M&T Bank Center for Women and Business Podcast

In today's episode, Rachel speaks with Alison Witherspoon, Ed.D., the Director of Lifelong Learning at Quinnipiac University. She introduces the new department of Lifelong Learning to our listeners, explains her role/ responsibilities, and gives some great advice. Alison was welcomed as the Department's first director in Spring 2022. The Department of Lifelong Learning has been established to advance Quinnipiac’s commitment to building the university of the future by developing and bringing to life a university-wide lifelong learning strategy. Working alongside QU faculty, staff, and administrators as well as community and business leaders, Alison is charged with identifying and developing flexible, effective learning solutions that serve professional career needs including building systems, processes, and policies to foster agility in meeting market demands. This includes availability of digital credentials such as badges, professional certifications, continuing education, corporate education, and executive education, as well as supporting the ongoing professional growth of the QU alumni community.

To connect with Alison:

In today's episode, our guest Gabby Ceccolini, Founder of CORE Patients, discusses its development and benefits. Gabby is currently the Director of Standardized Patient & Assessment Center at Quinnipiac University Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine. She graduated from Quinnipiac University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Master of Science in Organizational Leadership. She has worked in medical education for 9 years teaching Quinnipiac Medical, Nursing, and Health Science students the benefits of patient centered communication. Through her experience with medical education, she developed the idea of CORE Patients which teaches simple and smart healthcare communication for patients to have a successful medical visit. There is research data that supports the benefits of effective communication on health outcomes for patients. In order for patient centered care to be most successful, the patient needs to take responsibility for effective communication during the medical visit. Gabby will be running a CORE Patients workshop at Quinnipiac University on September 30, 2022. 

To connect with Gabby:

Email: [email protected]

Talking to Your Doctor, Become a Successful Patient Workshop

Date: September 30, 2022

Location: MNH 105 or Zoom

You can register through our linktree on our Instagram and the link can be found on our LinkedIn

Today's episode features Nancy Dudchik who is the President of the Hamden Regional Chamber of Commerce. Rachel and Nancy discussed the future collaboration between PUCWB and the Hamden Regional Chamber of Commerce as well as Nancy's experiences/ background. Since becoming President in 2004, she has been committed to helping members connect and grow their businesses. Nancy is on the Board of Directors for the New England Association of Chamber Executives (NEACCE) and the Steering Committee for PUCWB. 

The Hamden Regional Chamber has been one of the region's powerful economic drivers since 1925. They have over 400 members and continue to welcome businesses from Hamden, North Haven, Cheshire, Wallingford, New Haven and surrounding areas. 

In today’s episode, Rachel has a conversation with 2021-2022 PUCWB Research Award recipient, Megan Leubner. Megan gave us an update on her research progress, gave advice on how to present, and so much more!

Megan Leubner is a third-year medical student at the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University. She graduated summa cum laude from Brandeis University in 2018, earning her B.S. in Neuroscience and Biology and a minor in Health Policy. She has served those experiencing homelessness through extensive volunteer work at the Columbus House and as the executive director of Quinnipiac’s free student clinic. She is also passionate about researching social inequities and is currently conducting a study to better understand the health needs and barriers to care for those experiencing homelessness in New Haven. She has been recognized for her dedication to this field through grant support of her research and has been selected to speak at the Connecticut Public Health Association’s annual conference both this year and last year. Megan is determined to address the stigma of substance use disorders and learn the art of compassionate, person-centered addiction treatment. This past summer she was selected to attend the Summer Institute for Medical Students, an immersive training program in addiction medicine hosted by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. You will commonly find her volunteering as an outreach worker at soup kitchens, mobile needle exchanges, and street medicine teams in New Haven.

Her primary goal is to serve as an advocate for all of her future patients, regardless of their ability to pay, and to help build an equitable health system through research and policy. Her special topics of interest include street medicine, addiction treatment, and harm reduction.

To get in contact with Megan:

LinkedIn: Megan Leubner 

Email: [email protected]

In today’s episode, Rachel interviews Hannah Del Vecchio from Goldman Sachs. They discussed a wide variety of topics including the importance of mentorship, and the most rewarding parts of her role. 

Hannah Del Vecchio is a Vice President in the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs.  During her time at Goldman, she has worked within Transaction Banking as a Client Relationship Manager and Onboarding Specialist, and shares her passion of serving and being a dedicated advocate for her clients.  As a leader and role model in her community, Hannah continuously works to create positive change as a mentor by actively helping students achieve their aspirations and identify opportunities for their success. She enjoys sharing her eclectic set of experiences and encourages others to use their experiences combined with a positive growth mindset, grit, and perseverance to be fearless in achieving their dreams. Hannah holds a degree in Business Administration with a minor in Accounting from Albertus Magnus College.

To connect with Hannah:

LinkedIn: Hannah Del Vecchio

Today’s episode features Emily Diaz and Ana Allen who are the two student recipients of the PUCWB Research Award. This award will go towards their research that aligns with our mission, “To provide opportunities for women to achieve their professional goals as well as to build a community focused on achieving those goals consistent with their personal values. This community is comprised of women and their allies committed to life-long learning who are eager to share and includes the external community, students, alumni, faculty, and staff. Our center is devoted to preparing our community for enlightened and engaged citizenship.” Emily and Ana joins us in this episode to discuss how they got involved with their research at Quinnipiac, what they are most excited about with their research project, and provided advice for students who are interested in doing research.

