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Jasmine Reliford is a rising MBA2 interning at Mastercard this summer. She is a Consortium Fellow, serves on the Community Service Committee within Stern Student Government (SGov), and is the VP of Admissions for the Social Impact and Sustainability Association (SISA) and the VP of Corporate Relations for the Association of Hispanic and Black Business Students (AHBBS).

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

Once a Girl Scout, Always a Girl Scout

For as long as I can remember, I have been driven by the force to do “good”. This drive comes from my 12 years as a Girl Scout—there are stories my mom could tell you of kindergarten Jasmine boxing up her Christmas gifts and birthday presents to donate them to the children’s hospital or the homeless shelter (a tendency that I continue to this day). This innate drive to change the world around me is all consuming, yet has evolved over time. I have become more sophisticated and tactical in how I hope to enact change in the world.

It is estimated that it will cost up to $70 Trillion to achieve the Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) set by the UN.  The capital throughout the private and government sector far surpasses that of the social sector. A social impact person going to a top finance program always results in a “oh that’s interesting…” from those who do not understand the ethos of Stern or how businesses are evolving.

Learning How to Disrupt the Social Impact Business Models

In my Stern application, I spoke of the allocation of capital and how it effects mobility out of poverty, access to healthcare and education, and so many more other causes I am passionate about. The landscape of how players are engaging with the communities they operate in is changing; defining CSR initiatives such that they are integrated into bottom line results is top of mind for a lot of corporations. Balancing altruism and monetization could be viewed as opposing philosophies, but learning how to meld them into a cohesive strategy is why I chose Stern.

A social mindset is instilled in you the first week of LAUNCH—former investment bankers, consultants, and marketers rally to determine a sustainable business solution that solves a societal need. This push to think creatively towards not only business issues but world issues is the embodiment of Stern. The products and business models that are emerging are shifting the way businesses, governments and society all come together to uplift every facet of humanity. When I see innovations such as Rent the Runway and Lyft, I see disruptors forcing their industries to move towards sustainable fashion and how to provide gig workers a way to engage in commerce in a way never done before. Stern is a space where ideas come together to create the future world around us.

Doing Well by Doing Good

I chose Mastercard for my internship because of my background in payments, the Stern network throughout the firm, and, most importantly, because of their commitment to financial inclusion. They have dedicated resources and expertise on focusing on how to bring the poorest people around the world into the economy through payment systems, blockchain solutions, healthcare innovations, and startup capital. An EVP, and Stern Alum, once described the CEO as a “social justice warrior working in the private sector”. Between that description and a Mastercard campaign with Beyoncé, I was sold for my summer internship.

Few for-profit organizations have integrated social considerations in to their strategy so intricately. For Mastercard, doing well by doing good is more than a tagline, it is literally a way of life for small (or micro) merchants and entrepreneurs who historically had challenges accessing capital and engaging in commerce; you cannot capitalize on the internet of everything if the financial system does not include everyone.

Mastercard is among the leading firms to merge altruism within their business model. I am grateful I get to intern for a company that is continuing to innovate in a way that this former Girl Scout can get behind. The leadership of Mastercard believes doing well by doing good is the future of business—and it is.

Read More on What Mastercard Does in the Financial Inclusion Space

Mastercard & Financial Inclusion

Mastercard’s Center for Inclusive Growth

Evan Foo is a rising MBA2 and interning at Macquarie this summer. He is specializing in Finance and Leadership & Change Management and is a member of the Asian Business Society, Graduate Finance Association, and the Stern Private Equity Club.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

Stern Transition
Growing up, I did not imagine I would one day be working in a bank. My journey has taken me from a budding entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, a venture capitalist for the Singapore government and a CEO of a wireless speaker business to becoming a student of finance at Stern and in Wall Street. Prior to Stern, I had developed a keen understanding of early stage business and finance, but wanted the complete picture of the corporate lifecycle, and resolved to learn firsthand Wall Street’s role in shaping global companies and markets.

With its reputed strength in finance and location in the heart of New York City, Stern provided the perfect opportunity to make this transition. Connecting these dots in my career led to my summer in investment banking with Macquarie being an ideal platform for continued development.

