Tia joined JPMorgan August of 2000. Prior to joining the JPMorgan, Tia was Assistant Deputy Attorney General with the Delaware Department of Justice. Before that, Tia was a Probation & Parole Officer with the Delaware Department of Correction.
Tia holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Delaware, a Master of Business degree from Wilmington University, and a Juris Doctor from Widener University School of Law. She is a Member in Good Standing of the Pennsylvania State Bar.
In her free time, Tia enjoys cheering on her favorite thee sport (football, basketball, and baseball) athlete, her son Tyler. Tia lives in Delaware with her husband and son.
From 2008-2011, she also served as an adjunct law professor at the law schools of Ludwig Maximillian Universitat of Munich, Germany, and University of Augsburg in Augsburg Germany. Olivia is deeply committed to diversity and inclusion initiatives. She and her passion project partner have launched privilegeandprejudice.com to undertake the privilege projects – a program designed to promote awareness and education on racism in America, and what you can do about it!
Julie graduated cum laude from Indiana University - Maurer School of Law and earned a bachelor's degree with the highest distinction in supply chain and information systems from The Pennsylvania State University.
Arden Joseph joined Visa Inc. in January 2022 as Counsel in the Global Product & Operations team. In her role, some of her responsibilities include providing legal support to some of Visa’s core payment processing products and a variety of new and value-added products, services, and operational functionalities. Prior to her pivot to fintech, her career took root in various investment banks. Ms. Joseph worked for Deutsche Bank in Jacksonville, Florida for nearly 7 years as Assistant Vice President and Counsel in the Americas Legal Department. In her role, she negotiated derivative contracts for hedge funds, corporate and institutional clients. Prior to that, she worked for Citigroup in New York for 11 years as SVP, Sr. Negotiator in the Office of General Counsel. There, she partnered extensively with various stakeholders as a transactional attorney. She also served as a subject matter expert for the FX prime brokerage desk. Ms. Joseph earned a Juris Doctorate from Albany Law School as well as a Certificate in Cybersecurity and Data Privacy. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from New York University, Stern School of Business.
Melanie is an executive for the Lease & Land Development organization as Senior Director, Global Portfolio Management & Lease Center of Excellence, where she leads a team charting the future direction across Microsoft's Lease activities addressing key areas, such as, Lessor Environmental Health & Safety, Sustainability, Availability, Security, etc. partnering with key stakeholders across Cloud Operations + Innovation (CO+I) at Microsoft. She spent 12 years with T-Mobile, serving in various roles ranging from Director of Network Engineering & Operations to Sr. Counsel in the Legal Department.
Melanie has substantial experience in critical infrastructure, real estate and complex commercial transactions involving consumer IoT products, software licenses, software as a service, cloud computing, data collection, privacy, cyber security, and all aspects assisting the digital transformation of enterprise HR, Supply Chain, Sales Operations and Finance systems. At T-Mobile she was responsible for driving billions of synergy savings to self-fund network deployment strategies and propel 5G and IoT into the future.
Melanie is actively involved in community improvement efforts and currently is a Board Director of the Together Center, providing affordable housing and a centralized location for services for underserved communities. She is a champion of gender and racial diversity and regularly advises Women’s leadership boards.
Melanie graduated with a J.D. from New England School of Law and a B.A. from Brandeis University, where she was a 3-sport varsity captain and recipient of the Max I. Silber award for being an outstanding student-athlete.
Before joining Uber, Kyle was an Associate at an insurance defense law firm in Chicago where he defended a range of corporate defendants in a variety of tort liability litigation. He received his B.A. in International Studies and Communications from Saint Louis University, and his J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis. He is a Member in Good Standing of the Illinois State Bar. In his free time, Kyle enjoys exploring Chicago with his wife or taking weekend trips to mountain towns to go hiking.
Prior to joining Genentech, Tyng practiced in private international law firms in Washington D.C. and Tokyo, where she focused on healthcare regulatory and litigation matters and corporate and securities issues in the life sciences space. She graduated from Georgetown University Law Center, cum laude, and received her undergraduate degree in Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry from Yale University.
