2019-20

Leavey School of Business students have been very busy this summer.  We asked a few of them to share their summer experiences.

Melody Yang
Major: Managment Information Systems
Hometown: Taipei, Taiwan
Graduation Year:  2020

What did you do this summer?  I worked at Zume as a Software Engineer this summer. I mainly contributed to developing Zume Pizza iOS application and other 2 iOS applications. I also wrote a microservice for internal use during my internship.

What was the most memorable part of your summer experience? It'd be collaborating with intelligent colleagues and having access to resources. I was able to explore my career paths by having one-on-ones with senior engineers and executives. My management chain also gave me opportunities to work on different projects. At the end of my internship, I became the first intern to have given a software architecture presentation across the entire engineering organization.

Andy Meger
Major: Economics
Hometown: Fort Collins, Colorado
Graduation Year:  2020

What did you do this summer?  I spent this summer working as the operations intern at Caltrain in San Carlos. During the internship, I utilized Excel macros and Visual Basic to help streamline the submittal process for capital project work along the Caltrain corridor. In addition, I trended and analyzed passenger ridership from field counts conducted on holidays and during different seasons.

What was the most memorable part of your summer experience?  As my internship was part of a broader program, I really enjoyed bonding with the other 20+ interns from all across the United States. I also was able to get a lot of mentoring and direct instruction from the director of my department which I will take with me throughout my entire career.

Patrick Wade
Major: Economics and Finance (Double Major)
Hometown: San Luis Obispo, California
Graduation Year:  2020

What did you do this summer?  This summer I had the privilege to return as an intern for a banking supervision team at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. I worked with other bank examiners to supervise financial institutions and to support the mission of the Federal Reserve to promote the safety and soundness of the US financial system.

What was the most memorable part of your summer experience?  The most memorable part of my experience was learning about all of the critical work that the Federal Reserve does in addition to monetary policy; including community development, education, payment services, and even the launch of its very own podcast!

Brendan Jones
Major: Accounting and Information Systems
Hometown: Sacramento, California
Graduation Year:  2021 

What did you do this summer?  This summer I interned in Cochabamba, Bolivia through the Global Fellows Program in the LSB. There, I worked as a cost analysis intern at an ethical manufacturer of clothing, textiles, and recycled plastics called AHA Bolivia, prepping the company to add five of their products to the all-consuming market of Amazon. I also traveled to many of the beautiful surrounding areas such as Machu Picchu, Uyuni Salt Flats, and I even got to run on The Most Dangerous Road in the world in La Paz.

What was the most memorable part of your summer experience?  The most memorable part of my experience was getting to work side-by-side with the CEO of AHA Bolivia, Anna Hosbein-Aliaga. Anna was born in Grass Valley, California, but after graduating college, she decided to travel the world as a journalist and eventually decided to settle down in Cochabamba to start AHA Bolivia. Her passion, humor, and bright personality made every day working with her a blast and I can't imagine having a better boss.

Katherine Seely
Major: Finance
Hometown: Mercer Island, Washington
Graduation Year:  2020 

What did you do this summer?  This summer, I interned for the second time as a Summer Analyst at Jordan Park Wealth Management in downtown SF. As an analyst, my role is inherently generalist - I work on projects for the investment team, client advisory team, and client service team. I am particularly interested in impact investing, so one of my major projects was helping to build an impact measurement and management framework for the firm.

What was the most memorable part of your summer experience?  The most memorable part of my experience was definitely my fellow interns. We clicked so well! I feel so lucky to come to work every day and hang out with close friends.

Mollie Mertes
Major: Finance
Hometown: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Graduation Year:  2021

What did you do this summer?  This summer I spent five weeks living and serving in Lamin, The Gambia with Starfish International through the LSB Global Fellows Program. Starfish International is a non-profit organization with a mission to uplift Gambian girls through education guided by service to humanity. I aided in teaching different courses throughout the summer and helped the organization prepare for their tenth anniversary and graduation.

What was the most memorable part of your summer experience?  The most memorable part of my experience was making connections with the students of Starfish International. These young women and girls possess an unparalleled love of learning and a remarkable spirit of resilience. Getting to spend each day eating, greeting, playing, singing, dancing, teaching, listening to, and speaking with the people of Starfish International is something I will never forget.

Ashley Ricks
Major: Marketing
Hometown: Morgan Hill, California
Graduation Year:  2020

What did you do this summer? I worked with the Corporate Philanthropy and Inclusion & Diversity teams at Juniper Networks this summer. I had a blast exploring the world of foundation work! I am emerging from this internship fascinated with how big tech in Silicon Valley can make meaning with their abundance and direct resources to communities in need.

What was the most memorable part of your summer experience?  I was able to develop, brand, and execute programming for Juniper employees that ended up raising $7500 for 3 of Juniper's non-profit partners: Not For Sale (ending human trafficking), Rise Against Hunger, (global hunger relief) and RAFT (resources for teachers in local underserved areas).

