Anna Li

Class of 2027
Pronouns: She/Her
Currently Studying: BBA in Advertising and Integrated Marketing with a minor in Finance 
Member (Clubs): Chief Financial Officer of the American Marketing Association (AMA), Student Marketeer for Red Bull at Pace University

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Why did you choose Pace University and the Lubin School of Business?

I chose Pace University and the Lubin School of Business for the strong internship opportunities and professional connections it offers students. The wide variety of clubs also played a big role in my decision—they’ve had a life-changing impact on me.

How have clubs on campus helped enrich your student?

They’ve given me the chance to gain leadership experience early in my college career. Joining an E-Board as a second-year student helped me build a strong foundation, which eventually led to a core four E-Board role. I credit that growth to the teamwork and leadership opportunities I had early on.

What drew you to take on leadership roles in clubs like AMA, and how have those experiences shaped your time at Pace?

I was drawn to AMA because of the chance to collaborate on a team, help host events, and contribute behind the scenes. Getting to serve student needs in meaningful ways has been incredibly rewarding. These experiences helped me find my community and grow professionally.

I chose Pace University and the Lubin School of Business for the strong internship opportunities and professional connections it offers students.

What inspired your interest in your major, and how have you pursued that passion at Pace?

I was originally a finance major, but during my second semester of sophomore year, I attended the AMA International Collegiate Conference (ICC). Networking and connecting with students from around the world sparked my interest in marketing. After that, I met with my advisor and mapped out a path in Advertising and Integrated Marketing to align with my professional goals.

What has been your favorite opportunity at Pace?

Being a Student Marketer for Red Bull at Pace has been one of my favorite opportunities. It’s been an incredible experience that’s allowed me to plan events and collaborate with clubs across campus.

Do you have any advice for other Lubin students?

Get involved in clubs! Staying consistent and taking on leadership roles has transformed my professional growth. I wouldn’t have had half the experiences—or learned as much—without the amazing opportunities Pace’s clubs provide.

What does #LubinLife mean to you?

To me, #LubinLife means access to amazing professors, engaging classes, and professional development opportunities through Lubin’s many student clubs.

Connect with Anna

• Connect with Anna on LinkedIn
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New initiative will expand access, strengthen pre-health advising, and prepare advanced healthcare students to address workforce shortages in the Lower and Mid-Hudson Valley

Pace University has been awarded more than $3 million from the New York State Department of Health’s Healthcare Education and Life-skills Program (HELP) to establish the College of Health Professions Pathways to Practice Initiative (CPPI).

The five-year award, providing $614,395 annually from January 2026 through December 2030, will support a comprehensive effort to strengthen the healthcare workforce pipeline across the Lower and Mid-Hudson Valley.

Led by Elizabeth Colón-Fitzgerald, EdD, associate dean of Student Success & Retention Strategies, the initiative was developed through a collaborative effort with faculty leaders Beau Anderson, Denise Tahara, Esma Paljevic, and Shannon Gribben. The project also benefited from the expertise of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) collaborators Dr. Margaret Barton-Burke and Dr. Annmarie Mazzella-Ebstein. Together, the team designed CPPI to expand access for underrepresented students, bolster advising for pre-health majors, and prepare advanced nursing and health sciences students to transition successfully into high-demand clinical roles.

“This grant is an extraordinary opportunity for Pace’s College of Health Professions to strengthen the healthcare workforce in Westchester,” said Brian Goldstein, dean of the College of Health Professions at Pace University. “Through the Pathways to Practice Initiative, we will expand access to healthcare education, support students as they prepare for advanced roles, and ensure that our graduates are ready to meet the evolving needs of patients and communities across the Lower and Mid-Hudson Valley.”

The initiative features three interconnected programs:

• CHP Scholars Program (CHP-SP): Expands access to healthcare education by supporting Black and Latino students in nursing and health sciences through financial aid, mentorship, and academic coaching.
• Pre-Health Advising Program (PHAP): Strengthens the pipeline for critical healthcare roles by providing tailored advising, career exploration, and graduate school preparation for pre-health students University-wide.
• Student-to-Practice Program (SPP): Equips final-semester NP, PA, and RN students with the tools to manage stress, enhance wellness, and build resilience through workshops and simulations facilitated by MSK and Pace faculty.

