Alumni Association Board of Directors

Bob graduated from Illinois Tech in 1970 with a degree in accounting from the Stuart School of Business. During his time on campus he was very involved in student government, working his way to the top as president of what was then called the Illinois Tech Student Association. Bob continued to be involved on campus after graduation, mostly as a member of Triangle Fraternity. After spending 34 years in various capacities at RR Donnelley, he retired in 2004 to become a full time volunteer.

Bob has spent six years on the Alumni Association Board and serves on the Career and Professional Development Committee and the Executive Committee as Vice-Chair. Bob was elected a Trustee of the University in October of 2018 and serves on the Academic Affairs Committee, The Chicago Difference Task Force and the Executive Committee.

Bob and his wife Nancy have two adult children with families on their own. In addition to his volunteer work, Bob does a lot of ornamental and vegetable gardening and is an avid cyclist. Additionally, Bob sits on the Board of Ride Illinois, the state-wide bicycle advocacy organization, and served 4 years as president of the Board of the Active Transportation Alliance, one of the largest regional active transportation advocacy groups in the United States.

George is the managing partner of Global Consultants United (GCU) – a International Business Consulting Group that provides world-class solutions with a team of collaborating partners.

George is the current Vice-Chair. He served on the Illinois Tech Alumni Board from 2014 to 2021 and as the Chair of the International from 2020 to 2021. As the Chair, he expanded the International Committee to include Alumni from all major regions and countries. He initiated the Virtual Global Alumni Gathering in 2020 and it is now a tradition.  Leveraging his relationship to the local Asian American community, he also initiated multiple Asian American community programs for Asian Americans & Asia international students and the alumni network.

Since graduating with a master’s degree in computer science in 1980, George’ career spanned four decades and multiple sectors. George served 12 years at the U.S. Department of Commerce, Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) and the White House Initiative for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders where he provided International Business consulting and facilitated access to government service for minority businesses. He led multiple trade mission to Asia including the 2015 Presidential SME Trade Mission to APEC in the Philippines. His career also included two years at the SBA Small Business Development Center Director in Chicago; five years as an international business management consultant; and 20 years at AT&T Bell Labs and Lucent Technologies where he started as software engineer and finished as Product Management Director managing a $400 million dollars data networking business unit.

George is the founder of the Asian American Executive Network. Founded in 2013, It is a national networking group that provides a forum for professionals and executives to support each other and the community. Recent Asian American Executive Network programs include Asian American small business advocacy, Virtual AAPI Career and Job fair, Silver Career Management, and Asian American Board Exchange.

George has a master’s (1980) and bachelor’s degree (1976) in Computer Sciences. He also completed two Executive Education programs at Stanford University in Marketing and Business Management. George is married with 2 children and one grandchild. 

John L. Abramic, a partner in the Chicago office of Steptoe & Johnson, is an experienced patent litigator who represents clients in complex intellectual property disputes and serves as lead counsel in federal district courts and arbitrations in the United States. While John is often recognized for his experience with disputes in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, including Hatch-Waxman litigation, he has litigated matters across a variety of technical fields, including chemicals, electronics, semiconductors, telecommunications, machinery, and computer software. Clients and peers commend "his deep knowledge of the medical device and pharmaceutical industries, his confidence and reliability during trial, and his skill as a litigator, as well as his leadership qualities and innovative thinking." For several years, John has been recognized by Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine in the yearly editions of the "IAM Patent 1000" for patent litigation, and he has been routinely selected to the Illinois Super Lawyers list.

Olurotimi (Timi) Akindele is a resident of Chicago. He matriculated into Illinois Tech in the Fall of 2012 after earning an associate degree from the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC). During the pursuit of his Political Science degree at the Lewis College of Human Sciences a t IIT, Timi played varsity soccer for the school and was the recipient of both the Student-Athlete of the Year Award and Excellence in Sports Award. He held memberships at the Student Government Association (SGA), National Association of Black Engineers (NSBE), and at the African Student Association (ASO).

After graduating from Illinois Tech, Timi went on to earn a Master of Science degree in Communications and Management from Northwestern University. He currently works as an outreach recruiting manager for the United States Department of Commerce. Before that, he worked for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago—improving the Fed’s industry relations program.

Shanita Baraka Akintonde, aka ShaniTaDa! (MBA ’97) is Chair, Illinois Tech Alumni Association, International Committee and Chair, Global Gathering event. This firecracker communicator is propelled by love! She met her husband, Jimmy (Arch ’95, Board of Trustee Member) on IIT’s campus nearly 30 years ago. The pair share two sons. Their oldest, Jimi, completed his Civil Engineering studies at Illinois Tech. Anthony, the youngest, is a Man of Morehouse College.

