2013 FAP Class

Having moved around the organization to see the various financial functions available, she started working full time as a financial analyst within the FP&A department at Office Depot upon graduation. She is currently enrolled in the Financial Analyst Program at FAU which will allow her to gain the necessary knowledge to better understand the details and technicalities of the finance industry, which is something that will help her succeed in her future roles in finance as she aims to become a Senior Financial Analyst.

Randy is currently working as a staff accountant at BIG LLC. He performs his accounting duties with four different types of companies; publication, e-commerce, manufacturing/wholesale, and real estate. Previously, he was the Vice President of Operations at American Biweekly Corporation for 11 years, where he was one of the founding employees, and managed both the mortgage servicing and mortgage retail divisions. He also was the Director of Operations at AAA Financial Corp, which was recognized as one of INC 500’s fastest growing companies in America.

In his free time, Randy is a little league baseball and soccer coach for his two children and the Vice President of his son's PTA.

Upon graduating in May, William will be recognized as a Distinguished Military Graduate for finishing in the top 10% of his class, consisting of more than 6,000 cadets. After completion of his MBA and the Financial Analyst Program in 2014, William will be commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and serve the United States Army as a Military Intelligence Officer.

Equipped with his analytical skills Emmanuel searched for a way to gain as much knowledge and exposure as he could, by reading a variety of books, teaching himself financial modeling, and attending finance related conferences.

Currently he works overnight at a hotel, interns during the day time at a local Boutique Investment bank in the Equity Research department, and still manages to keep up with the heavy course load from the Financial Analyst Program. Emmanuel looks to use the Fundamental Investment knowledge gained from the program with his mathematical background to gain a full time position at an Investment Bank, where he can hopefully work his way up to the ranks of Managing Director. He is the recent recipient of a Scholarship from The CFA Institute and will sit for the December 2014 Level 1 CFA Exam.

He was the winner of the 2012 FAU Business Plan Competition in the entrepreneurial track with his start-up company Switchmybooks.com, a sophisticated and automated website that allows students to exchange their college books. He participated in the Research Park Technology Incubator in 2012. He is an active squash player in South Florida.

Mr. De La Flor is an independently contracted Accountant in the medical industry, and has been for a combined length of 6 years, servicing medical offices and medical supply companies. He also has two years of experience in the Market Research industry, working under firms like Heakin Research and Focusworld International, as well as 5 years of experience in the hospitality industry. He is also specialized in the time-series econometrics, financial analysis, trading & investing in equity markets and the international aspects of all three.

Mr. De La Flor is currently an economic researcher specializing in Bitcoins and other Crypto-Currencies, and completing a working paper on forecasting models and macroeconomic relationships through advanced statistical analysis within this field. He is an avid member of the crypto-currency community, attending the First National Bitcoin Conference in Miami Beach, FL in Jan. of 2014. Mr. De La Flor is currently working on several independent projects both locally and internationally related to crypto-currency consulting, implementation, merchant solutions, journalism and research.

Mr. Dubois applies the same principle everyday in life. He lost 115 pounds over the past 3 years applying the aforementioned statement. Mr. Dubois completed his undergrad degree from Florida Atlantic University in Finance. He is currently enrolled in the Financial Analyst Program with Dr. Knight. Prior to getting his bachelor in Finance, Mr. Dubois worked for multiple companies in the Hospitality Industry, Marketing, Purchasing and Finance.

Currently, Mr. Dubois is a Technical Buyer for the university where he is utilizing his skills to manage the purchases of commodities and services for multiple departments within the university. He is also responsible for maintaining an outstanding relationship between FAU and its vendors. Mr. Dubois is also a candidate for the Chartered Financial Analyst level I exam to take place on June 7, 2014.

Outside of school, Philippe enjoys reading the Wall Street Journal, playing soccer, tennis, traveling around the world and learning about different cultures.

Prior to joining Beach Capital in 2010, Derek worked for Melco Electric as a financial analyst preparing financial statements, detailed budget reports, and job profitability analysis. He also worked as an Associate for the FSI Group in Cincinnati on the fixed income and CDO team. Derek received his BA in Finance and Management from the Gatton College of Business at the University of Kentucky in 2006. He is currently pursuing his MBA with a specialization in Finance from Florida Atlantic University and is a participating member in the Financial Analyst Program.

Also, Mr. Freitas has been awarded both the Phi Kappa Phi Honors and Golden Key Honors.

Upon completion of the Financial Analyst Program and his Master's in Accounting, Mr. Freitas plans to obtain a Master's in Economics with a focus in Finance and will also complete parts II and III of the CFA designation. Once Mr. Freitas becomes more established in his career, he plans on opening a 503(c) company to develop programs for at risk high-school students to get involved in and obtain tutoring, mentoring, and scholarships.

He is the primary buyer responsible for all financial analysis, due diligence, macro and micro market research and acquisitions of value added and distressed real estate investments. He is also experienced in tax lien, tax deed, note purchases and auctions within the real estate space.

In 2011, he was promoted to the role of Financial Analyst at U.S. Foodservice. He was hired away to work for Tyco in 2011 as Senior Accountant. In 2012, he transitioned to his current role as a Senior Financial Systems Analyst with ADT. In 2013 Trevor completed his MBA in Finance from FAU while also refining his skills in the Financial Analyst Program.

