American University’s business school is expanding its advisory council that provides professional advice and mentorship.
Kogod School of Business has welcomed Jeff Ansary, John Heller and Anisha Singh. Bringing the three professionals on board is part of an overall effort to optimize students’ experience at the Washington, D.C., school, officials said.
Ansary has 20 years of experience in finance, hospitality and real estate development. He is now the managing director of investment firm Ansaco, LLC, in Bethesda, Maryland.
“I have a very diverse background,” Ansary said. “I’ve worked in capital markets, and in the hospitality sector with Marriott and Hyatt. I’ve also spent a lot of time on the hiring side. I saw a lot of things i liked and didn’t like, and think I can bring some of that experience to the school.”
Ansary said he hopes to help students get hired by “excellent employers.”
Heller, CEO of PAE, which provides support for essential missions of the federal government and others, was named to the 2017 Wash100 for Post-Acquisition and Government Services Leadership and received the 2015 GovCon Executive of the Year Award. He has been been a top executive at Engility Corp.
Heller said he believes he can help by sharing how businesses view new graduates.
“What do companies expect from new graduates? What skills do we want them to bring to the job?” he said. “This input can be helpful for the university to consider when building a program’s curriculum.”
Singh co-founded Mydala.com of which she is CEO. The local services marketing platform serves large brands and reaches 400 million customers in India. She was recognized on Cosmopolitan’s Digital Power List in 2016 and was named eTales’ E-commerce Entrepreneur of the Year the same year.
As an AU alum, Singh said she just wants to give back.
“I think my global experience and outlook are my strongest assets,” she said. “I speak about entrepreneurship globally at leading conferences. I actively mentor several start-ups and am a vocal champion of gender diversity. I bring the same to the (advisory council) along with my passion for seeing Kogod as one of the top leading business schools globally.”