TRU-Biz Forum – Fall 2023

Riley Bonnesen leads the Data Analytics team at JE Dunn Construction, responsible for empowering and developing business intelligence, automation, and machine learning solutions. He joined JE Dunn in May 2020 as an Architecture Analyst and became Senior Information Architecture Analyst in March 2022.

Following graduation, Riley spent a year as a Data Services Consultant at RubinBrown, where he had been an intern as a student at Truman. Riley also completed a summer internship with DST Systems in Kansas City where he pioneered the implementation of the collection of data to improve business processes and worker efficiency.

Also as a Truman student, Riley was a lead volunteer in KLIFE Juvenile Detention Center Ministry, where he had purposeful interaction to elicit positive and lasting behavioral change. He led devotions to engage in authentic dialogue with detainees.

A 2019 Economics major, Riley was also a member of Delta Sigma Pi and the Bulldog Student Investment Fund.

Mike Rejniak is a Lead Information Security Engineer at Mastercard in St. Louis. He’s currently responsible for establishing a data-driven approach to network security automation and for management analytics. Throughout his 18 years at Mastercard, Mike has held various data management roles within multiple areas of Mastercard Technologies. Most recently, he established a self-service analytics framework, which broadened data analytic capabilities to a larger, non-technical audience across Mastercard. Mike is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Cybersecurity as a New York University Cyber Fellow and is expecting to graduate in May 2024.

Prior to joining Mastercard, Mike began his career in the financial services industry as a Service Specialist at Edward Jones and a Business Analyst at A.G. Edwards & Sons (now known as Wells Fargo Advisors). While at A.G. Edwards, Mike earned a Master of Science in Management Information Systems from the University of Missouri – St. Louis.

At Truman, Mike earned a degree in Business Administration and was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, Interfraternity Council (IFC), Blue Key Honor Society, and Financial Management Association.

Mike and his wife Michelle live in Fenton, Mo. and their son Gannon is a freshman at Truman this year.

Jason Ward is Director of Data Science at H&R Block (Machine Learning Lab) in Kansas City. He has been with H&R Block for more than four years.

Previously, Jason was Vice President of Brand Research, Strategy and Innovation with BrandIQ and had been Director, Consumer Insights with DineEquity, Inc., where he owned the voice of the consumer across the Applebee’s brand and drove data-based decision-making in the areas of product development, operations, marketing communications, strategy, retail design and brand positioning.

Jason was Director, Business and Product Strategy at Ascend Learning, where he directed the go-to-market strategy and owned the product life-cycle from ideation to sunset, inclusive of B2C and B2B solutions. He was responsible for profit and loss of individual product lines across the Boston Reed and Achieve Health Care divisions.

For eight years, Jason was Manager, Product Experience Design and Analytics, at Sprint. There he led the team responsible for quantifying the consumption experience of key products and services and provided data-driven strategic guidance.

Prior to his role at Sprint, Jason was a Research Fellow at the Army Research Institute (ARI) for five years, where he developed and tested a training suite for interpersonal skill development in company grade officers. He worked with other government organizations and outside consultants in an effort to optimize decision-making under duress through the utilization of multimedia and text recognition technologies.

Jason earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology at Truman in 1996. He has also earned a Master of Science in Human Factors/Applied Cognition and ABD (doctoral candidate) in Applied Cognition (emphasis: Judgment and Decision Making) from Kansas State University.

Hannah West is Senior Data Analyst on the Business Analytics team at Climate Corporation in St. Louis.

Hannah began her career in 2014 at Monsanto as an IT co-op working on the SharePoint team.  She was hired full time at Monsanto in 2015 and spent several years there before moving over to the Audit department to start her Data Analytics career.  She has been a data analyst for several different companies and industries on Supply Chain and FP&A teams.

Hannah was born and raised in St. Louis.  She has a dog named JJ and lots of family in the area.  She is a big fan of Harry Potter and traveling around the world. She enjoys trying different restaurants and wineries both in St. Louis and on her travels.

For eight years, Jason was Manager, Product Experience Design and Analytics, at Sprint. There he led the team responsible for quantifying the consumption experience of key products and services and provided data-driven strategic guidance.

Prior to his role at Sprint, Jason was a Research Fellow at the Army Research Institute (ARI) for five years, where he developed and tested a training suite for interpersonal skill development in company grade officers. He worked with other government organizations and outside consultants in an effort to optimize decision-making under duress through the utilization of multimedia and text recognition technologies.

Jason earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology at Truman in 1996. He has also earned a Master of Science in Human Factors/Applied Cognition and ABD (doctoral candidate) in Applied Cognition (emphasis: Judgment and Decision Making) from Kansas State University.

---