This series introduces students to Cornell alums who will offer advice on preparing for an ever-changing workplace. Alums will discuss their academic trajectories, networking, internships and employment, and what they wish they had known when they were students at Cornell. This hybrid series was launched in Spring 2025. A light lunch will be available for those attending in person.
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://cornell.zoom.us/j/97081870097?pwd=SQ56zRTvQuTi0uoEBRbTolyQVDTcQr.1 Meeting ID: 970 8187 0097
Passcode: 746673
October 3: Freddy Terrazas Escamilla'19 POSTPONED TO SPRING 2026:
Freddy is the Senior Director of Strategy at Mayo Clinic. He serves as the Strategic Business Partner and Chief Strategist for the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center. Freddy joined the Mayo Clinic as an Administrative Fellow in July 2019. Before joining Mayo, Freddy was a graduate consultant at Twiage, a healthcare IT startup in New York City; a graduate administrative intern at the Cleveland Clinic, and a consultant in public health development for the United States Peace Corp. Freddy holds a Master of Health Administration from Cornell University, Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy and a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Physiology from Marquette University. Freddy is an executive board member for Cornell MOSAIC, an executive member of Cornell's Sloan Program Development Committee, and President of the Cornell Club of Northern Florida. Freddy is a native of Chicago, IL, and currently resides in Jacksonville, FL. Outside of work, he loves to travel the world, play golf across Northeast Florida and mentor young minds as they begin their professional journeys.
November 14: Alexander Santiago-Jirau '02
Alexander (he/him) is a seasoned nonprofit leader and educator with more than two decades of experience in arts, education, and community engagement. He currently serves as Executive Director of Opening Act, a New York City–based nonprofit that provides free, high-quality theater programs to students in under-resourced public schools, centering youth voices and fostering creativity, confidence, and leadership. For a decade, Alex was Director of Education and Community Engagement at New York Theatre Workshop, where he developed inclusive programming and partnerships that expanded access to theater across the city. A Theatre of the Oppressed practitioner, he brings a deep commitment to equity and social justice and has worked extensively with queer youth and immigrant communities. Alex has also held leadership roles with the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable, where he served as Vice Chair. In addition to his nonprofit leadership, he teaches Theatre of the Oppressed courses at New York University, mentoring the next generation of theater educators and artists. He holds a B.S. in Urban and Regional Studies from Cornell University and an M.A. in Educational Theatre from New York University.
November 21: Clemencia Fonseca '13 MBA
Clemencia was born in Bogotá, Colombia. She studied International Studies and Foreign Languages at San Jose State University, California, finished the first year of Stanford’s Masters in Liberal Arts, and completed her MBA at Cornell University in 2013. Clemencia has worked 20+ years for several technology companies in the Silicon Valley. She is now the Senior Director of Americas Marketing at the Cybersecurity company Fastly. Previously she was the Americas Marketing Leader at Cloudflare CyberSec and prior, the Senior Digital Strategist at Wipro Technologies, where she and her team helped companies accelerate the digital transformation of their business. Her current focus is cybersecurity, cloud, and edge computing, among other hi-tech segments. She has held various global management roles, building partner ecosystems, field marketing teams, and digital practices in the Americas and Asia Pacific. Clemencia has been committed to promoting Latinx talent in every regional and global organization she has built. Her approach to team culture is based on principles of situational leadership, entrepreneurial thinking, empowerment, accountability, and celebration of diversity. Clemencia has been invited as a panelist in several “Latins in Tech” meet-ups and has represented Hispanic women in university/college forums, highlighting the opportunities for minorities in Silicon Valley. Clemencia joined the CLAA board as its Communications Chair and continues serving in her new role as Vice-President.
This series funded by the Latina/o Studies Program in collaboration with Cornell Latino Alumni Association, LSSO Student Success Office, and the Latino Living Center at Cornell University.