ShaniTaDa!,  is an accomplished professional speaker, author, entrepreneur, and educator who has transitioned thousands of students from the classroom to the boardroom during her 23 years as a tenured professor at Columbia College Chicago. Her company ShanitaSpeaks, LLC, energizes clients to LEAD, LISTEN, and LOVE better—themselves and those who appear to be different via keynotes, workshops, and specialized training sessions. Her audiences span from Houston to Hawaii, Baltimore to Boston, Canada to Ohio, and San Francisco to South Africa.

She is the youngest and first Black female to sit on boards for The American Marketing Association, The American Advertising Federation, and The Public Relations Society of America, Inc (PRSA) simultaneously.

ShaniTaDa! is a leader in other capacities as well. She serves as Board Vice Chairman of The Metropolitan, the largest private club for business leaders in Chicago. She is the founder & President of Leading Ladies Toastmasters™ Club, the first specialty Club of its type chartered in the Chicagoland area and is among over 350,000 Toastmasters around the world. She is a Life Member of The Chicago Writer’s Association, Top Ladies of Distinction, Inc. and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She credits her Illinois Tech education with forging her life path of success.

Kenneth Burns graduated from Illinois Tech in 1982 with a Bachelor's of Science in Chemical Engineering. During his time on campus, he served as Program Director and Station Manager at WOUI (now WIIT) campus radio station. Ten years later in 1992, he received a Master of Management degree from J.L. Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Ken’s participation in Illinois Tech’s co-operative education program allowed him to identify a career path early in life. After graduation, Ken worked in a variety of industries (power distribution, telecommunications, banking/finance and information technology) in product marketing, sales and channel development/management. Today, Ken serves as Advisor at TransUnion, supporting global and domestic data distribution partners. Ken is committed to a life of service. He brings that passion to his role on the Career and Professional Development Committee of Illinois Tech’s Alumni Board. Ken helps current and future Illinois Tech graduates recognize alternative career opportunities.

Ken and his wife Cynthia have lived in Colorado since 1992. They currently volunteer in organizations focused on creating opportunities for individuals to improve their ability to earn a living wage and improve stability in families.

Harley Feldman graduated Illinois Tech in 1969 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemistry and a Computer Science Minor and later received his Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Minnesota. He was a member of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity for four years at Illinois Tech, including being Secretary, Vice President and President. Harley is the Cofounder and Chief Marketing Officer of Seeonic, LLC. His career has involved technology development, marketing, sales and business development in computing electronics from his early days in large scale computers to today’s Internet of Things applications.

Following graduation from Illinois Tech, Harley worked for Control Data Corporation for 28 years. Since then, Harley has been involved with several technology startup businesses including his current involvement in starting Seeonic in the RFID technology market in 2015.

Harley has been a member of the Christmas Lake Homeowners Association Board of Directors for 30 years, and he served a three-year stint as President. He has also served on the Board of Directors of ALARC, a running organization in the Twin Cities that provides running guidance and exercise programs and funding to non-profit organizations.

Currently, Harley serves on the Alumni Board Career and Professional Development Committee and the Admissions Committee.

Eric is a full time entrepreneur of multiple real estate businesses. For the first ten years of his engineering career, he worked at Underwriters Laboratories, ComEd and Gus Berthold Electric while simultaneously pursuing an entrepreneurial career.

After successfully investing in real estate, Eric left his engineering career and pursued his passion of entrepreneurship full time. He currently owns KCI Realty & Consulting, LLC, a real estate investment consulting and brokerage company and KCI Rehab & Remodeling, LLC, a residential and commercial general contracting company. He is also the author of “The Real Estate Investment Bible For Urban Communities”

For over two decades of running a real estate business, he has established himself as one of the top real estate investment minds in the Chicago area. As a result, his business has grown exponentially with the creation of the most unique Real Estate Investment Program in the Chicago land area attracting clients from all over the world.

Eric is often at various schools throughout Chicago mentoring and teaching young kids about life, engineering and entrepreneurship. As he is approaching his next phase in life, he is transitioning to pursue his fulltime passion and purpose in life in helping young children's dreams come true.

Zuly Gomez graduated from Illinois tech with dual degrees in 2014. She was an IIT Leadership Academy Scholar, Kern Innovation and Entrepreneurship Academy (KIEA) Scholar and a recipient of the Martin Cooper Endowed Scholarship. She was also an active meber of SHPE, LIFE|HACE, served on the Executive Board of the NSLS IIT Chapter, and played for the IIT tennis team ('08-'09) and IIT Women's Hawk Basketball team ('13-'14).