Megan Fouty is the General Counsel and CHRO at Glowforge, Inc., a Seattle-based technology start-up that designs and produces 3D laser printers. Megan oversees the Legal, HR, customer support organization, recruiting, and the facilities team at Glowforge. Megan joined Glowforge's executive team during a period of rapid growth. Megan came from heading up the legal team at Convoy, Inc. another Seattle-based technology start up. In addition to her day job, Megan founded and runs Diversity University, a company that provides diversity, equity, and inclusion tools such as trainings, project management, or assists in investigations for companies, law firms, and organizations. Megan's background includes both law firm and in-house experience with previous senior legal positions at Moss Adams, one of the country's largest public accounting firms and Expeditors International, a Fortune 500 international logistics company. Megan serves on the board of directors for Providence Pediatric Hospice of Seattle. Recently she was awarded the top ten 30 somethings by ACC national, received the "Legal MVP Award" by SimpleLegal, she was listed in Marquis 2022 Who's Who in America, was featured on the International "The Counsel" Podcast, and was recognized by Women, Influence and Power in Law for Championing Diversity in-house and for Innovative Leadership. She has spoken around the country on a wide range of topics and is seen as a prominent leader in the legal community. She recently published her book, The Art of Networking, providing women, underrepresented individuals, and anyone looking for career progression or to grow a more robust network with tangible tools and advice to do so.
Shelly Northover is the former Vice President of Risk and Compliance, Risk and Compliance Officer and Privacy Officer for Orlando based Holiday Inn Club Vacations Incorporated (formerly Orange Lake Resorts), where she was responsible for corporate Ethics, risk management, Compliance, Privacy and restructuring and entrenching the Enterprise Risk Management Program into the organization. She specializes in management of Risk Committees and working collaboratively with both Executive teams and business units to establish best practices, effective and efficient controls and processes, and corporate and departmental policies that support Compliance with legal and regulatory matters to ensure a compliant culture within organizations.
Shelly has spent over 24 years in the Insurance industry crafting unique coverage forms, working with state agencies and supporting product management in various roles. For over 12 years Shelly has brought her experience as a litigator and depth of experience, practical skills, and knowledge in risk, privacy and compliance to companies like Nationwide Insurance, Kemper Property & Casualty (formerly Unitrin Specialty), in Texas, and Esurance, in California, before moving to Florida.
Shelly has an undergraduate degree from Rice University and a JD from South Texas College of Law, in Houston Texas, and is a former Prosecutor with the City of Houston also in Texas.
Shaila Lakhani Ohri is Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Uplight, a software and technology partner for energy providers to accelerate the clean energy ecosystem, advising the company and leading the legal team on issues of risk, strategic and commercial transactions, data privacy, IP and innovation, branding, corporate governance and compliance. Shaila spent 14 years in the energy industry both at Exelon and Pepco Holdings (now an Exelon company) providing legal advice and strategic counsel in the areas of innovation, emerging technology, software and IP licensing, commercial and corporate transactions, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, financing and restructuring, corporate governance, securities, procurement, and litigation.
Prior to joining Exelon, Shaila was in-house at CapitalSource Finance where she was responsible for corporate and financing transactions as well as employment and immigration work. Shaila began her legal career as a clerk to the Honorable Herbert B. Dixon at the D.C. Superior Court, and as an associate at a law firm. She received her J.D. from the George Washington University Law School and her B.A. from the American University. Shaila is focused on diversity in the law and was a 2018 LCLD Fellow, and received the 2021 MCCA Rising Star award and the 2022 NAWL Rising List award. She remains involved in a number of affinity bar associations including as Board Member and Co-Chair of the In-House Counsel Committee of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of the District of Columbia and a co-chair of the Women’s Leadership Network for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. She is also an active volunteer in her community.
In addition to being a highly adaptable and collaborative business partner, Deborah is also a seasoned litigator. Prior to moving in-house, she spent many years as Counsel at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP where her practice focused on complex commercial and consumer litigation. While at Skadden she represented clients across diverse industries in all aspects of litigation and alternative dispute resolution proceedings. She is a CCEP certified compliance professional and is often invited to speak on topics including best practices in regulatory and internal investigations as well as issues related to compliance and marketing in higher education. She holds a Juris Doctor from the DePaul University College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Northwestern University.
