Economics Recent Alumni Committee

BILL WESTON

ERAC Chair | BA 2011
Partner, WPWealth
LinkedIn

Bill is the inaugural chair of the UT Economics Recent Alumni Committee. Since graduating from UT-Austin with a BA in Economics and minor in Business, Bill has become a Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) and has also received his Series 66 License (Registered Representative & Uniform Investment Adviser Law) and Group 1 License (Texas Department of Insurance). Throughout his career in financial services, Bill has served institutional and retail clients in the areas of investments, tax, estate, retirement, insurance, and employer sponsored retirement plans. He is currently a Partner at WPWealth in Fort Worth.

BAKTASH ANWAR

BA 2019
Oracle, Field Representative (GPU Cloud & AI Infrastructure)
LinkedIn

Since graduating from UT-Austin, Baktash has entered the Technology industry and supports enterprise organizations in the adoption and utilization of emerging technologies. He has served in several different roles with Oracle in Austin, and he is currently a Field Representative, collaborating with NVIDIA to bring supercomputers to AI researchers, startups, and established companies.

SHAZ BUTTE

BA 2009
Highlands Construction, Co-Founder
LinkedIn

Shaz Butte (’09) is the Co-Founder of Highlands Construction, a Houston-based commercial general contracting firm specializing in adaptive reuse, renovations, and ground-up developments across retail, hospitality, education, industrial, and corporate sectors.

In addition to leading Highlands, Shaz is an active real estate investor and small-scale developer focused on value creation through repositioning and new development opportunities. He serves on the Board of the Houston Area Women’s Center and is the founder of the CORE Mentorship Program. A graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program and a Houston Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree, Shaz lives in Houston with his wife and three children and enjoys Longhorn football, Rockets basketball, and playing tennis.

MATT BYRNES

BA 2008
Ark Financial, Associate Family Office Director
LinkedIn

Matt is currently an Associate Family Office Director at Ark Financial, helping families and entrepreneurs achieve protection, peace, and purpose, by ensuring their finances are working to help them achieve their goals. He helps business owners make clear and informed decisions across tax, investment, estate, and risk planning. Prior to that, Matt was a Director at Integra FEC, a forensic data analytics consulting firm and was a Senior Auditor at the Texas State Auditor’s office. He graduated from UT-Austin with degrees in Economics and Government and received an MBA from Texas State University. Originally born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley, Matt now lives in Austin with his wife and three kids.

AUSTIN CURLEY

BA 2015
Memorial Hermann Health System, Director (Investments)
LinkedIn

Austin is a Director of Investments at Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, Texas. In his role, Austin manages the health system’s portfolio of private market investments. Prior to Memorial Hermann, Austin was an Investment Associate at Avalon Advisors in Houston, a Private Equity Associate at Trive Capital in Dallas, and an Investment Banking Analyst at Perella Weinberg Partners in New York. Austin holds a BA in Economics from UT Austin and a MS in Finance from Vanderbilt.

KRISTIN DALY

BA 2019
J.P. Morgan Private Bank, Banker
LinkedIn

Kristin is a Banker with J.P. Morgan Private Bank in New York City. In her role, Kristin works with family offices, executives, and business owners to deliver tailored advice to clients around investment management, tax and estate planning, lending, banking, and charitable giving. Prior to moving to New York in 2022, Kristin spent three years in J.P. Morgan's Dallas office working with the Head of the Dallas Region to oversee a team of 100+ bankers and specialists. In her free time, Kristin enjoys traveling, exploring the newest art exhibits in town, cheering on the Longhorns, and spending time with her family and friends.

ALI DAREDIA

BA 2019
McCord Development, Investment Analyst
LinkedIn

After graduating from UT-Austin, Ali started his career in the energy finance space at Bison Interests, where he led investment research in the oil and gas sector through market research, analyzing portfolio companies, and connecting with management teams. In his current role with McCord, Ali underwrites prospective investments and development projects at Generation Park in Houston and assists in asset management of the McCord commercial portfolio. Ali’s areas of interest include macroeconomics, public equities, and real estate finance.

