The Foster MBA Finance Society is a club for students interested in the world of finance and pursuing a career in the field. We add value to our members through networking opportunities, student and alumni panels, corporate and academic guest speakers, West Coast company visits, recruiter information sessions, and interview preparation.
Piyush Narang
President
Full-time Class of 2025
Piyush is from India and has 7 years of experience at Oracle Life Sciences. He led the development of a critical Clinical Trials Management application during COVID-19, which played a key role in vaccine development. As the Finance Society President at Foster, Piyush is focused on supporting members who want to recruit for finance roles and aims to foster a greater interest in finance within the Foster community. Outside of work, he is a sports enthusiast and an avid marathoner. Piyush is deeply interested in Global Geopolitics and International Relations. He enjoys running while listening to podcasts on these topics.
Sean Lakey
VP of Asset & Wealth Management
Full-time Class of 2025
Sean is a Seattle-area native and a Foster School double-dawg. Between undergrad and the MBA program, Sean worked at two premier advertising agencies in Seattle for just under six years. He is now pivoting into the financial services industry with a 2024 summer internship at Goldman Sachs. Outside of work, Sean enjoys spending time in nature hiking, running, camping and fishing.
Aldo Pineda
VP of Finance
Class of 2025
Aldo, a Seattle native, holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Washington. He brings a wealth of experience in finance, having worked both in government and private roles. When he’s not crunching numbers, you’ll find him fishing, paddling through serene waters on his kayak, or tinkering with his car.
Viswanath Chilakala
VP of Communications
Full Time Class of 2025
As an MBA student at the Foster School of Business with seven years of experience at Microsoft, I have a strong background in strategic product management and AI projects. My work included developing product roadmaps, leading collaborations, and launching analytics platforms that saved significant costs and improved efficiency. Recently, my interest in finance has grown, recognizing its critical role in business sustainability. As VP of Communications, I aim to enhance our club's engagement and provide valuable financial insights to our members.
Chandana Surapaneni
VP of the Evening Program
Evening Class of 2026
Chandana has a background in Journalism and a Master’s degree in English Literature. Starting her career as an English Professor, she transitioned into roles in content strategy and editorial positions, honing her skills in communication and storytelling. Driven by a passion for corporate finance, Chandana serves as a vital link between The Finance Society and the evening program, aiming to foster collaboration and dialogue within the MBA community. With her unique blend of communication expertise and financial acumen, Chandana is committed to enriching the student experience and building meaningful connections in the world of finance.
Jaideep Sant
VP Events
Full-time Class of 2025
Prior to his MBA, Jaideep spent over 4 years at Deutsche Bank, supporting the global financial accounting organization in adopting the latest technology trends. Currently serving as the VP of Events, his goal is to make events more accessible and seamless by introducing innovative ideas that enhance member experience.
Pavel Davlitshin
VP in Career Development and Alumni Relations (IB)
Full Time Class of 2025
Mr. Davlitshin, 29, has held middle management positions at companies spanning the spectrum from seed-stage startups to late-stage startups, as well as market-leading corporations and firms focused on expanding into new markets. Mr. Davlitshin has a diverse range of industry experience, including construction, life sciences, real estate, and manufacturing, showcasing his exposure across multiple fields.
Candy Tang
VP in Career Development and Alumni Relations (IB)
Evening Class of 2026
Candy has a master’s degree in biomedical engineering and has 7 years of rewarding career in healthcare as a biomedical researcher. She had worked on cool and impactful projects that drove improvement for better patient care while at Abbott, Arrowhead Pharma, and Allen Institute. Candy is accelerating her MBA and is eager for an IB career in healthcare post-MBA. She works for a private equity firm focusing on senior care and manages assets for family members. She loves talking to her almost 2-year-old daughter. Candy aims to set up a family foundation that supports first-generation female college students for their first year. She has a sweet spot for education and is a board fellow for the Washington Council for Financial and Economic Education. Inspired by her favorite professor, Charles Lee, she wants to be a blessing to many.
Gayatri Naidu
VP of Corporate Finance
Full-time Class of 2025
Prior to her MBA, Gayatri worked at Ernst and Young in Financial Advisory and Accounting services, providing consultancy to various clients with a focus on financial transformation. She also worked for Deutsche Bank, where she supported Liquidity Treasury Reporting and Analysis in financial reporting. Outside of work, Gayatri enjoys hiking, exploring new places, and is a passionate foodie.
2019-2020 EVENTS
1/20/2019
Finance Happy Hour: Warren Buffett’s 2011 Shareholder LetterEnjoy refreshments at Schultzy’s on the Ave and discuss Warren’s view on Gold as an investment.
2/5/2019: 7:30 AM – 8:20 AM
Boardroom Speaker Series: Charlotte Guyman—Berkshire Hathaway Director, Brooks Running Director, former Microsoft Director.
2/12/2019: 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Dissecting an Earnings Call (Amazon) with professors Sarah McVay and Ed deHaanQuarterly earnings releases—what firms say, how they say it, and sometimes even what they don’t say—can be an invaluable source of information about a company. Understanding how to think critically about earnings releases is important for internal and external stakeholders, and they can be great resources to prepare for interviews across many functions.