Nicholas Tiger joined the neobank start-up Upgrade, Inc. as Associate General Counsel in 2021 overseeing consumer borrowing, new product development, and marketing guidance. Prior to joining Upgrade, Nick was Senior Counsel for Capital One and provided regulatory counsel to product, process, and customer service managers. While at Capital One, Nick was appointed to the Legal Diversity & Inclusion Committee and took on a leadership role in OutFront, the LGBTQ+ employee resource group. Identifying himself as neurodiverse, Nick also regularly speaks out against mental health and disability stigma in the workplace.
In addition to being passionate about driving diversity in the legal field, he has also been widely recognized for his pro bono service where he has appeared in contested removal proceedings before the Board of Immigration Appeals. He was recently named a finalist for the 2019 Volunteer of the Year award for the Greater Washington DC metro area. A new San Francisco resident, he can normally be found outdoors exploring the sights and sounds of the Bay Area.
Nicholas received his J.D. with an emphasis in International Law from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. While in school, Nicholas clerked for both a Federal Magistrate Judge in the Western District of Missouri and an Administrative Court of Appeals Judge abroad in Guanajuato, Mexico. He also holds a B.A. from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri.
From 2013 – 2017, Rishi served as Deputy General Counsel overseeing HPE’s corporate, securities and M&A practice. Before joining Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Rishi served as general counsel for two different publicly traded companies from 2005 to 2013 – TPC Group, Inc., a petrochemical company, and Trico Marine Services, Inc., a global subsea service provider. During his time at Trico, Rishi also served in additional management roles including chief operating officer and president. Prior to these companies, Rishi served as securities counsel and director of investor relations for EGL, Inc., a publicly traded global freight forwarder (2002 – 2005), and as a business associate in the New York office of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, LP (1998 - 2002). He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the Georgetown University Law Center and also graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science. Rishi and his wife, Michelle, have three children.
Nina Allen Blackshear is a Director, Corporate Counsel at Incyte Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company. She provides business-focused legal & compliance advice and training, and drafts and negotiates a broad spectrum of contracts across the globe, including North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East/North Africa regions.
Nina also provides executive and leadership coaching to an array of senior-level and C-Suite clients across a number of industries, and is a Board Member of the Association of Corporate Counsel (Greater Philadelphia Chapter).
Nina earned her BA in Political & Social Thought from the University of Virginia and her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Strategic Communication & Cross-Cultural Leadership from Temple’s Klein College of Media & Communication, as well as a Certificate in Supply Chain Fundamentals from Georgia Tech. Nina is admitted to the Pennsylvania bar and has a Certificate of Limited Practice for In-House Counsel in Delaware.
Prior to joining US Foods, Julie worked as Sr. Counsel, Employment Litigation at JLL, a global professional services firm specializing in real estate and investment management. Julie started her legal career at Jones Day as an employment litigator.
Julie holds a Juris Doctor from Loyola University of Chicago School of Law and a Bachelor's degree from Georgetown University. Before law school, she spent two years teaching fourth grade as a Teach for America corps member in Brownsville, Texas and before that she lived abroad in London, England and Santiago, Chile.
Brice R. White is Associate General Counsel at Meta where he is a leader on Meta's Global Legal Privacy Incident Management (GLPIM) team. He leads Meta's compliance with Section IX of the FTC Consent Order, including investigating and reporting misuse of User data by third parties. He also leads GLPIM's governance program. Brice is a Meta Connections Ambassador leading efforts to build community and recruit diverse talent.
Prior to joining Meta, Brice served as in-house counsel at Tyson Foods where he focused on litigation and investigations, while also leading the privacy legal team. He was a member of the Council to the EVP, General Counsel for Tyson Foods., which focused on professional development, as well as diversity and inclusion within the law department and company.
Before joining Tyson Foods, Brice was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Arkansas, where he became only the second African American to hold that position in the District.
