Board of Directors

Ankit Agarwal

Ankit is a Quantitative Analyst at Loomis Sayles & Co., an asset management firm headquartered in Boston.  He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi with a B. Tech. in engineering in 2004 and received an MS in Financial Mathematics from the University of Chicago in 2008.  Ankit started his career as a production engineer with TATA motors in India and moved on to join a brokerage firm where he focused on trading interest rate futures.

Outside of work, Ankit enjoys playing golf and trying new cuisines in search of vegetarian delicacies.  He has a keen interest in Indian & American politics and world economy.

Dan Espinal

Dan is a Director at Allied Minds, a private equity-funded innovation company that forms, funds, manages and builds startups based on early-stage technology originating from U.S. universities and federally funded research institutions, where he manages the firm’s investments in technologies originating from US federal research institutions

Prior, Dan was a management consultant at JSA Partners where he provided strategic counsel to a number of tier one defense suppliers, both within the U.S. as well as internationally, including Lockheed Martin, Spirit Aerosystems, Thales, and Hamilton Sundstrand. While at JSA, Dan also conducted a number due diligence engagements for private equity firms seeking acquisitions in the aerospace and defense industries.

Dan’s experience includes a summer associate position at Deutsche Bank Securities AG in their fixed income trading group, entrepreneurial endeavors as an FX spot trader with a futures commission merchant and as an FX trader at a commodities trading advisor in Boston. Dan is a veteran of the U.S. army, where he served as an infantry officer. He served one year in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom as a combat advisor and commander of an embedded training team. Attached to the 1-506 of the 101st Airborne Division and the Combined Security and Transition Command (NATO), Dan was embedded with the Afghan National Civil Order Police where he led over 150 combat patrols. Dan is currently an instructor at the Officer Candidate School with the Rhode Island Army National Guard.

Dan’s education includes an MBA from the  Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Business and a BA from Tufts University where he double majored in Economics and International Relations with a focus in International Finance

Layusa Isa-Odidi

Layusa is currently pursuing a joint Master in Public Administration in International Development and Master in Business Administration at the Harvard Kennedy and Business Schools. Prior to this, she worked as an Associate at the Boston Consulting Group, a leading management consulting firm. There, she was involved in a variety of sectors, including consumer goods and financial services. She received her B.A. from Harvard University in Social Studies, with a focus on Human Rights and International Relations, a minor in Economics, and a Spanish language citation. In addition to her work with Boston International, she serves as an adviser to the Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa, a non-profit headquartered in Botswana, with branches at Harvard and 8 African countries, including Nigeria and Kenya.

Layusa was born in Nigeria and lived in England, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Canada before moving to Boston. She has traveled extensively in Europe, speaks Hausa, Spanish and basic French and can read and write Arabic. In her spare time, Layusa likes to study a variety of dance forms, most recently flamenco.

Loretta Cremmins

Loretta is currently working as analyst at Accenture, a global consulting firm. Prior to joining Accenture, she spent time working on global partnerships for corporate citizenship initiatives and ICT education programs. Her interest in international affairs stems from a summer Loretta spent teaching English and grammar at a rural school in Ghana. In addition to her position with Boston International, Loretta serves as a Board Member at For One World, a nonprofit organization committed to delivering high quality  global education for children in Africa. Outside of work, Loretta enjoys yoga, running and traveling.

Robert Menn

Rob is a Vice President at Gemini Investors, a middle market private equity firm based in Wellesley.  Previously, he was an Investment Banking Analyst at the Royal Bank of Canada and a Consultant Communications Manager at Barings, a global asset management firm headquartered in London.   Rob earned his B.S. degree in Quantitative Economics from Tufts University where he also completed a study abroad program in Spain.  When speaking Spanish and Russian, his American accent is unmistakable.

Rob volunteers as a Big Brother of Greater Boston and holds board positions at five private companies.  A frequent traveler, he also enjoys skiing, soccer, distance running, real estate investing, and of course international current events.

 

Advisory Board

David Adelman

Justin Hall

Seth Kisch

Zachary Kruth

Gautam Tambay

Ariana Watson

Darya Nachinkina

Nate Picarsic

Phoebe Randel