"In my experience and over the years, the BBSA has successfully maximized walking the line that allows them to remain distinctive while simultaneously being an integral part of the overall fabric of the Ross community. I can't imagine Ross without BBSA." – Al Cotrone Director of Student Affairs (RSB)
"The BBSA conference was wonderful - everyone I ran into had similar regards" -Jerry Brown, National City representative RSB MBA '03
Ross alumni are business leaders in various companies and industries across the globe. The BBSA is proud to highlight interviews with our prestigious club alumni. If you are a BBSA alumni and would like to be featured in a Where are They Now Interview, please email rossbbsa@umich.edu.
Agai Jones, Country Representative, Population Services International
Cecil Shepherd Project Manager, Morgan Stanley
Cecil Shepherd is an alumnus of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan MBA class of 2000, where he concentrated in finance. He is currently president of the Ross Alumni Club of NY, and a board member of the University of Michigan Alumni Club of New York City. Cecil is a member of the Ross Admissions Alumni Committee, and the Admissions Alumni Network. He currently works in the Institutional Securities Group at Morgan Stanley in New York.
While a student at Michigan, Cecil was elected vice-president of the Ross Student Government Association, and elected vice-president of the Ross Finance Club. He was also a member of the Black Business Students Association.
Cecil graduated from Pace University in New York in 1990, where he majored in finance. Upon completion of his undergraduate studies, Cecil joined Bear Stearns as a staff accountant in their Global Clearing Services department. He later became an accounting analyst in Global Capital Markets at the former Chase Manhattan Bank. Prior to enrolling in the Michigan MBA program in 1998, Cecil was a financial analyst in Corporate Financial Planning and Analysis at GE Capital.
Born in New York City, Cecil currently lives in Port Chester, NY. His 15 minutes of fame occurred in April 1997, when he was a contestant on "The Price is Right."
Describe a typical day. My typical day starts with a 4:45 a.m. alarm, and a 6:02 a.m. train ride to Manhattan. My morning global call is at 7:15 a.m., during which research analysts discuss the topics and issues of the day. Most of my day is spent speaking with our hedge fund clients, either on the phone or at their offices. The rest of my day is spent speaking with various internal parties.
What advice would you give to students interested in your field? My advice to students interested in financial services on Wall Street is to perform due diligence, thoroughly investigating the business models and cultures of each of the securities firms and banks, and speaking with as many people as possible at the various institutions in order to determine which place would be most appropriate for them.
What are your goals as NY alumni club president this year? Our goals for the NY alumni club include acclimating our newest members from the class of 2006 to New York City, enhancing our relationship with our sister club representing Michigan alumni from LS&A, Law, etc., and enhancing our relationship with the New York Business School Club (NYBSC), which includes alumni members from some of the other top business schools, such as Wharton, Chicago, Columbia, and Harvard.
What is your favorite quote? "Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind." John F. Kennedy
What do you do in your spare time? My hobbies include photography, playing softball, and watching football.
What is your fondest memory of Michigan? My fondest memory of Michigan include attending my first Michigan football game (vs. Iowa, 10/18/97), and helping run my first Finance Club meeting in September 1999, when over 150 students showed up. Also, the Naked Mile, and one of my professors actually singing to the class, were memorable events.
Stacey D. Stewart
President and CEO, Fannie Mae Foundation
Stacey D. Stewart leads the country's largest foundation devoted to increasing the supply of homes for those who need them the most. Under her leadership, the Fannie Mae Foundation helps make homeownership a reality for millions of American families. The Foundation's mission is to create affordable homeownership and housing opportunities through innovative partnerships and initiatives that build healthy, vibrant communities across the country. Stacey became president and chief executive officer in September 1999.
Stacey oversees a team of 75 professionals, and under her direction, the Fannie Mae Foundation has become one of the largest private foundations in the country.
From 1995 to 1999, Stacey served as vice president of Housing and Community Development in Fannie Mae's southeastern regional office in Atlanta. There, she was responsible for implementing low- and moderate-income home-buyer programs, such as the Trillion Dollar Commitment Initiative, Fannie Mae's pledge to help 10 million families buy homes of their own by the year 2000, which operated in 11 states. Stacey was responsible for opening nine partnership offices. She began her career at Fannie Mae in 1992 and was director of regional public affairs in the southeastern region until 1995.
Prior to joining Fannie Mae, Stacey was an investment banker for five years—first with Merrill Lynch in its public finance division, where she assisted state and local governments in structuring more than $2 billion in senior-managed bond transactions to fund vital housing and infrastructure projects. She then joined the investment-banking firm Pryor McClendon Counts in Atlanta as a vice president.
Stacey earned an A.B. in economics from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan Graduate School of Business Administration.
What advice would you give to current business students interested in your field? Focus on your passion, and choose a field of work that will make you wake up and enjoy going to your job every day of your life.
What made Michigan business school (Ross) a special experience for you? Ross produces more well-rounded individuals than do most business schools. By the time I graduated, I felt I had with a fuller, more complete understanding of the American business world than my colleagues who attended other business schools. In addition, I appreciated the diversity of Ross and found it to be a good place to learn.
What are the challenges/rewards of your current position? In my position as head of the Fannie Mae Foundation, my passion provides direction. My passion is the source of the vision I bring to the challenges we face.
My preparation, on the other hand, enables me to pursue this passion effectively. It is my knowledge of finance and markets, which I gained at the University of Michigan, which enables me to understand the ins and outs of social change. When necessary, I can be a detached numbers geek. And, I can speak with authority about the economic consequences of policies that are unfair to women and minorities and people at the lower end of the economic scale. My head serves my heart. And I am one of those lucky people who can go home each night feeling good about the work I do.
