Business Alumna Earns Top Honor for Entrepreneurship
04/19/2024
By Ed Brennen
“The amazing professors and people I met at UMass Lowell gave me the confidence and courage to take the risk and start my own business,” says Porcaro, who started her own wealth management firm, Lexington Advisors, in 1997. Three years later, she co-founded Lexington Wealth Management, which she still runs today.
For her work, Porcaro has been recognized by the Beta Gamma Sigma international business honor society with a 2024 Entrepreneurial Achievement Award. The Saugus, Massachusetts, native is one of just three people worldwide to receive the honor.
“I was completely shocked to receive the award, but I am incredibly honored,” Porcaro said after being recognized during the Manning School’s recent Beta Gamma Sigma induction ceremony at University Crossing, where 20 of the school’s 75 inductees took their formal oath.
Image by Ed Brennen
The Manning School of Business inducted 75 undergraduate and graduate students into the Beta Gamma Sigma international business honor society, with about a third attending a recent ceremony at University Crossing.
Porcaro and John Geraci ’97, managing partner at accounting and business advisory firm LGA, were also named chapter honorees.
Beta Gamma Sigma recognizes top-performing students in business schools accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, which accounts for just 5% of business schools worldwide.
Lifetime Beta Gamma Sigma membership is open to the top 10% of sophomores, juniors and seniors and the top 20% of graduate students, as well as doctoral candidates who have successfully defended their dissertation.
Image by Ed Brennen
Manning School alum John Geraci ’97, managing partner at accounting and business advisory firm LGA, accepts an honorary Beta Gamma Sigma induction certificate from the UML chapter vice president, graduate student Drasti Patel ’23.
Student chapter president Olivera Nedeljkovic presided over the ceremony with vice president Drasti Patel ’23.
“Beta Gamma Sigma has given me the opportunity to be more involved on campus, connect with other students and grow as an individual,” said Nedeljkovic, a senior from Newton, Massachusetts, who will work as an operations manager at enLabel Global Services in Boston after graduating.
Patel, a native of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, who is pursuing a Master of Science in business analytics, was inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma during her junior year. Being part of a prestigious international honor society, she said, “made me feel lucky” to attend UML.
Geraci credits UML with putting him on the path to success.
Image by Ed Brennen
Senior business major Olivera Nedeljkovic, right, president of UML’s Beta Gamma Sigma student chapter, recites the oath for inductees while vice president Drasti Patel looks on.
Under his leadership, LGA has grown to become the 16th-largest accounting firm in Massachusetts, according to the Boston Business Journal, up 28 spots from 2013. Geraci encouraged students to remain intellectually curious, to embrace the diversity of the people around them and to say “yes” when opportunities arise.
Porcaro said she followed her parents’ advice to study marketing at UML.
“It was a great decision, because it gave me an amazing foundation,” she said. “I grew up here. I learned that in life, you need to work hard to achieve the things that you want.”
In 2017, Porcaro started an Empower Women series at Lexington Wealth Management to specifically address the financial needs of women in the community.
“I would love to support more women in business, especially in the wealth management space,” said Porcaro, who hopes to become more actively engaged with her alma mater, which has “a ton to offer.”
Image by Ed Brennen
Kristine Porcaro ’91, co-founder of Lexington Wealth Management, speaks about her career journey during the Manning School of Business’ recent Beta Gamma Sigma induction ceremony.
Founded in 1913, Beta Gamma Sigma has more than 600 collegiate chapters, with members in 190 countries. Its mission is to encourage and honor academic achievement in the study of business, cultivate and celebrate leadership and professional excellence, advance the values of the society and serve its lifelong members.
The inductees who were able to attend the ceremony were:
- Graduate students Jo-Ann Bevis, Marie Duffy, Sakshi Jeena, Muhammad Khan, Satakshi Khut, Reshma Rasheed Syed Mohamed Mudassar, Denis Petro and Matthew Psehoyas;
- Seniors Jonah Burnham, Jessica Cobleigh, Angelina Kam, Alexandra Kam, Lorraine Martinez and Nathaly Remigio;
- Juniors Jack Barron, Gavin Falvey, Sydney O’Donnell and Medhi Zidar; and
- Sophomores: Sarah Pedersen and Jacob Peters.
