Northeast Region Alumni Profiles

Boston

Tom Ficklin
Company: The Ficklin Media Group
Title: President
A Better Chance School: Choate Rosemary Hall, ‘67
Bio: Born in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Tom came to New Haven in 1971 to attend Yale Divinity School following graduation from Bucknell University with a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science. Although he resided in this region, from 1964-1967 while graduating from the Choate School (now Choate-Rosemary Hall) he had no idea that he would be making New Haven his home for much of his adult life. Upon graduation from the Yale Divinity School armed with a Master of Divinity in 1975, he was mentored under the leadership of Bob Bowles, M. Jean Cherry and Myron Robinson while serving as Director of Health and Education of the Urban League of Greater New Haven, from 1975-1977.

Although he still roots for the Steelers his loyalties have transitioned from the NFL Steelers to the Pop Warner Steelers and loves to see the black and gold adorning the young warriors. Married to Julia Ficklin with son Toma and two grandchildren, New Haven is now home.

As President of the Ficklin Media Group, LLC established in 2008, his career has encompassed maximizing every previous experience towards increasing professionalism, commitment and private-public community benefit.

From 1975-1990, Tom held human resource positions with increasing responsibility in the areas of of management training, affirmative action, executive recruitment and community relations for Manufacturer's Hanover, Reader's Digest, Columbia Pictures and Golf-Digest Tennis Magazine.

As CE0/Editor in Chief of the Inner City Newspaper from 1990-2001 Tom was responsible for the managing and creation of the editorial product, including related staff and volunteer oversight.

From 2001 to 2008, as Chief Information Officer for Empower New Haven, Tom was responsible for the creation and implementation of brand identity, partner media relations, awareness campaigns, program launches and multimedia platforms.

Tom has served on the boards of the Yale Club of New Haven, The New Haven Symphony, United Way, Choate-Rosemary Hall, The Long Wharf Theatre and The Regional Workforce. He loves tennis, yoga, tai-chi and increasingly cooking!

The birth of the Ficklin Media Group is the capstone of his career as he has integrated several decades of social capital , management experience and extensive relationships to enable clients to maximize their business ,non-profit and individual mission fulfillment.

Albert Lucas
Company: The Ficklin Media Group
Title: President
A Better Chance School: Choate Rosemary Hall, ‘67
Bio: Mr. Lucas, 44, is a son of the late Carolyn V. Lucas and the late Albert C. Lucas, both of New York. He is married to Marjorie McFarlane-Lucas, a Senior Vice President of Strategic Legal Solutions and the son- in-law of Legent and Deloris McFarlane. He is the Director of Legislative Services for the Board of Aldermen in New Haven, Connecticut where he was the first African American and the youngest person to be appointed to this chief of staff position. He is often featured as an motivational speaker especially for and to about urban youth and political affairs. 

He is an alumnus of St. George’s School in Newport, Rhode Island and Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut and has received numerous awards for his decades of service to the New Haven and wider African American community including Yale University's Seton Elm-Ivy Award, Lifetime Achievement Awards from Zeta Phi Beta's New Haven Chapter and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity’s Harlem Chapter and the Afro-American Cultural Center at Yale's first Alumni AACOLADES Award.

He is a former board of member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, Dwight Hall at Yale, the Afro-American Cultural Center at Yale, Students United for the Rebirth of Excellence, 1000 Black Men of Greater New Haven, the Phelps Association and the Greater New Haven NAACP where his also a life member.

A man of firsts, he is a founder and first President of the New Haven Pan Hellenic Council, and founder, first Board Chairman of the Young Voices Initiative a teen leadership program, first president of the Yale Black Alumni Association's Connecticut Chapter, founder of the Empowering Black Boys Initiative and founder of Cul- De-Sac a private consulting group for student and non profit development, He is also a member of the Board of the Amistad Chapter of Blacks In Governmentwhere his also a life Member, an interviewer for the Yale Alumni Schools Committee , and the A Better Chance Program, a certified parliamentarian and a four time championship coach and now Commissioner of the New Haven Midnight Basketball Association and as a member of the St. George’s School Alumni of Color, the Immanuel Missionary Baptist Church in New Haven and X2theL.Com an online music portal.

Gregory Robinson
Company: UBS Investment Bank
Title: Associate Director, Leverage Finance Institutional Sales
A Better Chance School: Choate Rosemary Hall, ‘97
Bio:

EDUCATION
2008 – 2010
COLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL New York, NY
MBA, Finance, May 2010
Award: Robert Toigo Fellowship
Activities: Co-VP of Education for S&T Club; Peer Advisor; BBSA
1997 – 2001

CORNELL UNIVERSITY Ithaca, NY
BS, Industrial and Labor Relations, May 2001
Co-Chair of the Student Assembly Finance Commission, 2000 to 2001

EXPERIENCE
2009 – Present UBS INVESTMENT BANK New York, NY
Associate Director, Leverage Finance Institutional Sales
• Provide HY sales coverage for insurers, pension funds, asset managers and hedge funds (w/ AUMs ranging from 120MM to 4BN) through the execution of bond, loan and CDS transactions, distribution of HY/ Distressed ideas and daily relationship management
• Communicate with clients’ portfolio managers, research analysts and traders about topical market issues and trade ideas/ strategies to gain a better understanding of their short- and long-term leverage finance needs
• Serve as secondary sales coverage on long-standing client accounts
• Worked as an MBA Summer Associate in 2009

