Tammy Samuels,

Executive Director

Tammy brings a wealth and diversity of experience in leadership, teamwork, strategy, career coaching and counseling in higher education that spans over 20 years. Her strengths include strategic planning, leadership, and change management.

She leads the strategy, development and administration of the career management, leadership development and employer engagement functions that support our MBA programs – Full-Time MBA, Weekend MBA, Evening MBA, and MBA@UNC – and all UNC Kenan-Flagler alumni.  Most recently, she served as the Assistant Vice President for the Office of Career and Internship Services at LIM College, Where Business Meets Fashion, in NYC. she provided the overall vision and leadership for career education and coaching, employer relations and operations.

Prior to LIM, she served as the Assistant Dean of Student Services and Administrative Affairs for the College of Education and Human Services at Montclair State University, where she earned her master’s degree. She also spent time in North Carolina having served at the Assistant Director for Graduate Student Services in University Career Services at Duke University. Additionally, Tammy was the Assistant Director for Internship Programs for Rutgers University, her undergraduate alma mater.

Tammy is excited to be in Tar Heel country with her husband, Ken,  their three girls and dog named Champ.

Kelly Noble,

Director

As Director of Career Coaching, Kelly works to coordinate and implement world-class coaching, programming, and relationship building across the MBA programs and for Kenan-Flagler alumni. Kelly coaches specifically in the MBA@UNC program but maintains ties to students in all programs and alumni through program delivery and communication touchpoints. Outside of coaching, her areas of interest include coaching switchers and JD/MBA students, and program planning and delivery.

Kelly has 12+ years of diverse experience in higher education (MBA, JD), and public administration (law, HR), which she’s used to serve a wide array of students, alumni, and industries both as a coach and a leader. She joined Kenan-Flagler in 2018 after almost 5 years spent working in law school career services at two prior institutions in DC and NC. Here at Kenan-Flagler, she has served as Associate Director of Coaching for MBA@UNC and most recently as the Senior Associate Director of Coaching—Programming, leading a team of 3 career coaches driving projects to create and maintain modern, agile, and inclusive programming content. Like many of her students, Kelly is a switcher; as her career evolved from attorney to higher education leader, she has invested in empowering developing professionals whether student or staff, developing and managing relationships across the school and industry, and searching for pragmatic ways to build inclusive community.

A native of Rhode Island, Noble earned her BA in Political Science from the University of Rhode Island and her JD from Roger Williams University School of Law. She and her family love their adopted hometown of Chapel Hill, traveling and eating near and far, and spoiling their 2 dogs, Agnes and Edith.

Bill Faulkner,

Senior Associate Director, Programming

Dr. Bill Faulkner has spent over 20 years as a leadership educator, higher education administrator, coach, and mentor leading his own teams of professional and graduate level staff along with hundreds of emerging influencers. Bill also founded and acted as principal of his own career and leadership coaching and development firm. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Saint Andrews University and holds both a Masters and Doctorate in Education from the University of Georgia.

Currently, he serves as the Career and Leadership Coach for Executive MBA students at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School where he serves over 200 students engaged in the Evening and Weekend Executive formats which will expand to the new Charlotte program. Bill also interacts with the MBA@UNC and Full-Time cohorts through various webinars and other direct support opportunities. He has an affiliation as a certified coach, speaker, and trainer with Maxwell Leadership, Inc. He is also credentialed as a certified Gallup Strengths Coach, DISC Personality Profile Consultant, and Designing Your Life Coach and Studio facilitator.

Focus: Programming, E-MBA, WEMBA

Linda Vo,

Senior Associate Director, Process & Planning

Linda joined UNC Kenan-Flagler in 2017 as the Associate Director, Career Coaching for Full Time MBAs.  In her role Linda primarily works with students interested in the fields of consulting and strategy, providing students with career coaching and knowledge from her time in the industry.  Since joining Linda has become the team’s case interview SME, providing students and coaches case interview training and developing an in house Case Interview Boot Camp leveraged across Kenan-Flagler’s MBA formats.  Among other projects, Linda leads the process and planning side of Career & Leadership’s student on-boarding to include Summer Conference Prep and MBA Career Foundations.

Prior to joining Kenan-Flagler Linda was a consultant in Washington, D.C. serving clients in the federal space, implementing new policies, improving processes and procedures for several government agencies.  Her undergraduate degree is in Commerce from the University of Virginia and her MBA is from the George Washington University.

Focus: Process and Planning, Consulting

Chad Collins,

Associate Director

Chad brings 16 years of experience working as a career development professional.  Throughout his career, he has demonstrated success with high achieving students interested in all career fields including technology, medicine, and government.  As Associate Director of Career Coaching for the full-time MBA program, Chad is prepared to provide big picture career coaching and prepare students on all levels for careers in technology.  Chad has organized and led students on multiple treks to locations such as Washington, DC and Cape Town, South Africa.  He has also coached many students interested in technology careers through the internship application process for semester-long study abroad opportunities in San Francisco and Palo Alto, CA.

