Meet Team JOY

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Dave is passionate about helping college students everywhere live happy, fulfilling, and productive lives. Dave is an entrepreneurship and digital marketing faculty, Amazon Best Selling Author, Fortune 500 marketer, and serial entrepreneur.

Dave earned his MBA from Marquette University and BBA in Marketing from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Dave developed and taught digital marketing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison MBA Program. 

He teaches entrepreneurship and helps students launch startups at Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.  He is the faculty co-advisor for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Enactus chapter (national champion for AADYA, which addresses blindness in rural India).

Dave has founded and co-founded five startups including: Sales Sherpas, Bungee, Classmunity, Startup Guides, and now, JOY

He has written Amazon Best Sellers in the area of entrepreneurship including: The Corporate Refugee Startup Guide, The College Student Startup Guide, The High School Entrepreneurship Guide, and Restart - The Small Business Guide to Thriving During Chaos.

Dave served in marketing and business development leadership roles at Humana, TDS, U.S. Cellular, and BellSouth. He earned multiple awards for his business development and marketing performance.

Dave is leading JOY and is committed to improving and saving the lives of college students everywhere.

Aruna has committed her life to suicide prevention with a focus on the youth and military personnel. Aruna is a professor, researcher, and award-winning faculty and possesses multiple certifications in suicide prevention, PTSD, and alcohol abuse.

She is a professor in social work at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. She earned her Ph.D. and MSW in Social Work from the University of Illinois-Chicago. Aruna earned advanced clinical training in conflict resolution skills, cognitive processing therapy, treatment of post-traumatic stress, risk reduction for suicide risk, applied suicide intervention skills, cognitive behavioral therapy, QPR, and more. 

Aruna won the Wood Award for outstanding service to veterans, a leadership award for research for the Asian Health Coalition of Illinois, a Post-doctoral fellow for the National Institute for Drug Abuse, and more.

Aruna is a member of the American Public Health Association, American Association of Suicidology, National Association of Social Workers, and Asian American Suicide Prevention Initiative.

Aruna leads the behavioral health research and methodology development for Joy.

Choton is committed to developing technology to address the  United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Choton is a professor, innovator, award-winning faculty, and passionate entrepreneur.  

Choton earned his Ph.D. in MIS and Strategic Management from The University of Memphis and his MBA from the University of Tennessee. Choton is a professor in Information Technology at the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater. He was the Director of the Global Business Resource Center and Irvin L Young Chair of Entrepreneurship. Choton is a serial tech entrepreneur focused on human-centered mobile applications and AI.

Choton is a Sam Walton Fellow based on his work with collegiate social entrepreneurs. He led his Enactus (international college social entrepreneurship organization) students to develop AADYA, a project to address blindness in rural India. To date, over 300,000 eye examinations have been conducted and vision has been given back to thousands of people.  His AADYA team won the Enactus National Championship.

Choton has founded multiple tech startups including: Slipstream, Headfake Innovation, Digital Measures, AIKON Interactive, and more. 

Choton provides technical strategic guidance for JOY.

Hien Nguyen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. She received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Connecticut in 2005. 

Her research interests include user modeling, decision-making process, information retrieval, collaborative information retrieval, recommender systems, intent inference, and text summarization. She has received grants from Wisys, the Office of Naval Research, and Intelligence Advance Research Project Activity. Professional services and committee work include program committees for PARSOCIAL 2023, UMAP 2010, FLAIRS Conference from 2008, IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics 2007 and 2006. 

She also is a member of User Modeling-User Adapted Interactions journal Special Reviewers Board. She also serves as a reviewer for SMC (2008), User Modeling conference (2007), IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part B, Information Processing and Management. She is very active in mentoring and promoting undergraduate research at UWW and UW system and was voted as the best research advisor by Whitewater Student Government in 2020.

Hien leads software development for JOY.

Grace is passionate about providing the knowledge and skills necessary for students to live healthy and productive lives. Grace is a specialist in university operations, finance, and risk management.

