Impact Awards 2024 Recent Winners

Impact Award Winners:

Flora Alvarado
Senior Assistant Director
Kilts Center

Flora has been with Chicago Booth for over 3 years. She has managed complex logistics for academic conferences such as QME, ensuring that faculty and PhD students experience a smooth, well-organized event from start to finish. Flora’s behind-the-scenes coordination allows Kilts Center programming for students, alumni, and faculty to run seamlessly and reflects positively on Booth as a whole. She helped her team immensely during the organization’s transition to FST, quickly becoming a trusted colleague for navigating the new system. Flora’s colleagues describe her as “reliable, calm, flexible, and solutions-focused.”

Penka Bergmann
Director, Global Alumni Engagement
Advancement

Penka has been with Booth for over 25 years. She approaches every task with dedication, professionalism, and care. Penka works tirelessly to support colleagues across teams, always ready to offer guidance, share her expertise, and ensure others succeed. She played an instrumental role in securing the $100 million gift from alumnus Konstantin Sokolov to benefit the Executive MBA Program - a transformative achievement that will shape the school’s future for generations. Her strategic insight, persistence, and relationship-building skills were key to making this historic moment possible. Penka’s colleagues describe her as “warm and inviting, a good listener, and a great contributor.” Her work helping to reimagine Chicago Booth's alumni communities’ model and putting in the work to visit with countless alumni leaders to share this new model, answer questions, hear feedback and concerns, and push this new initiative forward was a Goliath task that she took on. Penka’s work really helped to launch this new thought model for the future of Chicago Booth.

Kevin Cernansky
Associate Director, Reunions, Student and Alumni Engagement
Advancement

Kevin has been with Booth for nearly 4 years. He is consistently trusted to represent the school positively, handling even the most challenging situations with poise and sound judgment. Kevin excels at brainstorming creative ways to engage alumni and is always open to new ideas, making him an exceptional collaborator. He approaches every project and every interaction with an infectious optimism and a can-do attitude. This immediately puts partners at ease and encourages open communication, which is crucial when integrating initiatives for students and alumni across departments. Kevin has been instrumental in developing and executing signature programs such as the Booth Family Dinner, Alumni Breakfast Series, and Booth 20/20. He partners seamlessly with colleagues and alumni alike, ensuring every event is engaging, well-organized, and aligned with Booth’s mission. Kevin’s colleagues describe him as “thoughtful, proactive, and always willing to go the extra mile to support his colleagues and our alumni.”

Angela Diaz-Perez
Senior Copy Center Clerk
Facilities & Operations

Angela has been with Booth just over 3 years. Her attention to detail, reliability, and proactive communication not only make her a dependable colleague but also elevate the quality of work for everyone around her. No matter how busy she is, Angela always takes the time to assist with questions, offer guidance, or share resources, often going above and beyond her immediate responsibilities to ensure others can succeed. When last-minute changes or questions arise, she consistently steps in with calm efficiency, ensuring everything runs smoothly and the team remains supported.

Lauren Elliott
Associate Director, Operations
Admissions

Lauren (“Lo”) has been with Booth for nearly 3 years. She fully embodies the values of collaboration, innovation, and intellectual curiosity, helping transform how the Admissions team approaches problem-solving and systems design. One of Lo’s most impactful contributions has been the creation of an internal ticketing system for the Admissions office—a project she both envisioned and built early in her tenure. This initiative fundamentally reshaped how the operations team and the broader admissions office organize work, track progress, and communicate. Lo’s collaborative, non-judgmental nature fosters an inclusive work environment where everyone feels heard, respected, and valued for their contribution.

Andrew LaLonde
Senior Associate Director, Prospect Management
Advancement

Andrew has been with Booth for over 13 years. He has an attention to detail that is unmatched and is incredibly thoughtful in how he approaches his work. Andrew is an essential partner to frontline gift officers, consistently going above and beyond to ensure their work is accurate, efficient, and strategic. His work has a profound and lasting impact on the success of Booth’s fundraising efforts. No matter the request or challenge, Andrew approaches every situation with patience, resourcefulness, and a genuine desire to help others succeed. Additionally, Andrew has been the bedrock of prospect management for years and has overseen and implemented countless policy and process changes from CRM conversion to portfolio moves across the university.

Workstyle Honors Award Winners:

Collaboration Champion Award

Matthew Vogel
Associate Director, Service Desk and Applications
Information Technology

Matt is always willing to be a sounding board for any idea someone has big or small. He never tells someone they have a bad idea or makes them feel the contribution of their idea doesn’t matter. Instead, Matt takes your idea and helps think of good ways it can be implemented. He always follows through to help where he can to make an idea a reality and is ready to advocate on someone's behalf to make sure their ideas are heard.

Trailblazer Award

Patrick McHale
Senior Associate Director
Admissions

Throughout the past year, Patrick demonstrated leadership and dedication to drive innovation in our admissions office and recruiting outreach strategies. His proactiveness and willingness to embrace data-driven strategies resulted in improved outcomes for both our applicants and our staff. Never satisfied with “the way it’s always been,” Patrick consistently challenges us to reimagine our processes and ask, “What can we do better?” His creativity in generating new ideas—despite obstacles and limited bandwidth—has paved the way for greater efficiency and transparency in our admissions practices.

Behind-the-Scenes Brilliance Awards

Malcolm Bare
Associate Director, Client Solutions
Information Technology

Malcolm proactively completed a two-year specialized training as an AV control developer, and through his expertise, he implemented a modern user interface for the touch panel controls now installed across all Booth classrooms, enhancing usability and consistency for faculty and students alike. In just a few years at Booth, Malcolm has supported critical projects such as migrating video recordings, developing classroom clicker solutions, and troubleshooting persistent issues like VPN connectivity with dedication and persistence.