Chad holds a BA in Psychology and Religion from the University of Rochester and a MS in College Student Personnel Administration from Canisius College in Buffalo, NY. Chad holds certifications in MBTI and Gallup Strengths and has completed training in NACE Career Coaching, NACE Management Leadership Institute, and UNCG Leadership Institute. Chad enjoys hockey, fly fishing, vinyl records, and adding to his many collections.

Focus: Technology

Spencer Shih,

Associate Director

Spencer comes to Kenan-Flagler from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado where he was a career coach assisting MBA and MS students.  Prior to pursuing a career in higher education, Spencer spent 10.5 years in the US Navy as a Civil Engineer Corps officer before getting his MBA at the Johnson School at Cornell where he concentrated on marketing and interned with Colgate-Palmolive before moving to Colorado and spending 3.5 years with Sling TV in marketing and E-commerce roles.  After Sling TV, Spencer joined Lucas Group as a military candidate recruiter assisting service members in the transition to their new careers.  Spencer’s focus at Kenan-Flagler will be supporting students pursuing careers in marketing and healthcare careers.

In addition to the MBA, Spencer has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Penn State, an MSE in Civil Engineering from Arizona State, and somehow managed to become licensed as a Professional Engineer in the state of Arizona.  In his free time Spencer enjoys exercising, daydreaming about Pokey Stix from Gumby’s Pizza, and watching whatever iterations of Law and Order are currently airing.

Focus: Marketing & Healthcare

Elizabeth Wallencheck,

Associate Director

Elizabeth Wallencheck has offered comprehensive and personalized career services to working professional MBA students and alumni of the School since 2012. Her 25+ years of career-management experience includes 12 years in industry as a consultant for Right Management, a leading global career-transition firm where she delivered a range of coaching and training services. During this time, she was tapped to serve on a select team delivering executive-level coaching, and participated in the delivery of assessment centers that assisted client companies with succession planning for senior management. She is also Principal/Owner of Nexus Career Strategists Ltd., a private career-consulting and training firm. Prior to that, Elizabeth spent 13 years in career development within higher education, serving as Assistant Director, Career Services, at a large public university in Ohio.

Elizabeth is certified to administer the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Strong Interest Inventory, the Birkman First Look, and the First 90 Days Online tool. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, she earned an MS in Counseling from the State University of New York at Albany. Her mission is to help people achieve greater professional satisfaction and success by partnering with them in envisioning their career goals and executing effective plans to achieve them.

Focus: Alumni Community

Zoe Riddell,

Associate Director

Zoe Riddell has been a professional coach for the past 12 years. Her recent coaching focus has been on helping seasoned professionals find or recapture passion for the next step in their career journey. Prior to her career in professional coaching Zoe has held a number of functional roles in industry, specifically transportation, retail management, banking, and on various consulting projects. Zoe holds an undergraduate degree in Anthropology and Sociology from Earlham College in Richmond, IN, and received an MBA from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. In addition, Zoe is credentialed as a Career Ownership coach, Professional Life coach, and Holistic Health coach. Zoe resides in Davidson, NC and spends her spare time visiting her adult children as often as possible, cooking, reading, and playing with Decker her Golden Retriever.

Focus: Charlotte Executive MBA

Jerry Wang,

Associate Director

Jerry has over 10 years of experience across a variety of industries including finance, tech, management consulting, legal, and higher education. Over the course of his career, he has worked on projects in eight countries and led key strategic initiatives for executives at some of the largest organizations in the world. Most recently, Jerry worked on the Strategy and Transformation team at Bridgewater Associates. Prior to that, he was an Associate Director at Columbia Business School, where he primarily worked with students recruiting for consulting and tech. At UNC, Jerry focuses on advising students targeting consulting/strategy, venture capital, and real estate careers. In his role, Jerry works closely with the Consulting, EVC, and Real Estate Clubs, as well as the Wood Center to ensure students are prepared for every phase of their job search. In addition, as someone who is accustomed to very intense and demanding environments, he is adept at helping students adjust to the rigors of going through the MBA recruiting process.

Jerry holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business and a BA in Economics from UNC-Chapel Hill. He’s excited to be back at UNC and looks forward to cheering on the Tar Heels in person.

Focus: Real Estate, Consulting/Strategy, & Venture Capital

Rachel White,

Associate Director

Rachel is a career coach for students interested in the Energy, Entrepreneurship, and Sustainability sectors. She is also a leadership educator and designs and facilitates personal development and career management programs for MBA students. Prior to joining UNC Kenan-Flagler, Rachel lived and worked in Qatar for 10 years where she held a variety of roles with international universities, training and development companies, and managed global CSR initiatives. Rachel holds a BA in international studies from UNC-CH and a MEd in higher education administration from NC State University.

