Meet the Exceptional Executive DBA Students

MJ Anderson is Director of Enterprise Security at Demandbase, where he leads enterprise security, security operations, and AI enablement. In this role, he helps the company scale secure and responsible technology adoption. With more than 18 years of experience spanning IT, cybersecurity, and risk management, MJ has built a career at the intersection of technical depth, organizational leadership, and business risk. His work is increasingly focused on AI security, governance, and enablement.

Before joining Demandbase, MJ held senior security and strategy roles across consulting, cybersecurity, and SaaS organizations. His work has focused on building and maturing enterprise security capabilities in complex, high-growth environments, with emphasis on AI security, automation, and security operations. At Demandbase, his role has expanded beyond traditional security leadership to include advising on business risk, shaping AI governance, supporting software strategy, and enabling secure technology adoption across the organization.

MJ holds a master’s degree in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance and a bachelor's degree in information technology management. His planned research focus explores how organizations can measure and improve the effectiveness of AI governance and cybersecurity programs. He is particularly interested in whether these efforts reduce business risk, support better decision-making, and remain resilient as organizations scale.

Jason Clarke currently serves as the Director of Environmental Health and Safety for Sonny's Enterprises, the world's largest conveyorized car wash manufacturer. In this role, he oversees environmental, health, and safety programs across multiple operations throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with responsibility for regulatory compliance, risk management, operational excellence, and the development of organizational safety culture.

Jason’s professional journey began with military service, where he developed a foundation of discipline, accountability, leadership, and mission-focused execution. The experiences he gained in the military continue to influence his leadership philosophy today, particularly his commitment to servant leadership, continuous improvement, and building high-performing teams capable of operating effectively in complex environments.

Throughout Jason’s career, he has become increasingly interested in how organizations achieve sustainable success through the alignment of business strategy and internal support functions. He believes that while safety, human resources, facilities management, and other support disciplines are often viewed as administrative functions, they also play a critical role in organizational performance, employee engagement, risk mitigation, and long-term value creation.

He earned his MBA to strengthen his understanding of business strategy and organizational leadership. Pursuing a Doctor of Business Administration at the University of Miami represents the next step in his professional and academic development. Jason’s research interests focus on how organizations leverage support functions to create competitive advantages and how executive leaders can effectively align operational resources with strategic business objectives.

Otis is President of Pacific Harbor Line, leading safe, efficient rail and port operations that underpin critical North American trade corridors. With more than three decades in transportation and logistics, he has driven measurable improvements in operational reliability, safety culture, throughput, and on‑time performance while forging public‑private partnerships that reduce congestion and strengthen supply chain resilience. He serves on multiple railroad industry boards of directors and previously served on the Florida A&M University Board of Trustees.

Otis holds a BS in Business Economics and is a graduate of the UCLA Anderson School of Management Executive Program. As a Doctoral Candidate (Executive DBA) at the University of Miami, his goal is to blend academic research with practical leadership to advance organizational performance and supply‑chain innovation. He fielded the first Battery Electric Locomotive in the short line railroad industry, demonstrating a transformational commitment to sustainable, forward‑looking operational solutions.

Prior to his corporate career he was a proud US Army veteran and was awarded the Bronze Star for combat actions during Operation Desert Storm while serving in SOCOM - Special Operations Command Airborne.  Otis brings military‑honed discipline, strategic planning, and servant leadership to corporate governance and operational decision‑making. A committed mentor and public speaker, he actively supports high‑school and college outreach as well as professional mentorship programs to develop emerging talent. He and his wife of over 38 years currently reside in Southern California.

Paul Cross is an entrepreneur and software engineering consultant with over 25 years of experience in the financial services, manufacturing, laboratory sciences, and precision agriculture sectors. Across these domains, he has delivered products and services that help businesses and government agencies solve complex operational challenges.

Paul has founded six companies spanning media distribution, marketing, business analysis, and online retail services. He is currently a founder of Wixon & Cross LLC, a software engineering firm based in South Dakota, where he serves as CTO and product director. 