The biggest reward of my job is being able to have a positive impact on the lives of people all over the country by ensuring that they have safe, decent and affordable housing. One of the biggest challenges is that philanthropy is not an exact science. In fact, it’s an art – and one that does not always show you the immediate impact of your work.
What is your favorite quote? I like one by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, author of The Little Prince among other books, who said:
"If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."
Tommy Hillman is an alumnus of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan MBA class of 2000, where he concentrated in marketing. While a student at Michigan, Tommy was elected vice-president of the Ross Marketing Club, and he was also an active member of the Black Business Students Association.
Tommy currently works in the Bakeries and Foodservice Division of General Mills, as the Marketing Manager for the Bakery Ingredients Business. During his 6 year tenure at General Mills, Tommy has worked on a variety of businesses within the Cereal, Snacks, and Pillsbury Divisions. He also served as the president for the Black Champions Network, which is the General Mills employee network for African-American professionals.
Tommy earned his undergraduate degree from The University of Virginia in 1995, where he majored in economics. Upon completion of his undergraduate studies, Tommy joined the Phoenix Home Life and Mutual Company as a Branch Office Manager. He was responsible for the Northeast brokerage operation, which was located in Northern New Jersey.
Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Tommy currently lives in Plymouth, Minnesota with his wife Evelena and his 2 year old daughter Olivia. He enjoys playing golf, and spending time with his family and friends.
What is your fondest memory of the BBSA and of Ross? The lifelong friendships that I formed
What distinguishes Ross graduates from those of other business schools? Leadership ability and ability to relate to different types of people
Describe a typical day. There is no "typical" day, but my days are a combination of strategy building and project execution. I interact a great deal with my cross-functional teams.
What are the rewards / challenges of your position? The rotational nature of my position provides me with a wide breadth of experience, but the biggest challenge is to constantly learn new businesses
If you knew at graduation what you knew now, how would you change the first year of your post-MBA work experience? I would have done more to assert myself as a strategic leader. I was probably a little too execution-focused in my first assignment.
Which is more important – having the perfect functional position or the perfect manager? I actually think the manager can be more important, because they are so instrumental in your development. You can benefit more from a great manager in a mediocre assignment, than you can from a mediocre manager in a great assignment.
What ‘guidelines have you adopted that make you successful in your personal/professional life. I try to keep a positive attitude and I don't sweat the "little" things. It's important to let people see your personality and enjoy what you do.
What is your favorite quote? "What appears as failure is merely a stepping stone to realizing success". A friend sent me a card with that quote when I was going through a tough time, and it stuck with me.
What do you do in your spare time? Spend time with my family - I have a wife and a 2 year old daughter. I also love sports - golf, football, basketball, and baseball. I either watch of participate at a recreational level.
Agai Jones
Country Representative, Population Services International
Agai Jones, a native Washingtonian, graduated from the School Without Walls High School and went on to complete his undergraduate degree in chemistry at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. After finishing Morehouse, he served for two years as a Secondary Education, US Peace Corps volunteer in Luderita, Namibia where he taught physics and chemistry to 9th and 10th graders. He also taught English as a second language to 12th grade students.
After completing his Peace Corps service in Namibia, he returned to the United States and worked for AARP before earning a Master’s in Business Administration from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 2003. His area of focus was Corporate Strategy and International Business. Currently he is living in Ezulwini, Swaziland and working in AIDS prevention for PSI.
Agai has worked in over nine African Countries; he especially loves Southern Africa. He enjoys jazz, DC summers, homecomings, family celebrations and Covenant Baptist Church located in Washington, DC. He dislikes "blissfully contented ignorance, kleptocracy and gum under tables and on the pavement." The one thing that he knows for sure is that "God is and all is possible with faith, planning and action."
Over the next few years, Agai hopes to transition from health development into economic development and entrepreneurship. He also plans to own property in at least two counties in Southern Africa. He believes that "family businesses are viable and necessary and that we must support them!" Additionally, Agai believes that "Africa needs our talents and contributions, and for those willing to educate and humble themselves, the possibilities are limitless!"
What is your fondest memory of the BBSA and of Ross? Fondest BBSA memory - informal gatherings - Halloween Parties, club house parties and interaction with alums, prospective and peers at BBSA conference; Ross in generally - fondest memory was IMAP - Kenya and bible studies with Ken and Ruth
What distinguishes Ross graduates from those of other business schools? Higher EQ. Ross graduates typically have enhanced emotional intelligence to go along with strong academic performance. We are more likely to be effective from Day 1 – tenure.
What are the challenges of your position? PSI works to change behavior and increase informed demand for health products and services. My greatest challenges are not becoming overwhelmed in the face of vast and complex factors that negatively impact health seeking behavior, staying focused on building the capacities and capabilities of our team and balancing between local context and international demands. My greatest rewards have been participating in the development of staff and contributing to measurable health impact.
What is your long term career goal? Global philanthropy
If you knew at graduation what you know now, how would you have changed the first year of your post MBA – experience? I would have negotiated more; I chose the right organization and the right functional experience, but should have stretched out the contract negotiations to be more win-win.
What advice would you give to current business students interested in your field? International Development requires strong business fundamentals, keep your notes from operations management and human resources, you will refer to them. Spend six months to a year learning the culture of the organization before going abroad. This will help you recognize what request are important versus simply urgent.
What guidelines have you adopted that make you successful in your personal/ professional life? Define your values and allow them to speak through your actions
What book(s) would you recommend reading? Good to Great, Jim Collins and Mis-Education of the Negro - Carter G. Woodson
What do you do in your spare time? More work, actually I read BE, the economist and Dwell, also I work on creating community wherever I am
