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2004-2005 DINGMAN
SCHOLARS -- Bios
Matt Fleischer,
Mike Grenier,
Kara Holzer,
Ken Kratovil,
Maya Rao,
Zoey Rawlins,
Aviral Singh,
Jason Volk,
Elly Vasyushina
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Dingman Center
Scholars are full-time MBA students who
receive financial scholarships and
support from the Dingman Center during
the launch of their business ideas.
Scholars benefit from the expert
guidance offered by the Dingman Center's
Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, professional
staff and Smith School faculty.
Throughout the Dingman Center Process,
scholars present their business ideas to
their peers and ultimately to other
students and seasoned entrepreneurs at a
Dingman Day Lunch held during the school
year. Dingman Center Scholars are
also available to consult with other
students and regional entrepreneurs who
contact the Dingman Center with ideas
for a business or questions they have
about their own start-up business or
entrepreneurial endeavor. |
 Matt Fleischer
Matt Fleischer was born and raised in the
Washington, D.C. area and completed his undergraduate
education at Mary Washington College. In
1999, Matt moved to San Francisco,
California and started a microbrewery, Hook
& Ladder Brewing Company, with his brother.
Matt managed operations as Executive Vice
President. Hook & Ladder won a Gold Medal at the Great
American Beer Festival in 2001 and secured
distribution in several states across the
country. Matt is currently a 2nd year
full-time MBA student at Smith, a Dingman
Center Scholar, a New
Markets Growth Fund Associate, and President
of the Entrepreneurship Club. Matt is
looking forward to continuing his
entrepreneurial zeal with Hook & Ladder
Brewing after he completes his
MBA at Smith.
 Michael Grenier
Most recently, Mike Grenier worked for a
start-up wind energy company based in
Seattle and was responsible for business
development and project finance
activities. Prior to this position, he
volunteered as a project manager in
Indonesia for an international
non-profit organization, and he helped
develop a financing plan for a network
of Indo-Pacific Marine Sanctuaries.
Prior to traveling, he assisted with
market research and reviewed investment
opportunities for an environmental
venture capital fund. Before that, he
lived in Silicon Valley and was Director
of Business Development for a software
start-up that developed multimedia and
enterprise applications for mobile
computers. He has also worked as an
environmental management consultant.
Mike received his
Bachelor's Degree in Public Policy with honors from
Stanford University. He has traveled
extensively in Asia, and enjoys
rock-climbing, soccer and practicing his
Spanish.
 Kara Farwell Holzer
Kara Farwell Holzer recently managed
marketing and sales for Honest Tea, a
Bethesda-based organic tea company, ranked
on Inc. Magazine's 500 fastest-growing
businesses of 2003. She also has experience
in non-profit organizations, promoting
corporate community partnerships and
entrepreneurship development in low-income
areas. At Smith, Kara is president of the
Smith Store, an online store selling Smith
School branded merchandise and co-president
of Net Impact, a network of students using
business to positively impact society.
 Ken Kratovil
After receiving his B.S. in Finance from
Virginia Tech, Ken Kratovil worked for Lehman
Brothers Fixed Income Group in New York
City. Specializing in firm relationship
lending allowed him to interact with a
diverse group of financial professionals in
an effort to build positive business
relationships. Ken would like to continue
this building process at the Dingman Center.
After the completion of the MBA program he
plans on working in Corporate/Wholesale
Banking to assist small business clients.
 Maya Rao
Prior to coming to the Smith School of
Business to get her MBA, Maya Rao was a manager at IT
GlobalSecure,Inc., a Washington D.C.-based
computer security firm. She joined the firm
near its inception, helping to build its
customer base ten-fold and establishing its
international business practice. Recently,
Maya worked as a summer associate at Sandler
O'Neill & Partners, L.P. in New York City,
in their M&A advisory practice. At the
Smith School, in addition to her position as
a Dingman Scholar, Maya is also an associate
in the New Markets Growth Fund. She received
her B.S. in Business Administration from the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
 Zoey Rawlins
A 1995 graduate of Mary Washington
College, Zoey Rawlins received both a B.A.
in English and a B.S. in business
administration before spending 7 years in a
media/marketing firm where she became the
Director of Operations. A Dingman Scholar
and Vice President of the Consulting Club,
Zoey plans to augment her marketing
experience with an MBA focused on strategy
and organizational development within
emerging companies. In the Spring of 2004 she
was recruited by PriceWaterhouseCoopers'
Washington Federal Practice, a start-up
business inside a global corporation, where
she worked with senior associates and
managers on new business development
strategies for several clients. In
addition to her academic and career
pursuits, Zoey is a published author and has
been an active supporter and promoter of the
arts for more than a decade.
 Aviral Singh
Aviral Singh is a seasoned professional
who has worked for some of the biggest
brands in the hotel and conference
destination segments of the hospitality
industry. Working in an intense customer
service oriented environment, he has managed
as many as eighty line level employees
within tight budgets to successfully lead
various departments in the hospitality
environment. Aviral plans to apply his
professional skills and knowledge gained
during the MBA program to establish a firm
that aims at further organizing a niche
market in the hospitality industry.
 Eleonora Vasyushina
Eleonora Vasyushina ("Elly") is a second year MBA
student concentrating in strategy and
finance. She holds an M.S. in Computer Science. Elly previously worked at a
start-up IT company in Russia managing a
distance-learning project. Prior to business
school she worked at the Library of Congress
as a Program Manager for a newly started
fellowship program. She set up recruitment
in over 30 top Russian universities and
developed the overall structure of the unit.
Upon graduation Elly plans to join a
consulting firm and work on strategic
planning assignments.
 Jason Volk
Jason is a second year MBA student
concentrating in Finance and Real Estate. He
earned his B.S. in Accounting
from the Smith School at the University of Maryland at College
Park and was a participant in the Hinman
CEOs Program. Jason founded AlertUS
Technologies LLC, a company specializing in
next-generation public enterprise
notification/alert systems.
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