Brooke VanSant
Major: Economics  
Hometown: Camano Island, Washington
Graduation Year:  2021

What did you do this summer?  I interned for Sattva, an impact consulting firm in Bangalore, India as a Global Fellow. I worked on two projects, one for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, mapping the Indian domestic philanthropy landscape and exploring potential partnership models amongst foundations, and the other doing data analysis on large, publicly available datasets related to Indian development to create usable insights for CSR programs, domestic foundations, and NGOs working in India.

What was the most memorable part of your summer experience?  I lived in a hostel for two months with a handful of other people my age who were also interning in Bangalore. It was amazing to see how similar our lives were in many ways, while being worlds apart in other ways. It was great having them to help me understand Indian culture and to see what different people thought about the country's future and their role in it.

Adan Gonzalez
Major: Finance
Hometown: Inglewood, California
Graduation Year:  2021

What did you do this summer?  I spent 6 weeks living and working in Bangalore, India as a Global Fellow. I worked at an impact and management consulting firm, Sattva Consulting. I was part of a five-member team who worked with one of India's largest non-profit educational organizations to create pitch decks for donors to secure more funding.

What was the most memorable part of your summer experience? The most memorable parts of my experience in India was being able to visit the Taj Mahal, and other temples and ruins, as well my entire work experience. I traveled up north to New Delhi and Agra for a weekend and had the opportunity to see several historic architectural feats. Additionally, I truly enjoyed my work and my team could not have been more supportive and easy to work with which made my work experience as a whole, a highlight of my time in India as well.

Laura Blevins
Major: Marketing 
Hometown: Fair Oaks, California
Graduation Year:  2020

What did you do this summer?  I interned on the Site Merchandising team at Levi Strauss & Co. at their headquarters in San Francisco. I spent a lot of my time focusing on a project centered around e-commerce pricing and promotions.

What was the most memorable part of your summer experience?  The most memorable part of my internship experience was presenting my group project, Levi’s Competitive Landscape for Outerwear, to the CEO and Global Leadership team of Levi’s. It was such an amazing opportunity and I learned so much.

Jordan Johnson-Wojnicki
Major: Accounting and Information Systems
Hometown: Lisle, Illinois
Graduation Year:  2021

What did you do this summer?  This summer, I participated in KPMG’s Global Advantage program in Budapest, Hungary. I received extensive training on social styles and how to flex one’s own style given different workplace situations. The program allowed me to gain more exposure to the firm and what services the firm is able to provide its clients.

What was the most memorable part of your summer experience?  I really enjoyed networking and meeting other future KPMG interns and current professionals from around the world. On top of experiencing all Budapest had to offer during the program, I was able to extend my stay and travel to Vienna, Austria with some other interns from the US! I can’t wait to see many of them again at national intern training at Lake Nona in Orlando, Florida next summer. 

Yuho Tanaka
Major: Marketing
Hometown: Tokyo, Japan
Graduation Year:  2021

What did you do this summer?  This summer I had the opportunity to work with a nonprofit called Mercado Global in Panajachel, Guatemala. Mercado Global is a sustainable fashion brand that works with artisans and not only gives them access to a global market but also empowers the female artisans through their community based education programs. I worked as a marketing and sales intern for six weeks and I was mainly in charge of their company's instagram. I also had the opportunity to create eblast templates, assisted in creating the annual report, and did a couple of photoshoots for them!

What was the most memorable part of your summer experience?  The most memorable part of my experience was getting to know the other interns and traveling around Guatemala with them. Guatemala was absolutely stunning and one of my favorite moments was when we reached the summit of Volcano Acatenango and saw the sunrise. We got along so well that we are reuniting in London this fall because all of us are studying in Europe!

Faolan Sugarman-Lash
Major: Management
Hometown: Richmond, Massachusetts
Graduation Year:  2020

What did you do this summer?  I participated in the Global Social Benefit Fellowship through Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship. My role sent me to Bolgatanga, Ghana in the north. I worked with a company called All Across Africa to assist them in their scale out to West Africa from the East.

What was the most memorable part of your summer experience?  My summer will forever influence who I am and how I conduct myself in the world. It was powerful to see how happy people can be in poverty and on the other hand how substantially challenging it is to live on a dollar a day. It was inspiring to me to be a part of economically and socially empowering communities in rural Ghana and being a part of changing lives for the better.

Eric Linssen
Major: Marketing
Hometown: San Diego, California
Graduation Year:  2020

What did you do this summer?  This summer I worked at Community Boost Consulting, a digital marketing agency, that works exclusively with nonprofits. I was able to execute digital campaigns that drove over $500,000 in total donations to our nonprofit partners that I had the pleasure of working with. This money went straight to IMPACT, from helping The Thirst Project build a well in Africa, to helping Days 4 Girls distribute thousands of period kits to young girls in developing countries.

What was the most memorable part of your summer experience?  In a monthly, company-wide meeting I pranked our whole company and convinced them I was dropping out of college to actually learn some actionable skills in the real world. When the laughs, hugs, and shock-and-awe dissipated, I had to break the truth to them... that I would never leave the LSB and cut short the world class education I am receiving.