When applying to an elite MBA program, you should have elite experience on your side. Each member of our team is an MBA and a published author who will help you convey your distinctiveness as a candidate. As you write your MBA application, having a true communicator helping you craft your personal message is key.
Jeremy Shinewald, Founder/President
Prior to founding mbaMission, Jeremy was the sole speechwriter for the Ambassador of Israel to the United States, for whom he wrote more than 70 policy addresses. As his speeches were being published in the Washington Post, Washington Times and other major international media outlets, Jeremy was also laying the foundation for mbaMission, helping a small number of applicants gain acceptance to top-tier MBA programs each year. Jeremy was admitted to several top domestic and international MBA programs himself and ultimately became one of the youngest members of his class at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, where he was an admissions interviewer, wrote a Business Ethics case and a Small Business Acquisitions case and was chosen by his peers to be Class Graduation Speaker.
After graduation, Jeremy formally established mbaMission and has subsequently provided admissions consulting services to applicants from the United States and more than 30 other countries on six continents. Jeremy is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC), an organization committed to upholding the highest standards of ethical practices in MBA advisory services, and was the Co-Chair of the 2009 AIGAC Conference at Columbia Business School.
Monica Carpenter-Okrah, Senior Consultant
While at Harvard Business School (HBS), Monica was a Board Member of Harbus News Corporation and a member of the team that wrote 65 Successful Harvard Business School Application Essays (published by St. Martin's Press in 2004), a collection of essays and critiques that provide an inside view into the broad range of writing styles and creative content in successful HBS application essays. Before joining mbaMission, Monica was a member of a start-up team at Red Ventures, an Internet marketing firm that launched an e-commerce business as the direct-to-consumer marketing partner of Sirius Satellite Radio. Prior to business school, Monica was an associate at Rice Financial Products Company, an innovative derivatives boutique in New York City, and an investment banking analyst at JPMorgan Securities, where she assisted nonprofit hospitals with their capital market needs. Monica volunteers with the HBS Alumni Club of Charlotte, North Carolina, and serves as the Chief Marketing Officer of the 700+ member alumni club.
Angela Guido, Senior Consultant
While studying philosophy at Yale, Angela managed the Yale Record, the nation's oldest college humor magazine. Upon graduating, she moved to South Korea, where, in addition to writing for multiple local publications, she taught English as a second language and coordinated writing and communications training programs at KPMG Korea. Angela joined the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) after completing her MBA at the University of Chicago, where she was named a Siebel Scholar and served on the Dean's Student Admissions Committee. During her two years as a consultant at BCG, Angela participated in writing Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the New Consumer, a bestselling book by Michael Silverstein. Following her years as a consultant, Angela served as Women's Initiative Captain and Recruiting Manager for BCG. In that role, she reviewed resumes, conducted case interview preparation sessions and led workshops for hundreds of candidates to help them better tell their personal stories in interviews.
Akiba Smith-Francis, Senior Consultant
After graduating from Harvard College, Akiba worked as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company. Although she worked with a variety of clients across many sectors, her work focused on the firm's Nonprofit Practice. She then returned to Harvard, where she received a joint MBA/MPA from HBS and the Kennedy School of Government. She has contributed articles on finance for Moxy, a magazine for young professional women. Akiba is one of the founding members of the Board of Directors of Cool Kids Learn, Inc., which provides academic enrichment programs that help children build the love of learning they need to succeed in school and in life. She was also a founding member of the Smith Leadership Academy (no relation), a charter school in Boston.
Deb Freier, Senior Consultant
Deb is a recent graduate of the MBA program at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She was a recipient of Wharton's merit-based Kaiser Family Foundation Scholarship. Prior to Wharton, she worked for several years as a research associate in the Strategy department at Harvard Business School, where she collaborated with professors to author eighteen cases and articles for MBA and Executive Education courses. She also worked at Tufts Health Plan, where she authored research briefs and presentations for the company's President and other senior executives. Deb is the coauthor of a book called Auditing and Accounting Cases: Investigating Issues of Fraud and Professional Ethics, which will be published by McGraw-Hill in 2011.
