Grad After Grad Programming Preps Ramblers for Success

12/13/2021

During the first semester, a collaboration between the President’s Office and the Office of Alumni Relations brought about monthly career development and skill building programming for juniors and seniors. These workshop-style programs helped upperclassmen learn more about careers and the skills required to achieve success in a variety of fields. Grad After Grad aims to be interactive and participatory, and each session included opportunities for real-world problem solving and peer collaboration. Next semester, the programming will evolve into a competition called LA Tank, which challenges teams of students to brainstorm business plans for emerging entrepreneurial ventures.

The first session of Grad After Grad, held on September 16, focused on networking etiquette, building and maintaining a LinkedIn profile, and crafting a personal brand. Young alumnae speakers included Mary Kate Clifford ’12, associate at Oak Street Real Estate Capital LLC, and Madison Banas ’16, manager of tournaments and communications at Western Golf Association/Evans Scholars Foundation.

The second session, on October 17, followed a “speed dating” format in which students held short informational interviews with alumni to learn about a variety of careers and college options. Special thanks to the following alumni for participating:

Jack Baker ’07 (Marquette University)—senior accountant at Briar Hall, LLC

Madison Banas ’16 (Fairfield University)—manager of tournaments and communications at Western Golf Association/Evans Scholars Foundation

Mark Dezell ’14 (Illinois Wesleyan University)—sales representative at Stryker

Pati Dwyer ’13 (Texas Christian University)—marketing manager at Nosotros Life and Spirits

Evan Fay ’10 (Bradley University)—construction sales representative at Lakeshore Recycling Systems

Michaela Flanagan ’14 (Colorado State University)—corporate account manager at CDW

Timothy Grayhack ’15 (Marquette University)—analyst at Fitch Ratings

Genevieve Green ’14 (Marquette University)—programmatic account manager at Google

Kate Hocter ’15 (Xavier University)—revenue operations analyst at Affirm

Hope Holmberg ’07 (Miami University)—partnerships associate at Array Behavioral Care

Carly Levison ’07 (Michigan State University)—account director, global account manager, at EY

Martha Ortinau Rowe ’05 (Colby College)—program director: philanthropy at Northwestern Memorial Foundation

Evan Swenson ’13 (University of Southern California)—account manager, sales and marketing, at Cast Iron Media

Declan Zidar ’14 (University of Notre Dame)—financial analyst II-Amazon Care at Amazon

At the third Grad After Grad session, held just before Thanksgiving break on November 18, Ramblers created resumes with the help of Social Studies Teacher Ms. Nicole Roman. Together they discussed the importance of transferable skills and how to incorporate those into their resumes. Notably, students had the opportunity to share their resumes with alumni for feedback and tips on how to make them stand out.

A final session on December 9 provided students with an introduction to the LA Tank program, which kicks off at the beginning of the second semester. With its focus on developing a business plan from start to launch under the mentorship of an alumni advisor, the LA Tank program offers an appealing next step for many entrepreneurial-minded Ramblers.

For more information, contact Ashley Sanks ’10, executive assistant to the president, at asanks@loy.org.

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