Undergraduate Newark Award Recipients
Class of 2021
Leighton Alarcon
Graduation Award:
Dr. Rosa Oppenheim Leadership Award
Internship/Professional Experience:
- Sobel Co: Tax Intern for Spring of 2020
- Deloitte: Audit & Assurance Staff Intern for Summer 2020
Post-Graduation:
"I will be joining Deloitte in fall 2021 within their Audit & Assurance practice in Parsippany."
Extracurricular Activities:
- "ALPFA-Newark: During the academic year of 2019-2020, I was elected and served as Vice President of Community Outreach for ALPFA Rutgers-Newark. I worked with an amazing President, Karen Rosario, and an incredible E-board that I am glad to call my friends. ALPFAmilia 100%!!!"
- "Rutgers Accounting Society: For the Academic year of 2020-2021, I was encouraged by my good friend, Angelica Mejia (ALPFA Rutgers-Newark's 20-21 President), to run for president of Rutgers Accounting Society (RAS). From the day I ran and was elected to be president of RAS, I never looked back. This experience has been highly enlightening and blessed me with the opportunity to meet another group of outstanding students. Thank you to my E-board for all their hard work and dedication. RAS will be a part of me forever."
Huguette Dofontien
Graduation Award:
Lee Papayanopoulos Memorial Award
Internship/Professional Experience:
"After graduation (August 2020), I worked as an Audit Staff at EY in their Orlando office."
Post-Graduation:
"I will be joining Accenture this fall within their Strategy practice in NYC."
Extracurricular Activities:
- NJ CPA Campus Ambassador for the year 2019-2020
- Mentee in the TeamUP Undergraduate Mentoring Program in 2019
- NABA student member
Erika Dominguez
Graduation Award:
Dr. Rosa Oppenheim Leadership Award
Internship/Professional Experience:
"I have completed two internships during my undergraduate experience. My first internship was with a local asset management firm called Blueprint Capital Advisors. My second internship was in consulting with Accenture, which I later accepted as my full-time career. I also received internship offers from Deloitte and Bloomberg."
Post-Graduation:
"I have received a full-time job offer with Accenture."
Extracurricular Activities:
"The extracurriculars that I was involved in include National Association of Black Accountants (NABA), Sigma Lambda Upsilon/ Señoritas Latinas Unidas Sorority, Inc., Management Leadership for Tomorrow, RBS Student Ambassador."
Dana Eljouzi
Graduation Award:
James Bicksler Leadership Award
Internship/Professional Experience:
- Citigroup - Summer Analyst, Global Markets (2020)
- PGIM Fixed Income - Summer Analyst, Client Advisory Group (2019)
- Newark Venture Partners - Financial Analyst (2018 - 2019)
- State Farm Insurance Agency - Client Service Representative (2018)
Post Graduation:
- Full-time offer as a Sales & Trading Analyst with Citigroup in New York City
Extracurricular Activities:
- Co-President of the Rutgers Finance Society (2019 - 2020), Organization Member/Executive Board (2017 - 2021)
- Senior Analyst in the Rutgers Student Managed Fund (2017 - 2021)
- Cohort 8 Member of the Rutgers Road to Wall Street Program (2018 - 2021)
- Graduate of the Rutgers Business School Women BUILD (Business Undergraduates in Leadership Development) Program and Senior Mentor (2018 - 2021)
- Golden Key Honors Society Recipient
- Beta Gamma Sigma, The International Business Honors Society Recipient. Recognizes top 10% of undergraduate students at the world's most prestigious, AACSB-Accredited business schools
- Dean's List All Semesters (2017 - 2021), Graduating with College Honors - Summa Cum Laude
Elizabeth Gomez
Graduation Award:
Ronald Armstrong Memorial Award
Internship/Professional Experience:
- Movado Group Inc. (Fall 2019 – Fall 2020)
- Crowe LLP. (Summer 2020)
Post-Graduation:
"I accepted a full-time offer with Movado Group Inc., and I have been working there as a Junior Accountant since January 2021. Having also an MIS major has given me the skills necessary for standing out at work."
Barbara Hairs-Jackson
Graduation Award:
Rutgers Business School Alumni Association Prize
Internship/Professional Experience:
"In my Industry Clients Project course, my team consulted with Signify Holdings, the world leader in connected LED lighting systems, software, and services. I also worked as a brand ambassador for Banana Republic during my freshman year."
Post-Graduation:
"In the fall of 2021, I will be attending Rutgers Newark Law School full-time."
Extracurricular Activities:
- Head lifeguard at the Golden Dome Pool.
- Volunteer mentor through the "RBS Peer Mentoring Program."
- Portuguese Department Advisory Committee Member.
- Swim Instructor at East Orange Recreation Center and the Golden Dome Pool.
- Pre-Law Society Club Member.
- RUWIB Club Member.
- Strive Mentorship Mentee.
