Monica Caldas ’01 of General Electric Transportation was the joint winner of the Digital Leader of the Year award at the Women in IT Awards USA.  Ms. Caldas leads a team of more than 300 professionals who provide software, analytics, process improvement and productivity solutions for GE Transportation and its customers in the railroad, mining, marine, stationary power, drilling and energy storage industries.  She also serves a co-executive sponsor of the GE GIRLS program that connects middle school girls with universities to educate them about career opportunities IN STEM.

Susan Martinelli ’01 MSA has been appointed President of the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants (CTCPA).  Currently, Ms. Martinelli is the managing partner of the New Haven office of RSM US LLP.

Dianna Goode ’03 MBA has been appointed Executive Director of The Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling (CCPG).  Ms. Goode brings 25 years of leadership and passion in the non-profit section to this important work.  Previously, she held executive-level positions with Foodshare, Gifts of Love, and Operation Fuel.  Her commitment to her community is demonstrated by her service as a board member for the Community Farm of Simsbury, Gackstatter Family Foundation, Avon Land Trust, and Farmington River Watershed.

Davon Roberts ’06 credits his engagement in the Friday Night Youth Program at Bible Baptist Church of Hasbrouck Heights with steering him towards college.  He is working on developing an evening program to keep youth safe in Paterson, New Jersey.  Mr. Roberts received his Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from UConn, his MBA from University of Hartford and is on his third year in earning a law degree from Rutgers University.  He currently works as a risk manager for Japanese multinational Ricoh USA.

Gregory D. Smith, ’03, ’09 JD has been named Chief Operating Officer of Cutler Capital Management LLC, an investment management firm.  Mr. Smith previously served as Director for Alternative Investments at Barings LLC, an investment management firm owned by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., where he focused on product development and portfolio management.

James M. King, ’01, ’08 MBA  has been promoted to President of Eljen Corporation.  After serving two tours in Iraq, Army veteran James King got his MBA at UConn and then joined East Hartford-based wastewater management firm Eljen Corporation.  His first major initiative as Eljen’s top executive includes expanding the company’s footprint to the West Coast.  Eljen’s workers are his most prized commodities, King said. The staff of about 50 consists mostly of U.S. military veterans and refugees of conflicts in countries, including Bosnia and Myanmar.

John W. Marchetti ’00 MBA has joined the firm of Stifel Financial Corp (NYSE: SF) as Managing Director and Senior Analyst covering the applied technology and communications infrastructure sector.  Mr. Marchetti is based in Stifel’s New York office.  He comes to Stifel with more than a decade of sell-side equity research experience.  Prior to attaining this position, Mr. Marchetti served at Morgan Stanley and Cowen & Company.  Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President for Strategy and Business Development at Cloudbus, a privately held NaaS company.  He also served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps for four years.

Marc Hudak ’06 MBA has been named president of CarePartners of Connecticut, Inc, a partnership between Hartford HealthCare and Tufts Health Plan.  Mr. Hudak most recently served as the market president for Evolent Health of Arlington, VA.  Previously, he was vice president of care integration and innovation at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island.

Sean P. Palleschi ’02 has been appointed Vice President, Financial Operations and Controller for Defense Business for Cubic Global Defense, business division.  Mr. Palleschi will be responsible for the general and cost accounting activities for CGD and will be the key financial advisor to the business division president.  Cubic is a market-leading, worldwide technology provider of integrated solutions for transportation and defense.

Peter J. Sena II ’05 is the Co-Founder, CEO, and Chief Creative Officer of Digital Surgeons, the cutting edge Elm City innovation and marketing firm. Digital Surgeons is moving into District New Haven, a former bus garage, which been transformed by an investment of $19 million and aims to bring the spirt and style of Silicon Valley to Connecticut. The project will be complete, with the restaurant open and events happening in the amphitheater, by summer.