CDL is proud to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of launching the podcast—”Rising To The Top: Lessons in Leadership“. In our podcast we interview senior industry leaders, including SPS alumni, who share the secrets of their success and reveal pivotal moments that impacted their career paths. Listen as they shed light on obstacles they overcame as well as wins they achieved.
We are happy to be recognized by Metropolitan New York College Career Planning Officer’s Association (MNYCCPOA) through the Alva Cooper Award for Creativity and Innovation. The purpose of the Alva Cooper Awards are to foster the mission of promoting professional growth and exchanging ideas, information and creative solutions concerning career development issues. Special thanks to our interviewers Paul Maniaci and Nicole Arndt for their amazing work!

This year, we interviewed 10 industry leaders from various industries including Technology, Advertising, Non-profit, the Arts, Entrepreneurship, Consulting, Media, and Education. From starting careers to overcoming career bottlenecks, from leveraging resources during their time in Columbia to giving personal career development advice in the industries that they are working in, our industry leaders shared their unique experiences. Their agile and unique perspectives can inspire us to create our own career paths. They are:
Ben Royce, Business Development, Cloud AI at Google
Alma Kondili, Chief of Staff to Head of Client Experience, Citi
Hayley Berlent, Founder/CEO at The Additive Agency
Leah Heister Burton, Deputy Director and Chief Advancement Officer at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Bill Treasurer, Chief Encouragement Officer (CEO) of Giant Leap Consulting, Inc
Jarrett J. Krosoczka, the New York Times bestselling author/illustrator
Sean Brecker, The CFO of Headspace Health
Jennifer Riaño Góez, Executive Director at Morgan Stanley
Sheila Sarem, the founder and CEO of BASTA
Starting this week, we will share quotes from our podcast interviewees to share advice and wisdom on our Instagram account. Keep posted for more episodes monthly.


Find full episodes on SoundCloud, Spotify, and Apple Podcast.