Adam Grossman, Senior Consultant
Adam recently received his MBA from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University. While at Stern, Adam founded the Government and Business Association (GBA), the first school sanctioned professional club at Stern in five years. GBA events included panel discussions with Congressman Anthony Weiner on healthcare legislation and Nouriel Roubini on the recent economic downturn and potential recovery. He was also a contributing writer to The Stern Opportunity on issues relating to government and business and a marketing intern for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League. Prior to attending business school, Adam worked in strategy consulting for the Huron Consulting Group and Hudson Talent Management. Adam completed his undergraduate degree at Northwestern University where he was a goalkeeper for the Northwestern University men's soccer team and a reporter for The Daily Northwestern. He is also a credited draft reviewer for The Elusive Fan: Reinventing Sports In A Crowded Marketplace by Irving Rein, Philip Kotler, and Ben Shields and is currently working with the authors on a second edition of the book.
Laura Nelson, Senior Consultant
Laura graduated with University Honors from Carnegie Mellon University and moved to Los Angeles soon after to pursue a career in entertainment, where she worked in film development with MGM Studios and talent management with Brillstein Entertainment Partners. Laura won a Ross Distinguished Scholar Award to pursue an MBA at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, where she concentrated in marketing and corporate strategy. While at Ross, she collaborated on projects with Coors Brewing Company and Ford Motor Company, served as President of the Entertainment & Media Club, and was the only graduate student member of the University of Michigan Club Varsity Synchronized Figure Skating Team, which placed 4th nationally in 2008. She also served as a Ross Student Ambassador and as a member of the Admissions Committee, responsible for reviewing applications and interviewing prospective MBA students. Nelson currently serves as a business development manager and editor of a Chicago-based monthly publication and tutors GMAT students.
Regan Clarke, Senior Consultant
Regan has an undergraduate degree from Cornell University and an MBA from The Wharton School. While at Wharton, she served as external affairs director of the Marketing Club, responsible for all marketing communication pieces between Wharton students and alumni. She was also an active member of the Wharton Global Consulting Practicum, helping international clients develop business plans for market entry and operations in the United States. Upon completing her MBA, Regan, who had been a consultant with Accenture before attending Wharton, pursued a career in brand management, first at Colgate Palmolive and later at Victoria's Secret Beauty. At Colgate, Regan led the redesign of the Murphy's Oil Soap Web site and was responsible for creating and editing the new site copy. She also focused on developing compelling, new, 360-degree external marketing communication pieces for Murphy's Oils soap and Suavitel. At Victoria's Secret Beauty, Regan led the launch of Beach Sexy, the company's suncare line, working on everything from brand positioning to packaging to product copy. Regan is also the executive director of a third-generation family real estate business. After helping numerous candidates successfully gain admission to top business schools for five years in an unofficial capacity, Regan joined the mbaMission team to pursue this passion full-time.
Lynn Moloney, Senior Consultant
Lynn has spent more than 15 years in the New York media industry, working for both magazines and Internet publications. She spent five years as a managing editor for the business magazines Fast Company and Inc. and for the luxury-lifestyle Lexus magazine. She started her magazine career with several years in the editorial department of Vanity Fair, then served as editor of the Gourmet section of Epicurious.com. Side projects during this time included penning a column for the New York Post and serving as co-publisher/co-editor of the start-up magazine Tart. Lynn also worked in brand marketing for Internet start-ups, serving as corporate marking director of publicly traded Mail.com and then running her own marketing consultancy. She has a BA magna cum laude from Bowdoin College and an MBA from HBS and resides in New York City.
