Welcome Details
Welcome Details
Elissa Sangster
Chief Executive Officer, Forte
Elissa Sangster serves as CEO for the Forté Foundation, a position she has held since 2004. She brings to the role extensive knowledge of issues affecting women’s abilities to seek, prepare for and attain business leadership positions. Elissa serves on the board and executive committee of the Thirty Percent Coalition, focused on increasing women’s representation on corporate boards, and the Women’s Initiative (WIN) Council of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board). She is also frequently interviewed for stories on women’s advancement in business and finance in outlets including Fortune, Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and The Economist and has penned opinion pieces for many news organizations. In her current role, Elissa draws from her prior experience as Assistant Dean and Director of the MBA Program at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. There she oversaw all activities related to the full-time McCombs MBA program including marketing, admissions, student services, and alumni relations. Elissa received her MBA and her B.A. in English from Texas A&M University, where she was the Assistant Director of the MBA Program until 1997. She is past Chair of the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) Annual Industry Conference and formerly served as chair of the MBA Student Services Professionals (MBA SSP). She enjoys reading, running, cooking, and Texas Aggie football. She lives in Texas with her husband, Jeremy, and their daughter, Anna Leigh.
Jeff Bieganek
Executive Director, MBA Roundtable
Prior to joining the MBA Roundtable, Jeff was the Director of the Omnium Global Executive MBA Program at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. As Director of Omnium, Jeff oversaw all operations of the program that delivered learning modules in Canada, India, China, Switzerland, Brazil, Turkey, Hungary, Italy, UAE and Argentina. Jeff joined the Omnium program after 10 years at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management where he served as Director of MBA Admissions and was responsible for recruiting and admitting students into the full-time, part-time and executive MBA programs. Jeff was also active in the management of Carlson’s Executive MBA International Residency program, which traveled to China, Hungary, Sweden, Russia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Poland, Hungary and Austria. Jeff has served on the Board of Directors of the Executive MBA Council, as well has been active with the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Previous career adventures have included managing a vocal academy, fundraising and marketing for an international dance festival and managing productions for a Broadway producer. Jeff currently serves as a judge for the Reimagine Education Awards and also serves as Chair of the Advisory Board for Northrop at the University of Minnesota. Jeff has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management and an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Management.
