Global Careers

The IIGE Global Careers Series features prominent professionals and IIGE alumni who expand knowledge and understanding of the world through their global work and travel. We welcome our campus and community; if you would like to attend, please email us at ghonors@uw.edu.

This Spring, students and guests can connect virtually with the following global professionals:

Monica Melton '13

Monica Melton '13 is the Managing Editor of The Plug, a news and insights platform covering the studies, stats and stories shaping the Black innovation economy. She previously covered innovation, technology, and venture capital at Forbes. She also covered politics at POLITICO and entertainment for Time Out New York, but her most fascinating beat has been covering the intersection of technology, finance, and entrepreneurship. She is an alumna of CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and the University of Washington Tacoma, where participation in the Global Honors program helped her to "conceptualize and think through complex ideas, which is a necessary muscle to grow and develop for any knowledge work-based career field such as journalism."

Melina Palmer '07

Spring 2021

A member of the inaugural cohort of Global Honors students, Melina Palmer '07 obtained her bachelor’s degree in business administration (marketing) at UW Tacoma and worked in corporate marketing and brand strategy for over a decade, before earning her master’s in behavioral economics. Melina is founder and CEO of The Brainy Business, which provides behavioral economics consulting to businesses of all sizes from around the world. Her podcast, The Brainy Business: Understanding the Psychology of Why People Buy, has downloads in over 160 countries and is used as a resource for teaching applied behavioral economics for many universities and businesses. A proud member of the Global Association of Applied Behavioral Scientists, Melina has contributed research to the Association for Consumer Research, Filene Research Institute, and runs the Behavioral Economics & Business column for Inc Magazine. She teaches applied behavioral economics through the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab, and her first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, publishes May 2021.

Guillermo Sandoval '16

Spring 2021

Guillermo Sandoval '16 is a Student Success Specialist at South Seattle College. He graduated from UW Tacoma in 2016, with a major in Communication and a minor in Global Engagement. While at UW Tacoma, he worked in various departments, including Student Transitions, Student Activities Board, and Study Abroad. He then pursued a master's in Student Development Administration at Seattle University (2016-18) and served as a graduate assistant for Student Success and Retention in the Outreach Center, where he worked on many first-generation student initiatives. In addition to his current work at South Seattle College, Guillermo is enrolled as a PhD student in Higher Education at the University of Arizona.

Jenine Bogrand

Spring 2021

Jenine Bogrand is a Senior Manager at Deloitte Consultancy, where she collaborates with "large enterprise companies to develop HR strategies that will benefit their employees and create efficiencies in all areas of their operations." Her strategy-development process incorporates "current state analysis, developing future state roadmaps, reviewing policies and recommending modifications, and coordinating the systems needs to support the organization." 

Mark Wales

Spring 2021

Mark Wales is an executive with a proven track record of achievement with leading US and UK companies. He coaches a holistic approach to workforce management and works at the strategic, tactical, and operational levels to build sustainable capabilities. He has led global workforce management initiatives at Starbucks and Ralph Lauren, developing a globally recognized and respected innovative center of excellence delivering workforce management optimization at the latter company. In addition, he has worked with other leading US and European companies, including IBM, Nike, Levi Strauss, The Gap, Safeway, Columbia Sportswear, Williams-Sonoma, David’s Bridal, and Tesco. He is on the boards of the University of Washington Tacoma Milgard School of Business, University of Washington Tacoma Global Innovation and Design Lab, and the Washington State Historical Society.

Chris Barnes

Founder & Principal, Emphatic Communications

Winter 2021

Chris Barnes is the founder and principal of Emphatic Communications, an Olympia-based communications design consultancy for healthcare. He is also the co-organizer of Design for Healthcare, a 1900-strong meetup group created "to bring together people who are interested in the intersection of design and health and create an inclusive community to explore how design can shape better patient and clinician experiences."

Enrique Leon, MD

Winter 2021

Enrique Leon, MD, is a faculty physician at Tacoma Family Medicine (TFM), Multicare and part of the University of Washington Family Medicine Network.  The mission of his current residency is to educate family physicians and medical students to work in rural, urban, underserved, and international regions of high need. He has been at TFM for 4 years and is Clinical Instructor in the University of Washington Medical School. He also serves on the board of Tacoma Public Schools.