Helena Plater-Zyberk, Senior Consultant
A management consultant turned business journalist turned MBA and marketing pro, Helena is the published author of 100+ newspaper, magazine, and journal articles on consumer trends, global trade and investment, international security cooperation, technology policy, and social entrepreneurship. She holds a BA in International Relations and Economics from American University and an MBA from Columbia Business School, where she was Managing Editor of the Chazen Web Journal of International Business. After b-school, she joined the startup team that launched the business magazine Condé Nast Portfolio. Her other favorite accomplishments? She's trekked to Mt. Everest base camp, interviewed four prime ministers and, once upon a time, snapped a photograph of Fidel Castro standing just 10 feet from her.
Jessica Shklar, Senior Consultant
Jessica Shklar completed her MBA with distinction from HBS. Since then, she has worked at several Fortune 100 companies, including American Express and JPMorgan Chase, where she was the quality leader and a senior vice president for Chase Home Finance. Jessica is also a Six Sigma Master Black Belt, with specific expertise in Six Sigma deployment and initialization. She graduated from Harvard College with a degree in anthropology. Between college and business school, she was the admissions advisor at a small university in Los Angeles, where she worked closely with undergraduate, business school and other graduate school applicants throughout the admissions process. She also developed and delivered workshops for students across the country on how to write effective application essays and has written admissions materials, marketing brochures and articles.
Erin Foley Schuhmacher, Senior Consultant
Having been admitted to several top MBA programs, Erin ultimately chose to attend HBS. While at HBS, Erin completed an independent study for a national retail franchise and served as an ambassador for the Admissions Committee, hosting prospectives, leading campus-wide information sessions and participating in Q&A conference calls for newly admitted students. Before business school, Erin was a research associate for Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette and Banc of America Securities, where she authored and edited white papers on the retail industry. Most recently, Erin worked at Financial Risk Management, a London-based fund of hedge funds company, where she performed due diligence on hedge fund investments and produced qualitative research reports used by the firm's investment committee and institutional clients. Erin was a founding member of the NYC Young Professionals Council of Upwardly Global, a nonprofit organization devoted to serving the needs of legal, professionally trained immigrants, and currently volunteers at Covenant House.
Yael Melamed, Senior Consultant
After being admitted to Harvard for both law and business school, Yael decided to pursue her MBA. At HBS, she was president of the Luxury Goods and Design Business Club and helped edit "Gretta Enterprises," a LEAD case. Prior to HBS, Yael was a management consultant in Accenture's media & entertainment practice. After graduating from HBS, she went to work as director of marketing at Estée Lauder's Bumble & Bumble, a luxury hair care company, where she created a turnaround strategy for Bb.Treatment, a failing sub-brand. At Bumble, Yael was responsible for packaging and collateral copy, and she edited the Business Review, an internal publication with distribution of 20,000. Most recently, she launched a consultancy that advised domestic and international beauty clients on marketing strategies. Yael is a founding board member of Roseann's Gift, a national charity established in honor of her best friend's mother, with the mission of increasing funding to detect lung cancer at its earliest and most treatable stages.
Sara Cherlin, Senior Consultant
Sara holds an MBA from HBS and a BS in global management from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. Since completing her MBA in 2005, Sara has worked in brand management at Procter & Gamble. Before business school, she was a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group and a marketing manager at Mercer HR Consulting. Sara's international career has found her living in China, Mexico, Costa Rica and Spain; she is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan and Mandarin Chinese. A passionate nonfiction writer, Sara was a key contributor and editor of the book 65 Successful Harvard Business School Application Essays. Currently, she resides in Los Angeles, volunteers with the high school exchange program AFS and studies French.
Pamela Jaffe, Senior Consultant
After graduating from Smith College, where she worked as Layout Editor and staff writer for The Sophian, the weekly college newspaper, Pamela moved to New York to pursue a career in advertising. She spent several years developing the communication for major international brands in both the United States and abroad. As Associate International Brand Director for one of Nestlé's global agencies in Paris, she focused on the development of water communications, specializing in the Middle Eastern region. Wishing to transition careers, Pamela returned to the United States to attend Columbia Business School and eventually became a strategy consultant at BearingPoint, where she again had the opportunity to work abroad — this time in Asia. Pamela currently resides in New York City. Several of her business school admissions essays have been published by Vault.