She applied her leadership skills as director of the Exelon Institute Program, program director and educator of the Motorola Summer Program, and founding team member of the IIT Idea Shop.

Since graduating, personal experience has guided Gomez' path toward the healthcare industry. She is a co-founder and serves as Executive Vice President of Customer Experience & Business Development at myowndoctor, where she drives business development, sales, customer implementations and experience, and product marketing strategies that aim to innovate on the way care is delivered to improve health. She brings a multitude of experiences and perspectives. During her free time, Zuly volunteers at Gilda's Club and speaks at high schools about the importance of STEM education.

Gomez remains connected to Illinois Tech via the Exelon Summer Institute Program, where she returned to speak about her experiences at the university, the program, and life after Illinois Tech.

Frank is currently leading the engineering efforts of Tel-IT Technology Solutions, servicing the technology needs of the SMB market segment in the Chicago area and beyond. He aims to provide world-class IT solutions including collaboration, hybrid work, and cloud adoption to enable customers achieve their business goals.

Previously, Frank worked at Motorola for 20 years, rising through various levels of engineering leadership. Always advocating for the customer, he led various large, diverse, international teams in the deployment and optimization of cellular infrastructure in over 30 countries on 6 continents. In 2006, he received the CDMA Quality Award for the development of his innovative process of defect containment though the injection of field deployment results into the earliest product development phases.

Throughout his 30-year career, Frank has recognized the acute under-representation of people of color in the fields of technology. A son of immigrant parents from El Salvador, he feels he has lived through many of the obstacles that limit the intelligent, talented, and hardworking individuals that come from underserved neighborhoods. He is now passionate about helping at-risk youth realize that they too, can have a future in technology.

Sandro Mazzini is the Global Director of Business Development with KBR, an aerospace, defense, and oil & gas engineering/technology services firm in Houston, Texas. Born in Lima, Peru, Sandro immigrated to the US in 1989, landing in Chicago to live with his Aunt and Uncle. He began his college studies with at the City Colleges of Chicago. Through an academic transfer scholarship program with Illinois Tech, Sandro transferred in 1991 to complete his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, with a minor in Polymer Science, all while balancing a full-time academic load and full-time work load. After 12 years with Honeywell UOP LLC in progressively influential roles in catalyst research, refinery and petrochemicals plants design, and global business development. Sandro accepted a role with Shell Oil Company in Houston, TX, where he enjoyed a diverse 13-year career expanding his global experience in technical sales, marketing, and new business development. Since mid-2019, an exciting new opportunity with KBR in Houston, TX presented new challenges to capitalize on leadership, complex sales, and relationship management while tapping into the extensive refining and petrochemical knowledge/experience garnered throughout his career.

Attributing the scholarship with Illinois Tech as the single game-changing event in his career, Sandro is passionate about giving back to Illinois Tech, through mentorship and promoting new opportunities to students needing financial assistance, as a member of the Gunsaulus Society.

Cindy Miao graduated from Illinois Tech in 2011 with a Masters in Personnel and Human Resource Development. She earned her Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology from Capital Normal University, China in 2008. With ten years professional experience in human resources, Cindy engages and recruits international students and professionals who are working or studying in North America. She is also actively involved in coaching potential talent to navigate the job market in China & U.S.

In April, 2021, Cindy joined TuSimple’s Talent Acquisition Team as a technical recruiter, responsible for algorithm research and developmental recruitment. Cindy’s previous work experience includes four-year technical recruiting experiences from two consulting companies in the Bay area, Sr. Campus Recruiter at Walmart’s global headquarters, and talent acquisition team member for Schneider Electric.

Among Cindy’s achievements she has built long-term relationships with Asian students/MBA/professional/alumni and was recognized and recruited by Duke-Kunshan University as Asian Student’s Career Consultant in 2020. Working with Schneider Electric, she received the Schneider Electric Silver Global Trophy for Employer Branding Campaign in 2014 and Schneider Electric Bronze Connect Trophy for U.A-China Campus Recruitment project in 2012.

Cindy is a current member of the International Committee of the IIT Alumni Association and is leading the effort to engage the Regional Chapter in China.

Griselda Monsivais, PE, CFM, LEED GA, is the Director of Transportation and Water Resources at Wight & Company. For over 20 years, she has planned and designed public and private infrastructure projects within Chicago’s transportation industry. Her expertise in water resources management and complex drainage design extends to major infrastructure projects including interchange and roadway reconstruction, bridge replacement, and regional storm water planning improvements. These projects have enriched her knowledge of the federal processing guidelines needed to navigate the balanced approach required by transportation leaders.

