Isabella Suffredini
Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
“I’m happiest when I’m surrounded by people, ideas, and a project in the works.”
Fun fact about yourself: I’m an avid backpacker! I first backpacked the Grand Tetons when I was 10 years old.
Hometown: Farmington, Connecticut
High School: Farmington High School
Major: Hotel Administration
Minor: Healthy Futures and Real Estate
Favorite Business Course: Organizational Behavior and Leadership Skills was my favorite course because I find the intersection of business and people fascinating. The core of great management is empowering the people, an organization’s most important asset, and understanding this and how to best lead a team to success was transformative for me.
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles During College:
Leadership and Activities:
Student Assistant to Nolan School Dean Kate Walsh, Nolan School of Hotel Administration
President, Hotel Student Mentorship Program
Teaching Assistant, Introduction to Management; Business Computing; Hospitality Quantitative Analysis; Organizational Behavior and Leadership Skills; Key Drivers for Innovation; Senior Living and Related Programs; Managing Professional Relationships; Experiential Networking; Introduction to Hotel Operations; Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series; Hotelie LaunchPad
Sales Director, Hotel Ezra Cornell — 99th Annual Student-Run Conference
Board Member, Dean’s Student Advisory Board
Vice President of Alumni Affairs, Women Leadership in Hospitality
Poker Instructor, Cornell Women’s Poker Club
Honors:
Dean’s List (all eligible semesters), Nolan School of Hotel Administration
Ye Hosts Honorary Society, Nolan School of Hotel Administration
Quill and Dagger Senior Honor Society, Cornell University
Der Hexenkreis Senior Honor Society, Cornell University
Where have you interned during your college career?
Wells Fargo (Corporate Investment Banking & Real Estate, Senior Housing Finance Group Summer Analyst, Charlotte, North Carolina, Summer 2024)
Sunrise Senior Living (Asset Management Analyst Intern, McLean, Virginia, Summer 2023)
The Gettys Group (Rotational Intern, Chicago, Illinois, Winter 2023)
Marriott’s Beach Place Towers (Front Office Intern, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Summer 2022)
Where will you be working after graduation? Wells Fargo (Commercial Real Estate Analyst, Specialty Real Estate and Finance, Senior Housing Finance)
Who is your favorite business professor? I have been fortunate to have many amazing professors. One of my favorites is Professor Dave Roberts because he empowers students and instills lasting confidence. Not only do students leave class with the core understanding that maintaining an operations mindset is what truly sets you apart in business, but also with an awareness of their unique strengths. Whether getting to know each student in a 120-person class or ensuring everyone remembers that there is always an agency problem, Professor Roberts is one-of-a-kind. Both his humility and impact on the school community are inspirational.
What is the biggest lesson you gained from studying business? It’s all about the people. The core of business, especially hospitality, is people who can make or break any operation. Focusing on the people and investing yourself in the success of those around you is essential to a thriving business, and life. Acquiring the best talent is key, but to unlock their full potential you must invest in them and develop a culture of investing in each other. This includes everything from helping a colleague with a small task to discovering what enables someone to thrive, to connecting two of your industry contacts with each other. In business and life, relationships are most important, and building and maintaining those relationships, for yourself and others, is key to success.
What advice would you give to a student looking to major in a business-related field? Explore. I found my niche passion of senior living at age 12, but it was a little scary. When I entered Cornell, I was worried that I had not allowed myself to explore other business and hospitality career paths. So, I explored. I spent much of my time at the Nolan Hotel School connecting students and alumni in different roles, attending information sessions, working different service jobs and internships, and most importantly, asking questions. Not only did that exploration widen my perspective of the business and hospitality world, but it reaffirmed my passion. I knew I belonged in senior living and all aspects of the industry I loved would integrate into that career. So, whether you want to enter business school with a niche or a broad interest, you owe it to yourself to explore!
Looking back over your experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently in business school and why? One thing I’d do differently if I could is to take more classes about the many random topics that I find interesting. I focused my courses on what would be best for me to learn for the business world. This was very useful and interesting, but college is a unique time when you learn about a huge variety of topics. My only regret is that I didn’t have more time to explore.