During his time at FAU, Sean has been the Chapter Founder and President of the Omicron Delta Epsilon International Honor Society and a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society. From 2008 through 2012, Sean was employed as the Business Systems Administrator at Alpert Jewish Family and Children’s Service in West Palm Beach. Since starting his graduate coursework, Sean has continued to consult for AJFCS as they transition to being paperless to comply with the HITECH Act. Sean will be graduating from FAU in May of 2014 and plans on sitting for the CFA exam thereafter.

Patrick has since been involved in many real estate deals as a realtor, trained appraiser and investor. Patrick was introduced to futures trading and investing from a friend and over time realized that the finance industry and the capital markets was what he truly loved. He now enjoys trading and in 2013 completed a summer internship at a hedge fund where he focused on due diligence research, and assisted with risk management. Patrick is currently interning as an analyst at a CTA Managed Futures Fund, providing research, assisting the head trader and providing excel data management. After completing his MBA with a specialty in Finance from Florida Atlantic University and the Financial Analyst Program in 2014, Patrick plans to sit for the Market Technicians Association’s, CMT Technical Analysis Charter program. Patrick has aspirations of being a portfolio manager; trading and investing in the equity and futures markets, while building his real estate and business portfolio.

She then transitioned into civil litigation practice. Prior to establishing her law practice in 1996, she practiced with two Miami law firms in the areas of Complex Commercial, Corporate, Insurance Defense, and Real Estate law. Ms. Mitchell currently provides legal services in the areas of Corporate, Contracts, Family, Personal Injury, and Probate law.

During her career, Ms. Mitchell has served with various bar and professional organizations: President (2005-06) and Mock Trial Chair (2006-07) of the Gwen S. Cherry Black Women Lawyers Association; Vice President (2003-04) and Board Member (2002-2003) of the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. Bar Association; and on various committees with the Dade County Bar Association/Young Lawyer’s Division and The National Black MBA Association. Ms. Mitchell has been admitted to practice before the Southern District of Florida and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. She has also served as a University Adjunct Professor teaching in the areas of criminal justice and legal studies.

Mr. O’Donovan has also completed all three levels of the CFA exam, and is eligible for charter upon completion of work experience requirements.

In his free time, Mr. O’Donovan enjoys fishing and spending time raising his one-year old daughter.

Elvis owned and operated Ariel for 4 years then merged the company with Boston based F. J. O’Hara & Sons. Elvis traveled extensively throughout the Caribbean and South and Central America forming partnerships and alliances while purchasing perishable products for resale globally. Under Elvis’s leadership O’Hara increase revenue to $14 million in Miami. Elvis enjoys playing soccer and his a sponsor and supporter of “Relay for Life” a cancer awareness program from the American Cancer Society.

Jordan then joined Tyco International in their accounting department to expose himself to the corporate world, and, at the same time, he was accepted into the MBA program at FAU where he attends evening classes.

Jordan has a passion for financial analysis and plans to obtain his CPA as well as his investment licenses.

Mr. Schraff is currently a management consultant working within the aerospace and manufacturing sectors to implement quality management systems such as ISO 9001:2008, AS9100 Aviation, Space and Defense, and the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System. His extensive work experience in operations management, along with his advanced studies in finance, has given Alex a well-rounded, comprehensive education in business administration.

As an undergrad, Marcus was a Finance intern at the Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida and also interned as an accountant in the Office of the University Registrar. He mentored undergraduate business students with on-campus life, student organizations and career guidance. He was also an Administrative Secretary in NABA, the National Association of Black Accountants.

After completing the Financial Analyst Program, Marcus plans to work as a Financial Analyst for a firm in South Florida. He will also be looking to achieve the CFA designation in the near future. After several years as a Senior Financial Analyst, Marcus plans to open up his own business in addition to mentoring business students in South Florida. Outside of school, Marcus enjoys trading equities, travelling and music.

He is also a Green Belt in Lean Six Sigma and currently pursuing two Graduate Certificates simultaneously in Leadership and Entrepreneurship with an expected graduation date of May 2014. Additionally, Adler is enrolled in the Financial Analyst Program Certificate with CFA Bloomberg curriculum at Florida Atlantic University with anticipated graduation date of May 2014. He is also a participant of Workforce One’s Startup Quest Program of South Florida for emerging technologies and entrepreneurship.

Adler moderately practices his profession of life coach and personal trainer at AV Fitness for the purpose of his academic studies as he is the owner a fitness studio.

Dr. Knight has been an advisor to CEOs of small to midsize companies on a variety of corporate finance related issues. He has been a valuation consultant to the venture capital industry working with individual start-ups, as well as an incubator/accelerator. As an entrepreneur, Dr. Knight has been a co-founder or partner in several companies in industries as diverse as software development, real estate distressed debt, hospitality, investment management and educational training.

Academically, Dr. Knight is a member of the finance faculty at Florida Atlantic University. He has also been an instructor for the chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and has been a speaker or moderator at a number of hedge fund industry conferences covering a wide range of topics from institutional due diligence to counterparty risk. He has been quoted in finance publications such as Institutional Investor. He holds a PhD in Finance from FAU.