Executives in Residence

Odette is a member of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), a global network of business owners whose companies earn more than $1 million in annual revenue.

She serves as EO’s Accelerator Expert for the U.S. West, guiding entrepreneurship education and mentoring programs for EO programs in 9 states. She serves as a mentor to women and BIPOC small business owners in western Washington and has served as a judge for Seattle University’s Business Plan Competition. She has been featured in various podcasts and publications, and a November 2022 interview can be found at https://youtu.be/fggKrkL0gw0

successful profit improvement program, led offshore merger and acquisition projects, and served as integration officer when Deutsche Post acquired Airborne under the DHL umbrella.

His 40 years of experience leading turnaround efforts and ambitious change projects in both sectors has given Tom a profound fascination with organizational transformation, complexity and uncertainty, group dynamics and conflict, the critical importance of culture, and the paradoxical power of leadership that evokes rather than directs. His experience at Northwest Center has also convinced him that business can be a potent instrument of social good.

He teaches the MBA capstone course in systems thinking and complexity at Milgard.

EDUCATION
- BA in History (with distinction), University of Arizona
- MS in Management, Antioch University Seattle

currently Division Chair of Integrated Marketing and Demand Generation for Mayo Clinic. In this role, his teams are responsible for delivering marketing strategies and execution across audiences and channels (e.g., B2C, B2B, B2E, B2D) in support of clinical practice, education and research priorities and facilitating expansion of clinical practice, education, and research impact.

Prior to Mayo Clinic, Benjamin was most recently Chief Marketing Officer and VP of Marketing for MultiCare Health System, a not-for-profit health care organization with more than 18,000 team members, ten hospitals and over 200 locations. In that capacity he was responsible for branding, marketing, communications, customer experience and media relations.

Previously, he served as Director of Regional Marketing for Northwestern Medicine, a seven-hospital academic medical system with over 4,000 physicians, Benjamin led the development of the Northwestern Medicine brand and marketing growth for multiple clinical service lines and hospital marketing. Benjamin helped the hospital achieve National Honor Roll status for the first time on U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospital ranking in 2012 and subsequently in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Prior to joining Northwestern Medicine, Benjamin founded BW Hill & Associates, a strategic and digital marketing consultancy. BW Hill & Associates focused on helping Chief Marketing Officers “get more from their marketing” efforts and investments.

Prior to founding BW Hill & Associates, Benjamin led Motorola’s global interactive and relationship marketing function. Reporting to the CMO, he had responsibility for online marketing and promotions, global CRM, direct marketing, partner extranets, and the development, promotion, and operations of global websites. He led the online marketing effort for the world-renowned Motorola RAZR phone and his teams received numerous creative awards and media recognition including Cannes, FWA and NYF International Advertising Awards – Grand, Webby Honoree.

Benjamin is a member of the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development, the Direct Marketing Association (DCMP), the American Marketing Association (PCM) and the Public Relations Society of America. He was an advisory board member the Harold Washington College in Chicago. Benjamin was an adjunct professor for the City Colleges of Chicago and the University of Washington Tacoma Milgard School of Business. Benjamin is the former Board President for Ladies of Virtue, a non-profit dedicated to improving the lives of young women in underserved communities. He is a current board member for Food Lifeline, a non-profit organization that supplies food to over 300 different food banks, shelters, and meal programs across Western Washington.

Benjamin obtained his Master of Business Management degree from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, where he concentrated in Marketing, Strategy and Finance, his Master of Science in Business Analytics from the Milgard School of Business at the University of Washington Tacoma and his Bachelor of Science degree in Information Systems from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Currently he is the Chief Strategist for Analytical Mechanical Associates, Inc. (AMA). AMA has worked with government and commercial organizations solving the toughest engineering, science and business problems. Mr. Mehta provides expertise in key areas of business development, strategic planning, and operational improvements across AMA.

Mr. Mehta stepped down as the president of Science Systems and Applications, Inc. (SSAI) in June 2021. In his role, he led the executive management team and oversaw the overall performance of the company. He had the day-to-day responsibility for managing, planning, and implementing strategic goals of the company. With more than 40 years of experience in government contracting, he actively supported NASA and NOAA programs in an executive management capacity for SSAI. Mr. Mehta joined SSAI in 1980 and helped the company to grow from a two-person company to more than 1,000. The company achieved profitability above target levels each year during his tenure.

Mr. Mehta was the Chair (2012-2013) of the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants (MACPA). He serves on the Government Contractors Committee for the MACPA and chaired the committee for two years (2001-2003).

Mr. Mehta is a former board member and past president of the Maryland Space Business Roundtable (MSBR) and recipient of the MSBRs Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also a seventh-degree Master Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and has been teaching martial arts and operating a karate school for over 35 years.

Mr. Mehta has a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Maryland, College Park. He also serves on the Board of Advisors for the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and Accounting and Information Assurance Department. He also serves as the Executive in Residence for the Robert H. Smith School of Business.

He specialized in Business Controls, Process Re-engineering, Financial, Operational, and Compliance Audits, Forensic Investigations, Anti-fraud Programs and Controls, Fraud Risk Assessments, Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance, Internal Audit Risk Assessments and Internal Audit Management.

While at Deloitte, Sandeep has also provided specialized internal audit services to clients in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, financial services, telecommunications and real estate. Prior to joining Deloitte, he acquired a broad and diverse background in commercial finance as a Principal with a regional public accounting firm, specializing in providing due diligence and fraud investigation services to major banks and financial institutions serving clients in various industries. 

Mr. Verma holds a Bachelor of Laws from University of Delhi Law School . He is also a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Internal Auditor, and Certified Fraud Examiner.