Choosing Macquarie
One of the first considerations when recruiting for investment banking is to understand the nuances of each firm, and where your fit lies. I was first attracted to Macquarie because of its unique merchant banking function, under the Principal Transactions Group (PTG). Macquarie not only provided transaction advice and debt financing, but could also use its balance sheet to make equity investments in companies. Macquarie thus offered the best of both worlds and slightly more. The stability and resources of a bulge bracket bank, the work experience of a boutique (through leaner deal teams) and the ability to forge unique relationships with clients and sponsors.

The second is to determine what you want from your summer experience. The leaner teams at Macquarie provided the hands-on experiences I was looking for. Being able to work directly with Managing Directors, build models and interact with clients were big draws for me. Having gotten along well with the bankers from the firm and demonstrated technical competency for the job, I was offered a summer associate role in the Financial Institutions Group (FIG). The managing director of the fintech team was from Stern, and I looked forward to working with him.

Macquarie Experience
Walking past the revolving doors for the first time, tales of endless summer work and play from predecessors set the foundation on which expectation was built. My peers comprised of former investment managers, bankers, models, and engineers, yet everyone started on a level playing field during the first week of training. Soon we would be caught up in the whirlwind of work, volunteering, baseball games, charity runs and summer outings to managing directors’ homes, all of which presented various aspects of life in the industry. Staffers (typically Vice Presidents in charge of assigning projects and managing work flow within a group) protected our time for such events that not only provided reprieve from work but also an opportunity to deepen relationships with colleagues outside the work environment. Playing soccer with colleagues before dipping into the pool on a hot summer day was a personal highlight. All in a day’s work.

The workspace was aptly called the bullpen, the arena where everyone sat, from analysts to managing directors. Observing first-hand how a managing director operates and manages clients daily was already a key learning point for me. My day-to-day responsibilities throughout the internship would evolve from due diligence and industry research to managing analysts, building financial models, and co-leading a cross-border buy-side deal. The buy-side transaction offered the deal experience I had so desired, as I was involved in a critical stage of the deal and worked directly with a managing director. Another project with the PTG team was a welcomed bonus and it provided additional exposure across groups.

Take-aways
Walking past the revolving doors for the last time, it was comforting to know my contributions were appreciated and recognized by my team. Our buy-side progressing to the final phase made all the hard work pay off. Make no mistake about it, investment banking is a demanding job, the people we work with and the contacts we can call on make all the difference. I am therefore very thankful for the support provided by the Stern banking community in my group, firm, cohort, and across Wall Street, that has helped define my recruiting process and summer experience. In the same way, I hope to pay it forward.

Francois Anderson is a rising MBA2 and interning at Colgate-Palmolive this summer. He is specializing in Marketing and Strategy and is a member of the Graduate Marketing Association and Stern Speaks.

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

This summer, I was an intern at Colgate-Palmolive, a global household and consumer products company that is headquartered in New York City. The NYC location was one of my main attractions to the company. Having lived in NYC for the past 9 years, this city has become my home. Though I am open to idea of moving for job opportunities, I am not ready to leave NYC. Therefore, an internship in the city was important to me. Beyond the company’s location, it was also important for me to work at a global company since the world in which we live is becoming more and more globalized. I got to know Colgate-Palmolive through corporate presentations, company visits, and conversations with several employees at the company. I loved the company’s emphasis on teamwork and collaboration. Most important, throughout the entire recruiting process with the company, I was convinced that it was the right fit for me. Therefore, I relished the opportunity to work at Colgate-Palmolive for the summer.

This summer, I worked specifically in Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals North America (COP), a subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive whose mission is to drive active brand recommendations to grow consumer sales and drive sales for prescription and over-the-counter products, as well as in-office products. In this exciting mission for COP, I learned how to develop strategic plans that will help to drive the fluoride category and increase penetration in dental offices. I also learned how to put in place tactical initiatives that will help drive sales and prescription.

