Do you know a Heinz alum who you feel is deserving of an Alumni Award?
Visit this page to nominate an alum for next year's awards.
Visit this page to nominate an alum for next year's awards.
Alumni Association Awards Program
The Heinz College Alumni Association Board (HCAAB) believes that it is important to recognize the outstanding contributions that our alumni make to their chosen professions and in service to Heinz College. To that end, the HCAAB initiated the Heinz College Alumni Awards in 2012 to recognize outstanding alumni with four awards: Distinguished Alumni, Outstanding Recent Alumni, and Alumni Meritorious Service, and the Dean's Recognition Award.
2024 Alumni Association Award Honorees
Distinguished Alumni Award
Mariana Campos (MSPPM 2007)
Mariana Campos is a public policy expert with 20 years of experience. She served as Executive Director of México Evalúa, one of Mexico’s most influential evidence-based think tanks, and led its Public Finance and Accountability Program for a decade, shaping key policy debates and contributing to major fiscal and governance reforms, including the creation of the National Transparency and Data Protection Agency, and the discussion and drafting of the Federal Congress reform for the establishment of Mexico’s Congressional Budget Office and improvements in the electric power industry and public procurement system.
Mariana is Vice President of the Paris Peace Forum Association and a member of the Economic Studies Committee at the Mexican Institute of Finance Executives, the Technical Council at the Center for Private Sector Studies, and the Effective Governance Subcommittee at Nuevo León State Council. She serves on the Advisory Board of Medtronic and is part of Banamex Bank’s advisory group of economists. She is co-founder of the Center for Thought in the Americas, a new network of Latin America's seven most prominent evidence-based public policy think tanks.
Recognized as one of Mexico’s most influential economists by Forbes (2024) and among the 23 Inspiring Women by the World Commerce and Contracting Foundation (2024), Mariana has been acknowledged by the Open Contracting Partnership (2022) as a global leader in public procurement accountability. She was awarded by Mexico’s Supreme Audit Institution and the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Policy for outstanding research. She is a thought leader and contributor across prominent media platforms, including Bitácora de Negocios, a leading business-focused radio.
OutsTanding Recent Alumni Award
Jessica Brooks-Woods (MPM 2013)
Jessica Brooks-Woods is CEO of the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals (NABIP) and president of its Education Foundation, where she leads national efforts to expand access to high-quality, affordable healthcare. With over 20 years of experience in healthcare and business, she is recognized for driving innovation, value, and equity across public and private sectors.
She is the founder of RISE Health Equity, an organization focused on dismantling systemic barriers to health through research, advocacy, and employer engagement. Prior to NABIP, Jessica served as president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Business Group on Health and co-founded the Executive Action Response Network (E.A.R.N.), where she launched a workforce firm advancing economic opportunity for African Americans.
Jessica was an appointee to the Pennsylvania Health Insurance Exchange and currently serves on the boards of the Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance, Pennsylvania Health Access Network (PHAN), and Maitri Medicinals.
She earned degrees from Pennsylvania State University and Carnegie Mellon University, where she received a master’s in public management from Heinz College. Her work has earned multiple honors, including the Pittsburgh Women of Influence Award. She is also co-editor & author of Race Forward: An Employer’s Guide to Health Equity.
Meritorious Service Award
Samantha Pollack (MAM 2004)
Named a “Rising Star in Classical Presenting” by Musical America, Samantha Pollack is the Director of Programming at Washington Performing Arts (WPA) in Washington, D.C., programming performances in venues throughout the D.C. region in the genres of classical (orchestral, chamber, and recital), jazz, global music, modern dance, and gospel.
She has regularly worked with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, Hilary Hahn, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Zakir Hussain, Itzhak Perlman, and others. For more than 15 years, she’s programmed private performances at the Supreme Court in coordination with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and retired Justice Stephen Breyer. In the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she re-imagined the WPA performance experience for the digital landscape, including creating multi-touchpoint digital residencies.
Samantha scouts talent at festivals and competitions worldwide, including sitting on juries for competitions in Armenia, Seattle, and New York City, and on grant panels across the U.S. She’s served as co-chair of the Classical Connections Committee for the Association of Performing Arts Professionals, and regularly mentors emerging classical musicians.
Samantha received a bachelor’s degree in music performance (trumpet) from the University of Cincinnati/College-Conservatory of Music, and a Master of Arts Management from Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University.
