Meet Your Career Coach

Nicole is a Career Coach with a passion for education and empowering individuals in their careers. With a Master’s in Education, Curriculum and Instruction, she has over 10 years of experience teaching and coaching adult learners in dynamic education settings. As a former Recruiter for Platinion of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), as well as a former Recruiter for Premier Staffing, Inc., her experience working in education is supplemented with her role in the recruitment of digital, risk, and IT professionals and in creating hiring partnerships with both startups and Fortune 500 companies. In her current role as Associate Director of Industry Relations, Nicole is energized by innovative employer collaboration and strategic academic partnerships that empower the next generation of leaders with skills and opportunities to create lasting impact.

Jia Wei is an Assistant Director and a career coach for students within the Applied Analytics program. Prior to Columbia, Jia Wei worked in career services, particularly focusing on students from underrepresented and underserved backgrounds at his alma meter, Stony Brook University. Jia Wei’s favorite part about working in career services is being able to guide students in their job search, explore different career opportunities, assist students in recognizing and developing their brand, and see it all come together. Prior to working in career services, Jia Wei worked in a number of various roles in higher education, such as academic affairs, academic advising, student orientation, and residential life.

Jia Wei was born in Shanghai, China, and is a first generation immigrant and a first generation college student. He holds a Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Stony Brook. Although he has been living on Long Island for almost a decade now, rumor has it that Jia Wei still claims to be from Brooklyn and NYC raised.

Will Goodall serves as an Assistant Director, Certified Executive Coach, and all-around likable guy at The Career Design Lab (CDL) , the career center for Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies. He provides career support for students in the M.S. in Sustainability Management, M.S. in Sustainability Science, and M.S. in Biodiversity Data Analytics programs. He also serves as the CDL point of contact for Columbia’s CUNY Fellowship Program and chairs the School of Professional Studies’ AI Innovation and Impact subcommittee.

Outside of Columbia, Will serves as President of the Metro New York College Career Placement Officers’ Association. He’s also a frequent speaker at professional conferences, leveraging his experience as a management consultant to inform a wide range of presentations topics, from demystifying labor statistics to improving workplace accessibility.

Will holds an M.A. (Hons) from the University of St. Andrews in International Relations and Management. He is also certified as a Notary Public in the State of New York because he clearly had nothing else going on in his professional life and thought it’d be a fun project. Outside of work,
Will enjoys long walks on the beach at sunset.

Paul Maniaci has worked at four institutions of higher education across New York City in career development. He has over fifteen years of experience helping students find internships and prepare for career opportunities. Paul spent eighteen years living internationally in Mexico City, Hong Kong, and London. He received his Bachelors of Arts in Communications at Syracuse University and his Masters in Public Administration at Baruch College. He recently completed his Masters at the Columbia Journalism School. He has two young daughters.

Namra Naseer is the Assistant Director and career coach for the Applied Analytics program. She has transitioned from her previous role as an Industry Relations Specialist at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies (SPS), where she focused on strategic employer engagement initiatives across 19 SPS programs. Prior to joining Columbia SPS, Namra gained experience in economic development and venture strategy, working as a Summer Analyst at the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA). She has worked with startups on business development, market expansion, and strategy formulation, helping drive growth and innovation.

Previously, she held roles as a research associate, managing international conferences and authored policy papers on governance and economic policy. She also served as a Stimson Center Research Fellow in Washington, DC, working with global think tanks and policymakers on strategic policy issues.

Namra holds a Master’s degree in Information Strategy from Columbia University and an additional Master’s in Peace and Conflict Studies, with expertise in global security, diplomacy, and conflict resolution. She is an active member of the nonprofits – Internet Society and ICANN, contributing to global discussions on Internet governance and digital policy.

She is also a VC University Fellow and has previously been a Fellow at Harvard College for International Affairs, the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (UNIGF), and the World Bank Youth Forum.

Victoria Passarella has over 15 years of professional experience as a workshop facilitator, career coach, and public speaker, with extensive experience in creating programs to provide opportunities for people to learn how to strategically take their goals to the next level.

Her career development expertise has been honed at organizations such as Barnard College and Columbia Center for Career Education.

She earned an EdM in Adult Learning and Leadership and a MS in Nonprofit Management from Columbia University. In addition she attended Women’s Campaign School at Yale, is a certified trainer of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, and will be working on her Certificate in Learning Design at NYU.

Victoria also instructed college courses, managed nonprofits, and founded an LLC for her career counseling private practice.

Hannah Salto currently serves as Associate Director for Columbia’s Career Design Lab, where she oversees career support for three distinct academic programs. She began her higher education career in 2017 as a Support Specialist for first-generation college students at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, where she launched initiatives to aid students’ transition to college and support their career development. Hannah then relocated 1,200 miles from her home state of Minnesota to New Jersey to work at Rutgers University.

Most recently, she served as the Assistant Dean of Support, Engagement, and Leadership at Rutgers Business School – Newark and New Brunswick. In this role, she launched and ran numerous programs focused on mentorship, leadership development, and gender equity in business.

Hannah holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Communication from the College of Saint Benedict and a master’s degree in Communication and Media Studies from Rutgers University – New Brunswick. Her lifelong love of learning means she will likely seek opportunities to expand her academic and professional knowledge in the years to come.

Driven by a mission to help others thrive by following their passions, Hannah’s coaching philosophy centers on empathy, fostering connections, and encouraging growth through challenge.

Outside of work, Hannah enjoys writing poetry, traveling, reading, and exploring NYC.