We believe in the power of career development and mentorship to transform lives and entire communities.

We talked with several Fellow alumni and heard about just a few of the ways that the ANY Fellows Program has transformed their lives. Our conversations covered their career journeys, personal hardships, plans to give back to their community, goals for the future and more.

This feature is part three of a series, “Meet Our Fellow Alumni,” for the 2019 Alumni Challenge.

Felix Navarro 
2010 New York Fellow

Felix is a Fellow alumnus from our inaugural cohort. In 2012, he graduated from the City College of New York as the Division of Social Sciences Valedictorian. He began his career at Goldman Sachs, where he spent four and a half years, and just celebrated his second year at Facebook, where he currently manages a team of eight in Facebook’s Global Marketing Solutions Business.

At Facebook, Felix serves as Co-Chair of the Social Good Pillar of the Latin@ Employee Resource Group and Co-Founder of “Level Up by Facebook,” a program dedicated to growing minority-owned small businesses on Facebook through product training and one-on-one mentorship. Felix also serves on the company’s Global Hackathon Council and recently launched his own motivational speaking and coaching business, FN Speaks.

The sky is the limit for Felix. He hopes to write a book in the next two years, become a globally recognized speaker and begin to focus professionally on emerging technologies like virtual reality.

Looking back, Felix says that he planted the seeds of his incredible drive and confidence at ANY.

“Before ANY, many of the top tier companies that [Fellows from my cohort] eventually interned and worked in were only names in a newspaper headline to me or were buildings I felt I did not belong in. ANY changed that.”

He credits his tenacity to the exposure to diverse leaders and prestigious workplaces that he received at ANY.

“Meeting people from these companies who looked like me, believed in me and dedicated their time to train me, helped me realize that I did, in fact, belong and I was highly capable of performing well in these settings. I would not have attempted to pursue the career paths and leadership positions that I have if it were not for the mentorship and guidance I received at ANY.”

In the seven years since he graduated from the Fellows Program, Felix has proactively maintained connections with his ANY network. He utilized support from this ANY peers during his transition from Goldman Sachs to Facebook. Upon discovering an open role at Facebook, Felix reached out to 2010 Fellow, Michelle Wu, who works in the technology space. Michelle helped Felix prepare his application and ace his interview.

“ANY will always be a family to me… I reach out to mentors or people I’ve bonded with any time I’m visiting their city or anytime I become aware of an accomplishment to show support.”

Paying it forward is something that Felix takes as seriously as his personal and professional growth. He has returned to ANY workshops as a Career Coach and hosted Career Days for Fellows at both Goldman Sachs and Facebook. He believes that the greatest passion in leadership comes from those who were directly impacted by the program.

“It’s hard to believe that almost 10 years has gone by since it all started, and it’s great to see that ANY leadership continues to consist of former mentors or people who have been around since the beginning…

I, too, hope to contribute to ANY in this way by eventually being one of the first ANY alumni to become a board member.”

Join Felix in paying it forward to the next generation of ANY Fellows.

 View the full Alumni Challenge and learn how you can give back here!