Meet the 2013-2014 Fritzky Leadership Fellows

Courtney Biggs

Courtney Biggs is a second-year MBA student at the Foster School of Business, focusing on Marketing and Finance. In addition to her role as a Leadership Fellow, she is a Peer Advisor, sits on the Board of the Diversity in Business Club, and serves a Board Fellow for Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest. She has a BA from Vassar College in Art History and Economics, and an MA in Art History from the University of Southern California. Prior to starting at Foster, she worked at the Honolulu Theatre for Youth.Courtney chose to participate in the Fritzky Leadership Fellows program because she found her Leadership Fellow to be a tremendously helpful resource during her first year of the MBA program, and would like to provide the same sort of help and guidance to incoming first year students this year. She is enthusiastic about providing her peers with opportunities to develop their leadership abilities, as well as utilizing the Fritzky Leadership Fellows program as an opportunity to nurture and grow her own leadership development.

Evan Daikoku

Originally from Seattle, Evan attended Claremont McKenna College, where he majored in organizational psychology and government. Prior to starting the MBA program at Foster, he worked for five years in Deloitte Consulting’s Human Capital practice in San Francisco and Seattle. This summer, Evan completed his internship at Nordstrom, as a member of the Corporate Strategy team leading multiple growth and innovation centered initiatives – including international expansion, capital budgeting, and customer service experience.He is honored to be a Leadership Fellow and is excited to serve as a resource for first year students and help develop their own leadership skills.

Joel Duck

Prior to enrolling in the Foster MBA program, Joel Duck received his Industrial Engineering degree in 2002 from Texas Tech University and moved to Seattle to begin his new life in the great Pacific Northwest.  He spent two years working in the WA district office for UPS in their management training program in Operations Excellence and as the Seattle Hub Industrial Engineer.  More recently, he spent 7 years working for Swagelok as a Key Account Manager, developing new business relationships with a variety of clients including Boeing, Puget Sound Energy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, and World CNG.  After graduating from the Foster MBA program he plans to pursue a career in Marketing and Consulting.Joel is excited and honored to be a part of the Fritzky Leadership Fellows and hopes to provide the same level of support he received from his fellows as a first year student.  He lives in West Seattle with his wife Collette and two clownish English bull terriers.  He enjoys playing guitar, Seahawk & Husky football, camping, grilling, aquariums, games of all sorts, and hosting great parties.

Luke Goodrich

Before returning to school, Luke was a Customer Strategy Consultant in the technology industry with Accenture Management Consulting. Luke also and managed multichannel marketing campaigns for an online retailer, and deployed twice to Iraq, where he was an infantry team leader in the Army. At Foster, Luke is focusing on marketing and entrepreneurship. During his internship, he determined the ideal market, and developed a commercialization plan, for an early-stage medical diagnostic technology. He is excited to be a Leadership Fellow to contribute to the Foster community, and to continue to develop his own leadership abilities.

Liza Green

A native of Virginia, Liza lived in Wyoming, Idaho, and Oregon before relocating to Seattle for business school. Her professional experience spans various industries, from restaurants to biotechnology and education. She is most passionate about the food industry, and spent her summer interning in brand management at Starbucks. In her second year at Foster she is a Leadership Fellow and president of Foster Foodies, among other things.She looks forward to developing her leadership skills in both of these roles, and is excited to serve as a resource for the incoming class at Foster!

Zach Gretch

Prior to joining the Foster MBA Program, Zach worked as a consultant for PwC’s Advisory Services practice. Focused in the technology sector, he led and supported a broad range of business initiatives in areas such as risk management, market research, mergers and acquisitions, and process improvement. While at Foster, Zach is focused on building his skill set in the areas of marketing and strategy. He completed his summer internship with a sales strategy team at Philips Healthcare.Zach views the Fritzky Leadership Fellows program as a special opportunity to work on developing both himself and others. His goals for the program include: expanding his leadership knowledge through studying the art and learning from others, building personal leadership skills and experience through interaction with his first year teams and peers, and supporting growth by recognizing and encouraging leadership qualities and behaviors in others.Away from business school, Zach invests his time primarily in sports, exercise, and family. He and his wife excitedly await the birth of their first child, due in February of 2014.

