Celebrating UW Tacoma’s Class of 2026

Riddhi Bajaj

Master of Science in Business Analytics

Riddhi Bajaj has never been afraid of stepping into unfamiliar territory.

Originally from Guwahati, India, Bajaj arrived at UW Tacoma with an impressive foundation already in place, including a master's degree in venture financing and new venture development from the National University of Singapore.

What drew Bajaj to the Milgard School of Business was a new challenge: learning how data, analytics and artificial intelligence can transform the way organizations make decisions.

But what she found was even better.

Alongside a community of faculty, peers and industry leaders who encouraged her to explore new ideas and tackle increasingly complex challenges, Bajaj deepened her technical skillset with award-winning results.

A member of the 2026 Husky 100 and recipient of the Milgard Scholar Award, Bajaj also earned the grand prize at this year’s inaugural HuskyHack, an all-day software development sprint and 24-hour fintech innovation challenge hosted by the Milgard School of Business’ Center for Business Analytics and Sound Credit Union. Competing independently against more than 100 participants, she created CardGenie, an AI-powered tool that helps users navigate credit card rewards and spending decisions.

Throughout her graduate studies, Bajaj took on rigorous coursework in programming, machine learning and statistical modeling, strengthening her ability to connect data with decision-making and fresh tools to solve the most pressing issues in business. A summer elective learning Python marked a turning point for Bajaj, revealing new possibilities for combining business strategy with technology at the dawn of an AI era.

For Bajaj, graduating from UW Tacoma marks the culmination of a period defined by growth. She plans to build a career at the intersection of data, technology and business strategy, helping organizations use artificial intelligence and analytics to make meaning for customers, communities and the future.

Christopher Briden

Doctorate in Educational Leadership

As a child, Christopher Briden listened to his grandfather’s stories in Twulshootseed: one southern name of Lushootseed, the ancestral language of Coast Salish tribes spoken throughout the Puget Sound.  

Today, Briden ensures that future generations can hear those stories, too — just as they were told.  

Briden is a Twulshootseed language teacher, a member of the Puyallup Tribe of Indians and a graduate of UW Tacoma's Educational Leadership doctoral program.

His work revolves around a question that’s guided both his teaching and his research: What can places teach us about who we are? 

The answer, he believes, lies in the relationships between language, culture, family and land.

Briden's path to that question, however, was anything but conventional.  

Before beginning doctoral studies, he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in early music from Indiana University, where he studied and performed on the viola da gamba. Along the way, he continued his cultural studies, received heart surgeries, lost his father and deepened his commitment to preserving and teaching Twulshootseed. 

At UW Tacoma, his research explored connections between place, culture and family through Native Puget Sound ways of knowing and traditional Twulshootseed narratives. 

A defining part of Briden's doctoral experience was his participation in the Muckleshoot Cohort of UW Tacoma's Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership program. Created through a partnership between UW Tacoma's School of Education and Muckleshoot Tribal College, the cohort offers a rare doctoral experience centered on Indigenous leadership, Indigenous scholarship and community knowledge.  

Learning alongside fellow tribal leaders and educators from across the region, Briden found an academic community where Indigenous ways of knowing were not treated as an addition to the curriculum, but as a foundation for leadership, research and service. For Briden, that experience strengthened both his scholarship and his connection to the teachings that have guided Coast Salish communities for generations. 

Outside of his research, you can find Briden on the water as captain of the swaq’ʷsəb canoe family, tending to his orchids at home or studying the language and stories that continue to inform his work. 

Through teaching, research and community leadership, Briden is helping ensure that language, history and cultural knowledge remain alive for future generations. His work carries forward stories that have always belonged to this place so that others might learn from them.

