Forté Team

Elissa Sangster

CEO

Elissa Sangster serves as CEO of Forté and brings to the role extensive knowledge of issues affecting women's abilities to seek, prepare for and attain business leadership positions, drawn from her prior experience as Assistant Dean and Director of the MBA Program at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. There she oversaw all activities related to the full-time McCombs MBA program including marketing, admissions, student services, and alumni relations. Before McCombs, Elissa was Assistant Director of the MBA Program at Texas A&M University’s Mays School of Business.

Daniel Garza

Vice President, Technology and Data Analytics

Daniel is the Vice President, Technology and Data Analytics, managing Forté’s technology infrastructure, including website, donation platform, Salesforce CRM, learning management system, productivity, and collaboration tools, as well as driving the organization’s data strategy. He brings almost 10 years of work in the technology industry, including working for Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard, and almost 20 years of experience in higher education. He has extensive experience in management education as he served as the Assistant Dean for the full-time MBA program at the University of Texas at Austin and Executive Director for the undergraduate business program at the University of Denver, where in both roles he oversaw recruitment marketing, admissions, academic advising, student affairs, and career services.

Arrion Rathsack

Vice President, Programs

Arrion is the Vice President, Programs at Forté, leading a team responsible for developing and implementing programs across college, pre-MBA, MBA and professional audiences. This includes content development, program management, event operations, and enrollment marketing.

Prior to Forté, Arrion acquired more than 15 years of experience in graduate business education including strategic planning, recruiting/admissions, student services, and alumni relations at major public and private universities, including the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas in Austin, W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, and the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. Arrion earned a BSBA in Business from the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona.

Katie Stanfield

Vice President, Marketing

Katie is the Vice President of Marketing and Enrollment Management at Forté, leading a team responsible for the organization’s brand, communications, and PR strategy, as well as enrollment marketing for college, pre-MBA, MBA, and professional programs.

Katie spent more than 15 years in leadership roles at Kaplan, launching projects and leading teams within campus marketing, events, product marketing, strategic partnerships, and campaign development. She served as the National Director of Sales and Marketing at Applerouth Tutoring, further developing her expertise in social media, digital marketing, demand generation, and funnel management. Katie earned her BS in Nutritional Sciences from Texas A&M University and her MS in Chemistry from Sam Houston State University.

Mariska Morse

Vice President, Development

Mariska is the Vice President, Development, leading a team responsible for all aspects of Forté’s fundraising initiatives, including securing and managing academic and corporate partnerships, expanding donor identification, cultivation, and stewardship, and securing financial support from grants and foundations.

With over 25 years of experience, Mariska has spent her career advocating for gender equity. As a member of the Forté start-up team and second employee, Mariska has impacted its growth through her leadership roles in marketing and corporate relations. Prior to Forté, she led the Women in Business Initiative at Michigan’s Ross School of Business. Most recently Mariska completed a Master of Liberal Arts with a concentration in Gender Studies at Tulane University and led the seed capital raise and operational set-up for a new business she co-founded, Salon22, a social and professional women’s club in New Orleans. Mariska earned her B.A. degree from Boston College and serves on the board of Culture Aid NOLA and the American Marketing Association NOLA Chapter.