News Stories

The Accounting Department at the Leavey School of Business created the Accounting Leadership Series program in Fall 2022 to engage all business students to hear about career experiences that have shaped our industry executives’ views on leadership.  The series offers students an opportunity to hear from industry executives who are SCU alums. 

Hosted by Dean’s Executive Professor, Chris Paisley, the program is an exciting opportunity for students to meet executives in the industry who are SCU Accounting alums. The program has two components: a fireside chat with the guest speaker and a dinner with a select group of Accounting and A&IS majors.

To kick off the 2023-2024 Accounting Leadership Series, the first event was held on October 18, 2023 with guest speaker Eric Ludwig, SCU alumnus 1991, who is the Board of Director, Interim CFO and Advisory Board member to several technology companies.  Eric previously served as the CFO at Glu Mobile and at PwC.

Our SCU Accounting Association officers, Jessica Pu (Accounting class of 2025) and John Marrack (Accounting & Information Systems class of 2025) wrote:

“In the Accounting Leadership Series event with Eric Ludwig, he discussed many things related to his career and the accounting industry, but he kept coming back to emphasize the importance of ‘being a sponge.’ Ludwig stressed the importance of effective communication skills, drawing from his own experiences at PwC, where his inquisitive and outgoing nature helped him figure out his interests. Ludwig also encourages aspiring professionals to leverage platforms like LinkedIn for informational interviews to build one’s network and explore career opportunities. In essence, Ludwig's emphasis on ‘being a sponge’ highlights the power of curiosity and active networking in shaping a successful career.”

Eric’s leadership fireside talk was well received as 191 students attended in the Mission room, Benson Center.  We would like to share a couple of our students’ comments about Eric’s event.

“I loved the advice to improve communication skills as a number one focus, using LinkedIn among other forms.”

“I thought it was very interesting and it was good to hear about Eric’s story which gave me some insight in what it means to go into accounting.”

“I really loved how much advice he gave us especially about his work-life balance as well as what goes on on the mentor/person’s end when sharing about you for opportunities. This gave me an idea of how I should be cautious about how I write in my LinkedIn page and how I get out of my comfort zone.”

The November 8, 2023 Accounting Leadership Series event featured guest speaker Joseph Wattoo, SCU alumnus 2009. Joseph is the Senior Vice President of Commercial Strategy and Consumer Engagement at MGM Resorts International. Joseph previously served as the Global Head of Revenue at Uber, and was a Manager at Deloitte.

Our SCU Accounting Association officers, Jessica Pu (Accounting class of 2025) and John Marrack (Accounting & Information Systems class of 2025) wrote:

“In the Accounting Leadership Series event with Joseph Wattoo, he discussed his diverse career at Deloitte, Uber, and MGM Resorts International. At Deloitte, Wattoo learned that regardless of where you are in life, ‘Everything involves teamwork, and understanding how to lead in a team environment is beyond critical.’ Deloitte provided Wattoo the experience needed to jumpstart his career, even putting him in charge of a team within the first 2 years. Alongside this, he learned that mentorship is not limited to a professional nature, but should also be a friendship that stems from a common interest outside of work. Joseph Wattoo's journey exemplifies the significance of teamwork, leadership, and genuine mentorship in shaping a successful and fulfilling career.”

Joseph’s leadership fireside chat was well received as 147 students attended in the Locatelli Student Activity Center. We would like to share a handful of our students’ comments with you.

“Joey’s story was awesome and very relevant to me.”

“I liked the advice that Joseph Wattoo gave about having mentors that are not just there to give you advice, but also there to be a friend to you and inspire you to become like them. I also liked his advice about how everything involves teamwork and communication, and I enjoyed hearing his journey from working at Deloitte and Uber to working at MGM Resorts International.”

“It’s interesting to hear from professionals about what else you can do with an Accounting degree besides being a CPA.”

The February 7, 2024 Accounting Leadership Series event featured guest speaker Jie Pan, SCU alumna 2006, who is the Vice President, Corporate Controller at Atlassian.  Previously Jie worked at Facebook for a decade, rising to the level of Assistant Controller.  Jie started her career at Ernst & Young, where she was a Senior Associate.

Our SCU Accounting Association officers, Jessica Pu (Accounting class of 2025) and John Marrack (Accounting & Information Systems class of 2025) wrote:

“Jie Pan encouraged the students to ‘treat interacting with clients as a learning experience,’ highlighting how she learned a lot about which industries she was interested in through interacting with clients.  Jie stressed the importance of speaking up and collaborating, as teamwork is an essential skill at any job and highly transferable. It was inspiring to hear how she drew from her experience at Facebook to guide her current colleagues to higher efficiency in their jobs.”

Jie’s leadership fireside chat was well received as 178 students attended in the Locatelli Student Activity Center. We would like to share a handful of our students’ comments with you.

“I really liked how she made connections between finance and accounting and how accounting lays a good foundation for people wanting to pursue finance. It was also very interesting to hear about her leadership roles at Santa Clara, such as business fraternities, that have given her exposure to leadership in the business world. It was also interesting to hear how she started at Facebook before it became as big of a company as it is today when she moved from Las Vegas. I really enjoyed her honesty about the personal questions she was asked and how she found ways to make her answers relatable to us students. I thought the event was very informative and it gave me insight on aspects of finance and accounting that I will likely run into in my career in the future.”

“I loved to hear about her story being a minority in business and how she progressed. I found it interesting hearing about how she managed a full workload and a family.”

“I liked how honest the speaker was and it really helped me understand and figure out what I want to major in.”

“Great event - gave perspective of someone who was successful in accounting. I thought it gave good insight into what the benefits are of being an accounting major.”

The April 17, 2024 Accounting Leadership Series event featured guest speaker Brigitte Ho, SCU alumna 1995. Brigitte started her career at KPMG.  She has since worked at a Who’s Who of Silicon Valley stalwarts, including Oracle, Intuit, Electronic Arts, Cisco, and Symantec.  Brigitte’s most recent positions have been the Head of Internal Audit at Zoom, and her current role as the Head of Internal Audit at Rivian. 

The SCU Accounting Association officers, Jessica Pu (Accounting class of 2025), John Marrack (Accounting & Information Systems class of 2025), and Ingrid Chou (Accounting & Information Systems class of 2025) wrote:

“Brigitte shared her story at this Spring 2024 Accounting Leadership Series. Born in Vietnam, Brigitte moved to France and later the United States, experiencing many barriers, particularly language, as English happens to be Brigitte’s third language. However, what kept Brigitte going in the workplace and at different companies, such as KPMG, Oracle, and Cisco, was her love of the people she worked with. She advised students to ‘Do things because you love them, not just because of the money, because when it gets hard, you will still want to be there for the people and the mission of the company.’ It was incredibly inspiring to hear her story and to understand how she followed her passion to lead a fulfilling and successful career.”

Brigitte’s leadership talk was well received as 86 students attended in the Locatelli Student Activity Center. We would like to share a handful of the students’ comments with you.

“She shared why it is essential to get to the point, be yourself, and be a good communicator and problem solver.”

“I liked getting to hear her background story and then hearing about her perspective on the SCU culture and how she valued the supportive network.  She discussed how this helped her thrive.”

“Her explaining the similarity between soccer and internal audit teams to give us an idea of how being in the company is like.”

“I enjoyed hearing her personal stories about her experiences at Santa Clara and working in the Silicon Valley.”

If you or others you know are SCU Accounting or A&IS alumni and are interested in participating as a guest speaker, please contact accounting@scu.edu.