Lab Staff

Adlai Wertman is a Professor of Clinical Management and Organization at the Marshall School of Business at the USC. He is also the founding Director of the Society and Business Lab at Marshall - a center focused on using business education and resources to address global social, environmental and health challenges.

Prior to joining the faculty at Marshall, Adlai spent seven years as President and CEO of Chrysalis - the only non-profit in Los Angeles devoted solely to helping homeless change their lives through employment. As part of its award-winning program, Chrysalis ran one of the larger social enterprises in the country - Chrysalis Enterprises - with annual revenues over $4.5 million and employing nearly 1,000 clients each year. Prior to Chrysalis, Adlai spent 18 years as an investment banker in New York and Los Angeles.

Adlai is an Advisory Board Member of the Global Health Institute and the Roberts Enterprise Development Fund (REDF) and a Trustee of the Jewish Community Foundation. He has also served as a Commissioner of the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension Fund. Adlai is a frequent speaker on the issues of social entrepreneurship, social enterprise, fundraising and non-profit management.

Adlai was a Senior Fellow at the UCLA School of Public Affairs and a Wexner Heritage Fellow. Adlai earned his BA in Economics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and his MBA in Finance, Public Policy Management and Strategic Planning from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Nominated by students and peers, Adlai was a recipient of the 2012 USC Mellon Mentoring Award for the faculty mentoring undergraduate students category. [societybusinesslab@marshall.usc.edu]

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Abby Fifer Mandell manages all SBL staff, student programs, and initiatives, including the Society and Business Fellows and the MBA Summer Internship Subsidy. She partners with SBL faculty in designing curriculum for SBL-affiliated courses. Abby is the SBL point of contact for student organizations and consulting teams, SBL internships, independent study requests, and student organization grants. She is the Marshall staff liaison to students for the MBA Enterprise Corps and the Clinton-Orfalea Fellowship Program.

Prior to joining the Lab staff, Abby served as the Director of Admissions of the graduate school of education at American Jewish University in Los Angeles. As a private consultant for Brailsford & Dunlavey, she designed educational programs and facilities at Duke University, The University of Vermont, Dartmouth University, and UC Riverside, among others. Her research has been published in ACUI's The Bulletin, University Business, and NACAS's College Service. Abby holds a master's degree in education (M.A.Ed.) and received her B.A. from the University of Virginia. [fifer@marshall.usc.edu]

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Janet Kramer serves as the Society and Business Lab's Program Specialist. Janet runs the SBL Scholars Mentoring Program and the Lunch & Learn Speaker Series in addition to working on undergraduate and MBA programming. Before coming to USC, Janet worked for CODA Automotive, Yahoo! Inc. and Chrysalis.

She brings programming, event planning, and group facilitation experience with her from these past positions. Janet received her B.A. in History and Secondary Education from John Carroll University.[jekramer@marshall.usc.edu ]

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Deven Snyder is the Office Manager & Program Assistant for the Society and Business Lab (SBL). She manages the SBL's day-to-day operations and assists with all SBL programs and events.

Deven graduated from the Fox School of Business at Temple University in Philadelphia with a Bachelor's in Business Administration and a concentration in Human Resources Management. Prior to joining the SBL team, she interned in the Risk Management and Safety Department of the American Red Cross's Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter and, more recently, managed Cush Salon, Art Gallery and Café in Beverly Hills, CA. [devensny@marshall.usc.edu ]