Business Programs

Joe Connolly

Professor & Chair of Business

Joe brings diverse and broad start-up operations experience from his work in the alcohol [spirits, beer, and mead] industries. He has been a Chief Operating Officer, a Director of Production, a Sales & Distribution manager, logistics coordinator and brewer. He is highly skilled in creating systems out of the chaos of startups. Joe has an MBA focused in Entrepreneurial Business from John Paul the Great Catholic University.

Derry Connolly

Professor of Business

Derry is President and a founder of JPCatholic. Prior to JPCatholic, he worked at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), where he served on the Executive Board of CCAT - the Center for the Commercialization of Advanced Technology and headed up CCAT CEO mentoring services. He taught Applied Innovation at the Von Liebig Center for Entrepreneurism and Technology Advancement and served as the Associate Dean of Continuing Education at UCSD Extension, leading a program with 40,000 part-time adult students. He continues to teach BioBusiness at the UCSD School of Engineering.

Derry spent 15 years working in industrial Research and Development with IBM and Kodak. He holds 8 US patents and has numerous technical publications. He has a Ph.D. from Cal-Tech in Pasadena, CA and an M.Sc. and B.Sc. from University College, Cork, Ireland.

Brad Bartlett

Adjunct Professor of Screenwriting

Brad has practiced civil litigation in San Diego North County for more than 37 years. He was a President of the North County Bar Association, Brad’s clients have included Home Depot, the City of Carlsbad, Sparkletts, La Quinta, McDaniel Fruit Packing Company and Pauley Equipment Rentals. He currently serves as the President of the San Dieguito River Valley Land Conservancy. He has also been actively involved in North County real estate, where he has developed more than 30,000 square feet of commercial space. Brad has a JD from University of San Diego and a BA from UCLA.

Marc Burch

Adjunct Professor of Business & Launchpad Mentor

Marc is a founder and VP of Business Development at ComoBlue - a software application development company for Social Networks. He helped develop ideation, social gaming and product strategy for Facebook and mobile applications. He managed the business development and partnerships with Facebook and mobile developers, ad networks and companies. He served as Entrepreneur-in-residence, subject matter expert, judge and mentor for funding grants at the Center of Commercialization of Advanced Technology for Homeland Security. He is also an angel investor and executive entrepreneur providing early-stage capital. He has over 20 years of marketing, sales, business development, strategic partnerships and executive management experience in technology companies, including Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Actra (Netscape and GE Joint Venture), and MarketFirst. While at Actra, he managed an aggressive sales channel which helped Actra grow to a $127 million market valuation before the Netscape acquisition. At MarketFirst, he helped grow the company to over 240 employees with a $450 million valuation.

Joe Szalkiewicz

Adjunct Professor of Business

Joe is the President of Yellow Line Digital, the digital marketing agency he co-founded in 2012. Joe is a successful entrepreneur who has started, scaled, and exited a number of ventures. Joe has helped several diverse consumer and cause-driven brands find quantifiable returns for their digital marketing investments. He lives in Vista, CA with his family and is an avid mountain hiker and runner.

Jeffrey Graw

Adjunct Professor of HR & Organizational Development

Jeffrey began his professional career with the U.S. Navy and served honorably on Active Duty as a Chief Personnel/Administrative Officer during a 21-year career. Subsequently, he has held executive-level Human Resources and General Management positions for many diverse rapidly growing and transformational organizations with multi-site/state and global locations. He is also the Founder/CEO of Lighthouse Coaching Services, a business coaching practice, where he proactively and passionately develops partnerships with small-business owners, business executives, and high-potential leaders to bring clarity to the challenges they encounter running a business, leading an organization or team, or finding work-life balance.

He holds a Certificate in Human Resources Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management. In addition, he is active in his professional development by being a member of the Sr. Human Resources Executives (SHaRE) Group, the Professional Coaching Alliance (PCA) San Diego, and International Coaching Federation (ICF) San Diego Chapter. Jeffrey resides in San Diego, County, and in his free time, he enjoys hiking, sailing, biking, swimming, golfing and just about any outdoor activity. Jeffrey is committed to helping mankind (one person at a time), and he’s excited to share the benefit of his wisdom, courage and heart as they work together to create the change needed in their lives.

