University at Buffalo School of Management

24 Buffalo Business Autumn 2022 anda Tran, BS '22, knows the power of mentorship. She experienced it during her first intern- ship with CTBK, a Buffalo-based accounting firm. There, Tran met weekly with her assigned mentor, Jenna Prentiss, BS '18, MS '19, who then served as tax senior at CTBK and now works for Moog as a corporate tax specialist. "Jenna helped me navigate a new world of tax and audit," says Tran, who joined the School of Management's MS in Accounting program aer earning her bachelor's in May. "Her expertise helped me understand why we do certain things, not just how we do them. Her friendship showed me that the accounting industry has amazing people who are willing to share their knowledge and help develop others." Inspired by her experience, Tran pitched the idea of a mentorship program to the executive boards for the School of Management's accounting student clubs, Beta Alpha Psi and the UB Accounting Association (UBAA). As campus returned to in-person learning last fall aer more than a year of remote and hybrid instruction, the clubs were looking to connect their members with accounting professionals who could share their experiences and offer meaningful guidance. The clubs found an eager partner in the school's Accounting Advisory Council, and together, they launched a mentorship program that paired club members with alumni from the council. Club members applied to be mentees and, once accepted, completed a one-day training to help them get the most out of the program. "Many of our members entered their college career during the pandemic," Tran says. "They lost a lot of opportuni- ties to network with professionals and gain necessary knowl- edge and skills through firsthand experiences." Puja Shah was one of those students. Aer completing advanced courses in high school, the ambitious Buffalo native came to the School of Management in fall 2020 with sophomore standing—and took her first year of courses entirely online. "I felt a little lost going into my first in-person semester," Shah says. "I also wasn't sure about my career path, so I thought having a mentor could give me a better idea and help build my confidence." She was paired with Eric Eynon, BS/MBA '96, vice presi- dent of finance at Rich Products, and they met monthly. With no fixed agenda, their conversation flowed freely from Shah's classes, internship and extracurriculars, to Eynon's career journey, to life and pop culture. Eynon, who served as pres- ident of Beta Alpha Psi as a student, encouraged Shah to run for an open e-board seat—and she landed the role. Shah will be president of UBAA for her senior year. "Having a mentor who has been through similar experi- ences can really help you reflect and look inward at how you want to define success," Shah says. "Eric provided a lot of reas- surance that I was on the right path and doing the right things for my future goals." For Eynon's part, the program allowed him to give back to the institution where he met one of his most influential mentors: Alex Ampadu, clinical associate professor of account- ing and law, who retired this spring. Alumni Impact By Matthew Biddle Accounting students connect with industry mentors for career insights

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