Early Career Achievement Awards 2020 - 2021 Award Recipients

Leah Baer '13

Master of Science in Accountancy

Leah Baer is currently an Assistant Professor of Accountancy at the University of Missouri - Columbia. She received a Master of Science in Accounting from Illinois State University in 2013 and a PhD in Business Administration (Accounting) from the University of Colorado - Boulder in 2018. At Mizzou, she teaches Accounting Information Systems. Her research interests revolve around corporate governance, specifically how the incentives of executives and directors impact firm decisions.

While living in Colorado, Leah learned to love the great outdoors. Although the hills are smaller, she still enjoys hiking outside of Columbia during her free time and spending time with friends and family.

Kris Bajkowski '15

Business Information Systems

After graduating from Illinois State University in 2015, Kris started full time with Discover as a Business Analyst on the major call center application. After 2 years in that role, Kris moved to the Campus Recruiting job where he recruited and oversaw Discover’s internship/entry level hiring programs. Discover scaled the program tremendously over his 2.5 years in that role and is very proud of what they accomplished.

Now currently in the role of Lead Scrum Master for two teams within the Cybersecurity organization, it has been a great learning experience so far. Kris is excited to keep growing within the Cybersecurity area and expanding his technical knowledge there.

Outside of his professional life, Kris currently lives in Denver, Colorado. He loves snowboarding, mountain biking, hiking, video games, music, and formula 1 racing. Kris lives with his lovely girlfriend Michelle and their two cats: Luna and Lando. When they're not doing something around Colorado, you can catch them flying around the country exploring new cities or visiting old friends.

Elise Cowan '14

Marketing

Elise Cowan received a Bachelor of Science in Marketing with an Honors Merit designation from Illinois State University in 2014. Upon graduating, she worked at Leo Burnett where she created shopper marketing and advertising campaigns for several clients ranging from Procter and Gamble to Nintendo. During her time at Leo Burnett, she also developed and led the agency's first Black Employee Resource Group (ERG). ERGs are employee led organizations that form an important cultural network. As the ERG lead, Elise strived to empower her community to show up as their authentic selves by ensuring they felt valuable, visible, and heard. It is within this work that Elise is most proud of as she has witnessed that the presence of such a community has led to more inclusive and impressive creative work.

Today, Elise is an Account Supervisor at Energy BBDO where she can continue to blend her love of creativity and her aptitude for solving business issues. Aside from her professional responsibilities, Elise is also a graduate student at Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management where she is obtaining her MBA.

Nick Currier '13

B.S./M.P.A.

As a student at Illinois State, Nick founded Packback along with three other Illinois State University students. After graduation, Nick went on to a career in public accounting at PwC. Throughout a four-year tenure at PwC, Nick specialized in revenue and inventory for large manufacturing clients, as well as being a member of the firms' innovation team. Nick then went on to a full-time position with Packback, joining as the Company's CFO in late 2016.

Since then, Nick has led the company's finance, accounting, HR, and operations functions. Throughout Nick's time at Packback he has led two financing rounds and has overseen the company's growth from less than $1m in sales to $15m+ and two consecutive years on the Inc 5000 list. In 2019 Nick was honored as a member of Forbes 30 under 30 in Education.

In 2021, Nick became a father to his son Kane, who joins him today, along with his wife Hannah, also a fellow Redbird.

Khamille De Lara '15

International Business, Finance

Khamille De Lara serves as the Finance Manager for IDEX Health and Science- Rochester, a $120M IDEX Corporation unit involved in the biotechnology and astronomy industries. Her site's most recent project was with NASA's Perseverance rover project. In which, her site got a chance to develop filters that enabled the rover to identify, collect and store rock and soil samples from Mars. She joined IDEX Corporation in 2015 as a part of their first Finance Development Program after graduating cum laude from Illinois State University with degrees in Finance and International Business. She has steadily climbed the leadership ladder since joining the team.

Within the past six years, Khamille has embraced IDEX's core values of trust, team, and excellence. This is reflected in her reputation for developing business strategies, improving Operational and Financial processes, and elevating the Finance function to be business partners rather than financial gatekeepers.

Outside of her professional responsibilities, Khamille currently serves on the Board of Directors as the Treasurer for a non-profit organization, the Midwest Institute for Sexuality and Gender Diversity. An organization centered on empowering students of diverse sexualities and genders to inspire sustainable change.

Elizabeth Flores '12

Entrepreneurship/Small Business Management

Liz Flores is a Chicago based painter and muralist. She is most known for her contemporary paintings, prints, and public installations that depict the female body by using shape, color, and form as a mode of visual storytelling.

Liz grew up in Berwyn, IL and earned her bachelor's degree in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management at Illinois State in 2012. She made the leap from corporate America into the art world six years ago. In this time, she has been a speaker at TEDx Normal and CreativeMornings Chicago. She co-created an interactive art installation titled 'The World We Want' on Chicago's Michigan Avenue, and has collaborated with major brands like Lululemon, Sephora and the Chicago Bulls. Her mural clients include Target, the Chicago Bears, and most recently, a collaboration with Lysol and the Ad Council on a mural in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood to help promote COVID-19 vaccine awareness and education.

Her work has been included in prominent group exhibitions such as Beyond the Streets on Paper at the Southampton Arts Center. She had her first solo exhibition this year at All Star Press Gallery in Chicago.

When she's not painting, she enjoys speaking with young artists on how to bridge the gap between art and business.

