Scholars to Leaders Programs Reaching New Heights

The Economic Club of Washington, D.C. Scholars to Leaders Newsletter

The David Rubenstein/ Economic Club of Washington, D.C. Scholarship is the cornerstone of the Scholars to Leaders program. This $20,000 scholarship is paid in increments of $5,000 over four years. The Education Committee is Chaired by Gina Adams, the Club’s Vice Chair, and Senior Vice President, FedEx Corporation. This Committee is also supported by 18 members of the Economic Club who provide outstanding guidance and oversight to the program.

Mentor Mondays: Economic Club Members Networking with Scholars

Last year, the Economic Club’s Scholars to Leaders programming hosted eleven Mentor Monday sessions to support scholars holistically. Emphasized topics included self-care, goal setting, exposure to career industries and professionals, resume review, and interview preparation. A total of 92 Economic Club scholars participated in FY21 Mentor Monday events, equivalent to 20% of Economic Club active scholars. In case you missed it, previous mentoring events can be found on YouTube.

Monday, September 13th, Scholars to Leaders kicked off fall events with Speed Mentoring. This fast-paced mentoring platform allowed scholars to connect with five or more Economic Club Mentors while discussing personal and professional goals.

Monday, September 27th, Scholars participated in “Developing Good Study Habits” to explore study techniques as scholars approach exams and midterms. Participants discussed the importance of time management, stress management, memory, review skills, and more.

On Monday, October 18th, scholars participated in “Effective Public Speaking” featuring a panel and breakout rooms. Panelists included Andrew Flagel, President and CEO, Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area; and Conrad Woody, Partner & Head, U.S. Corporate and Government Affairs Practice, Odgers Berndtson.

Upcoming Events

November 1, 2021 Mentor Monday: Optimizing LinkedIn

This LinkedIn session is designed to enrich the knowledge of scholars, allowing them to create and market their LinkedIn presence. This online tool is an effective platform used to secure jobs and internships, along with making lasting connections with professionals. Click here to register.

November 15, 2021 Entrepreneurship Panel

This session is for the current or aspiring business owners among our scholars! Join us to give scholars an opportunity to network with experienced entrepreneurs; discuss what it takes to be an entrepreneur, do’s and don’ts of entrepreneurship and more.

If you have any questions about upcoming Mentor Monday Events, please contact us education@economicclub.org

13th Annual Awards Ceremony-

The David M. Rubenstein/ Economic Club

of Washington, D.C. Scholarship

On June 9th, the Economic Club premiered a virtual awards ceremony to celebrate 54 graduating high school seniors with a 30-minute segment that captures scholars' excitement and plans for the future, advice from David Rubinstein, and recognized Economic Club Members for their leadership through engagement. Gina Adams provided welcoming remarks congratulating scholars on their achievements to date. For the fourth year in a row, a donation from the Clark Foundation aided in providing additional scholarships to five scholars. Our scholars graduated from DC Public and Public Charter high schools and are attending 36 colleges and universities across 18 states. Each recipient was awarded $20,000 to fund college expenses and will benefit from leadership and mentorship opportunities. Click here to view our celebration honoring 2021 Economic Club Recipients.

2021 Economic Club Scholars-College Locations

Watch the celebration or special portions of the video using the links below.

Hear directly from Scholars about their excitement and plans for the future:

“I used to struggle a lot in school... Now, I am the valedictorian of my class. This scholarship is a huge achievement for me.” Kennedy Jones, Phelps ACE

“Neither of my parents had a chance to graduate from high school or attend college, it means a lot to me that I will be the first to do this.” Lori‐Lee Stennett, Woodrow Wilson

“This gives me an opportunity to change the course of my life and my family’s life.” Khary Harper, Anacostia

Advice to Scholars from David Rubenstein:

“Attending college will be the best experience of your life…a time to experiment and to learn…use it to find out who you are.”

L.E.A.D. Award Presentations: Recognizes Economic Club members who have exemplified inspiring leadership through engagement with Scholars to Leaders Programs.

L.E.A.D. Catalyst Award: Jeffrey Eisenach, Managing Director of NERA Economic Consulting, for his years of service as past Chair of the Education Committee and continued support of alumni and fellowship programs.

L.E.A.D. Impact Award: Lezlee Westine, President and CEO of Personal Care Products Council, for her consistent dedication to the mentoring and internship programs.

See the full list of 2021 Scholars

Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. Scholars to Leaders Fellowship

The Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. Fellowship Program supports recipients of the David M. Rubenstein Scholarship with $10,000 one-time fellowship awards to fund graduate studies across all academic disciplines. Three Education Committee Members served as reviewers: Dr. Jeffrey Eisenach, Managing Director, NERA Economic Consulting, Robert Yerman, Managing Director, Alix Partners LLP, and Lynnette Kelly, Board Member, Financial Accounting Foundation & Common Securitization Solutions. This August, six alumni were announced as the inaugural winners of the 2021 Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. Scholars to Leaders Fellowship Awards. Click here to learn more about the winners, who are studying policy, public health, social work, and human resources.