Dennis Grubbs

Dennis Grubbs is a lifelong Northwest resident and also earned his Bachelors Degree from the University of Washington.  Prior to coming back to Foster, Dennis worked in mortgage lending and then digital marketing at Microsoft.  In addition to taking on leadership roles in a number of clubs at Foster, Dennis is extremely honored to have been selected to take part in the Fritzky Leadership Fellows Program.He feels it will be a great opportunity to develop his leadership skills while also lending support to first-year students; something he appreciated having when he was a first year.  He is looking forward to this huge personal growth opportunity.

Kyle Hiatt

Kyle Hiatt is a former Army Officer who is focusing strategy and finance at Foster. He majored in international relations at Tufts University, and studied abroad in St. Petersburg, Russia. Kyle grew up in Rhode Island, but has spent time living all over the United States throughout his career in the Army, including Georgia, Kentucky, Arizona, Southern California, and Washington.  Kyle decided to stay in Washington because it is the place where he sweats the least.Kyle decided to get his MBA to facilitate his transition from a career in the military to a career in business.  At Foster, he is on the executive boards of the Operations Club, Consulting Society, and the Sports Business Club.  This past summer Kyle interned at Deloitte, consulting on a supply chain project at Wal-Mart Headquarters in Arkansas.  He hopes to be in a management position one day, where he can help his employees feel fulfilled and valued as members of a team. Kyle sees the Leadership Fellows program as the perfect opportunity to test his abilities to work with and mentor groups of individuals striving toward collective success.When he is not hanging out in Paccar Hall, Kyle enjoys spending time with his dogs, watching and playing sports, running, hiking, and exploring the city.

Alyssa Hochman

Prior to attending Foster, Alyssa spent close to seven years working as a Project Manager/Implementation Consultant at Epic, a healthcare software company based in Verona, Wisconsin.  She earned her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and was a 4-year varsity member of the Women’s Swim Team.  Alyssa is passionate about improving health-care delivery and is interested in the intersection between clinical care and technology.As a Fritzky Leadership Fellow, Alyssa endeavors to help and support first-year students as they navigate the MBA program. She is also interested in furthering her own leadership development and working with this year’s cohort of Leadership Fellows.

Andrew Kepley

Andrew comes to the Foster School of Business from his hometown of Washington DC. After graduating from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, Andrew worked for Deloitte Consulting. At Foster, Andrew is focused on opportunities that build upon the skills he developed as a consultant while furthering his interests of marketing, strategic planning, and leadership.Andrew spent his summer interning for Brooks Running where he focused on the organization’s culture as the path to innovation. As a Leadership Fellow, Andrew is excited to further his leadership abilities while having the chance to better connect with first year students.

Cecily Northup

Cici is a second-year MBA student at the Foster School of Business. Prior to attending Foster, Cici worked as a senior analyst for a market research and consulting firm in Portland, Oregon where she led custom, mixed-method, proprietary research projects for Fortune 500 healthcare and technology companies. She is hoping to pursue a career in marketing, strategy and/or business development following graduation. Cici holds a BA in psychology from Columbia University and enjoys playing soccer, hiking, and skiing.

Carlton Wilson

Before moving to Seattle in 2010, Carlton worked at an independent music label in his hometown of Washington, DC. He traveled the world as a tour manager, then became the COO of the label’s own music venue. After moving to Seattle, Carlton became a financial advisor primarily working with middle-income families.Carlton is concurrently pursing dual masters in Business and Health Care Administration, with a goal of working at a non-profit health care provider.  Over the summer he interned at Virginia Mason Medical Center, where he helped the Graduate Medical Education department prepare for new regulations in the training of resident physicians.As a Leadership Fellow, Carlton is looking forward to helping guide the incoming class through the fun and challenging process of growth here at Foster.  Additionally, Carlton is a member of the Honor Council, MBAA VP of Academic Affairs, as well as a board member of several student groups.  Trying to be a good Seattleite, Carlton spends his free time sailing, cycling, and running.

Learn more about the Leadership Fellows program here.