- Accepted into CIEE Study Abroad Program in Brazil 2020
- Volunteer, Newark Sustainable Fashion Show
Jackson Huang
Graduation Award:
Distinguished Leadership Award
Internship/Professional Experience:
- Wells Fargo - Middle Market Banking Summer Analyst
- City Hall of East Orange - Investment Summer Analyst
- Braven - Operations Summer Analyst
Post-Graduation:
- Wells Fargo - Investment Banking Analyst, Debt Capital Markets Group
Extracurricular Activities:
- Road to Wall Street - Cohort 8 Member and Peer Mentor
- Rutgers Finance Society - President
- Student Managed Fund - Senior Analyst
- Business Forum - Lead Teaching Assistant
- Student Organized Rutgers Against Hunger - Vice President
Michael Khederlarian
Graduation Award:
John R.H. Gilmour Public Accounting Award
Internship/Professional Experience:
- CFO Advisory Intern at Wiss & Company
- Audit Summer Analyst at Société Générale
- U.S. GAAP Technical Accounting Intern at Thomson Reuters
Extracurricular Activities:
- Executive Board for the Rutgers Accounting Society
Hongzheng Li
Graduation Award:
Department of Finance Award
Internship/Professional/Full-Time Experience:
"I have been interning with China Securities as a quantitative intern. My team member and I built factor models with fundamental data to predict the stock price. We also applied Lasso regression to select those important factors and used the principal component to find new combined factors"
Extracurricular Activities:
- New Jersey Collegiate Business Administration Association
David Pietri
Graduation Award:
Department of Management & Global Business Award
Internship/Professional Experience:
"As my career coincided with my professional career, I have not sought out any internships. I have been learning a new trade while attending college, venturing into the HVAC industry"
Post-Graduation:
"Upon relocating to New Jersey, I was hired at HVAC Services, LLC. I have been working full time as a Field Service Manager."
Extracurricular Activities:
"Unfortunately, being employed full time and having a four-year-old running around the house has limited my ability to participate in on-campus activities. That being said, as a veteran of the United States Navy, I was invited to be a part of a wonderful Motorcycle Club called Strength and Honor. This club consists of Public Safety affiliated individuals, including Veterans, Police officers, Firefighter, and EMT's. We participate and organize many events which help local communities. This includes Coat drives, raising money for "The Officer Down Memorial," Park Cleanups, and honoring individuals who have a lasting impact in our community and Nation."
Zarafshan Rizwan
Graduation Award:
Louis Gluck Memorial Award in Management
Extracurricular Activities:
Throughout my four years at Rutgers, more specifically having taken upon Leadership & Management as my double major, I have been driven to take on leadership roles not only for my personal growth but also to help my fellow peers. Whether it was through team projects or leadership positions through extracurricular activities, my peers and professionals I have worked with have described me as demonstrating key traits of a successful leader. Highlighted below are a few of my leadership and service initiatives over the course of 4 years.
- ALPFA: I have been a part of ALPFA for about 2 ½ years now, holding multiple roles. Due to a restructure in the organization’s board, I am currently serving as the Executive VP, leading and managing two teams, one Executive Board team, and the Finance & Fundraising team, with 10 members in each team. Not only have I managed and led the teams, but I have provided members with my service through one on one professional development and mentorship, helping them land internship offers for major companies like PwC, Deloitte, KPMG, Bank of America, and many others.
- Women Build: Women Build is a 2-year leadership program for high-achieving women, providing opportunities for leadership growth, excellence in business, and growing their global perspective. I was selected to become a part of WB through a detailed application and interview process last year and continue to remain a part of the program. For WB, I served as the Director of Community Service, initiating and executing service projects prior to the COVID disruptions."
Dhwani Shukla
Graduation Award:
- Zachary Stoumbos Memorial Award
- Department of Supply Chain Award
Internship/Professional Experience:
"I have completed an Internship as a Procurement Intern at Siemens. It was a great experience, and I learned so much about how supply chain works and specifically how something as big as COVID impacted supply chains across the globe."
Post-Graduation:
"I have also received a full-time offer. I will be part of a rotational program for three years in Texas at a company called Entegris. I am extremely excited about this opportunity and look forward to spending time in a completely different environment!"
Extracurricular Activities:
"I was a transfer student, so I began participating in on-campus activities in the Fall of 2019. I became a committee member of BASE, which is the Business Association of Supply Expertise. This club focuses on developing student's professional, analytical, and technical skills through networking events, challenge sessions, and Excel workshops. In the Fall of 2020, the start of my senior year, I became the President of BASE, running the club in a completely virtual environment. This was a very different experience as I had no previous club leadership experience, but with the help of my Executive Board, I was able to adjust and make it the best I could. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Rutgers as I made so many friends with students and professors and helped me become the enthusiastic professional I am today!"
Dilan Soni
Graduation Award:
Department of Accounting and Information Systems Award
Post-Graduation:
"I plan to study for the CPA and complete it by December and then begin looking for full-time employment."
Giomarco Urbina
Graduation Award:
Rutgers Business School: Undergraduate Dean's Award
Internship/Professional Experience:
"I have been able to help out my peers by tutoring through the learning center offered at Rutgers."
Extracurricular Activities:
- Mentor, RBS Peer Mentoring Program
- Samuel Greitzer Math Award 2020
- Teaching Apprentice, Calculus II (Spring 2020)
- Dean’s List, Rutgers –Newark and Bergen Community College, every semester
- Scholarships: Phi Theta Kappa, and Newark Chancellor
Ivan Vallejo Arango
Graduation Award:
Department of Marketing Award
Internship/Professional Experience:
"I completed an internship with Panasonic as a Social Media Marketing Intern in the Spring of 2020."