Grace is currently the Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire. She earned her MBA from Harvard University. Grace is consistently innovating in higher education including the recent integration of AI into operations.

Grace previously was the Chief Risk Officer for the University of California, Vice Chancellor of Administrative Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, AVP of Business Operations at San Francisco State University, Senior VP and Chief Risk and Compliance Officer at AAA, and VP of Risk Services at United Rentals.

Grace has earned licenses and certifications from the American Society for Industrial Security, the Society for Human Resource Management, the Information Systems Audit and Control Association, Society for Corporate Compliance and Ethics, Senior Professional in Human Resources, The Institute for Internal Auditors, and The Institutes.

Grace guides Joy on university engagement and risk, and compliance.

Margo has been committed to helping others achieve their full potential throughout her career. Whether working with patients or collaborating with colleagues, she brings a compassionate and solution-focused approach to all of her interactions. 

As an advanced practice social worker and psychometrist with a passion for entrepreneurship and behavioral health, Margo has a unique perspective on the intersection of these fields. Her experience in therapeutic techniques, behavioral interventions, and administration of neuropsychological tests have given her a deep understanding of the cognitive and emotional factors that impact mental health, and she is learning how they factor into business success.

Margo holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, a Master’s Degree in Social Work. Currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration, she is applying her clinical expertise to entrepreneurship by joining JOY.

JOY provides Margo the opportunity to synergize her commitment to mental health with her entrepreneurial spirit to improve the lives of young adults.

Sam is focused on building technology to improve people's lives. Sam has worked at AWS, designing infrastructure for projects at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab and the Department of Energy labs, including projects to handle the Mar Insight Landers website which lead to receiving NASA's Group Achievement Award.

Sam led a team of scientists and engineers on the Alexa AI team to build contextual models supporting millions of users. His experience handling sensitive data in both roles gives him a unique view into how systems can be designed to ensure privacy and security at scale. 

Before his tenure at Amazon, Sam co-founded a startup, helping to grow the team to 5, raising $135k and making initial sales to professional and olympic athletes. 

Sam earned his Bachelor in Applied Science in Management Information Systems and Entrepreneurship from Marquette University.

Sam leads AWS integration for JOY.

Monika was born in Germany and lived in Spain for several years before moving to the United States. Monika is fluent in three languages and is passionate about helping students adapt to new environments, such as college. 

Monika is an international studies major at UCLA. Her academic performance led her to be valedictorian in her high school class of over 1,000 students and earned her a full ride to UCLA.

Monika was a social media marketing intern at Startup Guides. She served as a student engagement manager for Planet Pitch (an international high school pitch program). 

Monika is a Student Engagement Manager for JOY where she conducts discovery research and assists with UI/UX development. 

Emerson is a third-year student at The Ohio State University working towards a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and a minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, with a specialization in Marketing.

Emerson works as a lab grader and assistant for the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Ohio State, aiding students in understanding basic computational functions and Microsoft Office skills.

 She is also involved on campus fundraising for families fighting childhood cancer, through the student organization Buckeyethon. Emerson is dedicated to social inclusion and giving back to her community. 

She is certified in Diversity, Intercultural and Community Engagement through the Center for Belonging and Social Change at Ohio State. Emerson utilizes her free time at school to volunteer regularly at the Mid-Ohio Food Bank, 

Emerson is a Student Engagement Manager for JOY where she is helping lead new marketing initiatives.

Sonia is a second-year student pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science with a focus on artificial intelligence at Binghamton University. 

She is a member of the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE) and Women in Tech (WIT), where she serves as the Director of Marketing. 

Sonia is a member of the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE) and Women in Tech (WIT), where she serves as the Director of Marketing. Sonia contributes to fostering a vibrant tech community and demonstrates her commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion within the field.

Additionally, Sonia is a proud member of the Indian International Student Union (IISU), where she actively participates in cultural events and helps create an inclusive environment for South Asian students on campus. She is also a member of Alpha Omega Epsilon, a professional and social sorority.

Sonia works with the JOY development team with a focus on helping build an engaging and impactful student user experience.