Penn State Alumni Association, Central Texas Chapter
Board of Directors 2019 - 2020
Marielle Balz, Co-President
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Marielle is a 2013 graduate from Penn State. She has a B.A. in Accounting with a minor in Business Law and Masters of Accounting degrees from Penn State. Marielle was born and raised in Central Pennsylvania (Mechanicsburg, PA) and chose to attend Penn State for the passionate alumni, school spirit, and opportunities that a big school has to offer.
While she was a student, you could probably find Marielle at the McCoy Natatorium pool or the Smeal Business Building. She was President of the Club Swim team and also a member of Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity and Masters of Accounting (MAcc) program. After graduation, Marielle lived in Manhattan for 5 years and worked for KPMG. In September 2018, Marielle transferred within KPMG from NYC to Austin as an Audit Manager. She currently works at a software company here in Austin in accounting. She fell in love with Austin for the small town vibe but vibrant work culture and was excited to see such a strong Penn State presence upon moving down to the area. This is Marielle's first year serving as our chapter President. She is excited to continue to build our chapter's programming and grow our alumni engagement in the Central Texas area. |
Mallory Gold, Co-President
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Mallory grew up in Bucks County, PA and come from a family of Penn Staters, and loved the big school, small town experience. She graduated from the College of IST (2014), where she went on to do tech consulting at PwC. After much traveling and attempts to figure out her career path, Mallory eventually made her way to Austin, where she visited multiple times and finally decided to stay.
Now Mallory works in account management for a software startup, and she is thrilled to be a part of the Penn State community in Austin! This is Mallory's first year serving as our chapter President and is looking forward to seeing everyone at Parlor and Yard this fall! |
AMANDA KURODA, VICE PRESIDENT
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Amanda is a Pennsylvania native who made her way to Austin to escape those nasty Erie winters. While at Penn State she was a TA for the ever popular Soc 119, Research Assistant for multiple psych labs, Vice President of Phi Sigma Sigma, and member of Club Swim. She majored in Psychology and Criminology, with a minor in Sociology. Now, she spend my time raising my pup while working as a freelance writer and brand ambassador. You can definitely expect to see Amanda with her dog at Parlor and Yard this fall!
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MATHEW KAPELA, CO-SECRETARY
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Mathew grew up in Pittsburgh and attended his dream school, Penn State, from 2007 - 2011. He graduated with a Supply Chain and Information Systems degree from the Smeal College of Business as well as an International Business minor. While at Penn State, he was also a member of the club track team and Kappa Sigma fraternity.
After graduating, Mathew started working at BP in their Procurement/Supply Chain group in small-town Louisiana (think of the Waterboy) and Houston. During his 5 years at BP he worked in their buying, materials management, contracts, category management and material planning groups. He was also heavily involved with the Penn State alumni chapter in Houston as a committee member. Then in 2016 Mathew accepted a job opportunity to work at SpaceX. At SpaceX he worked as a material planner at their Los Angeles headquarters. During that time he managed the inventory, ordering and building of the Life Support System assembly for their Dragon spaceship - regularly putting in 70 hours a week. After a couple years and being part of dozens of launches, it was time to move back to Texas. Mathew now works at Samsung at their Semiconductor facility in north Austin as a buyer and contract specialist. On top of that, he was a committee member for the Penn State alumni association in Austin for 2018 - 2019. Mathew is looking to continue making our game watch parties the best on west 6th! |
Renwick Harvey, Co-Secretary
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Renwick Harvey (Renny for short) is originally from the DC area, Maryland specifically. He chose to attend Penn State due to its rich history in academics, athletics and its school pride. He toured countless universities, however once Renny took a tour of Penn State, he knew he was home. In addition, the distance from home was perfect! During his tenure at Penn State, Renny majored in Political Science and was involved in THON and the Blue & White Society.
Renny landed in Austin by chance. He is allergic to cold weather and happen to have family moving to Austin. He jumped at the chance to move to a warmer climate. He blindly moved to Austin with a goal of living here for two years, before continuing his journey to L.A. Well, it’s been four years now and he's not going anywhere. Renny is so excited to become a secretary for the Penn State Alumni Association Central Texas Chapter and welcome new chapter members to the good life that is Austin. |
CHRISTOPHER NELSON, TREASURER
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Chris Nelson graduated from Penn State in 2005 with a BA in History after two fantastic years there enjoying all that PSU has to offer. He spent much of his time working at the student-run radio station The Lion 90.7 FM (WKPS) as a music director and DJ, and catching many Penn State football games...but not too many wins, sadly.
After graduation he headed back to his hometown of Syracuse, NY for a year, then found a better job market in Austin, TX and got into the field of education after moving down there in 2006. He is currently Special Education Administrator in Elgin ISD. Chris still enjoys sharing his love of Penn State and the Northeast with all down in Central Texas! Chris previously served as the PSUCenTex Vice President in 2015 and Secretary in 2016. |
PETER Connolly & EJ Ekhato, Game Day Coordinators
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In a new role created this year we are so excited to welcome Peter and EJ on to the board as our Game Day Coordinators. Can you say dream team? Our game watch parties just got even better! They will be overseeing all operations on game day at Parlor and Yard to make sure your experience is the best it can be.
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Wanted: Capable, Passionate Leaders and Volunteers
Interested in developing new skills or building your professional network? Do you love all things Penn State and want to help bring folks together?
Whatever drives you, we'd love to have you be a part of the PSU Central Texas chapter!
If you have the interest in social media, event planning, or just a bit of time each month to contribute to our chapter, contact us and let us know. We'd love to work with you!
Interested in developing new skills or building your professional network? Do you love all things Penn State and want to help bring folks together?
Whatever drives you, we'd love to have you be a part of the PSU Central Texas chapter!
If you have the interest in social media, event planning, or just a bit of time each month to contribute to our chapter, contact us and let us know. We'd love to work with you!
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