CEHC to Recognize Excellence at Inaugural Celebration
A serial entrepreneur, college professor and CEO of Boogie Brands is just one of the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity (CEHC) alumni to be honored at the College’s inaugural Alumni Awards Celebration on Wednesday, April 27 at ETEC.
Jacques Bastien ’12, the recipient of the Professional Achievement Award, launched Boogie Brands from his dorm room during his sophomore year at the University at Albany. After 13 years of launching, growing and selling businesses, Mr. Bastien is now helping other entrepreneurs find their way.
He will be honored with five notable CEHC alumni including:
- Glenn Marchi ’99, Lifetime Achievement Award
- Michael Apollo ’19, Humanitarian Service Award
- Elizabeth Buchanan ’19, Outstanding Young Alumni Award
- Caroline Buinicky ’13, Distinguished Service Award
- Monique Wade ’21, Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Award
“We have amazing alumni doing some incredible things, and felt it was our duty to showcase the talented and resourceful professionals that emerge from CEHC,” said Robert Griffin, founding dean, College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity. “It was something we have considered doing for a few years and we hope that it becomes a time-honored tradition for the College.”
The Alumni Awards Celebration will be hosted following its afternoon Advisory Board spring meeting and in advance of its spring Showcase, giving many members of the CEHC community an opportunity to honor these outstanding alumni.
With these awards, CEHC has launched an alumni web page to feature a variety of graduates and their achievements from its various academic programs.
About the Honorees
Jacques Bastien ’12, Professional Achievement Award
Jacques Bastien is a serial entrepreneur, college professor, and the CEO of Boogie Brands; the company behind boogie.co, shade.co, nappy.co, and Snappy Booth. He is also the founder of a children’s education company called Dahlia & Friends where they publish books, worksheets, and animated videos that teach children ages 2-8 about life.
After the last 13 years starting, growing and selling multiple businesses, Mr. Bastien now helps entrepreneurs do the same. He earned a BS in Information Science with minor in Business at the University at Albany. It was here that he launched boogie in his college dorm room sophomore year.
Glenn R. Marchi ’99, Ph.D., Lifetime Achievement Award
Glenn Marchi is the commissioner for the Dutchess County Office of Central and Information Services (OCIS), where he oversees the direction of the county department, including the divisions of Computer Information Services and Central Services.
Dr. Marchi served as the director of Operations for Mercy College, providing strategic planning and direction for Information Technology (IT) infrastructure, software development, budgeting and service contracting. He has also worked in the private sector, serving in director level positions at Diageo in Norwalk, CT, and Ameritrade in Purchase, NY. He began his career at IBM Corporation in Poughkeepsie, NY, as an applications programmer, data center manager, and certified senior project manager.
Dr. Marchi serves as a colonel in the New York Guard with prior military deployment to Iraq as a battalion commander in the U.S. Army and first responder to the World Trade Center attack.
He is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and teaches technology courses as an adjunct professor at local colleges, including the University of Connecticut.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a Master’s in Computer Science from Marist College, and Ph.D. in Information Science from the University at Albany.
Michael Apollo ’19, Humanitarian Alumni Award
Michael Apollo currently serves as the chief safety officer of the Manchester Transit Authority in Manchester, NH. In this role, he works collaboratively with transit agency employees, external partners, and the public to ensure the safe and secure operation of public transportation in New Hampshire’s largest city.
He served as an EMT with the Larchmont Volunteer Ambulance Corp for nearly six years and worked as a medical logistician supporting a New York City COVID-19 field hospital, utilizing concepts and strategies he learned while a student at UAlbany. The COVID-19 pandemic thrust him into frontline public health emergency response roles in Queens, NY, Washington, D.C., and Nashua, NH.
Mr. Apollo graduated from UAlbany with a BA in Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity and Journalism in December 2019.
Mr. Apollo was active in public engagement efforts while a student at UAlbany including post-Hurricane Maria service learning in Puerto Rico; an internship with the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C.; PIRE research in Taiwan; and an internship at NPR member station WAMC. Additionally, Mr. Apollo was a contributing writer and photographer for the Albany Student Press, served as president of UAlbany’s International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) and received the Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence.
Elizabeth “Lizzie” Buchanan ’19, Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Elizabeth Buchanan is a program delivery manager for FEMA Region 3. Prior to joining FEMA, she served as a closeout specialist for CohnReznick LLP in Austin, Texas, helping clients to finalize their public assistance projects with FEMA. In addition, she worked with Hagerty Consulting where she managed an emergency warming shelter during the Texas winter storms, supported data management efforts, and created and reviewed eligible FEMA projects for clients.
Ms. Buchanan graduated in 2019 with a double major in EHC and Communications. During her time as a student, she accumulated more than 300 trainings hours, as well as completed an internship and study abroad program for five months, partaking in numerous prospective student events, and working as an RA on a freshman quad for three years.
Her experiences as a CEHC student solidified her passion for emergency preparedness work, and one month after graduation she became a team leader with FEMA Corps. There, she led a team through different rounds of emergency management-based community service and was chosen to lead a composite team in Saipan, CNMI helping FEMA respond to super typhoon Yutu.
Caroline Buinicky ’13, Distinguished Service Award
Caroline Buinicky is currently the director of Research at Emma Willard School. Ms. Buinicky has built their Makerspace, revamped their research program, and led multiple technology and reading-focused initiatives. She loves her position at Emma as it is the perfect culmination of her passions for educating girls, making, reading, and digital citizenship.
Prior to her position at Emma, Ms. Buinicky was the CEHC Informatics Undergraduate Advisor and is still an adjunct currently teaching INF 301 Emerging Trends in Information and Technology.
Ms. Buinicky is a two-time University at Albany alumna earning her BA in Sociology and her MSIS with a concentration in School Libraries.
During her time at both UAlbany and Emma Willard, Ms. Buinicky has served on the organizing committee for the New York Celebration of Women in Computing (NYCWiC). Most recently, as the Program Chair for the last three conferences. She loves bringing the magic of NYCWiC to women, and the folks who support them.
Monique Wade ’21, Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Award
Monique Wade currently serves as a Talent Acquisition Associate for PwC's entry-level talent identification team. She is also the Education Lead for PwC’s Cloud & Digital practice's Functional and Industry Application Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Network.
Ms. Wade has participated in several prestigious programs including Google's Computer Science Summer Institute and the Harvard Business School's Virtual Venture in Management Program. She is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of the University at Albany ’21 with a BS in Informatics, a concentration in Data Analytics and a minor in Leadership. She was a Spellman Scholar and the recipient of the President's Award for Leadership’s Outstanding Senior Award.
While at UAlbany, she held several leadership positions including serving on the executive board for the United Nations Association and the Student Philanthropy Council as well as serving as a Purple and Gold Ambassador with the Alumni Association. She is a member of two honor societies, the Chi Alpha Epsilon Honor Society and Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society, as well as the CEHC Advisory Board.