The Foster School of Business at the University of Washington continues to attract purpose-driven leaders eager to blend analytics, collaboration, and community. The MBA Class of 2027 represents a diverse mix of professionals from across industries and continents, each bringing a unique story and a shared commitment to impact, inclusion, and innovation. In this Real Humans: MBA Students, we meet some new members of the class.
To start, Carla Aliaga Valladares, an industrial engineer from Lima, Peru, comes to Foster after eight years in commercial banking at BBVA, where she led strategic and engineering initiatives. Drawn by Foster’s proximity to Seattle’s tech hub, she’s pivoting toward product management, eager to fuse her business acumen with innovation and analytics in the technology sector. Then, Sabrina Dorisca, a consultant from Deloitte’s government practice, joins the class ready to pivot into strategy roles that allow her to drive impact from the ground up. Inspired by Foster’s open and supportive culture—and its commitment to social responsibility—she’s already immersing herself in courses and clubs focused on community empowerment and diversity. We also meet Evan Alter, a Seattle native and marketing analytics veteran with 11 years at Nielsen. He is pursuing an MBA to expand his leadership scope and transition into climate tech or sustainability analytics. His love for the outdoors and data storytelling align perfectly with Foster’s strengths in environmental business and technology.
Then, Joely Manning, a U.S. Army logistics officer for seven years, brings a wealth of leadership and team-building experience to the program. She was drawn to Foster’s small class size, veteran community, and strong ties to the Seattle business ecosystem, as she transitions into operations and supply chain management roles. Riley Hsia, a recruitment consultant from Bellevue with deep expertise in life sciences and analytics staffing, joins Foster to broaden his leadership capabilities and move into healthcare or biopharma management. Known for his ability to build connections effortlessly, he was immediately impressed by the close-knit, collaborative spirit of the Foster community. Finally, Shriniketh Venkatkrishna, from Chennai, India, brings five years of SaaS experience spanning sales, marketing, and customer success. His global perspective and passion for product and strategy roles in tech drew him to Foster’s “people-first” culture, Seattle’s innovation ecosystem, and the program’s outstanding ROI.
Get to know these new Foster MBAs and heed their admissions advice in the following pages.