As a consultant, Paul specializes in technology strategy, software architecture, process modeling, and implementation. He frequently works in regulated environments where validation and process management are critical.

As CTO and product director of Wixon & Cross, Paul oversees product strategy and market alignment for a growing suite of products, including Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS), project management tools, and property management systems. His strategic approach to technology and stakeholder management is a key component of the company’s growth.

Since completing his MS in Software Engineering in 2011, Paul has been developing methods to improve cost estimation, communication, and risk management in software development. He is interested in technology strategy, human factors, and quality metrics in software engineering, and aims to apply quantitative measures meaningfully in practice. 

Roy’s current role is managing the procurement process at Perry Ellis International. He oversees a team in various locations that has a small budget of roughly $10m. Prior to PEI, Roy worked as the CIO for a home healthcare company in NY for 5 years. He consulted in the cannabis industry for 3 years in SF, created an export company for luxury cars in FL for 2 years and worked as a bankruptcy professional for a distress investment fund in NY for 10 years. He is also a UM alum having earned his MBA in 2010.

While working on his MBA, Roy invested in a local scuba shop called Underwater Unlimited and helped manage the business for 5 years. During one of those years, he took his talents to Key Largo and spent the year working with one of his largest partners, Captain Slate’s, owned and operated by Spencer Slate, a legendary figure in the diving community who was inducted into the International Scuba Diving  Hall of Fame for his many contributions to the diving world, which included officiating wedding underwater. His hobbies include scuba diving, and ocean photography of specifically kite surfers as well as regular surfers.

Eduardo Gutierrez is the Director of Professional Services at VisionCorps, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the AbilityOne Program and National Industries for the Blind (NIB), where he leads the Professional Services Division and drives business development initiatives. He will transition to Vice President of Professional Services in June 2026.

A recently retired military veteran, Eduardo brings extensive experience in federal government contracting, with deep expertise in proposal development, contract lifecycle management, business development strategy, and regulatory compliance across FAR, DFARS, and HSAR frameworks. His career reflects a focus on building structured, scalable programs — from Agile-based operating models to strategic outreach across federal, state, and local markets.

At VisionCorps, Eduardo has driven growth by developing government proposal infrastructure, pricing tools, and contact strategies targeting administrative services opportunities, along with compliance-driven contract closeout procedures aligned with current federal acquisition regulations.

A devoted husband and proud father of three, Eduardo is deeply family-oriented and credits his family as the foundation behind his drive and purpose.

Juan Pablo Jimenez is the Global Vice President of Strategic Alliances and Flex Solutions Go-to-Market at Citrix, where he leads global partner strategies, ecosystem development, and market expansion initiatives. During his 13-year career with Citrix, he has held several senior leadership positions, including Chief Operating Officer for the Americas and Head of Latin America, driving business growth, operational excellence, and transformational initiatives across multiple markets.

Prior to Citrix, Juan Pablo spent approximately 13 years with Hewlett Packard, running businesses and leading teams across Latin America, Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil. Throughout his career, he has focused on building and scaling businesses, developing high-performing organizations, and delivering sustainable growth in dynamic and competitive environments.

He began his professional journey in the consumer-packaged goods industry with Unilever, Kimberly-Clark, and Borden Foods. Drawn by a passion for innovation and technology, he pivoted early in his career into the technology sector, where he has spent more than two decades leading organizations through growth, transformation, and market expansion.

Juan Pablo considers himself a global leader who thrives on introducing new business models, entering new markets, launching innovative technologies, and working with people from different cultures and nationalities around the world.

Outside of work, he enjoys running, reading science fiction, mentoring startups, and traveling with his family.