He is a member of the University of Arkansas Law Alumni board, and a Charter Member of TechGC. He has been listed as a Top 40 under 40 lawyer in Arkansas by The National Black Lawyers for several years. He was featured in Modern Counsel magazine for his unique career path and efforts in diversity.
Samantha-Anne Horwitch Nadolny, Associate General Counsel for Select Energy Services, LLC in Houston, Texas, is an accomplished, driven and business-savvy professional, experienced corporate lawyer, compliance professional and Human Resources leader with a demonstrated history in the multiple industries. Her background shows a consistent record of excellence in organizational leadership, corporate advisory, litigation and contract management, policy and process creation and implementation, team building and motivation, and corporate training. Samantha-Anne provides expertise in all aspects of corporate legal guidance, strategic business support, domestic and international regulatory compliance, and risk mitigation across relevant industries and sectors. She adapts quickly to evolving legislation and changes in the law, and educates colleagues and clients as a recognized subject matter expert. With extensive experience in public and private corporations, Samantha-Anne possesses instinctive business acumen and an understanding of how to protect and support a company, it’s mission, and it’s employees. Prior to joining Select Energy in 2020, Samantha Anne served as General Counsel, Chief Compliance and Human Resources Officer for Citelum US-Groupe EDF, and Corporate Counsel for Sterling Construction Company, Inc.
Naana Danquah Jefferson is the General Counsel Americas Land, for SLB located in Houston, Texas. She is an integral member of the Basin HQ Management team and over sees a team covering onshore operations in the US, Canada, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru. She has worked with SLB for over 16 years in various legal positions providing support and guidance to operations and technology, and in compliance roles in benefits and human resources. She serves on the Steering Committee and as the Community Outreach chair for the Black Organization for Leadership and Development (BOLD), a SLB Employee Resource Group.
Naana holds a Juris Doctorate from South Texas College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Sociology from Tulane University. She is a member of the board of directors of the Lupus Foundation Texas Gulf Coast Chapter with a focus of raising awareness and funds for Lupus, and Literacy for Life with a current focus of building a library for children in a Ghana, which is the birthplace of both her parents. She has a passion for helping others via mentoring, volunteering, and fundraising activities on a state, local and individual levels.
Naana resides in the greater Houston area with her husband, young daughter and adopted fur baby. She is a creative who enjoys dancing, crocheting and jewelry making, and the opportunities to share these loves with her daughter and others.
Christine J Chao is the General Counsel of The Foremost Group, an international shipping company where she provides general corporate legal advice. Christine has extensive corporate and commercial law experience having worked in senior legal positions for three Fortune 100 companies: GE (Stamford, CT), Federal Express (Hong Kong and London) and Ultramar Corporation (Greenwich, CT). Christine began her legal career with the Wall Street law firm of Dewey Ballantine.
Christine lived abroad for nearly ten years – five years in Asia and five years in Europe before repatriating to Greenwich, CT.
Christine currently serves as a Trustee for Colgate University and the Foremost Foundation, which strives to help young people access higher education and greater opportunities generally. Christine also serves on the Boards of LitWorld, an organization devoted to promoting literacy around the world, and The One Love Foundation, which is committed to educating our young people about healthy and unhealthy relationships.
Christine received her BA from Colgate University, majoring in English and her JD from Columbia Law School. She is married to Jos Shaver, and they have two sons, Ben (Babson ’22) and Tyler (Stanford ’22).
Jessica Cicali is Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary at Cardone Industries, Inc. In this role, Ms. Cicali oversees the legal and risk management functions of the company and is responsible for all aspects of Cardone’s legal work, including litigation, commercial contracts, compliance, privacy, labor and employment, real estate, sourcing, and corporate governance. With more than 20 years in the legal profession, she has held many positions of increasing responsibility at large, multinational public and private companies, including previously serving as Vice President, Assistant General Counsel at Ricoh USA., and General Counsel for Canada and Associate General Counsel for the Americas at Axalta Coating Systems, LLC.
