Interim President – Gisselle Niles (Cargill) - president@twincities.alpfa.org

 

 

Treasurer – Alejandro Viva (Ernst & Young) - treasurer@twincities.alpfa.org

 

Alejandro is an Audit Manager at Ernst & Young in Minneapolis. He joined the Minnesota office in November 2004 in the Retail and Consumer Products Area of Assurance and Advisory Business Services. His list of clients include: Northwest Airlines, Nash Finch Co., Daktronics Inc, Great Northern Iron Ore Properties, Tornier BV, Boston Scientific, and Syngenta. He transferred to the US from the Buenos Aires, Argentina office, where he started with Ernst & Young in July 1999. Alejandro was born in Argentina and attended Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina (Argentine Catholic University) in Buenos Aires. He is a Certified Public Accountant, since 1999.

 

 

Secretary – Heather McCants (Ameriprise Financial) – secretary@twincities.alpfa.org

 

Heather began at Ameriprise during the summer of 2004, as a member of the Finance Leadership Development Program (FLDP). During the program, she worked in several Finance areas including Investment Accounting, LFO Asset Management and Business Planning and Analysis. After the program, Heather took a job in the Office of the CFO as a project manager working on a myriad of projects. Currently, she works as the manager of the FLDP, running the operations, strategy, and recruiting processes of the program. The key focus of the program is to create a pipeline of leadership for Ameriprise. Heather graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2004 with a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Management. 

 

 

Director of Events – Ricardo Rugamas (Target) - events@twincities.alpfa.org

 

Ricardo Rugamas is a financial planning analyst for Target Corporation. He graduated from California State University Long Beach with a B.S. in International Business and Finance. As a student, he was an active member of the ALPFA chapter in Los Angeles. 

 

 

Director of Student Affairs – Thad Standley (Cargill) - studentinfo@twincities.alpfa.org

 

Thad Standley is an Organizational Effectiveness Manager for Cargill, Inc. He focused on Cargill’s Finance, Plant Operations and Human Resources Functions. His role includes leadership development, training, strategy and business planning. Thad received his Bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He received his MBA and Master of Organization Development from Bowling Green State University. He is also on the Executive Board of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) Minneapolis – St Paul Chapter and is on the Board of Directors for Senior Community Services, a non-profit human services organization offering a range of programs and services aimed at older adults

 

 

Director of Corporate Relations – Damian Canetti-Rios (Target) - partnerrelations@twincities.alpfa.org

 

Damian has worked at Target since September 2007 as Analyst in Target Sourcing Services. His main responsibilities are managing the sourcing and production process of Target own-brand product. He is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and previously interned at El Cid Resorts in Mazatlan, Mexico and ESPN Radio in Pittsburgh, PA. 

 

 

Director of Membership – Daniel Abbott (UnitedHealth Group) – membership@twincities.alpfa.org

 

Dan Abbott began his career working in the non profit sector for the Minneapolis YMCA.  Following several years of service in numerous positions he decided to stay in the wellness industry accepting a position with Lifetime Fitness holding a management position in their sales division.  After a couple of years with Lifetime Dan left to pursue his passion for recruitment with Robert Half International in Minneapolis.  Dan worked as a Staffing Manager on the major accounts team focused accounting and finance positions in the Minnesota marketplace.  After just a year at Robert Half Dan was recruited out of the firm to join UnitedHealth Group and has been a part of their Talent Acquisition team since 2008.

 

 

Director of Community Relations - LaChelle Drayton (Cargill) - communityaffairs@twincities.alpfa.org

 

LaChelle Drayton currently works for Cargill as a Sr. US Diversity Recruiting Consultant. In this role, she is responsible for corporate-wide diversity recruiting programs, manages relationships with national minority organizations, and serves as a consultant with campus recruiting teams. Cargill is the world’s leader in the Agro food business headquartered in Wayzata, MN.

 

Before joining Cargill, she worked at IBM as a Diversity Program Manager, where she implemented and managed corporate diversity initiatives for over 4,000 employees. She also spent 8 ½ years at the University of Minnesota Institute of Technology as the Associate Director of Academic Programs for Excellence in Engineering and Science.  She was responsible for managing the day-to-day operations, supervising the department staff, connecting with corporate & community partners, and creating students development programs.

 

LaChelle received her Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Technology from Iowa State University and has graduate credits in Human Resources Development.  She is a member of the Women in Foodservice Forum organization, the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting, the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources, and a National Cross-Industry Diversity Recruiting Benchmarking Team.

 

Liliya Aleksieva is an Assurance Associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers - Minneapolis office. She is originally from Bulgaria and immigrated to the United States six years ago and has lived in Stillwater, MN since.  Liliya graduated from the University of National and World Economy in Sofia, Bulgaria with a Bachelor's degree in Macroeconomics.  After she came to the United States, she graduated from the Carlson School of Management with a Bachelor's degree in Accounting. Prior to PwC, Liliya worked at Regis Corporation and was a Bulgarian interpreter at hospitals.