Rob Harris built his career solving complex problems in the world's most unforgiving environments. After 21 years as a U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret Engineer, with multiple combat deployments across the Middle East, he specialized in establishing order in chaotic situations and advising senior leaders on risk. Today, Rob has transitioned to corporate finance, bringing his deep expertise in process architecture and systems analysis to the business sector. He doesn't just manage dysfunction; he re-engineers it. Currently serving as a Staff Accountant specializing in Tax, Audit, and Advisory at Calhoun & Company, PLLC, Rob applies the same "economy of processes" he utilized in the military to the financial world. As an active CPA candidate, he leverages advanced financial modeling, VBA, and Power Query to help businesses identify bottlenecks, eliminate wasted labor, and scale operations efficiently. As an incoming Scholar-Practitioner in the EDBA program, his professional focus centers on business valuation and strategic advisory for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). Rob’s mission is to use his decades of executive leadership to help local business owners protect their bottom line and confidently navigate major market transitions. Outside of his professional and academic pursuits, Rob lives in Clarksville, Tennessee, with his wife and sons. When he isn't untangling complex tax codes, he serves as the President of his local cross-country booster club and stays active on the slow-pitch softball field.

Billey Johnson is the CEO of Cloud Protectors LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based cloud security consulting and staffing firm serving federal, DoD, and enterprise clients. With 23 years of experience in IT and cybersecurity, he holds a high-level government security clearance and certifications including CISSP, C|CISO, and PMP, among others spanning cybersecurity, cloud computing, and enterprise governance.

In parallel, Billey is the Principal of Mamba Tech Group (MTG), where he applies his background as a Certified Mergers & Acquisitions Advisor (CM&AA) to lead an investment platform focused on tech M&A. Central to this work is the FANGS Framework, a practitioner-developed acquisition methodology he is advancing through his doctoral research to guide the evaluation, structuring, and integration of both healthy and distressed technology companies across the public and private sectors within a dedicated fund structure.

Billey holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from the University of the District of Columbia and an Executive MBA from Howard University. His doctoral research at Miami Herbert Business School seeks to empirically validate the FANGS Framework, establishing a peer-reviewed foundation for a tech-focused acquisition fund built to acquire, stabilize, and scale technology companies at any stage of their business lifecycle across the public and private sectors.

Michael Lamb is Principal of GreenLeafe Companies, a diversified real estate and investment platform, and co-founder of a regional homebuilding venture, both based in Virginia. A serial entrepreneur and executive with more than twenty years of leadership experience in construction materials, real estate, logistics, and operations, he has built, scaled, and exited multiple businesses across complete market cycles.

In 2002, Lamb co-founded a ready-mix concrete company and negotiated its sale to a multinational publicly traded firm in 2006. Following the 2008 financial crisis, he acquired distressed assets within the construction materials industry and built them into a leading vertically integrated regional construction materials company, consisting of concrete production, concrete pumping, aggregates, and a multi-state logistics network. By 2015, he had repositioned the company to capitalize on growth in data infrastructure, distribution, and energy development, becoming a primary supplier to hyperscale data center projects before exiting the business in 2020.

Lamb's research interests include the intersection of organizational behavior, leadership, governance, and technology adoption—specifically how organizations can implement, govern, and scale artificial intelligence within construction, skilled trades, and other operationally intensive industries. He intends to explore practical frameworks that help small and medium-sized businesses leverage AI to improve productivity, workforce development, knowledge transfer, operational decision-making, and long-term competitiveness.

Simon-Pierre Labelle is the President of Quadrax, a construction and real estate company based in Montreal, Canada. With over twenty-six years of experience in a highly regulated and demanding industry, he has led the growth of the organization into a significant player in the Greater Montreal market, delivering more than ten thousand residential units, as well as large-scale commercial, industrial, and hospitality projects.  

Throughout his career, Simon-Pierre has held multiple roles, including project manager, estimator, project director, and chief executive officer, developing a comprehensive understanding of the full project lifecycle. His leadership approach emphasizes discipline, strategic thinking, and strong client relationships. A key element of his strategy has been expanding into social housing development through partnerships with institutional and government stakeholders, contributing to the delivery of accessible housing solutions.  

Operating within Quebec’s complex regulatory and unionized environment has strengthened his adaptability and expertise in risk management and operational efficiency. As he looks ahead, Simon-Pierre aims to expand into the U.S. market, focusing on scalable and financially sustainable housing models. He is pursuing the Executive DBA at the University of Miami to further integrate academic research with practical execution and to support his long-term vision of innovating in large-scale housing delivery.