LEONARDO GONZALEZ

BA 2016
BlackRock, Associate (Business Strategy Lead)
LinkedIn

Leonardo Gonzalez, Vice President, is a member of the Global Strategy team at BlackRock. In this role, Leo works across the firm’s global investment platform to shape long-term strategic direction, assess market opportunities, and guide product, commercial, and capital-allocation decisions. Previously, Leo was a Vice President in BlackRock’s Retirement Group, where he focused on growth strategy for the corporate and intermediary-led workplace savings market. Before joining BlackRock, he worked in corporate strategy at LPL Financial, contributing to enterprise strategy development, leading new business exploration, and driving innovation initiatives across the wealth management ecosystem. He began his career in wealth and investment management at Wells Fargo & Company. Leo holds a B.A. in Economics from The University of Texas at Austin and is based in New York.

AUDREY HARDEE

BA 2016
Aeglea Biotherapeurics, HR Manager
LinkedIn

After Audrey left UT-Austin, she started her career in corporate sales and quickly found that her true passion was in Human Resources. She has experience working across fintech, biotech and electronics industries. She's worked in startups to large global companies across a variety of HR disciplines including: benefits, payroll, HR data and compliance.

ANDREW HARUKI HILL

BA 2017
New York Knicks, Data Scientist
LinkedIn

Andrew was born and raised in New York City and attended UT-Austin because of its unlimited potential and access to undergraduate research opportunities. After graduating, he moved back to New York City to study urban data science at NYU and break into the civic tech space. He worked for the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission for almost two years, integrating data analytics methods into the agency’s processes. He then worked at The Athletic Media Company before taking on his current role with the New York Knicks. In his spare time, you can find Andrew walking his dog around Brooklyn and playing bass with my band around the city.

GEORGE HO

BA 2013
Chase, Head of Consumer Deposit Products Commercialization
LinkedIn

George is the head of Consumer Deposit Products Commercialization for Chase Bank, responsible for the strategy and distribution of all consumer deposit products across the firm’s retail and digital channels. Prior to this role, he supported various senior leaders in a chief of staff capacity, including J.P. Morgan’s Corporate Client Banking and International Expansion CFO, interim coverage to the Commercial Bank CFO, and head of the Northeast Division for the Consumer Bank and Wealth Management business. George is actively involved in mentorship programs globally and is a member of the firm’s PRIDE Business Resource Group leadership team.

NABEEL JAWAD

BA 2018
MongoDB, Enterprise Account Executive
LinkedIn

Nabeel is an Enterprise Account Executive at the software company MongoDB. He has been in the technology industry since graduating UT-Austin, working at MongoDB since 2019. Nabeel works closely with technology leaders in organizations and maps solutions to align with their technology modernization strategy. In his free time, Nabeel likes to work on home improvement projects, work out at OrangeTheory, and socialize with his closest friends.

BEN JOHNSON

BA 2015
Square, Growth Product Marketing Manager
LinkedIn

Ben Johnson graduated from UT-Austin with degrees in Plan II Honors and Economics and was involved with the Plan II Students' Association, the Tejas Club, and Student Government. Since graduating, Ben has worked at several startups and technology companies in New York and Austin. He currently works as Growth Product Marketing Manager at Square. Previously, he worked at HubSpot. Outside of work, Ben enjoys playing guitar, riding his bike, searching out BBQ across Texas, and spending time with family and friends.

NAMAN MEHRA

BA 2019
Bank of America, Software Engineer
LinkedIn

Naman Mehra is a Software Engineer on the automation and machine learning team at Bank of America, based in Charlotte, NC. He graduated from UT-Austin in 2019 with a BA in Economics and a BS in Applied Mathematics. He enjoys playing flamenco guitar, squash, chess, and reading.

