For some students, the process of exploring a career path begins with a literal journey. And so it was for a group of finance and real estate undergraduates who traveled to New York City on in April 2018 to take part in the Spring Networking Trek. As part of GW’s Real Estate and Finance (REFA) Mentorship Program, these students were treated to a panel discussion and onsite tours of some of New York’s most prestigious firms in real estate and on Wall Street.
The panel discussion, Industry Outlook: The Impact of Corporate Tax Reform and Regulation on Real Estate and Finance, featured GW parent Kenneth Cohen, Managing Director of Real Estate Structured Finance at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch; Matt Cohen, GWSB BBA ’08, MBA ’11, Principal at Prodos Capital Management Principal; Melissa Hall, GWSB BBA ’86, Senior Vice President at Assurant, Inc; and moderator Jeff Silverman, GWSB BBA ’84, Managing Director-Head of Strategic Development, Franklin SystematiQ.
The panel discussion, taking place at The Princeton Club, was a collaboration among REFA, the GW School of Business, the GW School of Business’ Development and Alumni Relations Office, The Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis (CREUA), and the Alumni in Finance & Alumni in Real Estate Industry Networks. New York City holds the largest concentration of alumni in the Real Estate and Finance Industry Networks outside of the Washington, DC metropolitan area and this event provided the opportunity to bring GW real estate and finance alumni together to connect with REFA students and key friends/parents in the real estate and finance communities.
“One of the many benefits of the REFA program is the strong connection formed with alumni in the industry,” says Caitlin O’Brien, GWSB BS ’20, Finance and Economics. “I am extremely grateful to the alumni who took the time to meet us and were willing to teach us about their roles.”
Those mentees who have lined up summer internships were particularly interested in finding out what a typical day entails. “I really enjoyed the trek because we got to see different layers of the industry,” says Zachyriah Boussatta, GWSB BBA ’20, Real Estate. “We heard insight from top executives who had been in the industry for years, as well as analysts who had just graduated. We also got to do a site visit which allowed us to see the tangibility of working in real estate.”
The REFA Mentorship Program was launched in 2008 to offer GW graduates an advantage in two highly competitive fields—real estate and finance. The goal of REFA is not only to provide dedicated mentoring and enhanced career training, but also to help students secure top tier internships and job opportunities.
According to Jeff, many Wall Street firms are now recruiting students in their second semester sophomore year for the all-important internship the summer before senior year. “I still can’t come to terms with the logic of recruiting a student eighteen months out of high school for a rising senior summer internship,” says Jeff, “but it’s a clear sign of the competitiveness in the hiring process.”
Jeff recalls being “on his own” when he landed his first job after graduating and appreciates the value of providing mentorship to help students navigate the process. “There are a number of ways alumni can give back to the university,” he says. “But in my opinion, there is no greater way than mentoring a student.” Jeff feels that mentorship not only provides value to the student and the university, but for the alumnus, it’s “relatively easy and incredibly rewarding on many levels.”
Jeff was thrilled to be invited to moderate this year’s panel discussion. “There are so many talented alumni in the NYC financial services universe qualified to participate,” he says, “so being asked was an honor. Plus, spending two hours with fellow GW alumni and current students on their annual REFA Trek and discussing interesting and timely topics over a glass of wine is a nice way to spend a Thursday evening.”
If you are interested in mentoring a GW student, please contact Rob Valero (Real Estate) at [email protected], or Irina Orlova (Finance) at [email protected].