Hakim J. Lucas is a nationally recognized higher education executive, scholar, and thought leader who serves as President of Virginia Union University, Chief Executive Officer of Virginia Union University Enterprises, and a tenured Professor of History.

Since 2017, Dr. Lucas has led Virginia Union’s resurgence through his Economic and Social Mobility framework, strengthening student success, academic innovation, and institutional sustainability. Under his leadership, VUU has grown enrollment to more than 2,000 students, expanded graduate enrollment beyond 600, launched nine new master’s programs, reached 90% retention, and advanced outcomes for graduates earning an average GPA of 3.2 and average post-graduation earnings of $56,000.

Dr. Lucas has also guided significant financial and institutional growth, helping VUU raise more than $300 million in philanthropic support and investments, increase operational revenue by 50%, grow its endowment, and expand total net assets. His leadership has contributed to national recognition, including Fulbright Award-winning faculty, a Rhodes Scholar finalist, the first HBCU Harlon Hill Trophy winner, Emmy award winning productions and top 40 national rankings for HBCUs and social mobility.

Dr. Lucas has earned degrees in education, business, history, statistics, and theology. His 25 years in higher education are aimed to increase generational wealth for African Americans, believing that “education is my social justice.”

Christoph Marycz, Ph.D., is a serial entrepreneur, translational scientist, and executive leader whose career spans biotech and veterinary biopharmaceuticals in the United States, Europe, and Poland. He currently serves as Chief Scientific Officer at Luire Bio LLC (San Francisco) and as General Director of the International Institute of Translational Medicine (MIMT) in Poland — a private R&D institution he founded to advance translational medicine research across Europe.

Dr. Marycz holds a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Wrocław, Poland; an Executive MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley; and the title of Professor of Medical Biology, conferred by the President of the Republic of Poland. He has co-founded five companies spanning veterinary biopharmaceuticals, exosome therapeutics, and diagnostics, and has led multimillion-dollar research portfolios with international partners, including Stanford University and UC Davis. Recognized among the top 2% of most-cited scientists globally by Elsevier and Stanford University, he has built an extensive track record of translating scientific research into commercial and clinical applications.

With several active ventures under development in the United States, Dr. Marycz joins the EDBA program at a pivotal moment in his career — seeking to combine deep scientific expertise with the business fluency needed to scale innovations that matter globally.

Brad McSherry is a global Human Resources executive with a track record of building people strategies that strengthen culture, improve performance, and support business growth.  He has experience supporting multiple acquisitions, building HR capabilities in emerging markets, and guiding international leadership teams through change.

Brad's background includes public and private companies, from oil & gas and mining to marine tourism, manufacturing, and food distribution. He is at his best in environments where business is scaling, restructuring, or transforming. Colleagues describe him as calm, practical, and highly collaborative. Brad enjoys helping organizations build capability through hiring key talent, developing future leaders, and creating structures and software systems that immediately solve operational issues.

Brad is a global business practitioner and Human Resources expert who has been an expatriate in Malaysia, Greece, Saudi Arabia, and Italy.  He has been studying Italian for several years and plans to live and work in Italy in the future.

Brad is currently an entrepreneur and the newest regional director and SVP, Talent Acquisition of Sperton, a global recruiting, HR consulting, and global mobility company.  He is currently growing his business in the United States, Qatar, and Italy.  His skill set of quickly building trust and credibility has come from many years as a global minded Human Resources leader. These attributes along with his strong communication skills are helping Brad successfully grow his new recruiting company.

Andrew Rahman is a marketing and strategic growth executive with more than 15 years of experience leading brand strategy, portfolio expansion, and operational growth across the multifamily real estate industry. He currently serves as Vice President of Marketing and Training at The Related Group, where he oversees portfolio-wide marketing strategy, training initiatives, and organizational alignment across 80+ properties spanning affordable, workforce, luxury, new development, stabilized, and build-to-rent assets.