What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What is one insight you gained from using AI? The hospitality industry is human-focused. As a result, in my experience at the Nolan School, we generally use AI for optimizing our practices. The school does an incredible job of integrating AI into our courses by demonstrating ways automation is shifting the hospitality industry. For example, in our communication classes, we learn how leaders can use AI to amplify and streamline their communications with stakeholders, including their team members. We also have many opportunities to hear from fantastic hospitality tech executives, who share how they use AI to increase the productivity of the restaurant and hotel industries and ideally create more opportunities for human-centered service. AI has the potential to greatly enhance our future, but will never replace human connection, and that is the core of what is taught in our programming.
Which academic, extracurricular or personal achievement are you most proud of? I’m proud of the growth and revitalization of the Nolan School’s Hotel Student Mentorship Program, which is an organization committed to empowering Nolan students by providing dedicated mentorship pairings and fostering vibrant engagement within the school community. When I became President in my sophomore year, the program was almost defunct. I worked alongside school administrators and other dedicated student leaders to relaunch the program. We provided robust mentorship, programming, and other resources to the student body, developed and implemented standards and practices tailored to achieving our engagement goals, and established a durable leadership structure and succession plan. It’s now a thriving organization engaging more than 65% of the first-year students as mentees.
Which classmate do you most admire? I am endlessly impressed by my Nolan School classmates. I admire Yolanda Rodriguez, one of the most dedicated, thoughtful, and endlessly kind individuals I know. She embodies the true spirit of leading with hospitality and her warmth and welcoming approach has left an indelible mark on our school and community. She balances personal and professional with grace and is the type of person who will drop anything to help anyone. Not only was Yolanda my first Hotelie friend, but she has become one of my favorite people to be around, work with, and learn from.
Who would you most want to thank for your success? My great-grandmother is the core of who I am, personally and professionally. Right up until she passed away last year at the age of 102, not a day went by without her doing everything in her power to support and build up those around her. In my 20 years with her by my side, she taught me a great many things ranging from the art of making Armenian pastries, to how to win at poker, to what it means to live a life of service. At age 12, our relationship motivated me to start volunteering at an assisted living community in my hometown. Without my Nanna, I would not have studied hospitality, I would not be in the senior living industry, and I would not have my deep-seated passion for bettering the lives of seniors.
What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?
1. To revolutionize the way we age in the United States. For senior citizens today, I believe there is a fundamental deficiency in community integration, environmental wellness, and intergenerational lifestyles. While this is the result of very real cost, regulatory, and systemic issues, I want to be the one to reimagine this aspect of aging.
2. To create more opportunities for young professionals to be exposed to and work in the field of senior living.
What made Isabella such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2025?
“Isabella’s passion for service, dedication to excellence, and strong work ethic have set her apart as a leader in the Class of 2025. It is her fervent belief in the transformative power of relationships, community, and service, that has shaped her dedication to the idea that a better world can be created through unity and selfless service. This drives her to apply the knowledge and skills she has gained to make a meaningful impact. As President of the Hotel Student Mentorship Program, she took on the momentous task of re-founding the organization, developing its mission and vision, documenting and formalizing its operations, and building a motivated leadership team to ensure its long-term success. Thanks to her efforts, the program has flourished, benefiting hundreds of students each year and with them the broader Nolan School community. Moreover, her leadership and dedication have ensured that it will continue to be able to do so long after she graduates.
Beyond this, Isabella has had a positive impact on the school in numerous other ways. As the lead Course Assistant for our first-year student seminar course ‘Hotelie Launchpad,’ Isabella has played a pivotal role in shaping the first-year experience for NSHA students, setting them up for success from day one. She has served as Sales Director for the 99th Annual Hotel Ezra Cornell, and as a Course Assistant for multiple other NSHA courses and is a member of the Ye Hosts Honorary Society. As a Dean’s Assistant and a member of the Dean’s Student Advisory Board, she has fostered student engagement with industry professionals as well as spearheaded numerous initiatives of benefit to the students, faculty, and staff of the Nolan School. Her ability to bring people together – whether through mentorship, academics, or student leadership—has left a lasting mark on the Nolan Hotel School. Isabella’s legacy is one of dedication, service, and community, making her, in my opinion, one of the best and brightest not only of the Class of 2025, but of her generation.”
Christopher Gaulke
Director of Undergraduate Studies, Senior Lecturer (Operations, Technology, & Information Management)
Nolan School of Hotel Administration
Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
Cornell University
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