David Heimberger '07

Finance

Dave Heimberger has been with InvenTrust Properties Corp since 2011, serving in various financial roles focused on debt/equity partnerships and strategic transactions. Throughout his tenure with InvenTrust, he has been involved with the execution of over $7 billion of real estate related transactions.

Prior to InvenTrust, Dave worked with Golub and Company in an asset management role focused on mixed use and joint venture partner management. Previously, he worked in an investment sales role with May Center Advisors working on single and multi-tenant retail transactions.

Dave received his B.S. in Finance from the Illinois State University College of Business.

Dave lives in Naperville, IL with his wife Anna (a Redbird Alumni) and two children (Isabelle and Nathan). Outside of work Dave enjoys playing golf and traveling with his family.

Matt Maaske '11

Business Teacher Education

Matt Maaske graduated from Illinois State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Teacher Education in May 2011. During his time at ISU, he participated in the Professional Development School (PDS) program, completing classes and student teaching at Peoria High School in Peoria, IL. From August 2011-May 2016, Matt was the Computer teacher at Ingersoll Middle School in Canton, IL. He then taught Business/Computer classes for one year at Knoxville High School. He currently is the Principal of Knoxville Junior High School in Knoxville, IL, a role he has served in since August 2017.

Prior to entering the educational field, Matt graduated from North Central College in Naperville, IL in May 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Economics. He spent six years working for Wells Fargo Financial and Wells Fargo Bank before returning to school to pursue a career in education.

Matt lives in Knoxville, IL with his wife Molly (a 5th grade teacher) and their three children, Layla, Wyatt, and Myles. Outside of work, Matt enjoys spending time with family, golfing with the kids, and coaching Layla and Wyatt's youth soccer teams.

Todd Meadow '14

Integrated Marketing Communications

Todd Meadow grew up in Arlington Heights, IL, a northwestern suburb of Chicago. He is currently a Senior Analytical Lead at Google where he focuses on helping Google's largest customers solve their measurement and attribution challenges.

Todd started his career in marketing as an Account Executive at TMP Worldwide, an agency focused on recruitment advertising. After just under a year at TMP, Todd moved to a new role at Rise Interactive, an independent Chicago ad agency that specializes in digital marketing.

Todd spent 5 ½ years working in various roles and capacities at the Rise, starting on their Display team as a media consultant, quickly moving to management role on the same team. Then founding Rise's Media Operations team, where he spent a year and a half growing the team and developing the agency's new practice focused on enabling emerging ad technologies and measurement capabilities. Prior to leaving the company, Todd also led the company's Social Media practice as the Director of Social & Media Operations before moving to his current role at Google.

Todd currently lives with his wife, Sarah in the suburbs of Chicago where they are expecting their first child. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his family -- the support whom he credits for his opportunities and accomplishments

Amanda Palmgren '10

Finance

Since graduation Amanda has gained exposure to a variety of roles primarily within Corporate Finance. These positions include: Credit, Capital Accounting, Cash Operations, Bank Account Management, Accounts Receivable, Dealer Finance, and currently Foreign Exchange and Commodities. These well-rounded diverse experiences have served her well in her career.

Amanda is actively involved with Junior Achievement as well as St. Jude. Her husband Brandon, who also is an Illinois State University Alumni, and her share two Reggie Redbird fans ages 4 and 2

Alex Roark '14

Financial Accounting, Finance

Alex Roark is an audit senior manager at KPMG LLP, based out of the Chicago office. At KPMG, Alex oversees the audits and manages engagement teams serving clients within various sectors of the asset management industry, inclusive of regulated investment companies, hedge funds, private equity funds, investment advisory companies, fair value real estate funds, hotels, and broker dealers under both PCAOB and AICPA standards. This role requires an in-depth understanding and interpretation of both current and upcoming technical accounting standards, & pronouncements, advanced audit methodology, and extensive collaboration, both internally and externally with client leadership in fulfilling professional obligations to serve shareholders and the greater capital markets.

Additionally, Alex has taken on campus recruiting and mentoring responsibilities on-campus both at Illinois State University in addition to other midwestern universities. Alex is a licensed certified public accountant in the State of Illinois and a member of the Illinois CPA Society & AICPA. His only sibling, Lauren, is also a Redbird alumnus (Class of 2011) through the College of Fine Arts and is the brains of the family, as a Bone Scholar.

Seth Stalter '15

B.S./M.P.A.

Seth Stalter is currently a Senior Tax Analyst at State Farm® where he is responsible for the federal income tax compliance and provision of State Farm's parent company. In addition, he is leading a project team focused on implementing emerging technologies to further enhance the efficiency of the federal income tax unit's processes.

Prior to joining State Farm®, Seth held a variety of tax and accounting roles at Caterpillar, Inc. In his time at Caterpillar, Seth led two project teams focused on how to comply with new regulations imposed by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. He also worked on the project team that implemented new accounting software to process accounting information of Caterpillar's many foreign subsidiaries. This role required him to travel to China, Singapore, India, and the United Kingdom to collaborate with and train Asian and European colleagues.

Seth graduated summa cum laude from Illinois State University in 2015 from the Bachelor of Science/Master of Professional Accountancy program and is a licensed CPA in the State of Illinois.

Seth and his wife Kathryn, also an ISU alum and now current FCS faculty member, reside in Bloomington, Illinois. In their free time they enjoy spending time with family and friends, traveling, and cheering for the Green Bay Packers.