Focus: Energy & Sustainability, MBA@UNC

 

Camille Mason,

Associate Director

Camille has over 10 years as a strategic career services leader in the field of education and career development. She has focused on master-level career coaching and advising including working with MBA, MPH, MHA, MSPH and PhD students with UNC Gillings School and UNC Kenan-Flagler. Camille emphasizes career exploration, career planning and self-empowerment while supporting them in the goal setting and life planning process. Camille’s driving philosophy is helping students find their unique personal mission. She helps guide leaders to achieve life-changing success in their careers by developing strategic plans that align with your personal mission and goals while connecting you to the right connections that will help to advance your career.

Prior to joining UNC Kenan-Flagler, Camille worked with public health professionals across a variety of industries which included government, healthcare, health informatics, health administration and health insurance.

Camille received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and her Master of Education from Winthrop University.

Focus: MBA@UNC

Noemi Morillo-Vasquez,

Director

Noemi Morillo-Vasquez has over 14 years of experiences in higher education across career services and admissions, cultivating relationships with corporate partners, and leading recruitment and hiring strategies. Passionate about access, equality, and inclusion in the workplace, Noemi has also led several organizational initiatives in the DEI space.

Noemi joined the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business school in 2012, and previously spent almost 6 years as an integral member of the Employer Engagement & Recruiting (EE&R) team. In addition to heading MBA recruiting and hiring relationships for a portfolio of core employer partners within the consulting, marketing, and real estate sectors (including Deloitte, Greystar Real Estate Partners, and Procter & Gamble Company), Noemi worked collaboratively across key stakeholders to strategically navigate recruiting challenges, identify opportunities, and effectively meet hiring goals. In her most recent role as Associate Director of Admissions & Diversity Programs in the UNC Master of Accounting Program (UNC MAC), Noemi served as a champion for the MAC Program, working to build relationships with prospective candidates and recruiting top talent. Leading the holistic strategy for the MAC Program’s signature early access and diversity pipeline initiatives, she specifically focused on working with corporate sponsors, connecting with underrepresented populations, and enhancing programming that ensured broad awareness of MAC.

Noemi is originally from the Bronx, NY and earned her BA in Political Science from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Prior to joining Kenan-Flagler, Noemi served in variety of roles co-leading employer outreach and campus recruiting efforts at Fordham Law School in New York City. She received her MBA from the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School in December 2021. Residing in Durham, NC, Noemi enjoys serving within her community, spending time at her favorite local coffee shops, and short trips (making lasting memories) with her family.

Sandra Chandler,

Senior Associate Director

Sandra Chandler has 20+ years of experience in education and strategic partner engagement. She has industry expertise in Technology, Financial Services, Healthcare and Education. Sandra currently serves as the Senior Associate Director, Employer Engagement & Recruiting at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and has been a member of the Career & Leadership team since 2018. She has primary responsibility for designing and implementing employer strategy looking seeking opportunity to engage with our FT MBA students in the Energy, Healthcare, and the Technology sectors. She also leads efforts related to Employer Engagement for students seeking just-in-time hiring opportunities. This population includes those MBA students conducting an off-campus search within any of our MBA Programs (FT, Evening, Weekend, @UNC & Charlotte). Sandra also works collaboratively with the Kenan-Flagler Alumni Community to support those seeking to hire our talented students or engage with employers as a job seeker. She is experienced in developing and executing market research & leading teams aligned to organizational goals and mission and able to manage and grow an active portfolio of prospects.

Sandra is a Certified Veteran Career Strategist, currently serves on the Board of Advisors for the North Carolina Technology Association (NC Tech) and is actively pursuing her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership at NC State with an anticipated graduation date of December 2023.

Prior to the transition to UNC Chapel Hill, Sandra spent eight (8) years with the national education non-profit organization, New Teacher Center, focused on ending the predictability of educational inequity in public education for systemically under-served students by focusing on accelerating educator effectiveness and remains an advocate for education as an important part of enhancing economic mobility for students and families. She has also served as an Adjunct Faculty Member delivering Human Resource Development courses at Durham Technical Community College and has four (4) years of experience on the Undergraduate Admissions team at Duke University.

Focus: Working Professional Opportunities

Liz Stanson,

Associate Director

Liz Stanson has 9+ years of experience in career services and recruiting. Throughout her career journey, Liz has developed a passion for building strategic relationships and has connected countless students with key UNC employer partners to form successful, lasting careers. Currently Liz serves as the Associate Director of Employer Engagement & Recruiting supporting recruiting efforts within the Consulting, CPG, and Retail industry sectors.