Ms. Cicali is a proven leader of high-performing legal teams. She is a results-oriented and collaborative business partner who focuses on the big picture to assist the company achieve its strategic objectives while managing and mitigating risk. She brings a pragmatic and creative approach to problem solving and is a trusted advisor with a high level of integrity and professionalism. She has received internal and external recognition for her performance, including a Rising Star Award at the Philadelphia Business Journal’s fourth Annual Corporate Counsel Awards.
She earned her J.D. from Temple University, Beasley School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Dynamics, magna cum laude, from Immaculata University.
Ms. Cicali lives in Chester County with her husband and five children. She enjoys running, gardening, reading, writing, and volunteering in her spare time.
Nicole Pérez Lengel serves as Senior Corporate Counsel for The Chemours Company, where she provides advice and counsel on a variety of legal matters, including litigation and commercial matters. She also serves on the Global leadership teams for the Chemours Women’s Network and Chemours Latin American Resource Organization (CLARO). As part of her role in CLARO, she helped to spearhead the launch of the CLARO Future of Chemistry Scholarship Program, which seeks to increase the representation of Latin American individuals in STEM and STEM-related fields by assisting students in meeting the financial challenges associated with college.
Prior to joining Chemours, Nicole was a partner and litigator in the Philadelphia office of Bennett, Bricklin & Saltzburg LLC, where she served as co-chair of the firm’s Environmental and Toxic Tort, Products Liability, and Maritime practice groups, and also served as a member of the firm’s Diversity committee.
Nicole earned her J.D. from Villanova University School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts in International Politics from The Pennsylvania State University.
Nicole is fluent in Spanish and has a working knowledge of French. In her spare time, she enjoys exercising, spending time with her family, and participating in 5ks and 10ks.
Renuka is General Counsel at International Data Group, Inc. (IDG). IDG, a Blackstone portfolio company, is the world's leading market research and demand generation company for the technology ecosystem, reaching over 100 countries with more than 3,500 employees in 52 countries. IDC provides data and analytics and Foundry provides quality content and a leading demand platform. Prior to joining IDG, Renuka was Chief Legal Officer at MediaKind, a video and media technology company spun out of Ericsson. She has also held positions as AGC of Global M&A at Cognizant and Counsel at Akin Gump in New York focused on M&A and PE representation. She has a particular passion for team building and DE&I.
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Responsible for leadership, management, hiring, training and staff development of corporate legal teams of up to 100 attorneys and support staff covering a wide range of practice areas including litigation, commercial contracting, product development, employment law and corporate compliance. Legal department budget responsibility of over $5 million annually. Workflow management, auditing document reviews and project management. Implementation and training on corporate compliance policies, procedures and programs.
Strategic Partner to C-level executive leadership in identifying and mitigating risk across all business functions including Sales, Product Development, Finance, Internal Audit, Regulatory Affairs, Risk Management and Human Resources.
Experienced Corporate Counsel delivering comprehensive legal guidance to global organizations. Subject matter expert in drafting agreements, negotiating settlements, court appearances, mediations and hearings. Collaborative Communicator focused on building and strengthening relationships with internal and external stakeholders to drive legal excellence while fostering growth.
Annie started her legal career as a litigator at Arnold & Porter in DC, where she also maintained an active pro bono practice advocating for immigrant women and children and various human rights causes. She later moved to Silicon Valley and went in-house to counsel tech companies in all business areas, including product development, data privacy, regulatory compliance, public policy, marketing/comms, human resources, and corporate/IP transactions. Her expansive experience at large, mid-size and startup tech companies spans across a diverse range of industries, including cybersecurity, consumer electronics, fintech, social broadcasting/media, and online/app services. Additionally, Annie has maintained a commitment to community service, particularly in areas promoting education equity and inclusion in underserved communities, youth online safety, and other human rights/DEI initiatives. Currently Annie is Deputy Head of Legal at Glassdoor, the worldwide leader on insights about jobs and companies, whose mission is to help people find a job and company they love.
Passionate about physical and mental fitness, Annie can often be found out running, boxing, hiking or practicing yoga and meditation.
Michelle Carey Jones is an Associate General Counsel in the Global Transactions and Compliance group for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company in Ft. Worth, Texas. In this role, Michelle provides legal support for international transactions and legal compliance, including on the F-35 Program in Canada, Belgium, Finland, Switzerland and Germany.