2002 – 2008 MORGAN STANLEY New York, NY
Residential Mortgage Principal Finance Group (2006 – 2008)
• Managed the settlement of over $6 billion in residential loan purchases and sales in our Prime/Alt-A, Subprime and Scratch & Dent businesses
• Responsibilities included maintaining client relationships, negotiating purchase and servicing documents, monitoring the collateral and due diligence process, resolving compliance and legal issues associated with our securitizations and overall deal execution
• Worked in conjunction with the Whole Loan Sales & Trading desk to purchase and subsequently sell or securitize portfolios of residential mortgage loans
• Promoted to Vice President in December 2007

Tax-Exempt Securities Division (2002 – 2006)
• Assisted in the senior management and execution of $2 billion of tax-exempt and taxable fixed income financings, including structuring new money issues, refinancings, advance and forward refundings for various municipal issuers in the State of New York, State of Connecticut and Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
• Coordinated interaction and deal flow among clients, issuers, attorneys, rating agencies, insurance providers, salespeople, and traders for the marketing and sale of bond issues
• Promoted to Associate in August 2005

OTHER EXPERIENCE
HFA Intern Program, NYS Housing Finance Agency/ Citigroup; New York, NY; 2001
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Licenses: Series 7, 63
Vice President, CU Class of 2001 (2005 – Present); Vice Chair, Fordham United Methodist
Church Finance Committee (2006 – Present); Chair, ABC National Advisory Council (2010 –
Present); National Board Member of A Better Chance (2010 – Present)
Hobbies include basketball, triathlons, movies and comedy.

Naralys Sinanis
Company: Prometheus Research
Title: Project Coordinator for Business Development
A Better Chance School: Guilford A Better Chance, ‘02
Bio: Naralys Sinanis earned her B.S. in Psychology and Educational Studies from Trinity College and her M.P.H. and CHES from Southern Connecticut State University. She is currently a Project Coordinator for Business Development at Prometheus Research, the premier provider of integrated data management services for research. Her academic background in public health, psychology and educational studies has given her a broad foundation from which to apply her strong organizational, interpersonal, and analytical skills. She has a genuine interest in helping Prometheus achieve success and recognition and has done so by successfully launching the company’s scientific abstract writing committee, enabling Prometheus to present
several posters and oral presentations at leading scientific conferences. Naralys also chairs the talent management committee and has contributed to key process improvements for the company’s hiring practices.

New York

Azell Archie
Company: ISS | An MSCI Brand
Title: Account Management
A Better Chance School: Asheville School, ‘94
Bio: Azell is a Senior Associate at Governance Account Management at ISS – an MSCI Brand. He previously held positions at Walton Management and Sirius XM Radio.
Summary: Senior relationship manager delivering M&A research, proxy voting, executive compensation, and corporate governance solutions for New York region based asset managers, RIAs, mutual funds, banks, and hedge funds.
Specialties: Relationship Management, Account Retention, Domestic and International Corporate Governance Mechanics, SEC Regulations, Investment Advisor Compliance.

George Hayward
Company: Morgan Stanley
Title: Analyst
A Better Chance School: Phillips Exeter Academy, ‘07
Bio: George J.J. Hayward is a second-year Analyst at Morgan Stanley in the Firm’s Public Finance Group. Since he joined the Firm in June 2011, he has provided analytical and execution support in over $3 billion of city, state government, and corporate-backed financings. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, George worked in Deutsche Bank’s Media and Telecom investment banking coverage group and in the United States Senate as a Legislative Intern to Senator Barack Obama. He is a member of President Obama’s Gen44 outreach effort and A Better Chance’s National Advisory Council. George graduated from Harvard University in 2011 with a B.A. in Government and from Phillips Exeter Academy in 2007 with high honors.

Helen-Y Huang
Company: Deutsche Bank AG, Filiale New York
Title: Vice President | Principal Auditor
Bio: Helen is the Vice President, Internal Audit at Deutsche Bank where she has worked for the past 2.5 years. She has also held positions at Ascend, Ernst & Young, Deloitte & Touche and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Summary: CPA and CFA with more than twelve years of public as well as private experiences in the Financial Services Industry. Working experience of current US GAAP, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, FDICIA compliance (Depository Institution), USAP compliance (Mortgage Banking), SEC Rule 15c3-1 and 15c3-3 computations (Brokers/Dealers), 10K/10Q reporting and IFRS
Specialties: Bilingualism (Fluent in English and Mandarin/Cantonese)

Robin Wilson
Company: Robin Wilson Home
Title: Interior Designer
Bio: Robin Wilson is a nationally recognized eco-friendly and healthy space interior designer. Ms. Wilson serves as an ambassador for the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America since June 2011 where she works to increase awareness of indoor air quality issues that affect wellness in residential and commercial spaces. Ms. Wilson personally suffers from asthma and allergies, which lends to her credibility and understanding of the issues that individuals and families who suffer from these conditions face on a daily basis. She has been regularly asked to speak and appear in the media, providing commentary in print and on television. In her speaking appearances – at venues including the Aspen Institute, Architectural Digest Home Show, Conservation International, among others – she works to educate consumers about healthier lifestyles and preventative measures to create eco-healthy environments. In the Fall of 2011, Ms. Wilson appeared on #1 rated HGTV’s television show “Selling New York” and was featured in the ORIGINS campaign for Eco-Chic holiday décor. She is the first woman to license her brand to a line of eco-friendly kitchen cabinetry, sold at over 500 independent Holiday Kitchens dealers nationwide. In addition, retailers will begin to carry the Robin Wilson Home product line of licensed bedding & bath products and hypoallergenic pillows in 2012. Robin Wilson Home has worked as a design advocate for clean construction methods with clients including the Harlem office of President Clinton, the White House Fellows office, private homes and consultation with leading international hotels. The firm was founded in 2000 (rebranded to the eponymous name in 2006) and works on projects nationally.She holds an MS from New York University (Real Estate Finance) and a BA from the University of Texas at Austin.