SAFI MODI

BA 2024
Modisoft, Head of Growth
LinkedIn

Safi Modi is the Head of Growth at Modisoft, headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, where he leads go-to-market strategy and growth initiatives across the company’s retail, restaurant, and convenience-store technology solutions. In this role, he oversees customer acquisition, strategic partnerships, and product expansion efforts that help operators improve profitability and streamline operations. He also oversees portfolio management for Modi Capital, supporting investment strategy and long-term growth planning.

SAIF MOOLLA

BA 2016
Deloitte, Manager (M&A)
LinkedIn

After graduating UT-Austin, Saif started his professional career in the Tech industry where he led the implementation of energy software at Oil & Gas supermajors. After pivoting into consulting, he worked on digital transformation engagements, advising C-Suites on modernization strategy. Currently, Saif is part of Deloitte's M&A practice where he uses his technical background and experience from various industries such as Banking, Energy, and Transportation to support large-scale acquisitions and separations through IT due diligence, financial modeling, and operating model development. In his free time, Saif enjoys networking, being a foodie, traveling, and snowboarding.

MARCUS RAMIREZ

BA 2018
Goldman Sachs, Associate (Private Markets Investing & Lending)
LinkedIn

Marcus started his career at JPMorgan Chase as part of a rotational program in the consumer bank. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Goldman Sachs to join the Private Markets Investing & Lending group within the Global Markets Division. Marcus currently sits in a hybrid role that involves credit underwriting, client management, and reporting strategy. Marcus joined the ERAC with the goal of helping the next generation of students prepare for and transition into their dream careers.

CRISTINA REBELLO

BA 2017
Lazard Asset Management, Vice President (Sustainable Investment & ESG)
LinkedIn

Cristina Rebello is a Vice President on the Sustainable Investing & ESG team at Lazard Asset Management in New York City. She is focused on ESG reporting for clients, supporting sales and client facing individuals with product matters and RFP requests, as well as creating thought-leadership pieces and other marketing collateral. She began working in the investment field in 2017, upon joining Lazard. Prior to her current role, she was a Business Analyst on the Sales & Marketing Management team. Originally from Plano, Cristina graduated from UT-Austin in 2017 with a BA in Economics and a BSA in Mathematics.

SAADMAN REZA

BA 2017
NMI, Vice President (Revenue Operations and Strategy)
LinkedIn

Saadman is currently Vice President of Revenue Operations and Strategy at NMI, a leading global full commerce enablement platform that processes over $200 billion in payments annually. Previously, he was Senior Director of Business and Revenue Operations at the Austin-based Molecula software company. Saadman’s background is centered around Enterprise SaaS B2B Go-to-market motions and how to optimize the operations in the Sales, Marketing, Customer Success, Channel Alliances, Pre-Sales, Product, and Finance departments to best drive revenue. Saadman is also a huge foodie, hip-hop head, and zealous sports fanatic.

ROBERT ROCHELLE

BA 2009
QuoteWell, Head of Brokerage
LinkedIn

Robert Rochelle is a rising insurance executive and entrepreneur with more than two decades of experience designing and executing sophisticated risk management programs across the energy, construction, manufacturing, and real estate sectors. In 2022, he founded Steward Risk to bring a modern, client-first approach to advisory and brokerage services, and the firm quickly emerged as a national standout—earning recognition as a Reagan “Best Practices” Agency and debuting at #179 on the Inc. 5000 in 2025 with top rankings in Texas and the insurance industry. Robert also served as Head of Brokerage at QuoteWell, a venture-backed insurtech transforming wholesale insurance distribution through AI and modern infrastructure. His early leadership and industry impact have earned numerous honors, including the IIAT Andre P. Juneau Elite Texan of the Year (2025), Risk & Insurance Power Broker (2022), Rising Star and Power Broker Finalist (2021), Insurance Business America “Young Gun,” and recognition in the San Antonio Business Journal’s “Who’s Who in Energy” and “40 Under 40.” A graduate of The University of Texas at Austin (BA, Economics) and Texas A&M University–Central Texas (MBA), Robert is active in civic and nonprofit leadership—including more than a decade with Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas—and lives in San Antonio with his wife, Hanna, and their two children.