Larry C. Pickett serves as co-chair of the Carnegie Mellon University Center of Excellence (CoE). He is a certified lean six sigma master black belt (CLSSMBB), a certified project manager, and a Prosci certified change management practitioner. He leads projects from their original state to final implementation providing solutions to the leaders of CMU. Larry earned an M.B.A. degree with an emphasis in Management of Technologies from California University of Pennsylvania, an M.S. degree in Leadership and Liberal Studies from Duquesne University and has a B.A. degree from Clarion University. Larry is a professional member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ).

JD Dunbar describes herself as a “Leadership Grower." JD is the Director of the Pennsylvania Rural-Urban Leadership Program, RULE, and Penn State Extension Senior Extension Educator. She has been with RULE for 35 years. As a member of the National Speakers Association, she has been featured in keynotes in 5 countries and 20 states. JD has been a trustee for 14 years under the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and was appointed by Governor Wolf as an inaugural trustee to PennWest. As member of PennWriters, she has been published in various magazines for local government, leadership publications, Lancaster Farming, Centre Daily Times, and LinkedIn articles. She has hosted 166 leadership study institutes, three international conferences, and participated in 36 webinars globally. JD describes her work as a, “jolt of joy.”

Anupam Upadhyaya is Vice President of Product Management for all SASE platforms at Palo Alto Networks, Santa Clara, California. He has over 20 years of experience in networking and security. Prior to Palo Alto Networks, Anupam held senior product management roles at Cisco Systems, Aerohive Networks and Aruba Networks. He holds a master’s degree in marketing and finance from Santa Clara University, and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from IIT BHU.

Advisory Board Members

Anupam Upadhyaya

JD Dunbar

Larry C. Pickett

Dr. Chandra Bhushan Singh stands out as a distinguished Economics professor with over three decades of teaching expertise across India, Canada, and the USA. Presently, he holds the esteemed position of tenured full professor at Voorhees University in Denmark, SC, U.S.A. Known for his unwavering commitment to education, Dr. Singh is not only an exceptional classroom instructor but also a fervent advocate for his students' welfare. At his current institution, he has played a pivotal role in fostering a positive and structured learning environment, driven by his teaching philosophy centered on academic excellence and high-impact practices. Throughout his career, he has championed diversity, equity, and inclusion, evident in his track record of guiding students to remarkable academic success.

Chandra Bhushan S.

Dr. Anupma Singh is an experienced professional in higher education, with a focus on institutional research, assessment, and data-driven decision-making. She holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Iowa State University and has directed significant research projects and overseen data governance initiatives. Currently, she is the Executive Director of Institutional Research at Drexel University. Dr. Singh has led strategic planning, improved data visualization systems, and promoted a culture of ongoing improvement. Her areas of expertise include quantitative and qualitative research, predictive analytics, machine learning, and strong team leadership, which have made her an instrumental figure in enhancing institutional effectiveness and advancing student achievement.

Heather Morgan

Dr. Heather Morgan is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Marketing and Professional Sales at Kennesaw State University. She received her doctorate in Marketing from Cleveland State University. Dr. Morgan also holds an MBA and Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing, both from Clarion University. Prior to making a full-time move to academia in 2014, she spent several years in the financial services industry- most recently serving in the role of Vice President- Community Banking Manager for S&T Bank. As a first-generation college graduate, Dr. Morgan has a passion for mentoring other first-generation college students, drawing from her own experiences and academic expertise to provide guidance and support.

Anupma Singh

Nripendra Singh

Nripendra Singh (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nripendra-singh/) is a tenured Full Professor of Marketing at the Pennsylvania Western University. As a Fulbright scholar, he researched on waste management practices at The Pennsylvania State University. As visiting research scholar, Dr. Singh visited renowned institutions such as University of California at Berkley, CA and Technology University, NJ. He earned two doctorate degrees and two MBA degrees. He is “Campus-2-Capitol Fellow” of Bard College, NY. Dr. Singh is an avid researcher and is on the editorial board and reviewers committee of several reputed journals. He has published and presented more than hundred research articles in reputed journals and conferences. He loves to mentor and advise young faculty members, research scholars, and undergrad and high school students globally.

Provakar Ghose

Mr. Provakar Ghose is a Risk & Analytics professional. He is serving as a ‘Business Risk and Control Sr. Analyst at Citi Financial Services, New Jersey, USA. He has huge experience in governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) across the financial sector. He helps companies strengthen enterprise risk frameworks through AI-driven risk models, data analytics, and optimized control assessments aligned with global regulatory standards. He is skilled in Python, SQL, Power BI, and Jira. He is expert in turning complex data into actionable insights that enhance control effectiveness and support strategic decision-making.

Dr. Dorene Ciletti, Ph.D., is the H.J. Heinz Company Endowed Chair in Business Management and associate professor and director of the marketing and sales program in the Rowland School of Business at Point Park University. Ciletti has worked in marketing and sales in the health care and banking industries. Dr. Ciletti also served as the acting director of the Center for Leadership in Professional Sales at Duquesne University. She has organized and moderated several major conferences and has served as an ad hoc journal reviewer and author for a variety of scholarly publications. Her teaching centers on action learning, experiential service learning, IDEO design thinking and collaboration with community and government leaders.

Dorene Ciletti

Ankush Rastogi

Ankush Rastogi is a senior data and AI professional with over 10 years of experience designing and scaling production-grade analytics and AI systems. He specializes in data engineering, large-scale data pipelines, and applied machine learning, with a strong focus on conversational AI, speech analytics, and enterprise AI platforms. Ankush has led the development of AI-driven solutions for real-world business problems, combining deep technical expertise in Python, SQL, infrastructure, and modern LLM architectures with a practical, impact-oriented approach. He is also an active contributor to the professional and research community through publications, peer review, mentoring, and judging industry hackathons

Shilpi Yadav

Ms. Shilpi Yadav is a Technology Leader and Solution Architect with 19+ years of experience specializing in SAP modernization, enterprise data architecture, and hybrid cloud integration. Currently a technical lead at IBM, she drives middleware integration for a global ERP transformation supporting 150,000+ users across 175 countries. Her expertise includes designing automation-driven frameworks that standardize data protection and quality within complex S/4HANA environments. Focused on the intersection of AI and data engineering, Shilpi builds scalable, intelligent pipelines and enhances observability to optimize mission-critical operations for global enterprises.

Tanuj Singh

Dr. Tanuj Singh is a mentor, educator, and entrepreneur. She is an Assistant Professor at Voorhees University, Denmark, SC. She help small businesses in the Northwest Pennsylvania region via her new venture Educational & Web Services (EWS). As an educator, she has been teaching undergrad students and presented invited talks at different institutes in India and US. At PennWest (Clarion) University she served as ACT101 advisor and was associated with the international student program. As a business analyst, she worked at the Korner Enterprises and Wholesale LLC. Her doctorate is in Humanities and Social Sciences and she has two master and two bachelor degrees in Economics and Library Sciences.

RJ Thompson

RJ Thompson, MFA , SMS, CDMP is an award-winning marketing, design, and communications professional. Currently, RJ is the Manager of Digital Strategy in Pitt Health Sciences. He is also presently an adjunct professor at the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration at the University of Pittsburgh, West Virginia University Reed College of Media, Point Park University Rowland School of Business, and the Community College of Allegheny County. RJ is President Emeritus of the American Marketing Association – Pittsburgh (AMA) chapter and current Program Director for the American Institute of Graphic Artists – Pittsburgh (AIGA) chapter.