Mia Gabriella Escobar

Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with a minor in Global Engagement

Mia is an accomplished scholar and Global Honors graduate who has received some of the university’s highest honors, including the Outstanding Sophomore and Outstanding Junior in Mathematics awards. This spring, she received three prizes at the annual Math Major Awards: Best Capstone Paper, for her research on three-dimensional dispersive waves; Best Senior Award, for outstanding promise amongst the senior class; and the Mathematical Growth Award for persistence in the study of mathematics.

“This feels surreal,” she wrote after being named as a member of the 2026 Husky 100. “I remember seeing these announcements all the way back in middle and high school and being struck by all of the amazing things students at the UW were doing. There are no words. I am just so thankful to everyone who has supported me to get to this point.”

Mia’s achievements at UW Tacoma opened doors to nationally competitive research opportunities. In 2025, she was selected for the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM)-Simons Undergraduate Summer Research Program, where she studied quantum spin chains at the University of Hartford. Her studies have led to numerous presentations at academic conferences and institutions, including the 2025 Global Engagement Conference at UW Tacoma, the Fifth Biennial Meeting of the Pacific Northwest Section of SIAM, the Flatiron Institute in Manhattan, the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Washington, D.C., and the Northwest Undergraduate Mathematics Symposium at UW Bothell, where she was awarded best presentation.

Mia’s scholarship is matched by her commitment to community service. She works to make math more accessible to learners, volunteering at the Tacoma Math Festivals, where she facilitated math-based activities for K-12 students at Pacific Lutheran University, Lincoln High School, and UW Tacoma. Mia also served as the UW Tacoma Math Club president and as a quantitative tutor at UW Tacoma’s Teaching and Learning Center. For volunteering more than 300 hours of her time, Mia received the Husky Volunteer Service Award – Gold Medallion.

This autumn, Mia will continue her journey as a master's student in Applied and Computational Mathematics at UW’s Seattle campus: “I found my passion for mathematics at UW Tacoma, and it feels fitting that I would move to the next step through the UW.”

Kendra Jenkins

Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, Finance

Kendra Jenkins believes wholeheartedly that financial literacy can change lives.

A returning student with a career spanning fiduciary, estate and wealth operations, Jenkins came to UW Tacoma with extensive professional experience and an insatiable desire to deepen her expertise. At the same time she began her studies, she became a licensed insurance broker, adding another chapter to a career built around helping people navigate important financial decisions.

A first-generation college student, Jenkins balanced coursework alongside significant responsibilities at home and in her community. While pursuing her degree, she worked with homeless families in a family shelter, helped care for her mother-in-law during a period of declining health and remained deeply committed to her family, including her husband and their four children — ages 17, 19, 25 and 29.

The following year brought profound loss when her mother-in-law passed away just before the start of the autumn quarter. Despite the intensity of her grief, Jenkins continued showing up for her classes, her family and the future she worked so hard to realize.

Like so many Tacoma Huskies, community became a cornerstone of Jenkins’ college experience. As a financial wellness ambassador for her fellow first-generation students, she found encouragement, mentorship and belonging in the Office of First Gen.

“Being a first-generation college student is more than earning a degree,” Jenkins wrote. “It is carrying responsibilities while pursuing education, and continuing forward even when the path feels unfamiliar.”

Jenkins’ path was defined by leadership and service, including a term as president of the Finance Student Association. She taught financial literacy to numerous South Sound communities and presented at the 2025 Washington State Department of Financial Institutions’ Next Generation of Financial Leaders. In recognition of her success, Jenkins was named to the 2026 Husky 100.

After graduation, Jenkins plans to become a certified financial education instructor, pursue a Master of Science in personal financial planning and eventually work in estate planning and probate law. Her goal is to help families build financial security, create opportunity and invest in future generations.

“Graduating from UW Tacoma means more than earning a degree,” Jenkins reflected. “It represents resilience, growth and the fulfillment of a dream that perseveres through caregiving, love, loss and life’s unexpected challenges.”

Moira Kelley

Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with dual minors in Political Science and Global Engagement

Moira Kelley started her UW Tacoma journey not knowing a single person on campus.

Determined to change that, she committed to attending university events and embracing as many opportunities as she could.

In the process, she discovered that creating community is far less intimidating when you’re willing to take the first step and put in an effort to connect.

Soon, Kelley became a familiar and highly visible face on campus. In her first year, she ran for — and was elected — student body vice president of the Associated Students of UW Tacoma. She served for two years as a resident assistant at Court 17, the university’s residence hall, where she helped foster connection and support among her peers.

Kelley also pursued opportunities to expand her network and her horizons, including the Dressel Scholars Program and the Global Honors Program, UW Tacoma’s interdisciplinary campus honors program. She even reactivated the Management Club and served as president of the Pride Pack, where she led efforts to create inclusive programming and strengthen student belonging across campus.

Committed to self-funding her education, Kelley juggled almost a dozen different jobs throughout her college career, sometimes holding as many as five positions at once. Even with such a packed schedule, she made it a priority to choose roles that would help her learn and move closer to her long-term goals, including internships, on-campus employment, and other experiential learning opportunities.

Through it all, Kelley also managed a chronic health condition, and she met each challenge with the resilience, determination, and integrity that defines the Tacoma Huskies' experience.

As she graduates with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and dual minors in Political Science and Global Engagement, she plans to launch her career in event management and community engagement. Her goal is to continue building spaces where people feel connected and part of something bigger than themselves.

Jai Shri Krishna Sharma

Master of Science in Accounting

A member of the 2026 Husky 100, Jai calls himself a “Husky for life.”

Before arriving at UW Tacoma, he had already built a career focused on strengthening financial stewardship, ensuring compliance and developing systems that help organizations thrive. For years, he dreamed of studying in the United States. Through the Milgard School of Business, he finally found that opportunity thousands of miles from home.

A first-generation college student, Jai arrived determined to deepen his expertise in accounting, financial systems and emerging technologies. Along the way, he discovered a broader purpose rooted in service, leadership and community impact.

His contributions quickly extended beyond the classroom. Jai served as treasurer of the Association of Indian Students and became deeply involved in volunteer work across campus and the South Sound. Through more than 350 hours of service, he worked to address food insecurity, support community members through free tax preparation services and create opportunities for student engagement and belonging.

His commitment earned some of UW Tacoma's highest honors, including the 2026 Gift of Service Award, presented annually to a single student whose service has made an extraordinary impact on the community. He also received the Husky Volunteer Service Award Gold Medallion, the Husky Volunteers Outstanding Contribution to Volunteer Service Award and was named Accounting Student of the Year in the Master of Science in Accounting program. His classmates selected him to serve as the student speaker at the 2026 Master of Science in Accounting hooding ceremony.

Jai recently accepted a position as Director of Finance for Nourish Pierce County, an organization that supported the UW Tacoma mobile food bank during his time as a student. What began as receiving support evolved into volunteering, and now into a career dedicated to sustaining that impact for others.

"I came to UW Tacoma to advance my career," Jai reflected. "What I found was a space that challenged me to think beyond success and focus on community service, building and nurturing relationships, leadership and the impact we can have on others."

Kailey Lawless

Bachelor of Arts in Social Welfare with a minor in Criminal Justice

Kailey Lawless came to UW Tacoma with plans to build a career in state government. 

Her vision for the future started to shift when she discovered the university’s newly launched Husky Post-Prison Pathways program, also known as HP3.

Having experienced the justice system firsthand, HP3 offered Lawless more than just support. It gave her a sense of community and purpose. She became a peer navigator, helping current and formerly incarcerated students progress through college life and overcome obstacles that often arise along the way.

Lawless’s leadership style is shaped by her own lived experience, and after overcoming personal challenges including addiction, homelessness, and domestic violence, she focused on recovery and went back to school, using education as the foundation to rebuild her life.

At UW Tacoma, Lawless became known as an advocate and a leader. She represented the School of Social Work & Criminal Justice as a senator in the Associated Students of UW Tacoma and took on the role of president for the Formerly Incarcerated Student Association. In both positions, she worked to create a campus where justice-impacted students could find a sense of belonging and support.

Lawless’s impact extends beyond the campus. She works as an overnight case manager at the YMCA of Greater Seattle, where she supports youth in transitional housing. She also serves as chair of the Communications and Outreach Subcommittee for the Washington State Behavioral Health Advisory Council.

As she graduates with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Welfare and a minor in Criminal Justice, Lawless, who was also named to the 2026 Husky 100, is focused on making higher education and reentry pathways more accessible for others. She works full-time at Pierce College as a Community-Based Education Navigator, helping to open doors for those who have historically faced barriers to access.

Having navigated the court system herself, Lawless plans to attend law school to become a stronger advocate for others. She credits higher education with saving her life and says it instilled in her a commitment to lifelong learning, one she will carry forward as she continues working to transform systems and expand opportunity.

Jannat Musawi

Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Bachelor of Arts in Social Welfare with a minor in Global Engagement

Jannat Musawi was just 11 years old when she arrived in the United States from Iraq, starting over with her family in a place that felt entirely new.

It was an onslaught of change for someone so young — new language, new school, new culture — but Musawi let her curiosity lead the way.  

Her openness helped her navigate the classroom, ask big questions and nurture meaningful relationships long before she ever arrived at UW Tacoma. That same spirit of inquiry became the thread connecting nearly every chapter of her journey on campus.

Now graduating with dual degrees in psychology and social welfare and a minor in global engagement, Musawi has spent her years as a Tacoma Husky immersed in service, leadership and community building. As one of UW Tacoma’s most engaged student leaders, Musawi served as president of the Middle Eastern South Asian Association, vice president of the Student Social Work Organization, ambassador for the Next Generation Civic Leader Corps, a peer success mentor and a tutor of fellow students in The Writing Center. 

Early in her education, Musawi imagined returning to Iraq to help address challenges facing her home country. As her studies deepened and her civic engagement broadened her worldview, she developed a richer understanding of how communities confront complex social issues and create lasting change. 

Cut to today, and Musawi hopes to realize that vision through social work and community-based service, with a particular interest in supporting youth and addressing the impacts of generational trauma. 

Family remains a driving force at the heart of her journey, providing Musawi with an engine of encouragement that sustains her through every moment of uncertainty. Forever in her corner, Musawi’s support system continually reinforced one of her most deeply held beliefs — that education can create opportunities for individuals and entire communities all at once. 

As she prepares for grad school and a future in social work, Musawi carries forward the same mindset that first helped her navigate a new country all those years ago: stay curious, stay open and keep moving toward the people and opportunities that will change you for the better.

Jake Ness

Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, Finance

After spending years away from the classroom serving in the U.S. Army, Jake Ness wasn’t sure what returning to school would look like.

Once he arrived at UW Tacoma, Ness chose to immerse himself in his studies. His peers in the Milgard School of Business — classmates he saw regularly in shared courses — inspired him to stay invested in his education and explore opportunities beyond the classroom.

Through his community outreach work, Ness learned that a variety of resources are available to support people experiencing housing and food insecurity, but those who need them most often don’t know where to find them.

In search of a solution, he taught himself how to use modern development tools to build “Selfless-Ness,” a mobile app designed to help volunteers connect unhoused individuals with essential resources and services. The project earned him first place and the Courage Award at the 2025 Veterans Incubator for Better Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition.

Ness held several leadership roles throughout his time as a Tacoma Husky. He served as chief investment officer of the Student-Managed Investment Fund and vice president of the Finance Student Association, while also participating in case competitions to sharpen his skills in rapid problem-solving.

As he graduates with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration in Finance, along with dual minors in Business Data Analytics and Technical Communication, Ness ranks among the top students in his class. He plans to build a career in finance and analytics that emphasizes ethical leadership while expanding access to financial knowledge and opportunity.

One of the most gratifying experiences of his college journey, Ness says, was stepping into a backstage role as a mentor and coach to other students. As a result, he helped the team representing UW Tacoma in this year’s international case competition secure a top-three finish for the first time in a decade.

For Ness, however, success has never been about the accolades or recognition. It’s driven by a desire to lift others up as you rise.

Because, as he puts it, “If you have the time to help other people, why would you not?”

Samuel Peña-Rojas

Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration, Finance

Samuel Peña-Rojas likes to understand how things work. 

Sometimes that means analyzing budgets, financial reports and funding proposals.  

Sometimes it means producing reggaeton beats that serve up Bad Bunny energy. 

Either way, his approach is remarkably similar: take something apart, learn how the pieces fit together and figure out how to make it better. 

As a first-generation student majoring in business administration and finance with a minor in business data analytics, Peña-Rojas set out to earn his degree without knowing what to expect from his college experience. After arriving on campus, he quickly learned that success depended on asking questions, seeking opportunities and staying open to the lessons cloaked in less-than-familiar situations. 

Over time, uncertainty became one of his greatest teachers. 

Before transferring to UW Tacoma, Sam, who had once avoided speaking in front of groups, eventually found himself addressing thousands of people at Pierce College's commencement ceremony. The experience transformed how Peña-Rojas saw himself and reinforced the impact mentors, advisors, and peers can have on a student's trajectory, both personally and professionally. 

At UW Tacoma, Peña-Rojas channeled personal growth into impact-driven leadership. As ASUWT Director of Finance and chair of the services and activities fee committee, he helped oversee millions of dollars in student funding and played a key role in restoring the committee to a balanced budget. The work required hard conversations, forecasting the future and big-picture thinking, but he remained focused on a simple aim: creating more opportunities for Tacoma Huskies. 

After graduation, Peña-Rojas plans to continue building his expertise in finance while pursuing work that helps organizations make meaningful, people-centered decisions. His guiding philosophy remains unchanged: leave every place better than you found it. Every budget, every project and every opportunity becomes a chance to do exactly that.

Qaturi Vaughn

Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering

The people who inspired Qaturi Vaughn to become an engineer never taught a class or spent a day in the field. 

They were family members who encouraged her when coursework became overwhelming. Mentors who answered questions she didn't know she was supposed to ask. Friends and peers who reminded her that she belonged in spaces where she sometimes felt out of place. 

That unyielding support shaped the way Vaughn moved through her time at UW Tacoma. 

As a first-generation student pursuing a degree in electrical engineering and a minor in business data analytics, Vaughn learned to balance a demanding schedule that included research, internships, leadership roles, volunteer work and the realities of everyday life.  

The pace was relentless, but so was her determination. 

Along the way, she discovered that some of the most meaningful engineering work happens far beyond the classroom walls. 

Through a solar energy research project for UW Tacoma’s Giving Garden, Vaughn helped troubleshoot an off-grid solar energy system and explore ways to improve energy storage and reliability in the campus community garden. The project connected technical problem-solving with community impact and sparked an interest in power engineering that continues to guide her career goals today. 

Internships with Boeing, Intel and Tacoma Power expanded that vision even further. Each experience offered a different perspective on engineering, helping Vaughn recognize where her expertise could make the greatest difference.

As for her proudest moments on campus, they happened outside of the lab.

Through student organizations and campus leadership, she helped create opportunities for students to connect, learn from leading professionals and build confidence in their own journeys. She remembers what it felt like navigating college without a roadmap. Creating support systems for others became part of her mission. 

After graduation, Vaughn plans to pursue a career in power engineering, focusing on utilities, renewable energy and infrastructure. She hopes to help build energy systems that communities can depend on for generations. Her degree represents years of hard work, but it also reflects the encouragement of family, the strength of community and the belief that every challenge can become a stepping stone for someone willing to keep moving forward.