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 two of a series, “Meet Our Fellow Alumni,” for the 2019 Alumni Challenge. View part one here.

Richard Nguyen 

2016 New Jersey Fellow
Pictured right, alongside 2016 Fellow, Christian (left)

Richard graduated with honors from Rutgers-Newark Business School this spring. During his time in the Fellows Program, Richard completed internships in financial services at Fidelity Investments, the Burgiss Group, Marsh & McLennan and Citigroup. This summer, he will begin a full-time career at JP Morgan as a Global Treasury Management Analyst.

Richard told us that his road through college and into a full-time career wasn’t easy, but the connections he formed through ANY made all the difference.

“ANY staff, Mentor Coaches, Fellows and alumni have supported and motivated me every step of the way. ANY has essentially become my second family, and I know that I could always rely on ANY for guidance and support.”

Richard’s Mentor Coach, Tom, has been one of his steadfast supporters. Tom recently relocated to San Francisco for a career opportunity, but the distance did not hinder their connection. The two talk regularly, and Richard says he hopes to visit Tom soon.

“I ask him for advice on my career and even other miscellaneous topics such as fashion, food and traveling.”

Richard’s career passion lies in financial technology, a field that he discovered through internships and networking.

“I have definitely leveraged the ANY network in learning more about certain career paths, companies and industries. The ANY network has been vital to the foundation of my career and has granted me access to numerous internship opportunities.”

In his new role, Richard will have exposure to developing treasury technologies that revolutionize banking. He looks forward to developing new technical skills in this space and eventually working on strategy for emerging financial services technology.

He also hopes to return to ANY to pay it forward. Richard has already volunteered at ANY workshops and spoken on ANY alumni panels. His next goal is to become a Mentor Coach.

“I think everyone should be thankful for every opportunity, remember where they came from and remember those who helped them along the way. I hope to become a Mentor Coach and give back to ANY for all of the support and guidance I’ve received over the years.”

Using the “make yourself known” skills he learned at ANY, Richard shared his long-term goals with us during our conversation.

“Another dream I have is to own a Blaze Pizza or Chick-Fil-A franchise, but I’ll need to amass large amounts of capital. I’m currently looking for investors, so please reach out!”

We look forward to seeing Richard achieve these goals and so much more in the coming years!

Hear more about our alumni’s successes and future goals by following the Alumni Challenge.