Ana Allen is a 22-year-old researcher with a B.A in political science and a B.S in psychology who graduated from Quinnipiac University in May 2022. She has a passion for understanding the inter-workings of traumas effect on minority communities and finding ethical ways of implementing better ways to deal with it. Post-grad, she is looking to work in both psychology and law/ politics.

Ana’s research: Racism and Psychological Well-Being: A Study on the Efficacy of Coping Strategies as a Buffer Against Race-Based Trauma in the Black Community

Emily is a rising third-year student majoring in Political Science, with a minor in Women and Gender Studies. At Quinnipiac, she is the president of Latino cultural society and the treasurer of Indigenous Student Union. A fun fact about her is she speaks 3 languages!

Emily’s research: Mapuche Resistance: Decolonizing histories of Gender

Today's episode features Stephanie Miller from Quinnipiac's School of Business. Dr. Miller is a professor of Accounting and a Certified Public Accountant. She has a strong educational background as she graduated from Fordham University with a B.S. in Accounting as salutatorian, an M.A. from Boston University in Economics, and a PhD from Yale University. Dr. Miller has experience in working papers, presentations, and professional & community service. 

She joins us in this episode to discuss her background and how she decided to pursue a PhD. Dr. Miller provides us with advice on how she destresses even with multiple roles in addition to being a professor and offers tips to college students. She touches on the most rewarding parts of her career and what she hopes her students gain from taking her courses. 

Special thank you to Dr. Miller for recording with us!

To get in contact with Dr. Miller:

This episode features Emily DiMiceli! We discussed her career, experiences, and she shared a lot of valuable advice. 

Emily DiMiceli most recently served as COO of the Data and Analytics Division of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), following LSEG’s acquisition of Refinitiv in 2021. Prior to that, she was Chief Customer Operations Officer of Refinitiv and a member of the Refinitiv Executive Committee, leading a team of over 9,500 professionals globally. Emily has experience leading large-scale, global and multi-functional transformational change initiatives to drive growth. Her experience includes rewiring all aspects of customer-facing operations, including pricing operations, data production, marketing, sales operations and support to create lasting customer and business impact. Emily is passionate about developing future leaders, creating a growth mindset in her teams, and encouraging global and inclusive ways of working to create great company cultures. Emily is a graduate of Brown University and the Harvard Business School and lives in Connecticut with her husband, two daughters and a couple of hilarious dogs. She likes playing games and doing crafts with her family in her spare time.

To connect with Emily:

LinkedIn: Emily DiMiceli

Welcome back to the People's United Center for Women & Business Podcast! I'm Rachel and this is our first episode of the summer. It is also my first podcast as the new Student Engagement Intern! 

Today's episode features Shanicka Reynolds and Zania Johnson! We discussed Eat Well. Be Well., preventative medicine & nutrition, tips on how to purse your passion, and so much more! 

Shanicka Reynolds is a recent graduate of Quinnipiac University Frank H. Netter School of Medicine. She is the founder of Eat Well. Be Well, an application that focuses on culturally centered nutrition as preventative medicine. The recent funding awarded to her from the QU Pitch Competition has allowed her the opportunity to actualize her vision. She will be starting her residency at Yale New Haven Health this summer where she will continue to develop Eat Well. Be Well. Her goal is to work with underrepresented communities, chefs, and healthcare professionals to ensure that recipes are culturally sensitive, nutritious, and delicious!

To get in contact with Shanicka:

Email: [email protected]

Zania Johnson is the Co-Founder of Micro2life LLC. Established in 2018, Micro2life is an agricultural business that focuses on growing and selling organic microgreens and vegetables to the local community. Outside of her business, Zania received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences and a Masters of Science in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Connecticut. After completing her master's degree, Zania participated in an AmeriCorps program called FoodCorps, where she was a service member for Hartford Public Schools. Through her teaching, she helped over 300 students understand nutrition through hands-on lessons and encouraged them to try new foods using both in-classroom and school-wide cafeteria taste tests. Zania developed science-based nutrition lessons for grades pre-K-8, tailored specifically for each age group, geared to stimulate an understanding of the effects of food consumption on the human body. Her creative approach to writing nutrition-based lessons has given her the ability to teach children a complex science concept while making it applicable to their in-class learning objectives. Zania is a member of the Farm to School Collaborative in CT, a working group member for the CT Department of Agriculture Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Access to Secure Land Tenure, and a member of the New England Farm to ECE Steering Committee. She is passionate about medicine and educating people on the importance of food consumption on health and behavior. She is excited to be a collaborator for Eat Well. Be Well., as it aligns with her interest in community health education and preventive medicine.

To get in contact with Zania:

Email: [email protected]

Today's episode is featuring Jeanna Doherty! Jeanna serves as the coordinating partner on a variety of clients at Ernst & Young. Including several multibillion-dollar health systems, academic medical centers, teaching hospitals and other organizations. Ernst & Young provides professional services, and the company offers assurance, audit, tax, financial, and business consultant services to a variety of clients in various industries.

Jeanna has a comprehensive understanding of the challenges facing health organizations throughout the Northeast and across the country, with experience ranging from financial statements audits to business advisory services such as financial feasibility studies, capital financing projections, policy and procedure reviews, and merger and acquisition due diligence.

 In today's episode we discuss her career journey, how passion fuels her work, and obstacles she has encountered through balancing family, personal, and professional life. We also talk through some tips for our viewers and some advice for people entering the industry! 

To get in contact with Jeanna:

Email: [email protected] 

Linked in: @Jeanna Doherty