Events

Kristen Bulkovitch Jacoby '85, MPH 

Kristen is the President/Chief Professional Officer for United Way of Waterbury. She knew at a very young age that she wanted to work in public health. In her current role, she creates social change that leads to better lives and healthier communities. She is mission-focused and manages United Way's visionary and stragetic planning, fundraising, marketing, and teambuilding. The bulk of her professional career and passiong live in the nonprofit world. 

Joe Gugliotti '74

Joe is a Managing Member of WORX Branding, an innovative branding, digital and marketing agency. WORX helps organizations address "the big issue:" How to clarify their sales & marketing attack so they can generate revenue from it. 

In addition to his work at WORX, Joe is a Managing Member of Swingbridge Capital. He recently finished a two-year term as the Chairman of the Board for the United Way of Greater Waterbury, an era which saw the largest fundraising efforts in the organization's 75-year history. He is a former Chairman for Special Olympics, Connecticut and a former member of the Board of Directors for the Greater Waterbury YMCA and the Palace Theater in Waterbury. Joe resides in Wolcott, CT, and Jupiter, FL, with his wife Debra. They have three daughters and five granddaughters.

Amber Diaz  '06

Amber Diaz co-anchors the weekday 5:00p.m. newscasts at NBC Connecticut. Her reporting and special project stories can also be seen throughout the week in the 4:00p.m., 5:00p.m., or 6:00p.m. newscasts. She is a Connecticut native who has lived and traveled around the country covering some of the nation's biggest stories in the last decade. That includes the 2018 tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. During her time in Portland, Oregon, she covered the ongoing protests following the 2016 presidential election.

GORMAN BECHARD III '77

Gorman Bechard has directed and written 19 feature films including rock documentaries on The Replacements, Grant Hart, Archers of Loaf, Lydia Loveless, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, and now Wilco's Jay Bennett. He has also directed the animal-rights films A Dog Named Gucci (which won the prestigious and rarely awarded ASPCA Media Excellence Award in 2015) and Seniors A Dogumentary, and most recently Pizza, A Love Story, a film on the Italian migration to New Haven, Connecticut that lead to the 3 most famous pizza restaurants in the world.

Taryn Papa '07
 

Taryn Papa's music is the soundtrack to endless summers. Blending the timeless sound of 1990s country with the modern melodies of 21st century pop, she bridges the gap between the classic and the contemporary, creating a warm sound that's every bit as powerful as the Martina McBride records that first captivated her attention as a teenager.

Kelly Branco '05 

Kelly Branco '05 lives in Chappaqua, NY with her husband Damon and three children Madeline (6), Charlotte (4) and Theodore (3). She is the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer at Tremblant Capital Group, an asset management firm that invests in public companies on behalf of its hedge fund clients. She is also a CPA in the State of New York.

Kelly has been involved with various professional organizations throughout her career and in 2021, she earned the Emerging Leaders Award from the NY Society of CPAs. She was also honored with an award from the Children’s Dream Foundation for her work in the autism community. She currently serves as Chair of the Special Education PTA in Chappaqua and Chair of Every Person Is Connected (an organization focused on improving the quality of life for people with special needs by increasing awareness and promoting inclusion in the community). Most recently, she published a children’s book titled “My Sister Maddie” introducing the concept of neurodiversity inclusion and awareness based on her life experience as both a mother and sister of someone with an autism diagnosis.

Kelly graduated from Meredith College in 2.5 years with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and minor in Economics. She also earned her Master of Strategic Public Relations from George Washington University.

OJALA NAEEM '08 

Ojala Naeem ‘08 works at Travelers Insurance as the Head of XD Operations, Enterprise Customer Experience. Previously a Hartford Business Journal 40 Under 40 award recipient and Capital Summit Community Champion Award recipient, she is committed to organizations that further innovation, socio-economic development, and community growth. She previously served as the managing director of reSET in Hartford, a non-profit organization whose mission is to advance the social enterprise sector, where she stayed for six years. She currently serves on the board of directors for a Hartford company known as Launch, a business development service. Naeem is on the Bradley Development League Board of Directors, was the board chair at Forge City Works and a council member on the state's social equity council.

After graduating from Holy Cross High School in 2008, she attended Fordham University and majored in international studies, and recently graduated with her MBA from Quinnipiac University.

Ojala also serves as a Town Councilor for Windsor, CT where she lives with her husband and daughter.

EJ Jamele '01

EJ Jamele is the Founder and CEO of crowdMGMT, an elite brand and talent management and production firm established in 2010 that represents an elite roster of dynamic artists in the multi-billion dollar beauty and lifestyle industries. He’s an accomplished producer with over 15 years in the business and leads the crowdMGMT team; servicing clients including VOGUE, Vanity Fair, Essence, ABC, VH1, FX, Ciara, TV One, The Kardashian’s and Jenner’s, Missy Elliott, Balmain, Versace, L’Oreal and so many more.   

EJ's diverse clientele includes some of the most sought after niche artists in the lifestyle and beauty industries with numerous accolades including Emmy, Hollywood Beauty, GLAAD, HRC, Humanitarian, SAG awards and so many more.  

As a producer, EJ’s work has been distributed by Good Morning America, VH1, MTV, BET, Billboard Magazine, V Magazine, Cosmopolitan Magazine, The Grio, Revry TV, Complex Media, ABC and more. Even amidst the adversity of a pandemic EJ executive produced Amplify Voices, a revolutionary TV show panel series on Revry, the world's first and largest LGBTQ+ virtual cable network which premiered on October 5, 2020 demonstrating that his reputation for excellence is unwavering.