Alumni profiles

When Meghal Shah discovered his "Ikigai", he discovered a career full of possibilities and passion.

Despite a background in marketing, the pull of Australia and the opportunity to broaden her professional and cultural horizons couldn’t be ignored. What came next was the first of many steps towards a fulfilling senior role at Google.

From waiter and bar manager to the co-founder of the largest early stage VC fund in South East Asia, Chandra Tjan’s professional journey has seen him create a strong future in the dynamic world of tech and innovation.

An interest in human behaviour and different cultures has driven Lama Makkouk’s desire to help organisations build cohesive and motivated teams.

Critical thinking skills and the ability to build high performing teams have served Neil Palagedara well in his professional career.

Ali Besiso (B Hlth Sci '10, M H I '12, MBA '23) is passionate about improving health care through digital innovation. Transitioning from health sciences to leading two successful digital health startups, we caught up with him to learn more about how the digital era is reshaping patient care worldwide.

From Paris to Damascus, Erbil and now Sydney, this global citizen aims to blaze a trail for women in leadership everywhere she goes.

A passion for social justice led Associate Professor Kudzai Kanhutu naturally towards medicine. Her desire to pursue even bigger goals was the catalyst to undertake a Global Executive MBA.

From the football field to investment banking, Yanni Plataniotis' journey underscores the power of persistence, passion, and seizing opportunities.

At 27, Margaret Zhang (BCom '17, LLB '18) was youngest person to be appointed Editor-in-chief in Vogue's history. In this special Q&A, she shares her thoughts on creativity, careers and combining her love of fashion with cross-disciplinary insight. 

A colleague once told her, ‘Opportunities might arrive when you don't feel ready. But take them anyway.’ That advice and clear focus has helped drive Hannah Dunn to the top of her field.

A secure job that you enjoy and that uses your skills well is an attractive proposition. Yet restlessness arrived for Jonathan O’Toole all the same. He took a chance that changed his career and the place he called home.

For MBA alumni, Akhilla Ashok, the journey from India to Australia was driven by curiosity and keeping the right attitude.

Her career path was taking good shape as she followed her changing interests. Then, a challenging offer came along that stopped Georgia Knox in her tracks. Her natural optimism and an MBA made the choice easier.

Not everyone decides on their dream job early in life, but Damian Meduri, the Associate Director of the NSW Government’s Global Markets (Greater China) team, had some early clues that he’d end up working in the intricate world of international relations.

Elisa Chan’s award-winning international career is proof that the comprehensive grounding of a top-ranking business degree can be the introduction to whatever story you choose to write.

In an era where the disruption of traditional business models continues to accelerate, David Hornery is at the forefront of this revolution in Australia’s banking sector – providing a best-practice benchmark on the provision of banking services to SMEs.

Managing our personal finances is an important life skill that affects every aspect of our lifestyle, but it’s not something we learn at school or think about when we wake up every morning. Recognising this, Jade Ong, together with two others, co-founded Elevate Money, a fintech start-up that aims to help people “live their best financial life” by making relevant financial products accessible through tech platforms they use every day.

When Michael Blenkin, Claire Taylor and Andrew Cooper started their MBA capstone unit in February 2020, none of them predicted that 18 months later they would still be meeting every week to continue bringing their capstone project to life.

Elena Sveshnikova co-founded CODE4FUN Programming School to educate her own sons. She now employs a team of 22 professionals to teach the fundamentals of computer science to almost 2000 students from kindergarten to Year 12 in classrooms across Sydney, and hundreds more online throughout Australia and beyond.

William Tjo was always an environmentally conscious student while studying at the University of Sydney. But it wasn't until co-founding Paper Pens Co., a startup that produces eco-friendly gel pens, that he was able to put his passion into practice.

A specialist in cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies, Anne Haubo Dyhrberg shares her experience studying a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney Business School.

Hatch, co-founded by Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Commerce alum Adam Jacobs, has established a COVID-19 labour exchange to help Australian businesses hire workers who've been stood down.

Husband and wife duo Dean Jones (BCom (Hons) ’10) and Audrey Khaing-Jones (BCom ’09) are on a mission to shake up the way women consume clothes by building fashion’s answer to the sharing economy.