Meet the Students
Gabriela “Gaby” Curtiz
Meet Gabriela “Gaby” Curtiz, a student in COBE’s business administration program and Gorongosa National Park’s first female safari guide. Born in Mozambique, Curtiz was raised by a single mother
of five in a small village near the Gorongosa coffee plantation. She took an interest in environmentalism from an early age, and taught herself Portuguese so she could attend school. Following her environmental work in elementary and high school, Curtiz taught herself English so she could take the exam to become certified as a safari guide and pursue higher education. She hopes to take the skills she learns at COBE back home to improve life for the people and wildlife at Gorongosa.
Nicholas Lloyd
Meet Nicholas Lloyd, a COBE student pursuing dual majors in accountancy and finance. Lloyd has been selected as a Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Scholar—an award which recognizes excellent accounting students across America. Beyond the classroom, Lloyd serves as an Honors College Senator in Boise State’s student government, is the vice president of outreach for Beta Alpha Psi and the vice president of finance for Beta Gamma Sigma. He is also a standing member of Phi Kappa Phi, as well as the co-founder of the Special Olympics Club on campus.
Eric Torres-Garcia
Meet Eric Torres-Garcia. Eric is a graduate of COBE’s Bachelor of Business Administration program, as well as the founder of global food-sensation Cocoa Bombs. Torres-Garcia started the company in 2019, after going viral on TikTok with a video showing off his revolutionary new idea for hot chocolate “bombs.” Since its founding, Cocoa Bombs has become a household name, and has expanded to include retail, private-label and direct-to consumer sales, boasting six-figure annual revenue.
David Shin (above) and Jackson Blackwell (right).
Meet David Shin (far right / left) and Jackson Blackwell. Shin and Blackwell are graduates from COBE’s Department of Economics, and are both recipients of the prestigious Truman Scholarship—the premier graduate scholarship for students interested in public service. At Boise State, Shin majored in economics and physics before earning a master’s degree from Tsinghua University and attending Yale Law School. Blackwell majored in economics and political science at COBE before pursuing a Master in Public Affairs at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs.
Christian Perry
Meet Christian Perry, a COBE student who is double-majoring in entrepreneurial management and business administration. In addition to being a COBE student, Perry is an avid entrepreneur, as well as the founder and CEO of ChatterQuant. ChatterQuant is a financial tech company that uses AI to extract valuable insights from social media, news articles and other online sources to be used by investors. In 2022, Perry won an international FinTech award for the company, which was recently acquired by Money.Net, a leading financial data tech company.
Isaiah Grover
Meet Isaiah Grover, a finance graduate from. San Juan Capistrano, California. Grover came to Boise State as a biomedical engineering major. However, his passion for business led him to change majors to finance, in hopes he could learn the skills he needed to start his own business. Shortly after, Grover came up with the idea for a tech marketing company that connects advertisers with gig workers to create mutual benefit. He entered the company in Idaho’s 2022 Entrepreneur Challenge, where it won a $1,000 prize for first runner-up in the Service Track.
Drew Lorona
Meet Drew Lorona is a graduate from COBE’s MBA program, as well as the co-founder of Boise’s Treefort Music Fest. Lorona graduated from COBE in 2012 and started Treefort the same year. Since its founding, the festival has grown to include hundreds of musical acts, and has become one of the defining cultural events of the city. Recently, the organization expanded to open Treefort Music Hall, a year-round live music venue in the heart of downtown Boise. Lorona also co-founded Duck Club Presents, an organization which promotes and supports artists and music in Boise.
Natalie Wilson
Meet Natalie Wilson, a recent graduate of COBE’s online management program. Wilson is an Idaho native and COBE Signature Student—born and raised in a small town in the Magic Valley. As a nontraditional student, Natalie began her career with an associate degree, working at McKee Foods (Little Debbie) before applying to COBE to earn her bachelor’s. Her time in the online Management program helped build her leadership and teamwork skills as she continues to build on her successful career as a marketing specialist.