2026
Christie Ryan '07
Managing Director of the New York City headquarters of Siegel+Gale
Christie Ryan is a proud Siena alumna, former volleyball team captain and member of the Siena Athletic Hall of Fame whose competitive spirit and team-first mindset have shaped her leadership style and career path.
Today, Christie serves as Managing Director of the New York City headquarters of Siegel+Gale, a global brand consultancy, where she brings strategic branding expertise to some of the world’s leading organizations. In her role, she sits on the firm’s Global Leadership Team and is responsible for all aspects of the New York business — the people, the work, the profitability and the growth. Over her 13 years with the firm, she has partnered with executives at brands across B2B and B2C industries like 3M, CVS Health, Hilton, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Verizon and many others, helping organizations define who they are, what they stand for, and how they communicate that to the world.
Prior to joining Siegel+Gale, Christie worked in Account Management at global brand agency Interbrand, as well as other boutique firms, where she was responsible for leading marketing and brand development strategies for clients of all sizes.
Christie graduated from Siena in 2007 with a Marketing and Management degree where she not only built the foundation for her career but also met her Siena sweetheart — now her husband — David Ryan, former men’s basketball player and fellow 2007 Siena grad. Together they live in Eastchester, New York, where Christie is embracing her “soccer mom era” with their four young daughters: Emily (9), Kate (7), Izzy (4) and Cora (2).
2025
NICK STARK '15
HEAD OF SALES ANALYTICS, CHAIN ACCOUNTS, DIAGIO BEER COMPANY
Keynote Address: “Myth Busting: How to Thrive in the ‘Corporate World’”
After graduating from Siena College in January 2015, Nick immediately began his career with The Nielsen Company as an analyst on the Diageo North America account in Norwalk, CT. In this role, Nick was able to establish the foundation of his career in syndicated data by turning data into insights and insights into action, by providing analyses to the client’s top management.
In August 2017, Diageo took notice of Nick’s analytical skills and hired him as a Category Manager for the Beer, Flavored Malt Beverage, & Hard Seltzer categories. In 2019, he won Diageo’s ‘Category Manager of the Year’ award. Over the four years in this role, Nick led large national shopper research/insights projects and utilized various sources to churn abstract data into compelling business narratives that helped retailers make sound decisions, with the goal of Beer category & Diageo brand expansion.
In May 2022, Nick left Diageo for a one-year stint at PepsiCo as a Shopper Insights Manager, where he developed and executed foundational research for Pepsico’s Demand Accelerator organization. Nick spearheaded shopper- centric initiatives to improve the organization’s understanding of the shopper at human level. Nick created & led the organization’s Always-On insights strategy & platform.
Ultimately, in 2023 Nick was recruited back to Diageo to serve in a “Chief of Staff” position to the Vice President of National & Strategic Accounts. In this position, Nick oversees all analytics & strategy initiatives related to large National & Regional chain accounts.
While working at Diageo, Nick has earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Connecticut. Nick credits his independent research & work with CURCA in his years at Siena for setting his analytical foundation and getting his “foot in the door” at Nielsen, Diageo, & PepsiCo.
2024
Dina Maloney DeCarlo ‘16
Research Scientist for the NYS Office of Mental Health
Keynote Address: “Using Imparted Wisdom to Develop Your Personal Mission”
2023
Melissa Fichera '14
Audience Growth Lead, Office of the CEO, Yelp
Keynote Address: “Reflections from a Former Conference Presenter”
Melissa Fichera is Audience Growth Lead in the Office of the CEO at Yelp. In this role, she is hyper-focused on growing Yelp's user base, specifically in nascent markets, by fostering cohesion among teams and departments, connecting dots across the organization for improved alignment and enabling greater execution. She has been successful in identifying and resolving gaps with actionable, data- guided recommendations and creating systems and processes that will avoid such problems in the future.
Prior to Yelp, she began her career at Nielsen in 2015 as part of the company’s Financial Leadership Program. From there, she completed two roles supporting Nielsen's Advertiser Direct & Marketing Cloud business, responsible for financial forecasting and strategy, partnering closely with sales and business development to drive value for marketing, media brand, and agency clients. Melissa was highly focused on simplifying financial processes by leveraging standardized practices and systems to allow more time diving into biz problems, to find creative solutions. From here, Fichera leveraged her media experience in roles at NBCUniversal in their highly coveted Cable & Entertainment portfolio. She supported ROI analyses for key spend initiatives supporting 1,000+ hours of original programming across Cable portfolio, and developed effective materials for executive presentations, including talking points, key financial metrics, and industry competitive analysis. Melissa successfully positioned Execs to make difficult trade-off decisions by having all relevant information available.
2022
Talaya Wilkins '07
VP Content Strategy, Madison Square Garden
Keynote Address: “Becoming a Corporate Athlete”
Talaya Wilkins ’07, vice president for content strategy at Madison Square Garden, returned to her alma mater on April 29 to give the keynote address at the annual Ted R. Winnowski '63 Student Conference in Business.
Students from every department in the School of Business were invited to submit academic papers for presentation. Wilkins said she hopes the students realize that time is their most precious gift.
“Use time with intention,” she said. “It will take time to develop the skill sets, resources, capabilities and institutional knowledge to do your job at the highest level. Commit to the process.”
Wilkins said her personal definition of success includes being a lifetime resource, being innovative when your creativity is shattered by a lack of recognition, and being your gift and sharing it with the world.
"The campus was exactly how I remembered it 15 years ago. I truly appreciated the familiar faces that lit up when I entered the room, as well as the students who took the time to ask thoughtful questions."
2021
Marisa Ricciardi '98
Founder & CEO, The Ricciardi Group
After serving as the Chief Marketing Officer of NYSE Euronext and Vice President at Goldman Sachs, in 2014, Marisa Ricciardi founded the Ricciardi Group (RG), a B2B creative strategy and marketing firm. From helping early-stage CEOs allocate venture capital to collaborating with CMOs as they navigate the complex marketing landscape, RG is committed to providing clients with a clear path for turning business strategy into action.
Over the past 7 years, she has built a rockstar team of brand and marketing strategists, enlisted a board of advisors from some of the world's leading firms, and expanded her client roster to include Fortune 500 companies like Adobe, Google Cloud, and Visa, and emerging technology brands like Symphony, ComplySci, and General Assembly. Marisa was named “Marketing Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2017; in April 2018, she was distinguished as one of Inc.’s “10 Leading Ladies Changing Business as Usual”. Among RG's many accomplishments under her leadership, the group has been awarded: “Financials’ Top 12 Agencies of 2018”; 2019 & 2020 Inc. 5000 America’s fastest-growing companies, 2020 Financial Times Fast 1000, 2021 Financial Times Fast 500, and Forbes Next 1000 Class of 2021. She serves on the boards of New York Cares Rising Leaders and Jellyfish, a privately held company.