2/19/2019 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Speaker Series: Women in Finance Speaker Panel with Jennifer Koski and Sophie Gilbert
The event will feature a panel, including Foster Finance Professor Jennifer Koski and Head of Business Solutions at Russell Investments Sophie Gilbert. Panelists will discuss topics ranging from research on gender in finance, challenges faced improving gender representation in finance professions, and the panelists’ experiences facing gender issues in their field. Drinks and light appetizers will be served following the panel.
3/11/2019 12:30 PM – 1:20 PM
Speaker Series: Machine Learning and Investing: Kevin Zatloukal--UW CS Lecturer, former Google and Microsoft programmer with a PhD from MIT.
Kevin will be discussing value traps, canonical correlation among investment factors, and the application of ML methods such as ensemble decision stumps and random forests to investing.
5/3 – 5/5
Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, NebraskaThis May, The Finance Society will be organizing a group of students to attend the 2019 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting – also known as “Woodstock for Capitalists”— in Omaha, Nebraska.
5/15/2019 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Speaker Series: MIT’s Andrew Lo Professor Lo will be going over his ground breaking research and newest financial theory – The Adaptive Market Hypothesis. The Adaptive Market Hypothesis is an attempt to reconcile economic theories based on the efficient market hypothesis (which implies that markets are efficient) with behavioral economics, by applying the principles of evolution to financial interactions: competition, adaptation and natural selection.
2018-2019 EVENTS
10/9/18
Amazon FLDP Preperation
Heard from two Amazon FLDP employees--Priyanka Balasubramanian & Mackenzie O'Berry--to help prep current Foster students for FLDP interviews.
10/17/18
Speaker Series: Fireside Chat with Tren Griffin
Tren Griffin, Senior Director at Microsoft, Author of popular finance blog 25iq, expert on value investing, and author of Charlie Munger: The Complete Investor, A Dozen Lessons for Entrepreneurs, and The Global Negotiator sits down for a discussion on business and investing.
10/25/18
Annual Stock Pitch Competition at the historic Canlis Restaurant
The competition will give students the chance to select, analyze, and pitch a stock to financial professionals from the Seattle area. Judges currently include professionals from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Kosmos Management, Russell Investments, Windrose Partners, Fulcrum Capital, US Trust, Morgan Creek Capital Management, and the UW Endowment.
11/17 &11/18
Training The Street 2 Day Workshop
TTS is the world’s leading financial learning services company, offering state-of-the-art, instructor-led courses in financial modeling and corporate valuation to corporate and educational clients. Founded in 1999, TTS’s clients include the world’s leading universities, investment banks, consulting firms, and Fortune 500 companies.
11/28/2018
Speaker Series: ESG Investing Panel
The Foster Finance Society and Net Impact Club welcome:
Martha Strebinger, CFA - Investment Strategist at Parametric Portfolio Associates
Emily Steinbarth - Quantitative Research Analyst at Russell Investments
Alex Bernhardt - Head of Responsible Investment, US at Mercer Investments
12/8/2018
Speaker Series: Investing Legends – Fireside Chat with Howard Marks
Mr. Marks is known for his incredible track record in the world of distressed debt investing and his insightful investment memos about which Warren Buffett states, “When I see memos from Howard Marks in my mail, they're the first thing I open and read. I always learn something, and that goes double for his book.”
Mr. Marks will be discussing, among many topics, his investment career, risk and uncertainty, his investment philosophy, and his new book Mastering the Market Cycle.
1/10/2019
Finance Breakfast: Warren Buffett’s 2008 Annual Shareholder Letter
Breakfast at Costas on Ave and deep discussion revolving around Warren Buffett’s iconic 2008 shareholder letter.
2017-2018 EVENTS
The Foster Finance Society is excited to host a full slate of events this year to enable students to explore finance careers, network with industry professionals and alums, and prepare for landing a job in finance. Keep an eye out for additional events, as we’re constantly identifying new opportunities for our members.
Autumn:
Apptio’s IPO with Co-Founder and CFO Kurt Shintaffer, October 4th, 12:30-1:20pm
Preview into the World of Finance, ft. John Connors & Thomas Gilbert, October 17th, 5:30-6:30pm
Full-time interview prep sessions, October
M&A Investment Banking with Shaun Westfall, October 27th, 12:30-1:20pm
CAIA and Alternative Investments with Geir A. Watland, CFA, CAIA, November 1st, 5:30-6:30pm
CFA Society Information Session, November 7th, 5:30-6:30pm
Combined Finance/Tech Trek to the Bay Area, November 9th-10th
Corporate Finance Career Pathing and Alumni Networking event, November
Winter:
Internship interview prep sessions, January – February
Finance Electives panel, January
Earnings Calls Drinks and Discussion, January
Career Paths Lunch & Learn, February
Finance Movie night for C4C, February
Boardroom Speaker Series, February – March
Local company visits, February – March
Spring:
Career Paths Lunch & Learn, April
Boardroom Speaker Series, April – May
Local company visits, April – May
Things I Wish I Would Have Known (for my internship), May
Spring Alumni Social, May