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Ellen Balaguer, Retired Global Managing Director, Accenture

Ellen was a senior executive with Accenture for 27 years and is now retired. During her tenure at Accenture, Ellen held a variety of roles, the most recent of which included Global Managing Director for HR & Learning Services and Global Managing Director for Innovation and Offer Management for the Outsourcing business.

While at Accenture, Ellen spearheaded many top strategic growth initiatives for the organization and led some of the largest and most complex deals done on a global basis. She also successfully turned around several distressed business units and drove significant growth in several areas of both the outsourcing and consulting businesses.

Ellen served on several Accenture corporate boards including the Global Leadership Council, the Global Investment Committee, various corporate strategic growth plan initiatives, Accenture Development Partnerships and several corporate citizenship initiatives.

Since retiring from Accenture, Ellen is now a philanthropist/board member, and works with a number of education and conservation organizations and nonprofits in the U.S. and around the world. She is an active member of the Leeds Advisory Board (an emeritus board chair), the secretary of the CU ������ý���� Enterprise Corporation (CUBEC) Board and advisor/board member at the Business School at the University of Colorado Denver campus. She has served as both a board member and officer at the Jane Goodall Institute, the Florence Crittenton School Denver, and the Colorado Ballet. She is an investor and strategic advisor to several EdTech startups. She is a founding member of the Technical Impact Circle at World Pulse and a member of the Industry Advisory Board for ActivateWork. In 2023, Ellen was named an Influential Leader by AACSB International, a testament to her track record of creating positive impact through leadership that is compassionate, curious and resilient, with a focus on purpose, people and planet.

Ellen strives to be a wholistic investor in the organizations with which she works contributing considerable time toward mentorship and guidance across strategic, operational, talent and fundraising initiatives. She finds mentoring students and young business-people very rewarding.

Ellen attended the University of Colorado at ������ý���� where she earned both a BS in Finance and a BA in Psychology in 1982. In 2012, Ellen was the Leeds Undergraduate commencement speaker and was also the recipient of the Leeds Distinguished Alumni and Service Award in recognition for her service to the school and exceptional achievements in business. She will serve as the 2023 Leeds Graduate commencement speaker. In 1982, she was the student recipient of the University of Colorado Thomas Jefferson award. Ellen and her family live in Denver and travel extensively on a worldwide basis.

Annika Cederstrand,MBA/MENV '25, MBA Student Board Representative

Annika Cederstrand is a current dual degree student at the University of Colorado in the MBA and Master of the Environment (MENV) Program, specializing in Renewable and Sustainable Energy (’26). She also earned her B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin Madison in 2021.

Prior to returning to graduate school, Annika worked in sales for Labconco, where she covered PNW and Western Canadian sales for high-end laboratory equipment and lab buildouts. During her time at CU, she’s been actively involved in sustainability strategies and initiatives through her university involvements and capstone projects. She worked as the VP and later President of Judge and External Relations for the Leeds Sustainability Case Competition (’24 & ’25), bringing together over 40 industry partners to observe student presentations for complex business and sustainability challenges. She was inspired by the collaborative and innovative world of sustainability and sought to continue bringing that environment to Leeds by joining the MBA Association as the VP of Sustainability in 2024. As such, Annika worked diligently to bridge strong industry partnerships with sustainability leaders and worked with CESR and Leeds to incorporate environmental impact into core curriculum.

Annika has also worked on two major capstone projects – one in consulting for Amazon and one on strategy analysis with OneEnergy Renewables. For Amazon, Annika focused on assessing the effectiveness of carbon market investment strategies in driving forward decarbonization in the Maritime shipping industry. During her MENV Capstone with OneEnergy, Annika is working to assess market penetration strategies for solar with hard-to-abate-emitter industries like steel and will continue working on this project until her graduation in 2026. She is excited to contribute the student perspective to the CESR Board and hopes her time can help CESR continue to build Leeds into a continuous driver of change and opportunity for our students.��

Jamie Gardner,��Head of Strategic Programs, Global Affairs, Google

Jamie Gardner is a high impact executive with more than 20 years of experience in advising global businesses and social enterprises on innovation, technology and growth strategies with an emphasis on sustainability, equity and inclusion. She is focused on helping executives achieve results.��She currently serves as the head of strategic programs within Global Affairs at Google.�� ��As a strategic advisor, she works with the business to diagnose/assess opportunities for transformation and scope and launch innovative solutions to address those needs.

