Established in November 2020, the North America Advisory Board (NAAB) provides strategic support in building and sustaining a thriving community of alumni and friends in North America.
UTS North America Advisory Board
Comprising a group of exceptional alumni leaders, Board members actively encourage alumni connections and engagement, support professional networks and UTS outreach, and act as advocates for the University. In partnership with UTS Advancement, they are committed to ensuring that UTS realises its vision of becoming a world-leading university of technology.
Enquiries may be directed to Angela Abbott, North America Advisory Board Executive Officer, Email: angela.abbott@uts.edu.au
UTS North America Advisory Board Members
Jim White (Chair)
ME Adult Education (1996)
Senior Vice President Human Resources, Paramount Pictures
Resides in Los Angeles, California, USA
Jim is a visionary, proactive, dynamic business-savvy executive with over 20 years of experience leading Human Resource operations at industry leading international companies across the media and entertainment sectors. Originally from a small town in Iowa, Jim earned graduate and postgraduate degrees in the US and Australia before embarking on variety of executive-level careers in high-profile business and entertainment companies such as Blockbuster Video, Universal Music Group, Activision/Blizzard and Paramount Pictures. During his career he has lived and worked in more than 22 countries.
He has an exceptional track record of designing impactful HR processes that support the achievement of organisational business goals and objectives. Jim has a proven ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams at all staff levels to ensure consistency in HR management and adherence to internal policies. He is a natural, engaged leader with a “lead-by-example” hands-on management style that fosters teamwork and collaboration, as well as being a trusted business partner and confidant.
He is active in civic and philanthropic support towards eradicating poverty and family homelessness in Los Angeles. Jim offered integral help in passing California’s Proposition HHH and Measure M which cumulatively will raise over $1.5 billion towards homeless issues.
Jim has authored the first in a trilogy of books The world is a safe place, in which he personalises his unique worldview to gently draw people into deeper modes of self-exploration and discovery.
In 2019, Jim was awarded the UTS International Alumni Award.
Cheryl Duffy-Geiger (Deputy Chair)
BBus Accounting (1986)
Former Chief Financial Officer, Monogram Foods LLC
Resides in Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Cheryl is a results orientated business partner with extensive global and operational experience, having worked and lived in Europe, Asia/Pacific and American geographies.
She is a proven cross-functional leader, who enables and delivers both top and bottom line improvements through strategic insights and execution. She is skilled in upgrading, empowering and leading both functional and cross-functional teams. Cheryl is an energetic professional who first seeks to understand change and embrace it, all while mentoring organisations through the change management process.
Rob Castaneda
BSc Computing Science (2001)
Founder/CEO, ServiceRocket
Resides in Palo Alto, California USA
Rob Castaneda found his passion for technology and training as a 17-year-old, working on the Sydney helpdesk of a Silicon Valley software company. Within three years he had worked in various departments of the company, including pre-sales, training, support and research & development. In 2000, Rob moved to Silicon Valley to work for a start-up, and also contributed and co-authored several books and publications related to Enterprise Java.
In 2001, Rob started his company, ServiceRocket, which is headquartered in Palo Alto, California and has grown to more than 170 employees worldwide with offices in the US, Australia, Chile, and Malaysia. Rob's leadership style of thinking team and sharing knowledge is part of what has helped him build a successful global company, completely boot-strapped, having received no VC funding, and has most recently landed him a spot in the Silicon Valley's Top 40 under 40.
In 2017, Rob was awarded the UTS Chancellors Alumni Award for Excellence and the Alumni Award for Excellence, Faculty of Engineering & Information Technology.
Sabrina (Xihua) Chen
BBus Management (2006)
Senior Vice President, Citi
Resides in Hoboken New Jersey, USA
Sabrina Chen is currently a Senior Vice President at Citi New York, serving as the Head of Citi Global AML Customer Risk. Prior to her tenure at Citi, Sabrina was a Risk Consultant serving clients in the financial service industry for regulatory compliance and forensics/investigation related matters. Sabrina is passionate about creating data-driven solutions to resolve urgent business challenges. She is an advocate of building workplace diversity, equity and inclusion.
Sabrina holds a master’s degree in information system management from Carnegie Mellon University, and dual bachelor’s degree from University of Technology Sydney and Shanghai University. She is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist and a Certified Fraud Examiner.
