fund in the future. Donations in Stolzenburg’s memory can be made at buffalo.edu/giving/stolzenburg.

View @levitatestyle's post on Instagram:

View Kendra Brim's post on LinkedIn:

View @forty3north's tweet on Twitter:

View @BobSwan's tweet on Twitter:

View @global_hill's tweet on Twitter: