Current Students

Maria Ariizumi is from Japan and has spent years living and working in both the United States and Japan. Maria graduated from Georgetown University with a B.S. in Foreign Service, and completed an intensive Mandarin program in Beijing through Princeton University. Maria has worked for Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting in Tokyo, providing Strategy & Operations services to clients in the consumer business industry. She also has extensive experience in cross-border Mergers & Acquisitions. Currently, she is on the Green House Scholarship to pursue her MMH in Asia.

Miyoung Chung is originally from South Korea. She joins the MMH in Asia program with six years of accounting experience. She graduated with her BBA in Accounting from the University of Georgia and began her professional career at regional accounting firms in Atlanta focusing on private company accounting services and auditing. Subsequently, she joined PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York where she gained additional exposure on tax analysis and tax compliance work for large and complex investment companies. She hopes to expand her horizons and leverage her past experience to the hospitality industry.

Drew Wallace is from Honolulu, Hawaii. He has spent most of the last six years working in various facets of the hospitality industry, starting in operations with a Hawaii-based management company, Outrigger Hotels and Resorts. He also completed a summer internship in Hong Kong with the luxury travel retail company, Duty Free Shops, where he performed due diligence and market research in the business development department. He spent the last two years prior to the MMH in Asia program in Honolulu, handling sales and marketing for Marriott International and a local human resources company, ProService Hawaii. Drew received his Bachelors from Princeton University where he studied Politics and International Relations with a specific focus on East Asia.

Seung-Jae Jin is from Seoul, Korea. He began his career as a Market Analyst for Seoul Plaza Hotel, one of the finest luxury hotels, and has developed a thorough understanding of the service standard’s significance as the core factor in the hospitality industry through experiences in operations management, reservations, front desk and sales. In addition, working as Revenue & Marketing Manager, he was able to read and predict market trends accurately, and create a unique brand value proposition. Last year, as a Director of Marketing, he planned and executed long-term marketing strategies and grand opening events for newly renovated of Seoul Plaza Hotel which re-opened as The Plaza in November 2010. He graduated from Yonsei University, majoring in Business Administration.

Ashish Kanitkar joins the MMH in Asia program from Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces. Soon after obtaining a Bachelor’s in Chemical Plant Engineering, Ashish, who is also conversant in German, went to Switzerland to obtain a Post Graduate Diploma in Hotel & Tourism Management from IMI, Luzern, to begin his career in the hospitality industry. He worked with Walt Disney World Resorts in Florida on an international student exchange program before returning to Mumbai, India. Ashish started his career at ITC Grand Maratha Sheraton & Towers (Starwood Hotel) with Front Office operations, before moving to work with the Corporate Sales of Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces. Having close to nine years of work experience, his most recent assignment with Taj was as a Sales Manager with their corporate MICE sales team, where he was recognized as the best MICE Sales Executive within the company for the year 2009 -2010. Ashish is the recipient of the Taj Scholarship for 2011-2012.

Kay Yu-Yun Fan joins the MMH in Asia program from Taiwan. She majored in Business Administration at National Chung Cheng University. After graduation, she worked in the Front Office of Rebar Taipei Crowne Plaza Hotel and Sheraton Taipei Hotel as a concierge, receptionist and guest relations officer for over three years. At Sheraton Taipei Hotel, she was in charge of big group check-ins, room assignments for VIP guests and developing a frequent-guests project. Kay was an amateur blogger in Taiwan prior to starting MMH in Asia program and was invited to promote restaurants or on-line shops for their products, such as Shin-Yeh, one of the most famous Taiwanese cuisine restaurants, and Kagome Corporation, a Japanese corporation. Kay is currently on the MMH in Asia Merit Scholarship.

Deepshikha Sinha is from India and has over 10 years of experience in varied fields of real estate, head hunting and hospitality. She started her career with ITC-Starwood Luxury Collection Hotels and went on to take positions of increasing responsibilities involving pre-opening hotels, heading F&B outlets & executing operations with various ITC-Starwood properties in India and IHG in US. Before joining the MMH in Asia program, she was the Marketing Director for NAI Global, a US-based leading managed network of more than 300 commercial real estate firms. For the last 4 years, Deepshikha was involved in project marketing and transaction management for clients within the Asia Pacific region. She completed her Diploma in Hotel Management from Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Mumbai and is a graduate of the Welcomgroup Management Institute. She is currently on the MMH in Asia Merit Scholarship.

Lalinthorn (Lali) Kitimahakun is from Thailand and has six years of experience and know-how in property leasing, development and investments.  She began her professional career at Isetan Company as a merchandiser executive and spent two years as a Record and Insurance Assistant at the Hudson River Park Trust, a public benefit developer in New York City.  She has also worked in real estate consultancy at Colliers International where she provided strategic and analytical advice for retail, commercial and hotel properties.  Most recently, as a Business Development Manager at Tropical Series House, a residential construction in Thailand, she was in charge of formulating sales strategies, marketing plans and supervising a sales and marketing team.  Lali has also been working for the past year as a volunteer at The Young Buddhists Association of Thailand under royal patronage in Thailand