Travis Johnson
BBus Marketing & Management (1998)
Global CEO, Podean
Resides in New York City, New York, USA
An Australian expat living in New York City since 2015, Travis is the Global CEO, Podean.
Prior to his role at Podean, he led Dentsu's e-commerce consultancy, Sellwin, and was Global CEO of mobile and innovation agency, Ansible.
Early in his career, Travis led media agencies UM and Initiative in Australia, as well as the Austereo Group. During his career he won numerous global awards; Cannes Lions, Mobile Marketing Association, Festival of Media and Mumbrella among the accolades.
Travis has a passion for exploring new consumer engagement opportunities particularly as they relate to ecommerce.
Cass Matthews
LLB/BA (2001)
GradCert LegPrac (2002)
Office of Responsible AI, Microsoft
Resides in New York City, New York
Cass joined Microsoft's Office of Responsible AI as Assistant General Counsel in 2022. She leads on AI regulation and supports the multi-disciplinary team creating and orchestrating Microsoft's Responsible AI Program. Cass previously spent 10 years at Google exploring socio-technical challenges as the legal lead for Jigsaw and helping build breakthrough technology as a product counsel at X. She teaches media law and business law at universities in Australia and New York.
Professor Carolyn McGregor AM
PhD Computing Sciences (2003); BAppSc Computing Science (1991)
Dean, Faculty of Business and IT/Co-Director and Research Chair, Joint Research Centre in AI for Health and Wellness, Ontario Tech University
Resides in Ontario, CA
Carolyn is the Dean, Faculty of Business and IT/Co-Director and Research Excellence Chair in Health Informatics based at Ontario Tech University. She was awarded a coveted Canada Research Chair in 2007, and is the founding Director of the Joint Research Centre in Artificial Intelligence for Health and Wellness between Ontario Tech University and the University of Technology Sydney.
She has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Computer Science and a PhD in Computer Science, both from the University of Technology Sydney.
Carolyn has led pioneering research in Big Data analytics, stream computing, artificial intelligence, deep learning, internet of things, temporal data mining, edge computing and cloud computing. She now progresses this research within the context of critical care medicine, precision public health, mental health, astronaut health and military and civilian tactical training.
She has been awarded over $15 million in research, consultancy and infrastructure funding and has led multiple large research programs including a multi-million dollar First of A Kind (FOAK) research program with IBM, and a $3 million project within the FedDev Health Ecosphere Innovation Pipeline. She has over 190 refereed publications, three patents in multiple jurisdictions, and has established two startup companies resulting from her research. She has extensive research collaborations in Canada, USA, Russia, Australia and India, and has been called upon to advise various government working groups in Canada.
Carolyn has received many awards for her research, and in 2014 was awarded an Order of Australia for her significant service to science and innovation through health care information systems. In 2018 she was named as a Women Leader in Digital Health by Digital Health Canada, and in 2021-2 she is the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society’s VP Member and Student Activities.
James Pinkerton
BBus (2004)
Senior Vice President Acquisitions and Portfolio Management, Bailard Inc.
Resides in San Francisco, California, USA
James joined the Bailard Inc. real estate team in 2017. As Senior Vice President, his responsibilities include acquisition of new investments as well as portfolio and asset management within the real estate portfolio.
Prior to Bailard, James was a Senior Director at Tishman Speyer in New York and San Francisco, where he worked on the acquisition, disposition and recapitalisation of investments and also acted as the portfolio manager for a core and core-plus investment fund. James began his investment career in Sydney, Australia with State Street Australia Limited.
Marie Le
BBus (1997)
Co-founder and CMO at B2C Product Marketing Marketing Agency and Techstars Mentor
Marie Le is an authority in helping companies cultivate sustainable, balanced growth for global startups and brands by cross-pollinating product and marketing strategies to achieve product-market fit and implementing full-funnel go-to-market plans to help them grow sustainably.
As a marketing leader with strong product marketing and brand marketing expertise, Marie bridges the gap between marketing and product development. She has successfully guided companies to develop and execute innovative brand advertising campaigns, product launches, and go-to-market strategies that increase market share and deliver sales/user growth across diverse industries.
Marie has managed the global introduction of products for small entrepreneurial and Fortune 500 companies across the US, Europe, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific regions. With a proven track record, her award-winning marketing expertise has launched over 100 products and facilitated over 10 million user acquisitions while driving sales growth up to 400% for companies of all sizes.