Throughout his career, Andrew has held senior corporate and operational leadership roles with leading organizations including Greystar, Camden Property Trust, Berkshire Residential Investments, and Bainbridge Companies. His experience includes ultra-luxury lease-ups, repositioning and rebranding initiatives, distressed asset stabilization, value-add strategies, workforce and LIHTC housing initiatives, and operational growth across major U.S. markets.

Andrew is also a recognized industry thought leader, serving on the advisory board for Zillow and on the Marketing Innovation Leadership Council (M.I.L.C.) for ApartmentSEO. He has been featured in leading real estate publications, including The Real Deal, appeared as a guest on industry podcasts, and spoken at conferences and professional organizations nationwide. He has also instructed the marketing portion of the National Apartment Association’s Certified Apartment Manager (CAM) course, reflecting his commitment to education, innovation, and industry advancement.

Andrew is graduating Summa Cum Laude from University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations.

Michelande Ridoré, EdD, MS, is a healthcare executive, scholar-practitioner, published poet, and founder whose work centers on emotionally intelligent leadership, mentorship, and human-centered systems transformation. She serves as Senior Director and High Reliability Organization (HRO) Architect at Jackson Health System, where she designs enterprise-wide learning and reliability strategies, coaches interdisciplinary leaders, and supports psychologically safe, high-performing teams across one of the nation’s largest public academic health systems.

Across more than two decades in healthcare leadership, Dr. Ridoré has led complex improvement initiatives spanning maternal and pediatric health, patient safety, and organizational learning at hospitals and health systems in the DC–Maryland–Virginia region and South Florida. She is published in peer-reviewed journals including the American Journal of Perinatology, BMC Infectious Diseases, Vaccine, Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinical Medicine, and the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Grounded in improvement science and applied learning methodology, her distinctive contribution lies in integrating reflective and creative practices—particularly poetry, metaphor, and narrative—into leadership development and systems change. She approaches organizations as living systems and leadership as both a technical and relational practice, requiring trust, emotional regulation, and shared meaning to translate insight into sustained performance.

Her EDBA research explores poetry-based mentorship and coaching as pathways to developing emotional intelligence in leaders and strengthening organizational performance outcomes. She advances leadership as both a disciplined science and a deeply human practice—where meaning, emotion, and measurement converge.

Kris Saling is a people analytics and talent management expert who has spent more than a decade helping federal organizations unlock the potential of their workforce through data, strategy, and a deep belief that work should work for the people doing it. A complexity scientist by training and technologist by passion, she has built innovative talent programs inside some of the world's largest organizations, including the U.S. Army. She is the author of Data-Driven Talent Management (Kogan Page), the founder of Data for CEOs (D4C) LLC, a consultancy focused on teaching data and AI literacy at the executive level, and the incoming Director of Workforce Transformation at IBR LLC, specializing in HR technology solutions for the federal government. She is a sought-after speaker on the future of work, AI adoption, and building data-driven cultures.

Maria J. Trapani is a seasoned executive with decades of global experience across corporate finance, credit risk management, strategic partnerships, and leadership development. Fluent in three languages, she began her career in corporate banking in Argentina and progressed to C-suite and Senior Credit Committee roles of global banks in the United States, Costa Rica and Canada.

More recently, Maria led a corporate financial advisory for Al Rajhi in the UAE and KSA, advising on complex, multi-jurisdictional project finance deals.  She also served as a Board Member.

She continues to advise multiple boards, C-suite leaders, and shareholders including the Alrajhi Group.

Maria has structured and secured over $20 billion in financing for complex cross-border transactions. She has led geo-distributed teams, navigated volatile market cycles, and managed institutional investor relationships globally. Her leadership has helped organizations mitigate risk, protect reputational equity, and optimize portfolios in high-stakes environments.

Her rare combination of buy-side and sell-side experience, coupled with her international expertise in capital markets, positions her as a trusted advisor on transformative financial initiatives.

Education includes an MBA, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, and multiple professional certifications; currently completing the Executive Certificate in Leadership Coaching (University of Miami).