Colette Bell
Senior Associate Director
Leadership Development, MBA Programs

Colette has significantly strengthened our office operations through: 1) building out a new process to personally manage a significant portion of our onboarding process 2) developing and implementing a new budget tracking process and 3) thoughtfully managing, guiding, and implementing the creation and sequencing of team development activities at our twice-quarterly team summits. Colette also runs one of our most logistically-challenging and stakeholder-heavy events, the Leadership Challenge case competition. Students and alumni both rate this event exceptionally highly, and Colette excels at creating space for them to interact and learn together.

Jason Li
Operations Associate
Executive Education

While Jason operates in an environment filled with constant interruptions, he navigates this nonstop flow with extraordinary calm, patience, and professionalism. A key example of Jason’s behind-the-scenes brilliance is his management of the shipment vendor transition from FedEx to Shipment Global. This complex shift required thoughtful problem-solving, precise execution, and careful communication. He handled the entire process quietly and effectively. Jason's contributions are quiet by design, but they are foundational. His workstyle—steady, thoughtful, and always in service of others—represents the very best of Chicago Booth.

Everyday Excellence Awards

Sophie Amado
Associate Director, Digital Engagement, Communications
Advancement

Sophie quietly juggles a wide array of externally facing projects and products that enlighten and inspire alumni and donor audiences. She is skilled at helping colleagues, teaching newer staff, figuring out visual and communications challenges, and bringing a discerning eye and fresh thinking and creativity to all of her work. Sophie demonstrates everyday excellence truly every day and is also a kind, smart, thoughtful, calm partner and colleague.

Leigh Hartley
Senior Director, Faculty Services
Faculty & Academic Services

Leigh’s excellence shows not only in the quality of her work but in how she leads others. She manages projects and people with clarity and a remarkable ability to anticipate challenges before they arise. Whether guiding her team through large-scale transitions, such as implementing new policies or coordinating faculty processes, or supporting the day-to-day operations that keep Booth running smoothly, she approaches every task with consistency and integrity. Leigh creates an environment where others can thrive, models accountability and calm under pressure, and sets a standard of excellence that elevates everyone around her.

Amy Wright
Senior Director, Faculty and Academic Services
Faculty & Academic Services

Amy Wright is just excellent: We have to put together the class schedules for over 600 sections, across 6 different programs, 250+ faculty members, and she does so with utmost excellence. Occasionally the dean’s office needs information about classes, and she provides data analysis and great insights that shape our opinion. Considering the importance of a well-designed schedule of classes, Amy’s work is really critical for Booth, and she is just superb!

Smooth Sailing Chief Award

Mia Palmejar-Takaki
Senior Assistant Director
Admissions

With unwavering dedication and an extraordinary eye for organization, Mia transforms ambitious event plans into seamless experiences for our prospects, students, and alumni. Whether coordinating major admissions events or orchestrating day-to-day class visits, she anticipates needs, navigates challenges, and finds solutions before problems arise. Nothing ever falls through the cracks under Mia; she consistently delivers impeccable results, no matter the complexity or scale.

Superlative Award Winners:

Most Likely to Brighten Your Day Award

Zakiyyah Ali
Senior Associate Director
Leadership Development

What makes Zakiyyah truly special is the way she combines warmth, realism, and joy in everything she does. She is adaptable, flexible, and unfailingly kind. Her impeccably timed sense of humor lightens difficult days, and her approachable, genuine nature invites connection and collaboration. Her leadership shines in quiet moments; she checks in on team members who seem stressed, celebrates everyone's wins, and models the inclusive, student-centered approach we want our programming to embody. I’ve seen Zakiyyah support colleagues in a variety of ways, including serving as a listening ear, engaging with curiosity and compassion, sharing honestly about her own experiences, lightening the mood with playful comments, asking probing questions with warmth and sincerity, and sending an amusing card to brighten someone’s day.

The Spark Plug Award

Becky Evans
Senior Associate Director, Volunteer Programs and Engagement
Advancement

Becky’s work involves leading high-level engagement with the Council on Chicago Booth and the Global Leaders Group—two critical bodies composed of the school's most engaged alumni, highest potential donors, and key influencers. This role requires not only impeccable organization and strategic finesse but also an ability to consistently represent the enthusiasm and vision of the school. Becky injects her profound passion for Booth into every communication and interaction. Whether she's planning a major gathering or a one-on-one briefing, her contagious energy ensures that these influential leaders feel truly valued and excited about their connection to the school. Becky's enthusiasm is a resource. Even during complex, high-pressure projects, her positive outlook and commitment to a polished final product energizes the entire working group.

The Calm in the Storm Award

Monica Jee
Senior Conference Services Manager
Conference Center

Monica exemplifies The Calm in the Storm through her composure, clarity, and unwavering professionalism in high-pressure situations. Working with both internal and external clients, she consistently navigates complex, fast-paced events and unexpected challenges with grace, helping others stay focused and confident. No matter the circumstances - last-minute changes, tight timelines, or competing priorities - Monica approaches every situation calmly and methodically. Her clear communication, thoughtful guidance, and steady leadership ensure that problems are resolved efficiently and events run smoothly.

The Creative Fixer Award

Maria Mendoza
Senior Conference Services Manager
Conference Center

Maria perfectly represents The Creative Fixer spirit through her resourcefulness, composure, and commitment to excellence, integrity, and trust. As an events expert working with our external clients, she operates in a high-pressure environment where quick thinking and on-the-spot problem-solving are part of every day. No two events are alike, and Maria consistently finds smart, effective solutions - often under tight timelines, limited resources, or last-minute changes. Whether it’s reworking room setups, adapting to unexpected client needs, or coordinating multiple departments simultaneously, she handles every challenge with professionalism and creativity.