Mentor Coach Spotlight: 

Celine is a proud Trinidadian, America Needs You (ANY) Fellow Alum, and a current 2023 ANY Mentor Coach. She started ANY as a Fellow in 2017 and graduated from the ANY program in 2019 as a Junior at York College. Celine graduated with her Bachelor of Accounting in December 2020 and graduated with her Master of Accountancy at Baruch College – Zicklin School of Business in December 2021. She works as an Audit Associate at Grant Thornton LLP, a company she was connected with through ANY when she was a Fellow in 2017. 

“An inspiring moment during my time with ANY, is me being at the first workshop for the 2023 cohort as a Mentor Coach, after graduating from the program as an ANY Fellow in 2019. This day was surreal and felt like a full circle moment because I genuinely love and appreciate the America Needs You program from when I was a student. I am so grateful for everything that ANY has given to me. 

“I am thankful for my mentor Nadine Jones, who I was paired with in the program since Nadine and ANY supported my goals, dreams, and aspirations and believed that I could achieve anything I worked hard towards. Having the ANY resources and the mentorship support system positively impacted my life at the time as a first-generation college student, and now, as I am an ANY Mentor Coach, I am in the program to do the same for the Fellows and pay it forward by participating in the workshops, connecting with students and contributing to making an impact and helping them achieve their personal, academic and career goals. ”

A special moment that Celine had with her Fellow, Tamesha Brown, came at the first ANY workshop in July 2023. After the Mentors and Fellows finished their separate orientations, they joined in the main room for resume building. Celine randomly sat at the end of a table that had an empty row of chairs, awaiting the Fellows to arrive. Tamesha came in and sat right next to her, and because she did, they were temporarily paired to work on Tamesha’s resume.   

“The memory of meeting her for the first time and working on her resume with her will forever remain with me because she was so excited, high-spirited, had positive energy, and was ambitious. In that moment, I saw myself in her from when I was a driven, enthusiastic ANY Fellow in 2017 eager to learn and absorb all the knowledge ANY had to offer. After a successful first-time pairing that day, Tamesha and I enjoyed the connection we made, and that bond was the deciding factor for when we did our matching surveys, and we chose each other to become a permanent Mentor/Mentee pair going forward.”

“Being a Mentor Coach and also a person who is striving to excel in my own career, ANY has positively impacted me in many ways. As Mentors, we guide students and provide them with our knowledge and perspectives. but we are often reminded about things we forgot, and we learn new information, strategies, and tips during the workshops.

“Being in the ANY environment and a mentorship relationship with my Fellow Tamesha Brown, I frequently gain as much as I give, and both Tamesha and I invest in each other and support one another’s growth, achievements, and personal and professional journey. Mentorship is a beautiful and enriching experience that can positively impact both the life of the mentee and the mentor.”

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