Sophia N. Ononye-Onyia ‘13 Ph.D., ‘15 MBA has been appointed to the board of directors of Daré Bioscience, Inc., a leader in women’s health innovation. Ononye-Onyia is the founder and CEO of The Sophia Consulting Firm, which provides strategic marketing and communications consulting services to pharmaceutical, biotech and health tech companies. 

Erin R. Hatzikostas ‘05 MBA, founder & CEO of b Authentic inc, has been recognized as one of the Hartford Business Journal’s 2021 Women in Business.

Daniel Silva ‘00 has been appointed chief information security officer of Union Savings Bank. In his new role, Silva will oversee information security, legal processing, physical security, and Bank Secrecy Act compliance. Silva joined USB in 1998.

Kelli-Marie Vallieres ‘92, ‘05 MA, ‘08 Ph.D., was appointed by Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont to lead a new state office, the Connecticut Workforce Unit, designed to collaborate with the Department of Economic and Community Development and Department of Labor to advise state officials on workforce strategies and initiatives. Vallieres was also recently named among the Hartford Business Journal’s 2021 Power 50.

Tyler J. Hurlburt ‘00, a licensed financial advisor and wealth manager, has joined Energea as partner, head of investor relations. Energea is the first crowdfunding platform for alternative energy projects in the United States, connecting investors to premium renewable energy projects to accelerate renewable energy development in select global markets. Hurlbutt previously worked for Ameriprise, Prudential, Wells Fargo, and TIAA.

Rowena Ortiz-Walters ‘96, ‘05 Ph.D  has been named Dean of St. Mary’s University Greehey School of Business, becoming the first Latina to lead the business school. Ortiz-Walters was previously the Dean and Professor of Management in the School of Business and Economics at SUNY Plattsburgh, a public liberal arts college that is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) System.

Alex Schaefer ‘08  has been named Vice President, Acquisitions at AXA IM – Real Assets, the investment management arm of French-based multinational insurance firm Axa S.A. Schaefer was most recently a vice president at TKF Real Estate Investment, LLC, where he focused on sourcing and execution of value-add and core-plus investments in office and mixed-use assets. Schaefer has also held the roles of vice president, head of acquisitions for ALTO Real Estate Funds, as well as director within the Acquisitions Department of VEREIT.

Katherine A. Donovan ’09 has been named member-at-large of The Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants.  Donovan, an assurance manager with Whittlesey in Hartford, CT, has served the CTCPA as chair of the New and Young Professionals Cabinet and a member of the Advisory Council.