Griselda was born and raised in Chicago’s Little Village Community, completed high school in Mexico, then returned to Chicago to attend Illinois Tech. She is a member of the Illinois Association of State Floodplain Managers, and WTS (Women’s Transportation Seminar)-Greater Chicago Chapter. She is passionate about sharing her experiences as a woman working in transportation and infrastructure and enjoys mentoring college students and new graduates pursuing careers in engineering and science.

Mr. Raymond C. Nelson graduated from Illinois Tech in 1978, earning a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering with a Management Minor. Upon graduation, Mr. Nelson joined the DuPont Corporation where he served over 37 years in Operations, Supply Chain, Project Management and Maintenance/Reliability Engineering. He became a Licensed Engineer in the State of Texas in September 1993, and retired in March 2016.

Since 2007, Mr. Nelson began to focus on Lean Six Sigma (LSS) based technologies as a Black Belt, becoming a Master Black Belt in 2013. He currently serves as Director, Lean Operations and Global Strategy for Basal Solutions, LLC providing Lean Six Sigma, Design of Manufacture, Minitab, FEMA, HAZAOP, Design Review, KPI Facilitation and Performance Management training and consulting.

Mr. Nelson has previously served as a Trustee for Prairie View A&M Foundation Board, DuPont Representative and Co-Chair on the Gulf Coast Alliance for Minorities in Engineering, DuPont Representative and Industry Co-Chair on the Prairie View A&M Cluster, Charter member of the PVAMU College of Business Advisory Board, and Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee for the Sickle Cell Association for the Texas Gulf Coast, where he was honored with a DuPont Volunteer of the Year award in 2001. Currently, he serves on the Career and Professional Development Committee for the IIT Alumni Association. Raymond was recently appointed to the Alumni Executive Board to lead the effort to implement the Strategic Plan opportunities.

Tanya Marietta Powell graduated from Illinois Tech with her Bachelor’s of Science in Management and went on to earn her Master’s of Science in Telecommunications and Master’s of Business Administration in Finance from Golden Gate University. She is a C level professional, Chief Financial Officer for Total Safety Supplies & Solutions, a distribution company servicing Fortune 500 Oil, Utility, Transportation and Construction companies.

Catholic by faith, Tanya has a strong commitment to God and to service. Since 2009, she has been the Sunday Bishop’s Mass Lay Minister Coordinator and Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion for Mass and Homebound Lector at the Cathedral of Christ the Light.

Previously, Tanya served as an Advisory Board Member for the Golden Gate University, and Auxiliary President for the San Francisco Zoology Society Board. Currently, she serves on the Board of Directors for the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano County, Order of Malta, and is a Sustaining Member of the San Francisco Ballet Auxiliary.

Tanya contributes to IIT through her service on the African American Alumni Association (4A) and the International Committee. Tanya is a proud member of IIT Alumni Association and hopes to successfully bring her skills to the mission.

As Lead Software Architect of Cleversafe, a startup that was incubated at University Tech Park on the Illinois Tech campus, Resch played a pivotal role in creating technology that revolutionized data storage. Through his work there, he became the most prolific inventor in Chicago, and remains one of the top inventors in the world with 932 issued US patents. In 2015 his work helped Cleversafe make one of the largest startup exits in Chicago history, a $1.3 billion sale to IBM.

Resch became interested in technology at an early age, and as a freshman in high school, he founded Global Communications Network, LLC, an online communications platform that was the first to provide video chat. Resch won the 2015 Illinois Tech Outstanding Young Alumnus Award and has been a member of the Illinois Tech Alumni Awards committee since 2015. He is also a member of the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity and credits his education and the connections he made at Illinois Tech for the path his life has taken. In his current role, as a researcher and writer at AlwaysAsking.com, he attempts to find and share answers to some of humanity's deepest questions.

Robert is currently a consultant at Ironwood Associates, specializing in semiconductor and nanotechnology development, computer and peripheral products, audio and automotive systems and aftermarket products. Previously, he served as marketing manager at STMicroelectronics, a multinational electronics and semiconductor manufacturer and Europe's largest semiconductor chip maker based on revenue, from 1995 to 2006. Before joining STMicroelectronics, he worked as a senior engineer and manager at IBM Corp. for nearly 30 years.

In addition to his Illinois Tech degree, Robert earned an M.A. in Physics ('68) from DePaul University and an M.B.A. ('75) from the University of Kentucky.

