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New Cohort of Young Alumni Mentors Joins LA Tank Entrepreneurship Program

Fifteen young alumni across a variety of industries and disciplines have signed on to mentor current students in the 2021 LA Tank entrepreneurial competition. The program was hatched by Sam J. Serio ’16 during his senior year at LA and is designed to inspire students to explore entrepreneurship while building relationships between Loyola students and alumni.
At the start of each new session, students are grouped into teams and tasked with identifying an existing problem to solve with a new product or idea. At regular check points throughout the product development phase, alumni speakers deliver workshop-style presentations to the teams of students.
 
What started as a simple idea to give students a jumpstart on their career paths has evolved into a type of thought-laboratory where students can navigate complex life and work environments under the guidance of alumni experts in their fields.
 
Now in its sixth year, the program is off to a great start under the guidance of the following alumni mentors: 
 
Katina Burke ’14
Texas Christian University, BA in economics 
Capital Investments Analyst at Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc
 
Mary Kate Vanecko ’13
College of the Holy Cross, BA in political science and government 
Management Consulting Analyst at Accenture
 
Mariette Bahati ’14
American University, BA in international law and legal studies
Account Executive at Yelp
 
David Blobaum ’06
University of Chicago, BA in sociology
Partner at Summit Prep
 
Brittany McCray ’12
Lake Forest College, BA in communications 
Business Development Intern at The Gettys Group
 
Liz Gambacorta ’14
Miami University, BA in finance
Associate Corporate Real Estate Analyst at CDW
 
Kate Valenti Tess ’03
Georgetown University, BA in psychology, English
Kellogg School of Management, MBA
Senior Director at CBRE
 
Tanea Crawford ’16
Loyola University Chicago, BS in molecular/cellular neuroscience
Owner of Tanmar by Tanea Marie
 
MJ Puch ’09
Marquette University, BA in business administration and management 
Key Account Sales Specialist at Primrose Candy Company
 
Mike Mulroe ’10
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, BA in economics
Associate at Tilia Holdings
 
Kay Dosu ’09
Suffolk University, BA in advertising 
Digital Communications Lead, Infrastructure & Energy at Macquarie Group
 
Greg McDonnell ’14
Saint Louis University, BA in entrepreneurship, business operations and emergency management 
Assistant Project Manager at Aldridge Electric
 
Melody Ogoke ’16
University of Missouri-Columbia, BBA in business administration, management and operations
Lead Server at University Club of MU & University Catering
 
Miguel Mereles ’18
Seattle University, strategic communications major, entrepreneurship & innovation minor
Social Media Intern at Seattle University Communications Department

Steve Conway '09
University of Notre Dame, BA in finance and computer applications
Senior Enterprise Account Executive–Commerce Cloud at Salesforce
 
Stay tuned for more news and updates from the 2021 LA Tank competition! For more information, watch this short video featuring Angelina Simon ’20, who used her experience in the program to secure an internship at Sophia Steak, owned by Ryan O’Donnell ’95, founder of Ballyhoo Hospitality.
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    • Sophia Steak and the LA Tank Program

      Sophia Steak and the LA Tank Program

      Please note, images contained in this video were taken prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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