Roger Williams University Business Students Explore Career Paths Through New York City Alumni Connections

NEW YORK – Twelve Roger Williams University Women in Business club members traveled to New York City in April to meet alumni and industry leaders, visit major companies and explore career paths in business. The experience gave students a chance to step inside professional spaces, build connections and imagine their own futures with greater confidence.

Led by Assistant Professor of Business Management and Women in Business Faculty Advisor Kate Hall, the students connected with experts in brand leadership, entrepreneurship, finance, luxury marketing and technology.

“At its heart, this trip was about helping students see themselves in professional spaces they may one day lead,” Hall said. “By connecting students with alumnae across industries, we were able to turn career exploration into something personal and tangible. The conversations were about more than titles or companies; they were about confidence, mentorship, and showing students that the RWU network is ready to support them.”

The trip included visits to Baccarat, Google, and Morgan Stanley, along with an alumnae networking reception featuring graduates working across a range of business fields. Students met with Raffaella Brunetti ’24, M’25, Analyst at the New York Stock Exchange; Katie Ilaria ’11, Head of Industry/Retail at Google; Diane Lomonoco ’05, owner of Classic Six; Reid Myers ’11, Senior Director of Marketing at Baccarat; Carla Puchini ’17, Vice President at Goldman Sachs; Leah Saccoccio ’11, Brand Director for Michelob ULTRA at Anheuser-Busch; and Debra Stokes ’79, Senior Vice President and Financial Advisor at Morgan Stanley.

For Alexa Simoniello, president of the Women in Business club, the trip was designed to give members direct exposure to career possibilities they may not otherwise see up close.

“The purpose of our New York City trip was to provide an exposure opportunity for our members as they navigate their future career opportunities,” said Simoniello, a senior from Southington, Conn., who is pursuing dual degrees in Accounting and Finance with a minor in Human Resource Management & Leadership. “I wanted to provide in-person networking opportunities, because I believe that in-person connection is exponentially more valuable than virtual connection, and having a smaller group of students on the trip provided a lot of one-on-one networking interactions.”

Each stop offered students a different view of what a business career can look like. At Morgan Stanley, Simoniello said, students heard from professionals with varied skills, backgrounds, and career paths. At Baccarat, she was struck by how Reid Myers ’11 turned a personal interest in luxury into a career. At Google, the workplace itself helped students think about how company culture and employee experience shape a professional environment.

The alumni networking event offered another kind of lesson: seeing how deeply RWU alumni remain connected to the university and how eager they are to support current students.

“It was really cool to see how excited they were about the next generation of Hawks entering the workforce,” Simoniello said, “and I think it helped us feel better about life after graduation.”

For Isabel Grant, a senior Business Management and International Business double major from West Hartford, Conn., the trip was her first professional networking and alumni-focused experience. She joined the Women in Business club during her junior year and also participated in the Mentorship Lab created by Hall, where she was paired with Katie Ilaria ’11.

“Professor Hall encouraged me to attend because my mentor, Katie, is based in New York City, and the trip gave me the opportunity to meet her in person for the first time,” Grant said. “It was also a great experience to visit different companies and a great time networking with business professionals.”

Grant, who has spent the past two summers working at Travelers Insurance Company, said she hoped the trip would help her better understand what business careers look like day to day. Across conversations with professionals, she heard consistent advice about confidence, curiosity, and asking questions – in interviews, in new roles, and throughout a career.

The mentorship component was especially meaningful. Grant said having a mentor outside her family gave her a new kind of perspective on college, work, and professional growth.

“Katie was honest and straightforward with me in a way that felt really valuable,” Grant said. “She gave me advice from the perspective of someone already working in the field, which was something I hadn’t had before.”

One piece of advice stood out most: everyone deserves a seat.

“That advice really stayed with me,” Grant said. “In a work or business environment, people can sometimes feel pushed to the side. Everyone deserves to have a seat, a voice, and an opportunity to be heard.”

Seeing RWU alumni in leadership roles also helped students think more broadly about what is possible after graduation. 

“The trip gave me more comfort as I think about graduating next year,” Grant said. “Seeing where RWU alumni have gone in their careers made me feel more confident about my own path after school.”

The trip also showed students the strength of the RWU alumni network, Simoniello said.

“By seeing so many former RWU students working in such prestigious spaces, our members were inspired to put themselves out there with more confidence as they apply for jobs,” Simoniello said. “We don’t always hear about the amazing business school alumni, but there are so many that are doing very impressive things.”

The trip reinforced that there is no single path to success. Simoniello said students learned that careers often evolve over time and that professional growth can include unexpected turns, new industries, and changing goals.

“We learned that every career journey is different, and it can change completely multiple times,” Simoniello said. “I think this was encouraging to hear as students, as it reduced the pressure of immediately finding the perfect job and staying there for 40-plus years like we always heard growing up.”

For Grant, visiting alumni in their workplaces made the experience more powerful than a traditional campus speaker event. Rather than hearing from professionals in a classroom, students were able to see how they work, interact, and lead in their own environments.

“It was powerful to step into their space instead of having them come into ours,” Grant said. “Seeing them in their own workplaces gave us a broader perspective on how they work, collaborate, and lead.”

The trip connected classroom learning with real-world decision-making, helping students better understand the range of opportunities available through a business education. For student leaders, planning and executing the trip also strengthened their communication, organization and time-management skills, Simoniello said.

“Leadership skills are the most important part of being a good business professional, and experiences like these can teach so much more than technical classes or programs,” Simoniello said. “These are skills that can only be learned by taking on challenging opportunities outside the classroom.”

For Hall, that is the value of creating experiences that bring students, faculty and alumni together. The New York City trip was about more than visiting companies. It was about building relationships that can continue through mentorship, internships and future engagement with RWU.

“Experiential learning is most powerful when students can connect what they are studying with people who are living those careers,” Hall said. “Our alumnae were incredibly generous with their time, their stories, and their advice. They helped students see that business is not only about where you work, but how you lead, how you build relationships, and how you support the people coming after you.”

Both Grant and Simoniello said they would encourage other students to take advantage of future Women in Business club opportunities.

“Meet new people, see how professionals do their work, and build your network,” Grant said. “Those connections can really matter.”

“Take every opportunity you possibly can,” Simoniello said. “Every experience can be meaningful, and it is what you make it. Joining groups is a great way to make connections with other people, and those are connections that can support you throughout your whole career.”