Past Alumni Association Award Honorees
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2023
DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARDs
Keara Klinepeter (MSHCPM 2013)
Keara is a results-driven, mission-oriented healthcare leader. She currently works at Deloitte Consulting as a Senior Manager advising state decision-makers at the intersection of public health and healthcare delivery. Throughout her career, Klinepeter has sought positions that leverage her skills to make an impact for the greater good, work with dynamic teams, and build bridges to achieve strategic goals.As Acting Secretary of Health in Pennsylvania, Keara led the state through the largest wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under her leadership, the Department of Health implemented unprecedented solutions to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed and ensured Pennsylvanians had access to care. During the vaccine roll-out, Keara served as the Executive Deputy Secretary, running the Department while also overseeing the COVID-19 response. And, as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Health, she led the COVID-19 response in long-term care for the first wave of the pandemic. She developed a passion for rural health care while working in the PA Rural Health Model, an alternative payment model that moves rural hospitals onto a global budget model and requires them to transform care delivery.
Keara started her career at the MITRE Corporation supporting the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid implement the Affordable Care Act and spent time working in national security for the U.S. Air Force on strategy and policy issues.
Miguel Mier (MSIT 2011)
Miguel is the Chief Operating Officer at Cinepolis, the largest cinema chain operator in Latin America and the third largest in the world with 6,812 screens in 18 countries across America, Europe & Asia.Miguel started his career in Cinepolis in 1994 as head of IT developing and implementing the first software for operating theatres. Since 2003 in his current position as COO he manages Operations, Marketing, IT, HR, Sales, and International Operations. During Miguel's tenure as COO, Cinépolis has evolved from a company running 310 screens in Mexico to a company with 6,812 screens in four continents.
Miguel launched the international operations in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Panama before going to study an MS at Stanford in 2006. Miguel is also a movie producer; he bought the rights and produced the Mexican remake of the Indian Blockbuster “3 Idiots,” followed by the remake of the Italian “Perfectos Desconuti” and in 2024 the Mexican Blockbuster “Casi el Paraíso.”
Since May 2012 he has been a Mentor at Endeavor México. Miguel is an active lecturer in the Master of Entertainment Industry Management program at Carnegie Mellon University, Los Angeles campus since 2016. In 2022, Miguel was named ShowEast International Exhibitor of the Year.
Miguel graduated from Economics at the Tec de Monterrey; has a Master of Science in Management degree from Stanford; a double master’s degree in technology management from Heinz College, CMU and Tec de Monterrey, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University in Charlotte, NC.
OutsTanding Recent Alumni Award
Dany Diaz Mejia (MSPPM 2013)
Dany Díaz Mejía graduated from John Carroll University in 2011 with a BA in political science. He also holds a MSc in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University. From 2017 to 2020 he led the field operations of the Academy for Security Analysis. In the Academy he used his passion for evidence-based public policies to improve citizen security in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.He now works as an independent consultant for international development projects in Central America. He is a volunteer for the Latin American Leadership Academy based in Colombia, where does workshops on public speaking and storytelling. In addition to his policy work, he is the author of the short story collection La Quebrada, and a frequent writer on current affairs in outlets such as Gato Encerrado of El Salvador. He has also published in America Magazine in the US.
Meritorious Service Award
Dan Hassell (MSPPM 1981)
After C. Daniel Hassell earned a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management from Heinz College in 1981, he followed Professor Daniel Nagin to a position in the state Department of Revenue. From there he served in a variety of roles in both the legislative and executive branches of Pennsylvania government in a career spanning 41 years and six Governors.He was twice nominated to the leadership of the Department of Revenue, by Governor Ed Rendell in 2009 and by Governor Tom Wolf in 2017, and in both cases was unanimously confirmed by the Pennsylvania Senate. In that role he led an agency of 1,500 employees who collect the revenue that funds vital programs and services for all Pennsylvanians.
Dan’s leadership and expertise has been recognized among his peers in national organizations as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Federation of Tax Administrators, and the Senior Executive Board of the Identity Theft and Tax Refund Fraud Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC).
Throughout his tenure, Dan worked to strengthen the Department’s customer service functions and internal systems. He emphasized the importance of public service as a worthy calling, requiring dedication to fairness, integrity and the rule of law in the public interest.
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