“This award not only affirms Pace University’s leadership in healthcare education, but it also represents a collaborative effort to build a stronger, more resilient healthcare workforce,” said Elizabeth Colón-Fitzgerald, EdD, associate dean of Student Success & Retention Strategies and principal investigator for the grant. “Through the Pathways to Practice Initiative, we are expanding access, strengthening support for students, and preparing graduates to thrive in the most demanding clinical environments.”

“Building on the Academic-Clinical Partnership between Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Lienhard School of Nursing at Pace University gives us traction to prepare nurses of the future with grants like HELP,” said Margaret Barton-Burke, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, and Lisa Mazzella Ebstein, Ph.D., RN, of Nursing Research at MSK. “We will contribute by implementing resilience and emotional intelligence training. Offering this training before workforce entry can foster emotional wellness, enhance coping strategies, and mitigate burnout. Thus, supporting the well-being and efficacy of nurses. We are excited to collaborate on this important initiative over the next five years.”

This award also expands Pace University’s partnership with MSK, a global leader in clinical care, research, and training. Together, Pace and MSK are creating a model for preparing the next generation of healthcare professionals to meet the evolving needs of patients and communities across the Lower and Mid-Hudson Valley.

About Pace University

Since 1906, Pace University has been transforming the lives of its diverse students—academically, professionally, and socioeconomically. With campuses in New York City and Westchester County, New York, Pace offers bachelor, master, and doctoral degree programs to 13,600 students in its College of Health Professions, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Elisabeth Haub School of Law, Lubin School of Business, School of Education, and Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems.

About the College of Health Professions at Pace University

Established in 2010, the College of Health Professions (CHP) at Pace University offers a broad range of programs at the bachelor, master's, and doctoral levels. It is the College's goal to create innovative and complex programs that reflect the changing landscape of the health care system. These programs are designed to prepare graduates for impactful careers in health care practice, health-related research, or as educators, and equip graduates to work in health policy and global health fields. Students in clinical programs receive hands-on training in the College's interprofessional Center of Excellence in Healthcare Simulation and have the opportunity to apply their developing skills in real-world settings at many of the regions' leading clinical facilities. In addition to Nutrition and Dietetics, the College currently comprises several growing and important areas of study, which include nursing, physician assistant, communication sciences and disorders, health science, nutrition and dietetics, occupational therapy, health informatics, and public health.

The Lubin School of Business is launching a bold new initiative this fall aimed at reshaping how students understand success—and themselves.

The Center for Leadership and Emotional Intelligence, housed within the Lubin School of Business was created in partnership with Harvard professor and Kennedy school professor Arthur Brooks, who also runs the Leadership and Happiness Laboratory. The Center introduces a free six-session, non-credit program designed to teach Pace University students the science behind happiness and how it intersects with transformative leadership.

Ipshita Ray, PhD, a graduate program chair in Lubin, is the driving force behind the center. Her vision, born from a personal journey of resilience and renewal, has transformed into a mission to empower students with tools that go beyond theory.

From Adversity to Action

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Ray’s vision for the center emerged during one of the most difficult chapters of her life: a battle with stage three cancer.

“I’ve been blessed with a second chance, and my mission is not to waste it, but to do something meaningful,” she explains. “I truly believe that my Pace Community, my colleagues and friends, saved my life.”

Her return to teaching, especially during COVID-19, was met with a profound awareness of how deeply her students were struggling to navigate the world and find purpose. “I realized the students were hurting inside,” Ray says. “I didn’t want to just teach them material for academic purposes. I wanted to do something with impact.”

That “something” became a letter to Arthur Brooks, PhD, at Harvard Kennedy School. She read his book From Strength to Strength during her battle with cancer and was moved by his work at Harvard Kennedy School’s Leadership and Happiness Laboratory.

Ray reached out to Brooks and shared her story—and a proposal. She wanted to bring his work and her story to Pace.

Purposeful Partnerships

Brooks, renowned for his bestselling book Build the Life You Want (co-written with Oprah Winfrey), has long advocated for embedding the science of happiness into leadership education. His lab at Harvard creates research and training for leaders across government, business, and academia.

Ray worked in conjunction with Brooks to develop a curriculum based on his work and her own experiences here at Pace. “The lessons are designed around how happiness can be a daily practice—how you can take it from a feeling to a state of being,” Ray explains. “It’s about converting negative energy into positive energy.”

It’s about building leaders with a foundational happiness that allows them to elevate the people that surround them.

