Center for Women and Business Team Bios
As Executive Director, Dr. Yaro Fong-Olivares leads the CWB's mission-driven work to leverage industry expertise and academia to advance women's leadership in business from the classroom to the boardroom. She partners with the staff and CWB's stakeholder community to develop and deliver programs informed by research and best practices. She serves as a subject matter expert on leadership development for women and gender-variant folks and brings an intersectional feminist lens to the content the CWB produces. Dr. Fong-Olivares works with the program management and facilitation teams to optimize sales, corporate partner engagement, and content delivery. In addition, Yaro works within the Bentley community of students, faculty, administrators, and university centers to maintain and foster collaborative university-wide relationships that achieve Bentley's commitment to community partnerships, its mission, and core values.
A sought-after speaker and facilitator, Dr. Fong-Olivares has extensive experience in organizational development and management, including facilitating racial equity initiatives, diversity, and inclusion, strategy development, leadership coaching, and change management. Yaro leads Bentley Executive Education’s DEI Champions Certificate and supports the development of the new program, Strategies for Emerging Leaders.
Dr. Fong-Olivares earned her Doctorate of Psychology (PsyD) at William James, holds an M.S. in Organizational Change Management from The New School, a B.A. in Sociology from Barnard College, and Clark Wilson’s 360 feedback Task Cycle Survey Certification. Yaro serves as Past-President of the Executive Committee of the New York Center for the Study of Groups, Organizations and Social Systems, and is a certified consultant and member of the A.K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems.
As Faculty Research Director, Laura Jackson Young works to integrate academic research by Bentley faculty members with the CWB mission related to gender equity in business. She finds ways to support and amplify faculty research to bring scholars and practitioners together. Laura is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics. Her research and teaching interests focus on applied macroeconomics and monetary policy. She is the founder and co-advisor to WEB: Women in Economics at Bentley, a network of faculty, current students, and alumni with an interest in supporting women in the discipline of economics and expanding professional opportunities in the field.
Laura earned her Ph.D. in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2014 after completing her BS in Managerial Economics at Bentley in 2010.
As Director of Programs & Engagement for the CWB, Becky McDougal builds community with corporate partners, DEI leaders, and associations. She leads the development of new and innovative programs that support the mission of advancing intersectional gender equity. Through process consultation, Becky engages partners in developing programs that address their challenges of fostering more inclusive and equitable cultures that support intersectional gender equity. Becky facilitates the CWB’s workshops and leadership development programs, with areas of expertise including but not limited to: Unconscious Bias for Inclusive Leaders; Networks, Mentors, and Sponsors to Drive Career Advancement; Bentley Brave DialoguesTM; Active Allyship: Justice and Equity at Work; Creating Anti-Racist Cultures; DEI Champions Certificate, and Building Employee Resource Groups.
Becky’s professional experience began in the event management industry. Prior to Bentley, Becky was an Event Manager at Combined Jewish Philanthropies, leading initiatives to make events more inclusive and accessible while fostering a vibrant Jewish community in Boston and beyond. During these years she was an active member of MPI New England, a professional meeting and event planners' association, where she was awarded Meeting Planner of the Year for leading new programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion tailored to industry professionals. She then became Director of Education for the association to further infuse chapter education with DEI principles, and this appointment led to the creation of a DEI committee, which she led in 2020-2021.
Becky holds an Executive Certificate in Strategic Diversity and Inclusion Management from Georgetown University. Becky earned her BS in Marketing from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College, with a minor in Sociology, and holds a Master’s in Organizational Psychology from William James College, with a concentration in Talent Management.
As the Director of Programs and Communications, Dominique leads all university initiatives on behalf of the CWB – including formulating and executing comprehensive change strategies across campus to make Bentley the preferred business school for women and gender-diverse individuals. In service of the CWB's role as an idea incubator, Dominique manages institutional partnership relationships and strategic internal collaborations focused on advancing intersectional gender equity and driving the dialogue around leadership on campus. She serves as the primary liaison to students where she develops and delivers campus-wide programs, workshops, and training sessions focused on leadership, DEIJ, intersectionality, and other key skills needed to navigate the changing dynamics of today’s workplace. Dominique is also the architect of the CWB's communication efforts. In this capacity, she manages internal and external communications, ensuring the CWB's message resonates throughout the Bentley community and beyond. Her responsibilities include overseeing the CWB website, directing content creation, and orchestrating a vibrant presence on social media.
