Anthonellis Morel ’25: Guided by Mentors, Ready to Lead

Antonellis (Anthony) Morel ’25, a business administration major, wasn’t drawn to studying business strictly for career reasons; he also had a personal interest: “You can apply the knowledge and skills you learn to help yourself with retirement and help your parents and other family members when the opportunities arise.”

Morel started applying what he learned throughout his education by helping JWU and other students by transforming and growing the Wildcat Investment & Finance Initiative (WIFI), a real investment fund that is part of JWU’s endowment. Once he heard about the WIFI — at that time named the Wildcat Investment Value Fund (WIFV) that existed as a course — he immersed himself into transitioning and growing it into a successful, popular student club and learning tool and recruited other students to join too.

How Morel came to join and lead WIFI

Students who participate in the WIFI have an opportunity to learn about and gain experience in financial literacy, investment strategies and portfolio management.

Morel explained what drew him to the WIFI and how he first got involved. “I thought it was the coolest thing ever, not only because you could get internship credits, but also because you learn about investing in the stock market. I was able to shadow students who were participating in it a few times to see what the group did and how it was run.”

When Morel officially joined the WIFI at the beginning of his junior year and he started off as the modeling manager. Most of the students who had been involved with WIFI the previous had graduated so there was a need to draw more in. Morel recruited some of his friends to join and become involved.

It was the semester after Morel joined that the university decided to transition the WIFI from being a course to an official student club which meant there were many changes, considerations and paperwork to deal with — but he was up for the challenge. “In terms of leadership, I had to step up in major ways, because people were counting on me to give them the education and knowledge they needed to help manage the portfolio.”

After just one semester with WIVF, Morel became the portfolio manager with a high level of responsibility. “You're managing a real portfolio for the university, not a simulation, and it is part of our university's endowment. “We report all the way up to the JWU Board of Trustees,” explained Morel.

While still serving as portfolio manager Morel took on the added role of president of the WIFI club. He explained the differences of the roles: “The distinction is that the president is on the club side, managing the student engagement aspects of the club and the portfolio manager manages the actual portfolio.”

Under Morel’s leadership the club saw impressive growth. “When I first came in, there were only five members, and I had brought in four of those who are friends of mine. During my second semester, we jumped to 15 when I became the portfolio manager. And then, in my last semester, we were up to 30 members.” Morel led the club right up until he graduated in December 2025.

Learning from and being mentored by JWU Professionals

Besides all the time Morel spent on courses, homework and the WIVF, he also worked as a part-time student assistant for JWU’s Finance Department during his entire time as a student. Through that position he worked with several administrators and other professional staff. When asked if there were any that he had gotten to know well and that he considered a mentors, the first person he mentioned was Joe Greene ’89,’98 M.S., CPA, vice chancellor and Providence Campus president.

“He and I got very close, expressed Morel about Greene,” “He's such a good person and we have such good conversations. We even did a podcast together. He's easily someone I'd view as a mentor.”

Greene spoke just as highly about Morel:

“Getting to know Antonellis has been one of the real highlights of my time at JWU. He brings a level of determination, curiosity, and integrity that you can feel the moment he walks into a room — always prepared, always sharply dressed and always ready to do the right thing. His passion for the university is genuine, and it shows in the way he engages with people and ideas. When he and Matt [Matthew Regateiro ’25] invited me onto their podcast — it was my first time ever being interviewed — the depth and thoughtfulness of their questions reminded me exactly why our students inspire me every day. Anthonellis represents the very best of JWU: confident, driven and committed to making a meaningful impact.”

(**Laurie - I can try to embed the podcast here)

Morel named several other professionals at JWU as being important to him as a student, employee and club leader. While serving as portfolio manager and president of the WIFI, Morel said he was able to work directly with the club’s advisor Diane Cunha, assistant university controller.

Morel described how, through his work as a student assistant in the Finance Department, he worked with Danielle Santamaria, chief financial officer and Eileen Haskins, university budget director, and considers both of them mentors as well.

Morel’s best JWU experiences

It’s no surprise that Morel considers his involvement and leadership for the WIFI his top experience at JWU. But there was something else, an off shoot of the WIFI, that he said was another amazing experience.

The students who were members of the WiFi club had the opportunity to attend two conferences:
“We went on two trips — the Global Asset Management Education Forum in New York City, right on Wall Street. We also went to the Student Managed Investment Fund Consortium in Chicago, where there were other universities and other student-managed investment funds. There were also a lot of wonderful speakers such as executives from Aflac, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan.

Both of those trips were probably two of the biggest highlights for me at JWU. But I'd also say that in general, meeting very good friends and a lot of very good people — those are all good highlights from the university.”

How JWU prepared Morel for his future career

“The knowledge and skills that you learn, both on the leadership side and then on the technical side with the actual financials, is going to help me massively, because the majority of the positions I aspire to obtain involve investing or finance in some capacity.”

Speaking to the his experience gained as a student assistant and while leading the WIFI, Morel noted:
“The fact that I have experience both on the corporate finance side, from the finance department, and on the actual investment nitty-gritty side from the WIFI, I think I'm very well prepared for what's to come.”

Morel added, “The wonderful thing is that I can transfer and apply a lot of the knowledge and skills I’ve gained to my real life, so that's another added benefit.”

What JWU does best

Now that Morel has graduated, what does he see as JWU’s top strengths?

“JWU gives students a lot of opportunities. On the curriculum side you get to take courses in your major right away. At a lot of other universities, you have to take two years of general education courses first. By that time, you might not be able to switch your major if you decided it wasn’t right for you. At JWU you'll get the opportunity right away to change your major and career path if it doesn’t end up being what you want.”

Morel also mentioned some benefits of JWU outside of the classroom. “There are tons of student clubs and on-campus internships and groups you can join that could be helpful for your career path. And there are no classes on Fridays — that's a wonderful opportunity, having more time to work, do internships, homework or socialize because you have three-day weekends. Overall, I would say providing opportunities to students is something JWU does really well.”

Morel’s career goal and search

“My ultimate career goal is to run my own business,” says Morel. “The real question right now is what that business would be. I have some ideas, and maybe some of them are a little too ambitious, but you can never really stop dreaming, as they say. I would just say that whatever it ends up being, it will help that I have a strong finance and business background.”

Morel added that he did take an entrepreneurship course at JWU and got to know the members of the Launch Pad and to work with Jeff Binczyk, director of the eCenter. And although Morel didn’t enter the Sharkfest competition, he did help some of the members who were competing with their finances and comparing their financials. As always, he’s happy to use what he’s learned to help others.