My main summer project was to ideate, develop, and implement the 5Ps strategy for PreviDent varnish in the US. Working with various cross-functional teams, I was tasked with developing a more comprehensive pricing scheme for our offerings and creating strategies for product innovation cross-category promotions to drive sales, specifically within pediatric offices. I also worked on developing new communication to be more appealing and relevant to pediatric patients. Finally, I created strategies to expand our distribution within and beyond dental offices.

I applied lessons from my MBA coursework to successfully execute my summer project. Classes that helped me prepare for my summer internship included Marketing, Strategy, Brand Strategy, and Marketing Planning and Strategy. Though this class list is not exhaustive, these classes helped me develop the critical and analytical skills and the overall confidence needed to be successful in my summer internship. They helped me frame issues and tasks within the context of the larger goals of the department and company, which helped to maintain a certain level of focus when developing strategies. Beyond coursework, GMA’s Mock Madness prepared me well, not only for the interview process, but also for the summer internship. Mock Madness is a week-long intensive interview prep series where students drill each other on interview questions and offer open and honest feedback on areas of improvement. The knowledge and skills I developed in Mock Madness enabled me to quickly understand what was required of me to be successful within the internship.

As I reflect upon the summer, I am happy to say that my internship experience was a successful one. My experience exceeded my expectations and I am happy to have interned at Colgate-Palmolive. I was also adequately prepared for the internship, thanks to my Stern coursework and GMA.

Daniel Villaveces is a rising MBA2 and interning at QuintilesIMS this summer. He is specializing in Entrepreneurship & Innovation and is a member of the Stern Healthcare Association, Stern Student Government, and the Management Consulting Association

NYU Stern’s “Summer Internship Series” sheds light into Sternies’ internship experiences. Posts are written by rising MBA2s who are currently working at their summer internship.

People who’ve done their MBA often say it was a transformative experience for them and that they wish they could do it all over again. After having completed one year of school, and 70% of my summer internship, I have to say I wholeheartedly agree with them. I have learned more about myself in the last year or so than I have in any other year of my life. A large part of these lessons has come from applying to and doing my internship in consulting.

It all started with my dissatisfaction in my prior career in medicine. After I gathered the courage to switch careers, despite having a great opportunity in my old career, I was somewhat lost. I had devoted over 10 years of my life to learning and practicing medicine, and this was the first time I had even considered doing something else. After reaching out to my network, talking to others who had left medicine before me and reading way too many articles titled “7 things you should do before you switch careers,” I decided I wanted to be a management consultant. This path allowed me to have an impactful career while being exposed to and learning about different aspects of business, something that I felt a career in industry could not give me.

Better men than me have written about the process of getting an internship in consulting at Stern, so I will save you the details. I will only say that it is a long and arduous process that starts early in your first semester and ends well after first semester is long gone. (Pro tip: don’t come to school with the plan of figuring out what you want to do, start doing research about potential post-graduation careers, and how to get there, before you get to school). It is also a process that required me to be genuine and deliberate about my career choice, so it forced me to think long and hard about what matters most to me in life – and it is through that self-reflection that I ultimately learned the most valuable lessons.

Even though the process was demanding (or perhaps because of it), it was extremely rewarding to see my efforts pay off when I was offered a position at QuintilesIMS doing healthcare consulting. The 7 weeks I have spent there have taught me many lessons. The first one is, as they say when you’re running a race, to trust your training. I have often amazed myself at how much I’ve learned in two semesters of business school, especially considering I had no prior business experience. The second is that you should see your internship as another huge learning experience. Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know,” to ask questions and to meet as many people as you can. Ultimately, your internship is where you get to try out a career for 10 weeks, so you better make sure you put it to the test. After all the self-reflection you did prior to the MBA, you owe it to yourself.

I’d like to close by saying that there is obviously more to my MBA experience than I could fit into a blog post about my internship. If you want to know more about any of it (e.g. what is it like to be an international student? What are the best places to go running in the city? How to survive on 50c/day in NYC? What are the 7 things you should do before you switch careers?), please don’t hesitate to contact me this fall at mbaga@stern.nyu.edu. Until next time!