Alumni Leadership Council Industry Cluster Event

On Thursday, September 23rd, the Economic Club Alumni Leadership Council hosted an Industry Cluster event featuring six Economic Club members who are leading experts in health care, media and entertainment, and non-profit industries. Prior to the event, ten Economic Club Alumni participated in an alumni mixer with the ALC to learn more about Scholars to Leaders Programs. All alumni participants engaged in two 20-minute panel discussions with Economic Club Members: AJ Jones, Chief Corporate Affairs and Communications Officer, Vanda Pharmaceuticals; Jaqueline Bowens, President and CEO, District of Columbia Hospital Association; Brian Kelly, Editorial Director and Executive Vice President, US News and World Report; Ron Estrada, Senior Vice President, Head of Government Relations and Corporate Social Responsibility, Univision; Jenny Bilfield, President and CEO, Washington Performing Arts Center; and Mary Brady, President and CEO, The Economic Club of Washington, D.C.

Professional Development Seminars for 2021 Scholars

Each summer the Economic Club provides professional development seminars to prepare the newest class of recipients for their college transition. On June 30th, the Economic Club hosted the first virtual Professional Development Seminar for the 2021 Scholars. Mary Brady, President and CEO, The Economic Club of Washington, D.C., and Richard Bynum, Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer, PNC Bank welcomed and congratulated scholars for their academic achievement to date and were followed by a presentation on Keys to Academic Success by a special guest professor and campus life advice from Economic Club Alumni.

On July 15th, Accenture hosted the second seminar featuring a panel discussion of Economic Club summer Interns followed by a special presentation from Economic Club Member Marty Rodgers, Market Unit Lead - South & Metro Washington DC Office Managing Director of Accenture.

2021 Economic Club Summer Internship Program

The Economic Club is proud to announce that the 2021 Summer internship cohort was the largest yet of 34 interns. Interns completed a 6-week internship experience with 17 Member organizations and 9 community organizations. Throughout the program, interns received professional development and leadership training while gaining career exposure. The program concluded with a virtual Public Speaking Challenge on July 16th, interns were given an opportunity to present on their overall summer experience to Club Members and peers. Gina Adams, Vice Chair & Chair - Education of the Economic Club and Senior Vice President, Government and Regulatory Affairs, FedEx Corporation provided opening remarks to congratulate scholars for a job well done. A special thank you to all of the Economic Club Members who served as judges.

Thank you Economic Club Members for making this event successful. Full list provided below.

Public Speaking Challenge Judges

Gina Adams, FedEx Corporation

Katherine Bradley, CityBridge

Mary Brady, The Economic Club of Washington, D.C.

Dr. Sunil Budhrani, Innovation Health, Aetna

Kate Carr, The Chevy Chase Land Company

Andrew Clarke, Asia Pacific Offset Inc.

Dr. Tashni-Ann Dubroy, Howard University

Lynne Ford, MissionSquare Retirement

Joshua Greene, A.O. Smith Corporation

Karen Herbert, American Gas Association

Mike Hickey, The Gkenmede Trust Company

John Kane, Aton Strategies LLC

Betsy Lewis, Cooley LLP

Richard McCarthy, Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States

Harsha Murthy, Consummate Capital LLC

Dr. Kurt Newman, Children’s National Medical Center

Janet Osborn, Aon Corporation

Aparna Ramesh, Farmer Mac

Chip Rogers, American Hotel & Lodging Association

Pam Rothenberg, Womble Bond Dickinson

Janine Smith, The Hershey Company

Julia Spicer, Mid Atlantic Venture Association

Mahan Tavakoli, Strategic Leadership Venture

Kevin Turpin, National Journal

Omar Vargas, 3M

Lezlee Westine, Personal Care Products Council

Ruth Williams-Brinkley, Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States

2021 Economic Club Internship Hosts

If you would like to learn more about this program or host an Economic Club scholar as an intern in Summer 2022, please email education@economicclub.org

Capital Explorer Fund

Launched in 2017, the Capital Explorer Fund continued to provide funding despite the ongoing pandemic. The Economic Club sponsored two scholars as they completed research at their universities. Dominique Landinez (2017) conducted research focusing on meta-memory across the lifespan, retrieval enhanced suggestibility and memory accuracy. Kaleb Genzahegn (2019) attending Yale University spent the summer working to reduce waste in landfills by creating robots that can replicate human behavior of sorting materials. Both scholars will continue conducting research through the fall.

Kaleb is passionate about supporting the recycling industry. He spent this summer developing software to support material recovery facilities and reduce waste in landfills. Many facilities lack the power to sort materials resulting in fewer recycled items and more waste in landfills.

Dominique is an aspiring neuroscientist. This summer, she conducted psychological research related to memory, mathematical psychology, cognitive psychology, pattern recognition, statistics, human factors, and decision making. Specifically, Dominique ran data analysis on a study that tested memory across the lifespan.

Scholars to Leaders Emergency Micro-Grant Fund

As an ongoing result of the pandemic, many of our scholars need additional support covering costs related to housing, food, transportation, storage, and technology. To date, 126 Emergency Grant applications have been approved since April 2020. More than half of the applicants have requested funds to purchase home supplies and groceries. The Club hopes to continue to provide financial support for scholars for emergencies related to COVID-19. Scholars experiencing financial emergencies should inquire about applying for grants by emailing education@economicclub.org.