Prior to joining Lockheed Martin in 2018, Michelle served as General Counsel for Wells Fargo Rail Corporation, an $8 billion railcar leasing company, NCH Marketing Services, Inc., an international coupon clearing and settlement company of over $4 Billion in coupons annually, and Trinity Rail Group, Inc., a $2 billion international railcar manufacturing and leasing company. Michelle has a law firm background as an international commercial and employment litigator at Donovan, Leisure and Orrick. Michelle was a Phi Beta Kappa and received her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (now UC Law San Francisco) and B.A. in Economics/Business from UCLA.
Michelle is married to a Welsh rock climber and engineer, Peter Jones, and has two children, Kailey and Will, as well as her rescue dog Sierra. She enjoys hiking, working out (Orange Theory classes are her new passion), international travel, food and wine, and reading. Michelle is involved in various charities, including Attorneys Serving the Community. Currently, she is part of a group supporting the #1 ranking US Women’s Rock Climbing Champion from Keller, TX, who is only 15 years old and the youngest carrying this title, on her path to the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Nicole Stach has been in-house counsel at Elsevier since 2016, providing support and guidance to stakeholders and customers on a variety of areas including IP/technology licensing, publishing, compliance, privacy, product development, marketing/promotions, and strategic partnerships. Prior to joining Elsevier, Nicole worked in private practice and in-house at IMS Health (IQVIA). She earned her law degree from The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law and graduated summa cum laude from King’s College with a B.A. in English and Psychology. Outside of the office, Nicole enjoys reading mystery novels, traveling, and volunteering with MANNA and TechGirlz.
As an Associate General Counsel in the Public Policy, Law and Security department at Verizon Communications Inc., Rippi handles contracts for Sourcing involving Human Resources Benefits/Plans, Supplier Diversity, Advertising Agencies, Contact Centers, Contingent Workforce and Executive Recruiting. In addition, she works with the Diversity Equity & Inclusion Council, PACE and WAVE organizations at Verizon.
She has received the prestigious Verizon Pro Bono Service Award for her legal contributions in domestic violence and corporate matters. Rippi speaks frequently on diversity and business law at various conferences.
In 2021, she was appointed to the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement. Furthermore, she is the Treasurer of WEN - Women’s Excellence Network - an organization dedicated to impacting high performing women lawyers. Additionally, she serves as the 2023 President of SABA-NJ and Co-Chair of the NJ Punjabi Chamber of Commerce. Lastly, in early 2022, Rippi was appointed to the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Commission of New Jersey by Governor Murphy.
As a complimentary service, she runs a LinkedIn series titled “Attorney of the Week” to highlight the notable achievements of diverse attorneys.
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Nikisha Alcindor is a strategic management leader with expertise in organizational change, investing, and fundraising. She is Managing Director at Riverside Management Group and previously worked at Apax Partners, Pfizer Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Goldman Sachs, and Columbia University. As the former Executive Director and Developer of the Columbia Girls in STEM Initiative, Nikisha is passionate about leveraging her background in science and academia to transformative change in STEM. She is the President and Founder of the STEM Educational Institute. A nonprofit that gives underrepresented high school students the technological skills needed to enter today’s workforce while building generational wealth. In partnership with several firms, the program serves as the diverse talent pipeline for organizations.
Nikisha is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Business - Strategic Management at the Graduate Center of The City University of New York (CUNY), Baruch College - Zicklin School of Business. Her research examines the failure rates of Mergers & Acquisitions by using artificial intelligence and machine learning. She is a CUNY Graduate Center Fellow and the Provost Enhancement Fellow. Nikisha has taught a master class at Columbia Business School and done several guest lectures at Columbia University. Currently, she teaches Business Policy at Baruch College. She is the 2021 Dean Huss Teaching Award recipient and a 2021 Harvard Rising Scholars Conference Presenter. Nikisha is a Board member of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone. Nikisha holds a BA in Chemistry from Emory University and an MBA from Columbia Business School as a Leon Cooperman Scholar.