Originally from Sydney, Australia, Marie graduated with a Bachelor of Business from UTS and holds other education credentials from various institutions in Australia and abroad. This academic foundation prepared her for a journey that led her to helm executive positions in high-profile global consumer technology and fintech companies in Australia and the United States.
Marie has held esteemed positions at top consumer tech and fintech companies including former CMO at Bank Greenwood, VP of Marketing at Moneylion, Head of Marketing at N26, and Head of Global Product Marketing at Twitter and OpenTable. She is currently the Co-founder and CMO at B2C Product Marketing Marketing Agency and Techstars Mentor.
Nick Saady
LLB (Hons) 2018: First Class Honours and University Medal
Associate (Litigation), Pryor Cashman, Resides in New York, NY
Nick Saady is an experienced attorney who has represented high-profile organisations and individuals regarding complex commercial, entertainment law, intellectual property, and sports issues. He has also conducted prominent white-collar investigations and a constitutional impeachment inquiry.
Nick’s clients include record labels, artists and managers, Major League Cricket, professional and college athletes, and prominent influencers and creators. Nick also conducts significant pro bono work with organizations including Turn the Tables (which aims to address homelessness using music), Fairbreak Foundation (which aims to promote female cricket globally), and Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (one of the largest U.S. nonprofits assisting artists).
Nick's thought leadership is also widely recognized, with his work published in leading outlets like including New York Law Journal, National Law Journal, Billboard, Politico, TechCrunch, Sports Business Journal, and The Guardian. He recently presented before tens of thousands globally at SXSW Sydney 2024, alongside Tilly Kearns, David Warner and David Gallop.
Nick’s connections to UTS run deep. He graduated from UTS with a Bachelor of Laws, receiving the University Medal in Law and First Class Honours. Nick then went on to complete a Master of Laws at New York University, where he received the George Colin Award as the student graduating with distinction. Nick has been a North America Alumni Ambassador for UTS since 2020, and he has been an integral part of the UTS North American community.
Vivian Wong
BAppSc Computing Science (1993)
Group Vice President - Higher Education Technologies, Oracle
Resides in Pleasanton, California USA
Vivian is a product and technology development executive. She is a seasoned leader and board director with a broad depth of experience driving companies to best leverage technology, data, information, and the cloud. Vivian has over 25 years’ experience in leadership, strategy, product development and operations roles. She is experienced in Go-To-Market and navigating new products through multiple stages of growth, including pre-IPO, post IPO, mergers and acquisition, global expansion, leadership transitions, strategy development, planning, talent, and change management.
Vivian is an expert at building, transforming and leading high-calibre teams. She is talented at fostering an empowering, fun and collaborative environment to unleash the full potential of an organisation. Vivian helps companies create best-in-class product technology with a strong customer focus. She assists companies in getting the most out of their people by developing great cultures and workplaces. Vivian is active in multiple organisations that support and prepare young girls and women to thrive in STEM.
In 2018, Vivian was awarded the UTS Alumni Award for Excellence, Faculty of Engineering & Information Technology.
Tracey Beck
Executive Manager Alumni & Community Relations
NA Advisory Board Ex-Officio
Tracey is an experienced marketing, development and alumni relations professional with extensive strategic and management experience. Tracey has over 20 years’ experience managing alumni and donor programs to build strategic support for four leading universities both in Australia and the UK.
Tracey started her career at the University of New South Wales where she lead the communications and marketing teams and built an international alumni loyalty program. She was then Director of Alumni Relations and Events at the University of Sydney for 10 years and initiated an alumni and events program that maximised the University’s reputation and intellectual capital, further developing her strategic strengths in leadership, relationship development, community engagement and fundraising. In the United Kingdom she was Deputy Director and Head of Supporter Engagement at the University of Bristol, providing innovative opportunities for alumni and donors to engage with the University and growing philanthropic income.
Tracey is committed to higher education and the advancement profession. Her degrees include a Diploma of Arts and a Graduate Diploma of Education from Charles Sturt University, Australia.
Angela Abbott
Manager Alumni & Community Relations
NA Advisory Board Executive Officer
Angela is experienced in global relationship management, integrated marketing communications and business development with almost 20 years working across education, travel and professional service sectors.
Currently an International Alumni Relations Manager with UTS, Angela successfully develops networks and manages programs in Australia and around the globe.
Angela graduated from the University of Sydney with a Master of Commerce (Marketing).
