Advisory Board
Amanda D.H. Allen (MBA ’10) is the Chief Financial Officer at LightBox, a leading provider of data and workflow solutions to the commercial real estate sector. She has focused her career on creating and evaluating stakeholder value from advisor, strategic, operational and investor perspectives. As the CFO at LightBox, she is guiding the development of a unified and scalable finance, accounting, tax, and treasury platform to support the company’s rapid organic and acquisition-driven growth. She began her career as an investment banker and has since held strategic planning and corporate finance roles at both large, multinational public companies (PepsiCo) and smaller, private equity backed companies (High Ridge Brands, Edible Arrangements, Waterworks). She received her BS in Economics with honors from Duke University and her MBA with honors from the Stern School of Business.
John F. Ghingo (Advisory Board Chair) (MBA '00) was named CEO of Whisps, the nation’s leading brand of Cheese Crisps in January of 2022. He is responsible for all aspects of the company’s business and is charged with driving forward the company’s mission of putting real food and real cheese back in snacking. Prior to Whisps, Ghingo was president of Applegate, the nation’s leading natural and organic meat brand, where he led a comprehensive review and evolution of the business model. The new strategy, which led to a revamped supply chain, a new go-to-market model, a repositioning of the brand and increased innovation, drove the company to advance its mission of Changing The Meat We Eat while also delivering record financial results. Prior to Applegate, Ghingo led the Silk and So Delicious Dairy Free brands for The Whitewave Company as president of plant-based food and beverages in the highly competitive plant-based foods market. Before WhiteWave, Ghingo spent 17 years at Mondelēz International where he held several marketing leadership and general management positions. He managed several billion-dollar brands including Oreo, Cadbury and Trident. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame and earned his MBA from the Stern School of Business at NYU. Ghingo is on the national board of After-School All-Stars.
Samir Goel (BS '16) grew up in an immigrant family from New Delhi, India and witnessed the financial barriers and struggles his family faced as new residents in America. These experiences later inspired Samir and his Co-Founder to start Esusu under the premise that no matter where you come from, the color of your skin, or your financial identity it should not determine where you end up in life. Esusu’s platform provides renters the ability to build credit by paying rent, property management analytics, and rental assistance to unlock financial stability for renters and property owners. Most recently, Esusu was valued at $1 billion in their $130 million Series B round of fundraising. In 2021, Esusu was named to the Forbes Fintech 50 Most Innovative Companies List. Prior to Esusu, Samir Co-Founded Transfernation, a nationally recognized non-profit that used technology to direct excess food to underserved communities across New York City. Transfernation rescued over 5 million pounds of food and impacted nearly 2.5 million lives. Previously, Samir worked at LinkedIn across multiple divisions ultimately driving Sales Strategy & Operations for a $500m business unit across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). Samir also worked at The United Nations and Venture for America. Samir’s work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, Bloomberg, CNBC, USA Today, CNBC, Quartz, Fortune, Vice, Inc Magazine, Yahoo! Finance, Cheddar, and he was named to the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 list. In 2021, he was selected by Goldman Sachs as one of the “100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs.” He received his Bachelor of Science from New York University's Stern School of Business.
Bill Graham (MBA ’00) is a purpose driven leader with a track record of success building high performance teams and solving growth challenges across a diverse range of consumer product categories, including food, dairy, consumer healthcare, and beauty. Most recently as CEO Bel Brands USA, he led the transformation of the US business into a key growth engine for Bel’s global portfolio, including the creation and embedding of the company’s first-ever US sustainability strategy. Prior to Bel, Bill was the US CEO for MOM Group (GoGo squeeZ), supporting its founder in accelerating profitable growth and strengthening its commercial capabilities. He is the former President of Beiersdorf NA, and has held leadership positions at Novartis, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Unilever. Bill is currently the managing director of North Place Advisors, LLC, a firm focused on partnering with small to mid-size private CPG organizations, providing support, services, and mentoring to help maximize growth, profitability, and impact. He has previously served on several boards and advisory groups, including the national board of directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Bill graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and earned his MBA from the Stern School of Business at NYU.
Kevin O'Connell serves as PwC’s ESG Trust Solutions Practice and Global Asset & Wealth Management ESG Leader. In both roles at PwC, Kevin works with clients to implement strategies to improve their ESG reporting and communicate progress to their investors and other stakeholders. He advises clients as they lead with purpose and articulate their story and value to society. Kevin brings extensive experience in delivering ESG reporting strategy, materiality assessments, risk assessment, information governance and data quality, measurement, reporting and assurance services. He has more than 25+ years of internal controls reporting, risk management, and compliance experience serving large multinational financial services companies.