Liz has been a member of the UNC Career & Leadership team since June 2015. Prior to her time at UNC, Liz worked as an Executive Recruiter in Banking & Finance in the NYC area before making the shift to higher education. Upon her move to NC, she took a position supporting the Student and Academic Affairs team in the UNC System Office, assisting with the recruiting strategy for the prestigious Marian Drane Graham Scholars program.

Liz holds a BA in Psychology with a minor in Linguistics from Binghamton University, State University of New York. During her tenure with UNC, Liz also earned a certificate from the UNC Business Essentials course and is pursuing her PMP certification. In her spare time Liz enjoys staying active with her local running group, traveling, and spending time with her family.

Focus: Consulting & Technology

Richard Combs,

Associate Director

Richard Combs joined UNC Kenan-Flagler in 2023 with a variety of higher education experiences including collegiate athletics, fundraising, alumni relations, and career services. He is a connector who is passionate about creating opportunities for all MBA learners. Most recently, Richard served as a campus recruiter focused on hiring for a finance rotational program and technical roles for a government services company. Previously, he worked in career services roles at Duke University, University of Miami, and UNC-Chapel Hill.

 

Originally from Statesboro, GA and a University of Georgia fan, Richard attended The McCallie School in Chattanooga, TN for high school as a boarding student and later matriculated to Wake Forest University. He earned his BA in History from Wake Forest and a MA in Career Counseling from NC Central University.  Currently living in Durham with his family, Richard enjoys playing sports especially pickleball, traveling to the NC mountains, and considers himself a college basketball aficionado.

 

Focus: Finance & Technology

Laura Fazzina,

Assistant Director

Laura is a North Carolina native originally from Fayetteville. Previously, she was the community relations coordinator for the Carolina Hurricanes where she managed logistics for the team’s community initiatives and pursued new opportunities to further connect the players and organization to communities throughout the Triangle area and North Carolina. Additionally, Laura planned fundraising events and assisted with programming for the Carolina Hurricanes Foundation. She is proud of her work in creating meaningful and positive experiences for fans, donors, and community partners.

Laura received her BA in exercise and sport science with a focus in sport administration from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Laura lives in Raleigh with her dog, Brady. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, cooking and eating, and reading.

She is excited to return to her alma mater and join the Career & Leadership team and Kenan-Flagler!

Focus: On-Campus Recruitment

Natalie Viernes,

Associate Director

Natalie, a vibrant leader in the realm of higher education, brings a rich tapestry of experience and innovation to her role. Originally hailing from Mexico City, Mexico, she joined the University of North Carolina (UNC) in October 2017 and the C&L Operations team as Associate Director in January 2024. Her journey in academia is marked by over 18 years of professional dedication, characterized by strategic leadership, a deep commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and a flair for integrating cutting-edge technologies like AI, VR, and AR into educational paradigms.

With a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Economics from Emmanuel College and a master’s in Higher Education from Appalachian State University, Natalie’s educational foundation is both strong and diverse. Her expertise shines in areas like operational management, brand enhancement, collaborative partnerships, and data-driven decision-making.

Beyond her professional realm, Natalie’s life is filled with diverse interests. An avid traveler, she has explored over 20 countries, enriching her global perspective. When not journeying abroad, she cherishes moments with her husband and two pups, enjoys local culinary delights, and hosts game nights, bringing together friends for shared experiences.

 

Cassandra Williams,

Assistant Director

Cassandra Williams serves as the Assistant Director on our Operations team for Career & Leadership for MBA & Alumni Cassandra previously served as the Program Coordinator, where she successfully managed and refined the logistical operations for our wealth and variety of diverse, specialized Career & Leadership programming and recruiting events, while also supporting and driving innovative initiatives for our Coaching and Employer Engagement teams.

She holds a BA in psychology and education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Class of 2018) and was a competitive swimmer on various club teams throughout college and high school (State Champions in 2012). She is also a fearless foodie and a huge Carolina basketball fan! She was recently recognized with a SHRA Dean’s Performance Award for 2023.

Focus: Strategic Operations, Marketing & Communications, Events & Vendor Management

Jessica Manneh,

Recruiting Coordinator

Jessica Manneh is a Western NC native but has called Raleigh her home for 18 years. She comes to Kenan-Flagler with a background of HR Operations, Recruiting, Hospitality and Customer Service. Jessica received her degree in BA-HR Management from Western Governor’s University and recently earned her SHRM-CP. She is an active member of the Raleigh Metro SHRM and prioritizes professional development.

Jessica loves sports, reading, exploring-culture, and all things 90’s. She likes to have fun with her family and early morning workouts. She looks forward to her new role at Kenan-Flagler and a long career at UNC.

Focus: On-Campus Recruitment