Brian Eng, Senior Consultant
Brian Eng earned his MBA from The Wharton School, where he mentored first-year MBA candidates as a Leadership Fellow, was part of the winning team in the AOL Case Competition and was selected by his cohort as its Graduation Marshal. Prior to earning his MBA, Brian worked as a writer and producer for multiple national public affairs television programs, including "McLaughlin's One on One" and the Emmy Award-winning "The McLaughlin Group," and as a management consultant. Since Wharton, Brian has served in business development roles for MTV Networks and Microsoft in New York. He wrote the mbaMission Insider's Guide to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
The mbaMission Content Team
Seamane Flanagan, Director of Content/Consultant
Seamane has been a professional editor and copy writer for more than 16 years, with an emphasis on marketing and nonfiction texts. After graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Washington and Lee University, she was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to teach English in France. Seamane has since worked for such organizations as Thomson Financial, Smarter Travel Media, RTI International, American Book Publishing, Rookwood Press, CFA Institute and Decision Resources, in addition to numerous smaller clients, on a wide variety of electronic and print materials, from high-worth government proposals and grant applications to literary criticism to financial, medical and market research. She was also a communications specialist at The Darden School at the University of Virginia, supporting, among others, the admissions department, for which she wrote and produced all marketing pieces and oversaw all significant media interaction. As mbaMission's Director of Content, Seamane is project manager/managing editor for the Complete Start-to-Finish Guide and all 14 Insider's Guides.
Daniel Richards, Senior Consultant/Message Board Response Team
Daniel Richards earned his Bachelor's degree in journalism from Northwestern University in 2001 and his MBA from Columbia Business School in May 2008. He is currently a senior manager at American Express, specializing in digital marketing for small businesses. Prior to earning his MBA, Daniel lived in Washington, D.C., where he spent three years as an editor at SmartBrief Inc., a publishing company specializing in e-mail newsletters for trade associations. At SmartBrief, Daniel worked closely with many of D.C.'s top lobbying groups, including the National Retail Federation, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Restaurant Association. Daniel has also been a member of the editorial staffs of Washingtonian magazine and Moment magazine. Daniel authored the initial Insider's Guide to Columbia Business School.
Jennifer Houston, Senior Consultant/Message Board Response Team
Jennifer Houston was admitted to several top domestic business schools and chose to attend Harvard Business School, where she graduated with distinction in 2005. While at HBS, she coauthored a business strategy case on consumer package goods in India and was active in HBS's volunteer consulting organization. Prior to earning her MBA, Jennifer worked as a strategy consultant for Bain & Company and The Bridgespan Group and as a manager at the Dallas Museum of Natural History. After graduating from HBS, Jennifer received a Service Leadership Fellowship, through which she worked with the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. She is currently the director of strategic initiatives with the Museum of Nature & Science in Dallas, where she is project manager for the development of the city's new science museum.
Benjamin Shinewald, Editorial Consultant
As a result of his unusual and diverse career, Benjamin Shinewald has developed outstanding writing and editing skills. Benjamin earned a Master's degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics, where he sat on the editorial board of the Millennium Journal of International Studies, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Toronto (Canada's top law school), where he was an assistant editor of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review. As a practicing lawyer and an English-language law clerk to the Chief Justice of Israel, Benjamin developed a keen eye for detail and a powerful ability for crafting arguments. Benjamin's most recent positions include working as a senior analyst to the Prime Minister of Canada, a position that has required him to write dozens of briefing notes to two Prime Ministers—and one that has further honed his ability to write effectively. Benjamin's published work has appeared in a variety of leading newspapers. Benjamin collaborated on the first version of the mbaMission Complete Start-to-Finish guide and has since been an editorial consultant on all mbaMission guides.