Jamie earned her��undergraduate degree in business administration for finance and marketing from the University of Colorado at ������ý���� and a masters in public policy from Georgetown University.�� ��She recently relocated her family, including��her twin boys, and is thrilled to be back��in the ������ý���� area, working with her alma mater.

Amy Halvorson, Enterprise Sustainability Lead, Starbucks Coffee Company

Amy Halvorson (she/her) is an impact-driven sustainability professional with extensive experience in strategy development, program management and stakeholder engagement. She has an unwavering commitment to advancing sustainable operations and supply chains and enabling business growth through execution of environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives.

Currently, Amy is a Sustainability Lead at Starbucks Coffee Company where she manages initiatives that drive progress toward Starbucks 2030 environmental sustainability goals and supports strategic relationships with NGOs, industry groups, and other stakeholders. Since joining in 2023, her subject matter expertise and cross-functional collaboration have proven essential to navigating sustainability issues in a highly complex retail environment.

Prior to this role, Amy spent over seven years with Cargill, a global food and agriculture company and leader in building a resilient and sustainable food system. She served as Sustainability Manager, Strategic Initiatives; Sustainability and Partnerships Manager; and Project Manager, Global Issues Management. During her tenure at Cargill, she successfully designed programs to operationalize strategies in the areas of climate, water, land use, regenerative agriculture, and farmer livelihoods.

Amy began her career in state government as staff to the Colorado Workforce Development Council, a Governor-appointed, public-private partnership that oversees talent development efforts throughout the state. Her responsibilities included board governance and development and stakeholder engagement with the private sector, state agencies, state legislators, economic developers, education bodies and community-based organizations.

Amy holds an MS in International Business from the University of Colorado Denver, a BA in Spanish from the University of Colorado at ������ý����, and a BS in Business Administration from the Leeds School of Business at CU-������ý����. As an undergraduate, she took the Leadership Challenges course through theCenter for Ethics and Social Responsibility (CESR) and considers it a transformative experience. Amy lives in the Denver area with her husband, Daniel, their two children and dog. She enjoys traveling, being outdoors, and taking in local sports (Go Buffs!) and concerts.

Demesha Hill, President and Head of Diversity & Community Relations, Janus Henderson Foundation

As President of the Janus Henderson Foundation and Head of Diversity & Community Relations, Demesha provides leadership and strategic support for the corporate diversity and community outreach initiatives. In her role, she actively develops global corporate wide community employee engagement opportunities and fosters the 12 employee resource groups. She serves on the Board of Directors for Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Studio and Colorado Succeeds. She earned a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Associate of Applied Science Degree in Paralegal and holds a Certificate in Corporate Citizenship Practice.

Ross Iverson, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Manna Tree

As Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Manna Tree, Ross drives the firm’s overall growth strategy and strategic partnerships, and he is a member of the firm's investment committee and capital formation team.

Ross has built his career around balancing investment decisions, market expansion, and leadership within organizations to reach optimal scale. This mindset landed Ross on the Worthy 100 list in 2021 as one of the top 100 entrepreneurs in the country building firms that are making a difference.

Ross has trained 5,000+ leaders and advised family offices and c-suites on implementing strategies linked to cash flow, debt structures, sales strategies, and marketing plans to unlock growth. Clients have included: the PGA Tour, Vail Resorts, DOW, and the University of Colorado.

Ross earned his finance degree from the University of Colorado at ������ý����, is an Executive Leadership Scholar at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and earned a Financial Management Certificate from Cornell University. He has volunteered at the University of Colorado Leeds School of Business by supporting experiential leadership retreats in Vail, Entrepreneurial Certificate Courses, the Natural and Organic MBA program, and direct 1-1 mentoring of students to develop a values-based approach in business.

Outside the office, Ross spends most of his time with his family, raising three boys, hiking with his yellow lab, and pursuing optimal health. He is an avid skier, biker, golfer, fly-fisherman, wake surfer, and has recently added yoga to the mix to keep the joints from aging!

Sarah Jane Maxted,��Energy, Environment and Resilience Lead, Deloitte

SJ works with clients across energy and innovation at the nexus of the public and private sector. This is reflected in SJ’s experience including utilities (e.g., National Grid), government (e.g., U.S. Department of Energy), private industry and investors (e.g., Breakthrough Energy), universities (e.g., MIT), and innovators/incubators (e.g., LabStart). In addition to SJ’s domestic experience, she has worked with 40+ global regions to advance their regional innovation ecosystems.

