McCormack Announces 2018 Alumni on the Rise Winners

March 22, 2018

The Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management at the Isenberg School of Management, UMass Amherst is proud to name Elissa Hollander (Dolacky) (BS ’11), Melissa Marchionna (MS ’09), Preetam Sen

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The Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management at the Isenberg School of Management, UMass Amherst is proud to name Elissa Hollander (Dolacky) (BS ’11), Melissa Marchionna (MS ’09), Preetam Sen (BS ’10), and Kairon Serrette (MS ‘08), as recipients of its 2018 Alumni on the Rise Award. Launched in 2012, this award annually recognizes McCormack alumni who have graduated within the past five to ten years and have become leaders within their respective sport industries.

Associate Department Chair Steve McKelvey will present the Alumni on the Rise Awards during the annual McCormack Sport Management Awards Banquet held in the Campus Center on Tuesday, April 10th, 2018.

Elissa Hollander (Dolacky) is the Senior Manager of the Hospitality & Events at MKTG, a global lifestyle marketing agency for leading brands activating in sport and entertainment. Elissa has been with MKTG, formerly known as Team Epic, since graduating UMass Amherst in 2011. At MKTG, Elissa leads many VIP programs and hospitality experiences for the world’s top brands and C-Level executives.  Elissa’s most recent portfolio of events includes: the Masters, Super Bowl, US Open Tennis Championships, Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the GRAMMY’s.

Melissa Marchionna is currently the Director of Social Media at Major League Soccer. While in this role her team won Best in Instagram Stories at the Shorty Awards, and were finalists for Social Media of the Year, Sports Business Awards, and Best in Instagram, Cynopsis Sports Media Awards. Prior to this Melissa has worked within the Seattle Mariners organization, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the New York Jets in a variety of social media positions.

Marchionna received her BA in Psychology from Boston College in 2007, and MS in Sport Management from UMass in 2009.

Preetam Sen is Director, Partnership Sales (Americas) at Manchester City Football Club and City Football Group. Preetam is responsible for cultivating fully-integrated marketing partnerships with brands that are based in North and South America for all City Football Group properties.

During his tenure at City Football Group, Preetam has delivered a regional United States partnership for Manchester City FC with Carlsberg and has led deals with AT&T, Fidelis Care, and Lottery.com for New York City FC. He was named to Forbes’ 2018 30 Under 30 List in Sports. Prior to joining City Football Group, Preetam spent four years with the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center.

Kairon Serrette is the Senior Manager of Business Development at The Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago, where he’s worked for over five years. He also serves as an adjunct professor at his undergraduate alma mater, the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus.

Kairon is involved in Trinidad & Tobago’s Olympic Movement and has managed two-time Olympic Sailor, Andrew Lewis since 2010 - playing an integral role in the sailor’s qualification and accompanying him to the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.