Learn from Industry Leaders

Mariana Amatullo is a practitioner-scholar who leads Parsons open-enrollment and custom executive education programs, long-form Executive Master’s programs, and bespoke programs for corporate partners. She also advances strategy for and delivery of online degree and certificate programs.

Amatullo’s research bridges the management and design fields, with a focus on design as a lever for innovation and organizational change. In her role as vice provost, she oversees Parsons Executive Education’s portfolio of offerings.

Amatullo is the president of the Cumulus Association and serves on the board of Aalto University. She holds a PhD in Management (Designing Sustainable Systems) from Case Western Reserve University, an MA in Art History and Museum Studies from the University of Southern California, and a Licence en Lettres from Sorbonne University.

Drawing on his years of experience in fashion retail, design, branding, and marketing, Keanan Duffty teaches you how to create effective retail operations plans to maximize omnichannel sales.

An award-winning fashion designer, musician, and author, Duffty is the director of Fashion Programs at Parsons School of Design and leads our Fashion Retail Transformation program. A member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), he has created co-branded collections and products with Aveda, Reebok, Gola, and Dr. Martens and served as design director for Gwen Stefani’s L.A.M.B, John Varvatos, and Ben Sherman.

Duffty established his namesake collection with a client base including Bergdorf Goodman, Bloomingdale’s, Barneys New York, Harvey Nichols, Lane Crawford, Baycrews, and Journal Standard in Japan. Duffty also had a multiyear contract with Target and engaged in a major collaboration with David Bowie, which sold out upon its debut.

Duffty earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Central Saint Martins in London. His writing is regularly featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, Women’s Wear Daily and the Business of Fashion.

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Laura Lanteri is the director of Parsons’ Harnessing Social Media to Grow Fashion Brands executive education program. She is the founder and CEO of Laura Lanteri New York (LLNY), a multidisciplinary digital agency specializing in high-impact digital campaigns for luxury, fashion, lifestyle, and tech companies, including Hermès, Loro Piana (LVMH), Tory Burch, The Gap, Brooks Brothers, Swarovski, Harry Winston, W magazine, and Hearst Publications. Before founding her agency, Lanteri served as the head of Strategy and Marketing at Louis Vuitton, the head of Strategy at Gucci, and the head of Expansion at Oscar de la Renta.

A creative director with more than 20 years of experience in advertising, marketing, and storytelling, Lanteri has developed omnichannel storytelling for some of the most prestigious luxury brands in the world, achieving record-breaking engagement levels.

Lanteri is a graduate of Harvard University and Bocconi University (Milan). She is an op-ed contributor to  WWD and an in-demand guest panelist and public speaker.

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Caryn Pang is a faculty member at Parsons and the Hult International Business School in Boston. Pang teaches marketing and business fundamentals, drawing on her experience of more than 15 years as a retail business executive and a consultant for businesses in the international fashion industry.

Pang’s teaching philosophy is to empower students to create a roadmap for fulfilling their academic and career goals.

She has worked for Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, TJX Corporation, and Macy’s and enjoys teaching students at different levels, including undergraduates, graduates, and executives.

As a consultant, Pang is skilled at improving business outcomes, with successes that include creating an executive education program for The Metropolitan Museum of Art as a foundation for its strategic business turn-around plan and spearheading the launch of an online digital learning platform for an international luxury jewelry and gemstone business.

Pang is a PhD candidate at Iowa State University whose research focuses on cross-cultural consumer behavior as it relates to global retail markets.

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Ashok Som teaches strategy at ESSEC. He holds a PhD in Business Administration and conducts research in three areas: organization redesign, innovation in human resources management, and innovation in Asia. Som is the academic director of the EMiLUX program and is the founder of the India Research Center at ESSEC.

Candace Stewart is an in-demand social media consultant for the luxury industry), co-lead of Parsons’ Harnessing Social Media to Grow Fashion Brands executive education program, and the founder of Black in Corporate, a resource for individuals looking for relief, support, and guidance in their careers. A proven leader in social media, influencer marketing, partnerships, communications, PR, and content, Stewart has partnered with fashion and lifestyle brands such as Prada, Nike, Barneys NY, and Refinery 29.

Stewart holds an MBA in Marketing and Finance and prides herself on acting as an advocate for minority creatives in the luxury fashion space. She was recently recognized in American VOGUE as an “unsung hero of the fashion industry.”

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Keith VanWarren is the strategy and program design lead for Parsons Executive Education and teaches innovation and transformation design at the graduate level at both The New School and Pratt Institute. He also leads Innovation and Experience practice at EY, bringing together diverse capabilities to address transformation challenges.

VanWarren has held positions in brand strategy, design, digital strategy, business consulting, and sales organizations. He employs his broad experience to help organizations understand their audience and opportunity, envision future states, and overcome the obstacles to bringing products to market.

VanWarren has led cross-disciplinary teams at NBCUniversal, Bloomberg, Infosys, and Interbrand in developing innovative programs for some of the world’s most admired brands. He has an MSc in Communications Design from Pratt.

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Patrick Klesius is the director of Enterprise Data Architecture and Analytics at David Yurman and is a visiting faculty member at Parsons School of Design. For more than 20 years, Patrick has focused on data and analytics for luxury and lifestyle retailers including Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors, and David Yurman. His is an expert on merging technology with marketing and business processes to enable brands to meet the changing demands of today’s customers.

Klesius also serves on the advisory councils for Apparel Merchandising, Design, and Production Management at the College of Business at Auburn University and the Couture Council at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

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Ron Thurston has led the retail teams of some of the most prominent brands in the United States, including Intermix, Saint Laurent, Bonobos, and Tory Burch. He is the author of the best-selling book Retail Pride: The Guide to Celebrating Your Accidental Career. Thurston was named one of the world’s 100 Most Influential People in Retail in 2021 and is a featured keynote speaker and industry expert.

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Jasmine Young is a strategy and operations consultant in the fashion and beauty industry and is currently on the Operations & Strategy team at Gap Inc. She previously worked for Alexander Wang, Glossier, NOAH, and Hood by Air and is a member of the advisory board of Pace University’s Design Thinking Certificate program.

Young is an expert on direct-to-consumer sales and the creation of business strategies for fashion and beauty brands. Her focus is on how technology and changes in consumer behavior have undermined fashion’s traditional business models. She is a 2016 graduate of Parsons’ MA Fashion Studies program.

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