Prior to Bentley, Dominique worked for a nonprofit study abroad provider where she developed and oversaw the implementation of a global diversity training program that educated international staff, faculty, and homestay families on matters of diversity, inclusion, discrimination, and mental health. She has a background in digital marketing and has worked in politics. She has been mentioned in a number of publications, including the New York Times and the Better Business Bureau’s Magazine’s spotlight on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Dominique earned her BA from Drew University where she majored in Political Science. She is currently enrolled in the MBA program with a concentration in Leadership at Bentley University. Outside of work, Dominique is a founding board member for Loretta’s Helping Hands, a non-profit dedicated to providing emergency shelter for women and children in crisis.
As the Interim Senior Manager, Nyacko acts as a thought partner on key proposals and designs and facilitates Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) leadership programs for organizations and campus groups. Her responsibilities include conducting intake assessments with corporate education prospects, designing tailored DEI learning and leadership solutions, and leading post-program debriefs to gather valuable client feedback. Nyacko also serves as a program facilitator and collaborates closely with the program delivery team to translate client insights into actionable program enhancements that align seamlessly with our partners' strategic goals.
Nyacko is an experienced executive coach and organizational development consultant with expertise in equity-based systemization, people development, and financial sustainability. With a passion for facilitating Equity Diversity Inclusion-based practices, she helps small businesses, community organizations, and corporations foster equitable and sustainable systems through coaching for executives, teams, and entrepreneurs.
Nyacko holds a master's in Organization Development from American University and is a Certified Coach. She is the co-founder and Organization Development Partner at Comfort Kitchen. This James Beard Award-nominated café/restaurant celebrates the African diaspora through global comfort foods connecting Asia to the Americas.
As the Programs and Business Operations Manager for the CWB, Elba oversees the overall business operations and is involved in strategy, budgeting, goal setting, program management, and client relations. Her responsibilities include serving as the primary team resource for Customer Relationship Management (CRM), overseeing client tracking and onboarding, and maintaining administrative and financial operations of accounts payable and receivable through Workday Customer. Additionally, she manages the CWB Student Ambassador Program and supports the department in creating more efficient processes to better advance the CWB mission on campus and with corporate partners.
Prior to Bentley, Elba spent more than 11 years making an impact at Brandeis University. Her tenure began at the Intercultural Center as a program administrator, where she advised more than 18 ICC clubs and organizations on leadership development and event planning. She then transitioned to the Prevention, Advocacy, and Resource Center (PARC) as the interim program manager and subsequently became executive assistant of the Dean of Students Office, where she grew professionally and made a huge impact on students' lives, especially during the pandemic. After five years in this role, she joined Institutional Advancement, where she proudly engaged the alumni community and advocated for the alumni of color community.
Elba is a proud Bentley Falcon and holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and Global Studies. She also earned her Master of Science in College Student Development and Counseling from Northeastern University. When she is not working, Elba enjoys going to out to dance salsa, merengue, and bachata. She loves to travel and learn about life through the eyes of various cultures of the world. She is a strong advocate for mindful meditation and encourages everyone she meets to pause and take time to care for yourselves.
As Program Manager, Cindy leads the programming and planning for the CWB’s signature event, the Gearing Up Conference. The Gearing Up Conference is the CWB's flagship event held annually at Bentley University for young business professionals in their early to mid-careers. Women, gender-diverse individuals as well as allies are Geared Up through various workshops, panels, and hand-picked guest speakers. Additionally, in collaboration with the Director of Programs and Engagement, Cindy is responsible for managing relationships with corporate and community partners related to CWB programs and sponsorship.
As a first-generation college graduate, advancing the career development of underrepresented groups is important to Cindy. Formerly a talent strategist in the staffing industry, she was actively engaged in amplifying LGBTQ+ and BIPOC voices. Cindy is highly experienced in planning and executing successful events for nonprofit and corporate organizations. She has worked with clients and partners to plan, promote, and execute seminars, community engagement programs, virtual events, and international conferences.
A California native, Cindy earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies from California State University, Sacramento and later relocated to Boston where she earned a Master of Arts in Integrated Marketing Communication from Emerson College.
As the CWB's Program Coordinator, Suha supports the design of innovative programs that empower leaders and promote meaningful, positive change. In her role, Suha works closely with the CWB's Program Directors to ensure that each program reflects the latest trends in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and aligns with the CWB's mission.
At the CWB, Suha contributed to key research projects, including the Generational Impact report and the Caregivers report, addressing critical workplace challenges.
A proud double Falcon, Suha earned her Bachelor's in Management (2022) and MBA in Leadership (2024) from Bentley, where she also served as a Graduate Ambassador at the CWB.