Colin Lease

University of Rochester, Simon Business School

“Alaskan with a love for the outdoors and a mission to improve banking access.”

Hometown: Fairbanks, Alaska

Fun Fact About Yourself: I am an avid hunter and shot my first moose when I was 15 years old.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Vermont, Major: Economics; Minor: Computer Science

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Data and Business Analyst at Spirit of Alaska Federal Credit Union

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of Rochester Simon’s MBA curriculum or programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? Attending a quantitative and analytical program was my top priority. I also wanted a program with a specific focus on economics. Simon Business School is known for quantitative and analytical rigor and is also regarded as a top b-school for economics. Additionally, I participated in the Simon Games scholarship competition for prospective students, which convinced me that Simon’s focus on experiential learning was also important to me.

Rochester Simon is known for being “unabashedly analytical.” Why does the program’s focus on quantitative analysis and decision-making appeal to you? How do you intend to leverage this approach as a student and professional?  My previous role showed me that many companies still have a long way to go to transform themselves digitally, so the importance of being able to harness and interpret data is not lost on me. I believe that business leaders should be data-driven—analytical frameworks and quantitative analysis are important tools to this end.

What are some advantages you’ve seen in earning your MBA in Rochester?
Rochester is a good mix of city and rural life. NYC, Boston, and DC are about 90 minutes away by plane, and drivable within a day. This means that students in Rochester have relatively easy access to networking events and career conferences in these major cities. Additionally, students in Rochester have access to the Adirondack Mountains, the Finger Lakes region of New York, Niagara Falls, and a plethora of state parks and beaches…all with little to no traffic.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at Simon? The International Immersions excite me the most. I am thrilled for the opportunity to learn about how business is conducted around the world. One of Simon Business School’s differentiating factors is the level of diversity, and international immersions take this a step further by allowing students to immerse themselves in foreign cultures in addition to being exposed to them on campus.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I designed and implemented an online deposit account opening solution for the Spirit of Alaska Federal Credit Union. Due to the credit union’s small size, customer acquisition cost was a key focus of our approach. There were vendor-based solutions that the credit union could purchase, but they were prohibitively expensive. I ended up using Formstack and an external identification and verification vendor and designed the application process from scratch for roughly 10% of the cost of vendor-based solutions. I handled all aspects of design, training, and compliance, and am proud to report that as of June 2024, 30% of our total application volume came from this online channel. I am passionate about keeping community banking relevant as technology evolves, so I view this project as a large accomplishment.

What do you hope to do after graduation (at this point)? I hope to work in the banking or financial services space after graduation. I am interested in FLDP programs, corporate finance, internal strategy, and analytics. I want to build financial technology that helps startups, small businesses, retail investors, and consumers who have traditionally been excluded from the financial system.

DON’T MISS: MEET ROCHESTER SIMON’S MBA CLASS OF 2026