SJ is a Colorado Governor’s Fellow and Colorado Cleantech fellow. She also sits on the Boards for Forge, LabStart, Colorado Cleantech, and Exponential Impact. SJ graduated from Duke University with continued coursework at Harvard, and she is from Durango.

Robyn O'Brien, Partner, Montcalm TCR; Advisor, Trailhead Capital

Robyn O’Brien is on Forbes’ Impact 50 List for her work at the intersection of agriculture, food, finance and climate. She is an advisor to Trailhead Capital, and founder of Sirona Ventures and rePlant Capital, financial services firms scaling agricultural and climate solutions. She also founded the AllergyKids Foundation, an organization that brought awareness to the impact our food system is having on the health of our children. Her work in the capital markets began in 1997 at Invesco where she was on a team that managed $20 billion in assets, including the top performing hedge fund at the company. She joined Invesco after receiving a Fulbright fellowship and graduating as the top woman in her class from business school at Rice University. She is a bestselling author of the award winning book, The Unhealthy Truth, How Our Food Is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It��(Random House 2009), and her 2011 TEDx talk has been viewed by millions and translated into dozens of languages. Her next book, Seeding Innovation, The Path to Profit and Purpose in the 21st Century, will be published by Wiley Publishing in April 2024, and has received advance praise from Paul Hawken, Ken Cook, Darin Olien, Rose Marcario, Katherine Center and others.

Robyn serves on the board of directors of the Regenerative Organic Alliance, One Green Thing and other organizations, and she is an Executive Producer, along with Jason Mamoa, Laura Dern, Rosario Dawson, and others of the award winning documentary, Common Ground, about restoring integrity to our food system. She is an adjunct professor at Rice University’s Jones School of Business where she teaches a course on innovation and entrepreneurship, a co-founder of the conference, Women Transforming Food and Finance, and most importantly, she is the mother of four incredible children.

Jeremy Rosall,��Senior Vice President,��Finance, Iron Mountain

Jeremy joined Iron Mountain as Senior Vice President, Finance, in 2022. He is responsible for oversight of all Iron Mountain financial planning and analysis (FP&A), including business unit and enterprise performance, and plays an important role in driving finance transformation efforts.

Prior to joining Iron Mountain, Jeremy was in senior leadership roles at PepsiCo for 19 years, most recently as CFO and Vice President for PepsiCo’s Global Business Services. Jeremy also worked for seven years in Europe, including as CFO of a multibillion division of food brands. Earlier in his career, Jeremy was a Senior Consultant at PwC Management Consulting, and began his professional career as an Auditor at Arthur Anderson.

Throughout Jeremy’s career, he has been committed to supporting a broad range of corporate sustainability and diversity and inclusion initiatives. He is passionate about helping to educate corporations on the ability to generate positive return on investments for initiatives that also generate positive impacts on society.

Jeremy graduated from the University of Colorado, School of Business in 1994 with a degree in Accounting, and holds an MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business.

Jeremy resides New York City where he and his wife are raising their two daughters.

Sam Siegal, Fin'28, SRE, Undergraduate Student Board Representative

A sophomore at the Leeds School of Business,��Sam��Siegal is pursuing an emphasis in finance, social responsibility, and accounting. Having grown up in Centennial, his formative years were characterized by extensive outdoor pursuits—including summiting fourteeners, snowboarding couloirs, and international backpacking trips—which instilled in him a deep understanding of the natural world's importance.��Sam maintains active involvement on campus as a member of the Leeds Scholars Program, an executive officer of the Sustainable Business Club, and an Intramural Supervisor at The Rec Center. His engagement within the ������ý���� outdoor community is evident through his active membership in the Big Mountain Club and CU Backcountry Club.

Academically,��Sam��achieved Dean's List recognition in both semesters of his freshman year. In addition to his interests in sustainability and hiking,��Sam��is committed to global citizenship and broadening his perspective through unique experiences, exemplified by his three-month backpacking journey through Southeast Asia and Europe last summer. He also enjoys live music and can often be found attending EDM concerts at Red Rocks on weekends. An ambitious and resilient individual,��Sam��is enthusiastic about contributing as the undergraduate representative on the board.