
Christina Ferrari
5.0
(15)
Ivy League Higher Ed Specialist & Columbia MBA alumnae
Studied at Columbia Business School
Works at Amazon
Successful clients at
Available Monday at 10:00 PM UTC
I may be available for additional slots, contact me directly.
Questions? Start chatting with this coach before you get started.
Christina's Coaching Offerings
Custom hourly · $249/hr
Get help with Recommendations, Cover Letters, and .
Christina’s MBA Qualifications
Coaches professionally
With an MBA from Columbia Business School and extensive experience in strategy, partnerships, and business operations, I am well-equipped to guide you through the MBA admissions process. My professional journey includes leading partner strategy at tech platform companies, and as a leader in higher education for over a decade. I have a proven track record of building successful programs and partnerships, which translates into helping you craft a standout application. Whether you need assistance with application strategy, essay writing, or interview preparation, I'm here to help you achieve your MBA goals. Let's connect and create a personalized plan for your success!
Christina can help with:
Recommendations
Cover Letters
Resume
General Exploration
Supplementary Materials
Testing & Assessments
School Selection
Essays
Application Strategy
Interviews
Editing
Networking Strategy
Waitlist Strategy
About Christina
I’ve built my career through a series of intentional, non-linear moves, or what I call "a curvy career". Across higher education leadership, global tech, and platform businesses I've led teams and processes from 0 to scale often during moments of uncertainty or transition. Along the way, I’ve had to repeatedly reposition my story: explaining career pivots, navigating layoffs and resets, and making trade-offs between optics and long-term growth. Those experiences shaped how I think about careers not as ladders, but as portfolios of decisions that compound over time. I've had set backs like layoffs, scope changes, and challenging work environments and I work fulltime in tech today. Today, I work at the intersection of strategy, partnerships, and growth while coaching others through similar inflection points. I’m especially drawn to working with people who are high-achieving on paper but struggling to articulate a cohesive narrative, whether for a career pivot, an Ivy-caliber application, or a senior-level role. I value clarity over credentials, conviction over polish, and progress over perfection. I can't wait to hear your story and work with you to find clarification and refine it for your audience.
Why do I coach?
I coach because I’ve seen how often talented, capable people stall not because they lack ability, but because they don’t have language for their experience or a framework for making trade-offs. Most advice focuses on surface-level tactics: resume edits, interview tips, application checklists. What’s usually missing is strategic clarity — deciding who you’re positioning as, what you’re optimizing for, and what no longer serves you. I started coaching to offer what I wish I’d had at multiple points in my own career: someone who could challenge my assumptions, help me articulate change without apology, and translate complexity into a story that held up in real decision-making rooms. Coaching, for me, is about helping people move forward with intention; not chasing prestige, but building momentum they can defend.
Work Experience
Head of Partner Strategy & Operations
Amazon
October 2022 - Present
• Launch and scale partner enablement strategies to accelerate YoY partner managed advertising revenue and own the go-to-market (GTM) plan for partner sales teams across US, EU5, APAC, and IX • Develop and incubate lead generation initiatives to drive partner demand, launch new co-pitching partner programs and enablement strategy including product trainings at scale • Oversee all Strategy and Operations for partner growth strategies with Enterprise and SMB sales teams, including internal and external executive leadership relationships • Design and lead partner business development and co-selling efforts, unlocking $300M in new incremental revenue through global programs for Amazon Ads • Consult and collaborate with internal teams on process improvements, and incubate new initiatives that drive business development for partners at scale Strategic Planning, Performance Metrics and +14 skills
Director
Columbia University in the City of New York
January 2021 - September 2022
• Promoted to lead end-to-end all aspects of campus life for 1,400+ customers including the recruitment, training, policy development, and management of 130+ event staff hosting over 200 events a year • Cultivate stakeholder relationships with senior leadership and strategic partners to develop University-wide initiatives, selected to serve on numerous University committees including the Campus Reopening efforts following COVID-19 • Manage the life-cycle of projects and initiatives focused on enhancing customer engagement and campus/community relations • Continue to perform duties of Assistant Director of Programming & Student Engagement Strategic Planning, Performance Metrics and +17 skills
Assistant Director
Columbia University in the City of New York
August 2017 - December 2021
• Build local and global community partnerships resulting in University-wide campaigns, events, and collaborations across campuses • Oversee office operational budget of $500,000+; manage all aspects of budget management including accounting, forecasting budgets, and negotiating contracts with vendors • Supervise a team of 5 to design and execute plan for supporting 25+ student organizations and other departmental programs • Create and facilitate peer mentoring initiatives, leading to 100% YoY growth for three consecutive years • Design and implement Social Justice Education programming focused on activism and advocacy centering human rights issues domestically and abroad • Coordinated and successfully fund-raised over $20k for new community-based initiatives via grant proposals, crowd-funding, and partnerships with Alumni Relations Strategic Planning, Performance Metrics and +12 skills
MBA Product Intern
Iron Mountain
June 2021 - September 2021
• Created comprehensive Responsible AI Principles and governance documents, benchmark analyses, and conducted interviews with product development teams to determine appropriate company-wide ethical AI strategy • Developed and delivered workshops for InSight Content Services Team on AI/ML ethics and ESG compliance Performance Metrics, Presentations and +8 skills

Product Marketing Management Intern
Meta (Facebook)
March 2021 - May 2021
• Selected from a pool of high-achieving students to support Facebook by completing projects such as Competitor Analyses, Program Ideation & Development, Employee Engagement Strategy in a 10-week volunteer capacity • Designed a training curriculum to educate sales teams about ad revenue potential via short-form video partnerships • Pitched a Final Presentation of Recommendations to business unit leadership to inform a new business plan Performance Metrics, Presentations and +7 skills

Director Leadership Development Programs
Fashion Institute of Technology
September 2015 - August 2017
• Built a campus-wide leadership framework and program portfolio, growing from one program to 50+ initiatives for approximately 10,000 customers • Created and facilitated immersive community engagement opportunities for a total of 250+ customers • Developed and supervised the Leadership Ambassador Team, eight staff members who design leadership development and service opportunities to customers • Coordinated a new leadership training program for 120+ participants • Redesigned the bi-annual retreat, Leadership Weekend, increasing engagement by 60% • Organized training for approximately 150 officers and advisors at the start of each semester • Advised Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society chapter consisting of 1,000 members and grew chapter from the lowest tier, a 1-star level, to the pinnacle 5-star level in two years, winning regional awards for digital engagement and innovative programs Strategic Planning, Coaching and +9 skills
Education
Columbia Business School
Master of Business Administration - MBA, Management & Strategy
Activities and societies: VP, Columbia Women in Business; Technology & Data Analytics Club Venture Capital, Strategy Consulting and +4 skills
Loyola University Chicago
Master of Education (M.Ed.), Higher Education/Higher Education Administration
Presentations
DePaul University
Bachelor, English & Theater Studies
15 Reviews
Overall Rating
5.0
Christina has helped Leland clients get into Columbia Business School
Christina has helped clients get into these companies: