In honor of Veterans Day, Tuck Women in Business highlights Tuck women who have served or continue to serve in the military. Below, get to know Tuck alumni Amy Florentino T’10, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard Sector New England, and Jen Tietz T’15 who served as a nuclear surface warfare officer in the U.S. Navy.
The mission of Tuck’s Women in Business Club is to foster a community that enables women to achieve personal and professional success. To this end, WIB provides mentoring, networking, and career development throughout the Tuck experience. We also host an annual conference for prospective and current students, alumni, faculty and staff.
Role at Tuck: Adjunct Professor of Management Communication and Client Project Management
Role in the Military: Commander of U.S. Coast Guard Sector Northern New England
My time as a woman in the military has been instrumental to my personal leadership journey. Not only has the experience developed a strong work ethic and values-based leadership focus, it also made me more resilient and confident. I have been extremely lucky to have mentors and coaches from the most junior levels. I found that in the military if you are excited, humble and eager to learn; then people are excited to teach you what they know and groom you for future leadership roles regardless of gender or background. I have also been fortunate to have excellent female role models along the way including my very first shipboard Captain, Anne Ewalt, who expected excellence and rewarded those who rose to the challenge.
Throughout the years, I have developed a personal leadership philosophy based on my experiences. Specifically, I strive to create an environment that motivates, nurtures and values each and every member of my team. I aim to further shared goals and advocate for the crew so that they can do the very best job possible. I am so proud of our team who, in a volatile and uncertain environment, continues to provide the American public with the highest level of mission excellence. Always ready to respond, we strengthen security across the maritime transportation system; protect safety of life at sea along a treacherous coast; and enhance the sustainability of the marine environment through fisheries enforcement and pollution response.
Captain Amy Florentino is the Commander of U.S. Coast Guard Sector Northern New England. She directs all Coast Guard missions across Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and portions of northeastern New York, a region that includes Lake Champlain and a multi-state international maritime border. She oversees more than 600 Coast Guard members at 20 field units across the four-state region and exercises federal authority granted by law and regulation as Captain of the Port, Federal Maritime Security Coordinator, Officer in Charge Marine Inspection, and Federal On-Scene Coordinator.
With 23 years of active-duty service, Capt. Florentino is a seasoned operator with more than nine years of sea time and multiple operational commands. Before taking command of Sector Northern New England, Florentino completed a variety of tours including Deputy Sector Sault Sainte Marie, Officer Candidate School Chief, Commanding Officer CGC Cypress and Commanding Officer CGC Katherine Walker.
Current Roles: VP of Finance and Strategy, Simon Pearce; Tuck FYP Faculty Advisor and Leadership Coach; Founder and Principal, JTWE Consulting LLC
Role in the Military: Commander, U.S. Navy (Nuclear Surface Warfare Officer)
Leading people starting at age 22, many who were older and more experienced than I was, taught me a ton about humility, empathy, active listening, and employing a learning mindset as core tenets of solid leadership. The military is not just a day job. A Sailor’s ability to “show up” to work (especially for a long deployment) involved caring for their physical, emotional, mental, financial, relationship, and spiritual health. Frankly, any good leader, inside or outside the military, recognizes that motivating and leading requires you to take a holistic view of the people you are leading. This has shaped the leader I am and aspire to be.
Jen started her career as a Nuclear Surface Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy where she had many adventures over 13 years of active duty. She graduated from Tuck in 2015 and then spent three years with McKinsey and Company in their London and Washington DC offices where she focused on operations and organizational topics across industries.
After McKinsey, Jen spent two years working in the Tuck Career Services office helping students interested in consulting careers before forging her path as an independent/freelance consultant in 2021. She most enjoys projects with a component of helping a client team work more collaboratively.
Jen has an MBA from Tuck, a Masters in Engineering Management from Old Dominion University and a BS in Math from the U.S. Naval Academy. She lives in Vermont with her daughter and spends much of her free time traveling, gardening, raising chickens, and experimenting with new recipes.
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