Our Team

We’ve seen the power and freedom that comes with the opportunity to pursue a foundational career right out of college. We’re passionate about expanding access to careers in finance because we lived it.

Mannie Ajayi, Co-Founder

Though originally from Vancouver, Canada, Mannie has lived all around the globe. After finding himself enjoying his AP Economics class in high school, he decided to pursue a career in “business,” even though he wasn't quite sure what that meant. This path eventually led him to join Morgan Stanley's Financial Sponsors Group as an analyst in investment banking. After banking, Mannie joined TPG Growth as a private equity associate.

Today, Mannie runs his own investment firm focused on the consumer industry. He also dedicates time to the youth of San Francisco through the Youth Art Exchange. As the chair of YAX, Mannie supports the non-profit in their endeavors, including providing arts programming for underprivileged high school students in the city.

Mannie holds an MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Commerce in finance from UVA's McIntire School of Commerce.

Jessica Holton, Co-Founder

Jessica is originally from New Jersey, where she essentially grew up at Discovery House, a hands-on children’s science museum that her parents started and operated until she was a teen. She was attracted to a career in business because it seemed like the best way to have a large-scale impact.

Not really knowing what she was getting herself into, she joined Morgan Stanley’s Financial Sponsors Group as a summer analyst and then a full-time analyst in investment banking. After banking, Jessica joined Carlyle’s Consumer & Retail group as a private equity associate.

Both roles changed the trajectory of her career and life, offering her the financial security, network, skills and experience necessary to be able to choose what she wanted to do next. Today, Jessica is an entrepreneur in the relationship wellness space.

Jessica holds an MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Science from Georgetown University.

Mike Kimpel, Co-Founder & Founding Board Member

Mike grew up in both central Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He developed an interest in business and investing in high school and decided to aim for a career in Investment Banking. He originally pursued a degree at an in-state school. With no personal connections and due to the lack of recruiting at his “non-target” school, he didn’t see a path to his targeted career field.

Mike transferred to the University of Virginia, ultimately landing jobs at UBS in the Sponsors Group in NYC and then at UBS in Los Angeles. This experience launched Mike’s career in finance where he would go on to work in Private Equity at Golden Gate Capital, HIG Capital and later joined an NYC-based long/short hedge fund that grew to $2 billion dollars in assets over the course of his tenure. He recently launched a new platform called Finance|able that's aimed at helping students from any background gain access to top-tier finance careers.

Mike’s experiences in the world of Finance have provided him with tremendous opportunities and he’s given back by teaching throughout his career.

Mike is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School, where he received his MBA, was a Senior Instructor and Managing Partner at Wall Street Prep, and is now the founder of Finance-able.com.

Jasmine Anklesaria, Founding Executive Director

A lifetime Californian, Jasmine grew up near San Diego and earned her BA in Communication from the University of Southern California. Her Zoroastrian faith’s mantra of “Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds”, coupled with her family foundation’s active passion for education, led her to a minor in Nonprofits, Philanthropy and Volunteerism.

Jasmine has extensive experience with education-related nonprofits, including literacy tutoring, judging academic competitions, scholarship application evaluations, and teaching at elementary schools, including a school for deaf children in her father’s native India. These experiences illuminated life’s disparities and ignited her desire to unlock doors for intellectual talent from overlooked environments.

Prior to AD, Jasmine worked at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business as a major gift development officer. She is delighted to be Access Distributed’s founding Executive Director, and is fully committed to innovate, develop and deliver on AD’s mission of linking job opportunities in the finance field with promising college students from under-recruited university communities.

Jasmine has a BA in Communication from the University of Southern California.

Program Managers

Ayo Akande, Senior Program Manager

Ayodeji Akande is a senior pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration in Computer Information Systems at Howard University. Ayodeji currently serves as the Co-President of the Howard University Investment Group and Chief of Staff of the Howard University Nigerian Student Organization. He previously interned at PJT Partners as an Investment Banking Summer Analyst in the Strategic Advisory Group.
Jake Peace, Senior Program Manager

Jake Peace is a senior at Abilene Christian University pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance. On campus, he works as the President of the school's Financial Management Association Chapter and a traveling judge for ACU's IPDA debate team. During his Junior summer, Jake interned with Piper Sandler as an Investment Banking Summer Analyst in the Medical Technology Group, where he will return full-time.
Parnika Anand, Senior Program Manager

Parnika Anand is a senior at Rutgers University studying Finance and Global Business. She is a founding member for the Rutgers Smart Woman Securities chapter. She enjoys mentoring students and feels passionate about diversity in the field of finance. Previously she interned at J.P. Morgan in their Investment Banking division and at Morgan Stanley in their Sales & Trading division.
Anthony Safford, Program Manager

Anthony Safford is a junior pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration with a minor in Mandarin Chinese from Boston University. Anthony has served in leadership positions for numerous organizations and was also the Quarterback of his previous university’s football team. He has also earned internships in Investment Banking from Bank Of America and Lazard.
Dhanvi Patel, Program Manager

Dhanvi Patel s a junior at Vanderbilt University pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Economics with a minor in Business and Cinema & Media Arts. At the university, she currently serves on the Executive Board of the Vanderbilt Finance Club, Vanderbilt Culinary Club, Vanderbilt Programming Board and Vanderbilt Student Government. Dhanvi is an analyst in the Commodores Capital Group and a project lead for Project V Solutions Consulting. She spent her sophomore summer interning at Sixth Street in the Cost Analysis and Allocation team in Dallas. Next summer, she will work at Barclays in the Investment Banking Division in the New York office.
Isaac Plumlee, Program Manager,

Isaac Plumlee is a junior at the University of Missouri pursuing a bachelor's degree in Finance with plans to graduate in December 2023. At the university, he currently serves as a managing director of the AACE Venture Fund, a student-managed angel investment fund, along with a Portfolio Manager for the University of Missouri Investment Group. Isaac spent his sophomore summer as an investment banking summer analyst at a boutique investment bank in Saint Louis. Next summer, he will work at William Blair in their Chicago office as an investment banking summer analyst.