For Melinda Kramer, professional pivots are nothing new.

That’s how Kramer, a member of Northeastern’s first computer science graduating class, marched from R&D co-ops and Wall Street firms to software consulting and start-up advising. And now, retired from her computing-and-business career, and with her advocacy work and far-flung hiking journeys to keep her busy, it’s worth peering back at the professional trail she’s trekked.

It began during her freshman year as a Northeastern business student.

“Even back then, I had a sense that tech could make a difference in the world,” she says.

“I went on co-op, and being my young self, decided I already knew all of this and needed to try something different,” she reminisces. Luckily, after she pivoted between different science degrees and recognized her interests in math, hardware, and problem solving, Northeastern’s curricula had evolved to match her interests.

“By my senior year, Northeastern had an official computer science college,” she says. “I loved the emerging technology, so I and 18 others became the first graduating class in computer science.”

Shortly thereafter, Kramer began her career on Wall Street, where she developed software for JPMorgan’s mainframe computers.

“It was fascinating to learn about the finance world, but after a few years, I got bored and wanted to try something new, so I pivoted to join a consulting firm,” she recalls. “I realized that I didn’t want to be a software developer, but I did want to be at the intersection of technology and business.

Her tech–business consulting work at Leveraged Technology wouldn’t take Kramer far from the word of software. The financial world was gradually moving online, and to build the tools traders now needed, coding support was essential. In one project, Kramer and her team developed what she called “a new concept in foreign exchange trading” — digital infrastructure for an industry that had conducted its business mostly over the phone. The goals, she says, were efficient record-keeping and faster settlements, which would eliminate failed trades if she could encourage traders to trust the tech.

During her time with the firm, Kramer traveled to Hong Kong and the UK for business, earned her MBA from NYU, and eventually took charge of her department. Then, in the early 90s, she moved to Chicago, where she soon joined Goldman Sachs and built the company’s first web-based money market trading systems. But her longest professional stint would come through one of a handful of her consulting clients.

“I was advising [GCM Grosvenor] while they were running everything out of one massive, sophisticated, incredible Excel spreadsheet,” Kramer recalls. “For growth and management, I advised them to hire someone with tech experience, someone who could systematically develop something to support their portfolio management. And they said, ‘How about you?’”

And so it was. After building software to replace Grosvenor’s behemoth spreadsheet, Kramer spent more than a decade running their new software department, and even hired a Northeastern co-op along the way.

Now, after more than 30 years in tech, Kramer has focused on giving back in retirement. For a while, that took the form of KloudVentures, in which Kramer offered mentorship, networking, and investment to Chicago-area women looking to build tech careers like she had. Now she’s turning much of her focus to her philanthropy and advocacy for women, the LGBTQ community, and disadvantaged children, which began with her co-heading the Chicago chapter of Help for Children.

I was advising [GCM Grosvenor] while they were running everything out of one massive, sophisticated, incredible Excel spreadsheet. For growth and management, I advised them to hire someone with tech experience, someone who could systematically develop something to support their portfolio management. And they said, ‘How about you?

“We raised awareness and money for organizations around the world that worked to prevent and treat child abuse,” Kramer explains. “We raised millions of dollars per year through our business networks, then spent time getting to know local organizations, vetting them, and providing grants.” Now she does similar work with Impact Grants Chicago, an all-female nonprofit with an even wider philanthropic mission. She also advocates for transgender people and communities, typically in the form of one-to-one relationship-building rather than large-scale public philanthropy.

But even in retirement, her computing connection can’t help but come full circle. In 2021, Alex Ernst, one of Kramer’s two children, graduated from Khoury College. And just like his mom, he’s forging a career at the intersection of computing and another field — music in his case, through a software engineering job at Spotify. Through him, as well as her financial support of Khoury College and her old Husky rowing team, Kramer says she’s never lost touch with the university where she first dove into computing.

“I have a soft spot in my heart for Northeastern; it really was a great fit and opportunity for me,” she says. “Northeastern remains core to a lot of my world.”

In the middle of the pandemic, Maggie Xu became a mother. Being an Align graduate enabled her to work in tech roles during that period that helped support her new family while keeping her responsibilities and lifestyle balanced.

You don’t have to be defined by other people, or pretend to be someone else you’re not. And you can still survive and thrive in this industry

Maggie Xu, MSCS ’16

After becoming a father, Navy helicopter pilot Benji Northrop needed a career change. The Align Online program helped him transition into computer science at his own pace, giving him the flexibility to care for his family while pursuing a new degree.

Working full-time while doing grad school is a challenge. It’s a big exercise in time management, and you get to throw an extra wrench into the middle where you’re also a full-time parent. … I needed to be 100% asynchronous and I needed to have commitment from the school … Northeastern had that from day one

Benji Northrop, Align MSCS ’25

Cathy Bilotta began as one of Northeastern’s first computing college students. Now she’s giving back.

In telling the story of Khoury College’s 40th anniversary, it helps to highlight people whose computer science stories bookend those 40 years perfectly.

Cathy Bilotta’s does. She began studying computer science at Northeastern on the eve of the college’s founding, and her son Andrew graduated with his cybersecurity degree from Khoury College just last year. In between, Bilotta amassed a career of remarkable achievement in the aerospace and defense industry, and made a point of mentoring and developing others along the way.

When she began at Northeastern as a computer science student in the early 1980s, she was intent on standing apart from her older brothers, both engineers.

“Personal computers were just starting to come into focus, and I was fascinated by that,” Bilotta recalls. “Northeastern was the only local school that recognized computer science as a separate discipline with its own degree program.”

During her undergraduate years, right around the time Northeastern established the College of Computer Science, Bilotta became interested in applying technology for business solutions, and sought co-ops accordingly. A couple of years after graduation, she landed a position with Raytheon Company, where she spent the next three decades working in information technology, strategic planning, project management and shared services. Among her leadership roles, she led the strategy development for the company’s billion-dollar Global Business Services organization, executing enterprise strategic initiatives to drive transformational change.

Three words that, to me, define my experience at Khoury are interdisciplinary, persistence, and opportunity

Cathy Bilotta, BSCS

“I was supporting manufacturing and business, and I got to rotate through many different roles within the company,” she recalls. “I love diversity of assignments. The worst thing I could do is repeat the same thing over and over.”

As an executive sponsor for the company’s IT leadership development program, Bilotta fulfilled another of her passions: helping the next generation. It was something she’d long wanted to bring to her alma mater, too.

“Northeastern’s Boston campus is one of my happy places,” she says. “I’ll look for any excuse to get back there. I love it, love the energy and the wonderful memories it brings back.”

So when her son, Andrew, enrolled at Khoury College in 2017, Bilotta had another excuse. She joined the Parent Leadership Council, a group of volunteer ambassadors that strives to steer Northeastern’s community outreach and provide feedback on its activities. It also aims to create and strengthen experiential learning opportunities for students, and its members have all contributed financially to further this goal.

After leaving Raytheon during the company’s merger in 2020, Bilotta joined the board of directors for Wellspring House, a Gloucester-based nonprofit that aims to prevent homelessness and inspire people to achieve financial security. She was also elected to the Select Board in her town of Manchester-by-the-Sea, meaning the one-time commuter student can walk to work at the town hall. All the while, Bilotta has continued in her role as an alumni mentor at Northeastern, where she can impart not just the lessons she learned in industry, but those from her “life-changing” co-ops, and from her experience as one of only a few female computer science students in her cohort.

“I’ve accumulated a lot of experience and knowledge, and sharing it is really important,” she says. “I have a special place in my heart for women who are going into this industry. They need a different kind of support sometimes, and I’m happy to help.”

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