Each of the six in-person sessions focuses on a different facet of emotional intelligence and practical leadership. “This program is about building leaders who lift others up,” Ray explains. “Leaders whose main purpose is service, not wealth or power. It’s about building leaders with a foundational happiness that allows them to elevate the people that surround them.”

The center is backed by Lubin Dean Emeritus and former NBCUniversal president Neil Braun, who has pledged funding support and will co-teach the course alongside Ray, tying Ray’s curriculum into real-world leadership skills. Upon completion, students will receive a certificate indicating they’ve taken part in a curriculum designed by Harvard Kennedy School faculty in collaboration with Lubin and take part in a networking event featuring C-suite leaders and recent Pace alumni.

High Hopes for Spreading Happiness

Though the initiative launches within Lubin this fall, Ray already has high hopes for the future of the center. She hopes to expand the offering across Pace, to help bring the curriculum to other New York schools, and even establish a formal dual-degree program with Harvard.

“I want to make this a major movement,” she says. “My hope is to expand the program University-wide, which would allow Harvard to list us on their website, invite us to symposia, and co-lead research.”

I want to make this a major movement.

Her goal for the present, however, is to help the students of Pace right now.

“How can you lead if you don’t see the value in yourself or others?” Ray asks. Her hope in bringing the science of happiness to Pace students is to empower them to not only learn and lead better, but to live better.

In an era where young people feel more alone and purposeless than ever, Ray believes programs like this are not just helpful, they’re necessary. “I want students to understand they have complete agency over their choices,” Ray says. “I believe a winning life is a choice, that happiness is a choice.”

The Center for Leadership and Emotional Intelligence is open to all Lubin students. Learn more about the Center and how you can get involved.

Pace University is proud to announce that a record-breaking 34 students have been selected as United Nations Academic Impact–MCN Millennium Fellows for the Class of 2025. This milestone reflects not only the strength of our student leaders, but also Pace’s growing global presence and commitment to social impact.

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The Millennium Fellowship is a prestigious, semester-long leadership development program that empowers undergraduates to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through campus- and community-based projects. This year, more than 60,000 students from over 7,500 campuses around the world applied—and only 4 percent were accepted.

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Pace’s 2025 Fellows represent the most inclusive and interdisciplinary cohort in our history, with students from Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, the Lubin School of Business, the School of Education, the Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems, and the College of Health Professions all taking part. Their projects span a wide range of pressing issues including healthcare, sustainability, equity, education, housing insecurity, and environmental justice, underscoring Pace’s continued leadership in experiential learning.

For many Fellows, the opportunity is both humbling and motivating. “I truly could not be more honored to be one of Pace’s Campus Directors for the Millennium Fellowship,” said Silas B. Gonzalez ’28. “Not only have I been able to work with Pace students to further the UN Sustainable Development Goals, but I have also been fortunate to meet change leaders from around the world! It truly is a blessing to be able to materialize and progress the change you want to see in the world.”

This year also marks a groundbreaking first: an international Millennium Fellowship team formed through a partnership between the Seidenberg School and Finland’s Häme University of Applied Sciences. This 19-member team is working on a bilateral framework for a global “right-to-know” standard regarding water quality—a vital aspect of SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation). The team will present their findings at the United Nations in October, when the Finnish students travel to New York to join their Pace counterparts in person. This collaboration stands as a powerful example of student-driven innovation with global significance.

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For others, the fellowship has opened doors to pursue passions and connect with peers worldwide. “It’s an honor to be a part of this fellowship!” said Samantha Sergi ’28. “I’ve had the opportunity to meet the board and other fellows across the world during the town hall meeting. I’ve also had the opportunity to continue my passion into spreading awareness about human trafficking. It’s exciting that Pace is having their largest cohort ever and I’m looking forward to meetings with members from this community!”

Even early in the program, Fellows are finding the work deeply meaningful. “This experience so far has felt really rewarding,” said Rachel Parker ’25. “Even though it is still early on, it feels great involving myself in the community and trying to make a positive impact, even if it’s in a small way.”

Together, Pace’s Millennium Fellows are not just learning—they’re leading. Their projects, collaborations, and voices reflect the University’s mission to prepare students to take on the world’s greatest challenges with courage, creativity, and conviction.

For more information about the UN Millennium Fellow program, contact Sue Maxam, PhD, at smaxam@pace.edu.