Meet Poole’s 2024 Commencement Student Speakers

The Poole College of Management will hold commencement ceremonies for spring 2024 graduates on Thursday, May 2 (graduate), and Saturday, May 4 (undergraduate) at Reynolds Coliseum. Two students — Lily Cairney and Joseph Pinkney — have been selected to deliver remarks to their fellow graduates. Read on to learn more about our student speakers.

Lily Cairney
B.S. in Business Administration, Marketing
Undergraduate Commencement Speaker

Lily Cairney is a business administration major with a marketing concentration. During Lily’s time at Poole College, she was a part of the American Marketing Association and Women in Business student organizations. 

Lily has participated in internships with BOS Digital and Sweet T Picnics. She also volunteered for The Life Rolls On Foundation, the Wounded Warrior Project, the Humane Society and the National Cancer Society. 

Her most memorable experiences at NC State were rushing to the Belltower after both men’s and women’s basketball made it to the Final Four, as well as attending Packapalooza.

After graduation, Lily will be working in a digital marketing position in Raleigh.

Joseph Pinkney
Master of Business Administration
Jenkins Graduate Commencement Speaker

As a Jenkins MBA student, Joseph Pinkney currently works full-time as a Senior Product Manager for Walmart Inc. within the Operations and Supply Chain Management business sector. Additionally, he serves in the United States Air Force Reserves as a Civil Engineering Officer. While at Poole, Joseph’s most memorable experience was attending the Raleigh Residency.

“It laid the foundation of my program’s experience,” he says, “This event spawned many more networking opportunities and brought the program to life.”

After graduation, Joseph will continue working for his current employer and plans to leverage his degree and newly refined skills to progress to the next level within his corporate position.