Tito Zamalloa

Adjunct Professor of Business

Tito is a marketing and management expert. He has worked with top brands like AT&T, McDonald’s, PepsiCo, and HP. Tito also worked in executive management roles at Razer Gaming, Gaming-Entertainment Technologies, Inc. and at a leading ad agency. He also ran VC and Angel funded enterprises. Currently, he is Marketing Director/VP of the San Diego Consulting Group.

Tito regularly presents at industry conferences, seminars, and events. He volunteers and mentors actively; and is a start-up advisor at Connect San Diego; a leading business incubator. He is currently serving as adjunct faculty at UCLA, Cal State San Marcos, and National University. His courses cover business, management, marketing, entrepreneurship, and strategy.

He earned a B.S. in Business-Marketing from Cal Poly Pomona, and an MBA from UCLA Anderson. He enjoys reading, walking-jogging, video games and the outdoors. He lives with his family in Carlsbad.

Brehnen Knight

Adjunct Professor of Business

Brehnen Knight is the Founder and CEO of genZ marketing company Engage Youth Co. He brings 20+ years of strategic partner development, is a change agent for venture capital companies, and brings global business and marketing experience to the classroom. With undergraduate degrees in Psycho-bio and Cultural Anthropology from UCLA, and two master’s degrees in Operational Management and International Marketing from Marylhurst University, he combines real-word experience with academia to create a well-rounded approach to education.

Peter Connolly

Adjunct Professor of Business

Peter earned his B.A. in Economics from University College Cork and a Master's Degree in Economics & Finance from St. Patrick’s Pontifical University Maynooth, Ireland. Since immigrating to the United States, Peter has worked in the software & technology sector with both public and private enterprises for over 28 years, serving in various capacities including CEO (13 years), CTO (3 years), COO (4 years) and Director of Sales (4 years). Peter has been instrumental in bringing hundreds of software products to market in a vast array of industries including Casino, Retail, Government, Safety & Security, Entertainment, Travel & Tourism, and Public & Environmental Awareness. Peter lives in San Diego with his wife and has three children.

Christopher Lis

Adjunct Professor of Business

Chris earned his BA in political science, magna cum laude, from Loyola Marymount University. He proceeded to earn his Master of Public Administration (MPA) from California State University Long Beach and then a Master of Science (MSc) in Political Economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He has earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Claremont Graduate University, where he is currently finishing his PhD in public policy. His dissertation examines the epistemological limitations of public policy scholarship, and its implications for entrepreneurship. His research interests include American political economy, business and public policy, education policy, and investment strategy. He holds real estate licenses in California, Utah, and Georgia and co-founded Grapevine Wealth with an MBA classmate. In his free time, he enjoys reading, playing basketball, and bodysurfing in his hometown Seal Beach.

Tyler Pearson

Adjunct Professor of Business

Tyler is a business consultant focused on the intersection of enterprise risk management, digital assets, and financial strategy. With over a decade of experience in the banking industry, he has worked at Aspire Financial, Pacific Union Financial, and Silvergate Bank. His roles have included Real Estate Finance Analyst, Interest Rate Risk Manager, and Senior Vice President, Enterprise Risk Manager. Tyler is currently developing an open-source AI project for corporate planning and outsourcing administrative work. He received a Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurial Business from JPCatholic in 2011.

Mikheil Tutberidze

Adjunct Professor of Computer Programming

Mikheil (Michael) Tutberidze is a lecturer with 22 years of experience. After graduating from university, he worked in both business and education, enabling him to develop educational programs closely aligned with business requirements. As a software engineer, he participated in the integration of ERP systems in large companies and also developed new software to implement specific business processes. He assists students in acquiring valuable software development skills that will enhance their competitiveness in the market. His research interests include computational methods for business and engineering, as well as security and data analytics.

Jordan Friske

Adjunct Professor of Real Estate

Jordan has practiced Real Estate for over five years in San Diego and the surrounding area, specializing in residential homes as well as rentals. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from South Dakota State University. He has been married for seven years and has three kids.