During his attendance at Illinois Tech, Robert was the president, vice president, pledge trainer, and treasurer of Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity. In June 2012, he came back on campus for the first time in many years to participate in the TEP Fraternity reunion.

Zanette Sanders is a global partner training program manager with Amazon Web Services. She oversees pre-sale cloud training for global partner communities. She has previously been in various roles at Motorola Solutions and its offshoots for 20+ years. She is an awarded leader in technology training and solutions consultancy, providing key business development and process optimization over her career. Ms. Sanders’ focus on innovation and voice of the customer has made her a valued asset to her team and carries over into her numerous volunteer roles.

Focusing on community and STEM, Ms. Sanders supports “Girls do Hack” and the Museum of Science and Industry Science Fair as well as her alma mater, Illinois Institute of Technology. She has participated in Interprofesional Projects Day as a judge, has served on the career panel as a guest speaker, encourages high school students as an admissions volunteer, and is active in the Africa-American Alumni Association (4A). This is only a small list of the ways she gives back.

Claudette Soto is the President and CEO of baso, Ltd., a construction management/owner representative firm in the Chicagoland area, whose mission is to elevate equitable procurement and meaningful minority and woman owned business participation while delivering projects on time and on a budget. She has been working in the construction management, architectural, and engineering field for over 17 years.

In 2001, as an undergraduate, Soto founded a local student-led grassroots organization named VAMOS (Volunteer and Mentor One Summer). VAMOS promotes the importance of higher education and STEM careers to children of local middle schools, and provides year-round mentoring for college students and recent graduates.

She has been featured on WGN as Chicago's Very Own and Univision's Somos Orgullo, was the guest speaker during ComEd's Solar Spotlight Program, the guest speaker for BUILD's La Mesa Latina event, a TEDx speaker on the topic of "Change Architecture-Change Community" as well as a speaker at the Bishop John R. Gorman Institute for Leadership in Catholic Education on the topic of "Architecture and How it Inspires Learning and Change".

Soto is a graduate from the UNO Metropolitan Leadership Institute, and is a proud recipient of a HACIA scholarshipand the Joseph Claussen Award for Community Service. Soto has been named a SASDI (Student, Access, and Diversity Initiatives) Fellow by Illinois Tech.

After graduating from Illinois Tech, Ann worked at Motorola in the cellular division for 14 years, then founded Trandai Realty, a commercial real estate and investment brokerage in Chicago. Her practice includes sale and leasing transactions of office, retail, shopping center, hotel, and industrial warehouses for her domestic and international clientele. For her foreign investors, her service includes consultation in investing in U.S. real estate with guidance into residence with EB-5 & L1 visa programs.

She holds the Certified International Property Specialist designation and is among 15,000 professionals across North America and thirty countries to be designated a Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM). With a Certified Minority Business Enterprise, she is also the first female business owner in the Chicago Asian American community to earn the CCIM designation. Ann is very involved in the Asian American and her local communities. She has spoken to local realtor boards to promote CCIM education and was a speaker in the panel discussion at IAR Multicultural Seminar on "Understanding Asian Real Estate Market in United States".

During her presidency at Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) Chicago Chapter in 2015, she coordinated the Global Summit of AREAA at Trump Tower with the highest number of attendees for Global Summit (800+) and over fifty international attendees.

Phyllis is the Deputy General Counsel and Head of Intellectual Property with Hewlett-Packard. Prior to stepping into the role as Head of Intellectual Property, Phyllis was the Director of RFIP and Strategy Licensing for HP. She earned her JD from the University of Cincinnati in 1993. While a student at Illinois Tech, Phyllis was a member of UCBS, NSBE, NTA, and Honor Marshalls. She has presented on a panel with the Office of Career Services to assist students studying STEM to consider a career in law, utilizing their STEM background with intellectual property. Phyllis is passionate about supporting the pipeline of enrollment growth for minority students from engineering to law.

Namrata is a Senior Vice President and Global Head of Inclusion and Diversity Strategy for Bank of America. Considered an influencer in the Asian American community, Namrata was named 40 Under 40 in 2018 by Crain’s Business Chicago. She is passionate about volunteerism, social impact, and civic-community engagement. In 2016, she kicked off the Bank of America's “Let’s Get Real” series of live video broadcasts, which have a regular audience of 115,000 mid-level and senior leaders. The series features authors, researchers and company leaders discussing sensitive topics like religion, social rights, LGBTQ issues, gender and our polarized politics. The content initiates conversation around this central question: “Can we really bring our whole selves to work?”