Clemson Mini MBA

Unlock Your Business Potential with the Virtual Clemson Mini MBA Program!

• Accounting and Profitability
  

  Session Leader: James Barnes, CPA, CGMA

  Senior Lecturer, School of Accountancy, Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business, Clemson University

  Jimmy Barnes, CPA, CGMA, joined the School of Accountancy in 2018. He began his career with Deloitte & Touche, LLP as an auditor in the Greenville, SC office, where he served clients in various industries, including manufacturing, insurance, finance and technology. He later joined McKinley, Cooper & Co., LLC, where he primarily served governmental and nonprofit clients. After public accounting, Barnes went into higher education administration. He has served as the Controller for Erskine College, the Business Officer for the former College of Business & Behavioral Science at Clemson University, and most recently, the Financial Planning and Analysis Officer for Academic Affairs at Clemson University. He serves on the Analytics Advisory Group for the National Association of College and University Business Officers and volunteers with the South Carolina Association of CPAs. He is the past Treasurer for the Southern Association of College and University Business Officers (SACUBO). Barnes has presented on analytics in higher education at the Southern Association of College and University Business Officer and Central Association of College and University Business Officer annual meetings and is an instructor at the College Business Management Institute at the University of Kentucky.

• AI in Business
  

  Session Leader: Joe Gibson

  Lecturer, Clemson MBA Program, Clemson University

  Joe Gibson, an adjunct professor in Clemson's MBA program for the past six years, teaches Corporate, Entrepreneurial, and Digital Brand Communications, focusing primarily on marketing. He also covers Venture Creation and E-commerce platforms, incorporating AI into his marketing classes and teaching a course on AI in Business in Fall 2024. Gibson's extensive work experience includes a corporate career in the chemical industry, where he rose to Vice President of a $100 million division and was involved in a startup developing e-commerce software. At Clemson, he mentors multiple startups and leverages his diverse background to enhance his teaching and mentoring.

• Belonging and Inclusion in the Workplace
  

  Session Leader: Timothy Stanfield

  Assistant Vice President for Educational Engagement and Belonging & Executive Director of the Gantt Multicultural Center, Clemson University

  Tim Stanfield, assistant vice president for educational engagement and belonging and executive director of the Gantt Multicultural Center, is a higher education professional with over 18 years of experience. He is passionate about helping students achieve success. Stanfield's career has focused on first-generation students, marginalized student populations and academic success. He is completing his Ph.D. in Higher Education, Leadership, Management, and Policy with a focus on assessment and evaluation, and his research topic focuses on understanding how Black students develop a sense of belonging at predominantly white institutions.

• Business Growth and Marketing
  

  Session Leader: Ankita Bakre, Ph.D.

  Professor, Department of Marketing, Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business, Clemson University

  Ankita Bakre is a Senior Marketing professional and strategic leader with over 20 years of corporate experience and ten years of graduate-level teaching. She has successfully led marketing and brand-building initiatives for a Fortune 500 Oil & Gas Corporation, developing strategies that enhanced brand equity and maximize market opportunities. Bakre's expertise spans new business development, product launches, corporate policy, business planning, CRM, strategic operations and team development. She is a passionate communicator and trainer, committed to nurturing emerging talent. With a Ph.D. in Marketing, Bakre specializes in Brand Experiences and Brand Equity and has contributed to academia through teaching and publications in Brand Management, Retail, Marketing Strategy and Digital Strategy. She has received numerous leadership awards and contributed to a widely published Luxury Industry Study and a Strategy Book.

• Business Strategy
  

  Session Leader: Matthew Klein

  Senior Lecturer, Department of Management, Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business, Clemson University

  Matthew C. Klein is the Managing Partner of Redrock Capital and a Senior Lecturer at The Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business at Clemson University. Klein serves on the Board of Trustees for the College of Charleston, the SCRA Business and Science Advisory Board, the Tech Maturation Fund Review Panel for the Clemson University Research Foundation, as a Loan Review Committee member for CommunityWorks and is also a member of the VentureSouth Angel Network. Klein holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the College of Charleston, a master's in Business Administration from Babson College, and a doctorate in Business Administration from Georgia State University.

• Data Analytics and Visualization

  Session Leader: Todd Price, Ph.D.

  Lecturer, Clemson MBA Program, Clemson University

• Leading and Motivating
  

  Session Leader: Gail DePriest

  Director of Leadership Development and Corporate Relations, Clemson MBA Program, Clemson University

  Gail DePriest is director of Executive Leadership and Corporate Relations at Clemson University MBA and a senior lecturer. She is a certified Master Coach and teaches innovation and creativity, advanced leadership and a global leadership class in the Clemson MBA program at Oxford. For over fifteen years, Gail has advised Fortune 500 companies during times of transition and helped top-ranked business schools create career management programs. Before Clemson, she served as Senior Vice President and Corporate Director at Lee Hecht Harrison, a global talent management company. DePriest achieved Master Coach status at Lee Hecht Harrison, teaching and mentoring other coaches as well as coaching senior executives.

• Profitable Sustainability Solutions
  

  Session Leader: Jeff Gowdy

  Senior Director, Sustainserv & Professor, Vanderbilt University

  Jeff Gowdy is a globally recognized leader and practitioner in sustainability and ESG, particularly in the areas of strategy, GHG emissions and science-based targets, reporting, goal setting and materiality. He serves on the One Eleuthera Foundation (OEF) Boards and Energy Datametrics and teaches at Vanderbilt. For the past twenty-two years, he has led projects across all aspects of environmental, social and governance issues. He is a frequent speaker and writer, e.g., Sustainable Brands, GreenBiz. He graduated with academic honors from both the University of Virginia with a B.S. in Systems Engineering and Vanderbilt University with an MBA in strategy.

• Project Execution
  

  Session Leader: Kathy "Kat" Snizaski

  President, ibT

  Kathy Snizaski, better known as Kat, is a professional trainer, facilitator, and presenter. After training for CCT for over 20 years, she opened ibT. Snizaski spent eight years providing Clemson University employees, professors and seniors with state-of-the-art professional development training and the knowledge and tools to take with them for greater success. Snizaski is doing the things she loves to do and having a great time, always reaching out to help a much larger demographic.

  Snizaski wants to help you become better thinkers, perform better and get better results.

  In addition to her ability to teach human elements, she is also in the highest demand as a technology trainer in the upstate.

• Workplace Culture
  

  Session Leader: Ale Kennedy, Ph.D.

  Chief Human Resources Officer & Associate VP of Human Resources, Clemson University

  Ale Kennedy has been a leader in HR thought leadership for the past two decades, focusing on higher education. She began her career in organizational development at the University of South Carolina Aiken, then moved to Augusta University as the associate director of employee relations and training. In 2007, she joined Georgia Southern University and was promoted to associate vice president of human resources. In 2016, Kennedy returned to Clemson University as the associate chief human resources officer, bringing over 20 years of experience in recruitment, retention, conflict resolution, change management, employee relations, training and benefits administration. Kennedy serves on the board of directors for the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) and has been a member since 2002. She is married to Kevin, who also works at Clemson, and they have two children. Kennedy is an avid runner and has competed in the Boston Marathon nine times.

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