The CPD supports current students and alumni in preparing for and developing impactful sustainability- and environment-related leadership roles in scientific, academic, and management careers across a broad spectrum of sectors and fields.
Saron Ayahlu
Kathy Douglas
Kevin Doyle
Joey Gallo
Sulaiman Jenkins
Natalia Piamonte
Maya Sanyal
Annalisa Tarizzo
Haewon Yoon
As part of the CPD team, Saron is involved in YSENext, where she helps ensure job postings are accurate and accessible.
Saron is a second-year MEM student, with a focus on forest conservation and policy. Previously, She worked with a non-profit in Ethiopia, where she contributed to agricultural supply initiatives, tree adoption material designs, field data collection, and impact monitoring.
Life mantra: A little longer gaze at nature and the stars.
Senior Associate Director
Kathy’s expertise includes climate / sustainability careers, proactive job search strategies, writing, marketing, social media/web communications, operations, program management, career coaching and education, MSCEIT, MBTI, and all things LinkedIn.
She is an active networker / connector deeply familiar with the broad range of career paths of the diverse and global population of students and alumni at YSE and The Forest School at YSE, as well as the roles and functions in the college and university career and student services professions.
Kathy is a practicing poet who holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing and Literature from Bennington College, an M.F.A. in Museum Studies from Syracuse University, and a B.A. in Studio Art from SUNY Potsdam. She has academic teaching experience at the University of Gävle, Sweden and the University of Buffalo, NY. She is currently studying the basics of journalism.
Before starting her career at Yale 24 years ago, Kathy worked in museum management as curator of Sagamore Lodge Museum in Raquette Lake, NY, the 1890 House in Cortland, NY, and the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, CT. She had an active consulting business curating and designing exhibitions for historical societies in New York and CT, including “Who Built New Haven?”, a celebration of 200 years of work and workers in New Haven at the (then) New Haven Colony Historical Society.
Her arts management work included serving as company manager for Elm Shakespeare Company in New Haven for the productions of Henry IV Part 1 and The Taming of the Shrew, and as education coordinator for the Elm Scholar program and Shakespeare in the Schools.
Super powers include finding typos (other people’s), facilitating meaningful connections, and being an introvert with above average people skills.
MBTI: INFJ
Clifton Strengths: Intellection | Empathy | Input | Learner | Connectedness
Formative Ecosystems: Great South Bay, Fire Island, and Thorn’s Estate, Long Island, NY; Adirondack Park Wilderness, NY; High Desert, New Mexico
Fascination Advantage: The Provocateur: Clever | Adept | Contemporary | State-of-the-Art | Surprising
From 1988 to 2007, Kevin was National Director of Program Development at the former Environmental Career Organization (ECO). ECO was a national nonprofit organization that organized and managed employer-paid environmental internships and fellowships at hundreds of public, private and nonprofit employers. In his time there, ECO served over 10,000 college students and recent graduates from colleges and universities in all fifty states. ECO’s federal government partners included NOAA, EPA, NPS, DOE, USFWS, USDA Forest Service, DOT, and BLM.
Prior to ECO, Kevin was the Executive Director of Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation (NEDCO) in Eugene, Oregon, and was a Land Use, Energy and Community Development Planner for Kitsap County Government in the Puget Sound region of Washington State.
Kevin is the co-author of three popular environmental career reference books from Island Press in Washington, DC, including The ECO Guide to Careers That Make a Difference, The New Complete Guide to Environmental Careers, and The Complete Guide to Environmental Careers in the 21st Century.
Senior Administrative Assistant
Joey Gallo joins the Career & Professional Development Office at YSE after almost two years at the Yale School of Medicine as a Senior Administrative Assistant. He is a multi-hyphenate professional excited to directly contribute to YSE’s vision and mission because he believes that environmental protection is not optional, it is essential.
Prior to working at Yale, Joey gained over a decade of experience with various small businesses in creative capacities, both full-time and freelance, after obtaining a B.S. in Graphic Design from Southern Connecticut State University. Born and raised on the Connecticut shoreline, he enjoys salty and sandy beach days both near and far with his wife and two kids.
Associate Director
Prior to joining Yale, Sulaiman worked as a Director at Johns Hopkins’ Institute for NanoBioTechnology. He managed several federally funded research programs as well as a Master’s Co-Op program. He brings the following competencies to CPD at YSE: program management, career advising, networking, interviewing strategies, resume building, leadership training, and human resource administration. He is excited to join the CPD team and hopes to bring a level of expertise and experience that will help maximize YSE students’ potential as they enter the workforce; he has been involved in education for more than two decades and is truly invested in equipping students with the tools to succeed.
He holds an M.A. degree in TESOL and a B.A. in Law Jurisprudence and Social Thought. In his personal time, Sulaiman enjoys writing, has authored a book, and has written several academic articles related to social justice in language teaching. He also loves nature and hopes to study animals when he grows up!
Peer Career Advisor
Natalia is a First Year MEM student at YSE, focusing on business and the environment. Prior to graduate school, she worked as a Supply Chain Manager for companies like Ferrero, leading teams and managing end-to-end operations across multiple South American countries. She also served in various roles at Bayer, where she co-founded the Latin America Supply Chain Sustainability Committee, helping to reduce the company’s carbon footprint by 231 tons.
Natalia holds a Master of Science in Environmental Management and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Colombia. Outside of her professional life, you can find Natalia practicing yoga, running, and exploring new food places!
Associate Director, International Student Career Success
Competencies include career counseling, employer relationship management, and career success program development and implementation. She draws from evolving knowledge in neuroscience, cognitive behavioral therapy, and positive psychology to educate students and clients on tools to practice a growth mindset, resilience, and hope and methodically implement strategies to ensure short- and long-term career success. Born and brought up in Kolkata, India, Maya has a Ph.D. in English Literature and a Master’s degree in Counseling, speaks Hindi and Bengali, and has four rescue dogs who bring her back to reality about the constant beauty and joy of being alive. She also loves communicating via texting, so please do not hesitate to reach out to her via SMS or WhatsApp at 973.462.6606.
Peer Career Advisor
Annalisa is a first-year MEM student focused on driving climate action in the private sector. Prior to graduate school she worked in shareholder advocacy, engaging with publicly-traded companies on improving their practices related to climate change and plastic pollution. She also served two terms as an AmeriCorps member with the University of Tennessee’s Office of Sustainability.
Annalisa holds a B.A. in Romance Languages and Literatures from the University of Michigan and a certificate in Financing and Deploying Clean Energy from the Yale Center for Business and the Environment.
Haewon is a first year student of Master of Environmental Management at Yale School of Environment with a specialization in Environmental Policy Analysis. She has four years of professional experience in higher education and wildlife conservation in Abu Dhabi, UAE and Paju, South Korea, and holds a B.A. in Social Research and Public Policy from New York University Abu Dhabi. She was the cohost of climate documentary “Us on Earth” filmed across Jeju Island and Cairns, Australia.