Hi there! My name is Eugenia, I am a freshman at Arizona State University – Barrett the Honors College and I am a leader! I am extremely grateful to the Be A Leader Foundation (which I have been associated with only since August) and its supporters for sponsoring the education of students. This organization’s commitment to providing students the opportunity to succeed in higher education empowers us leaders to pursue our educational and career goals. As a first-generation college student and Latina pursuing higher education, my journey has been difficult, to say the least. However, the resources and tools I have received through BALF have given me the opportunity to be successful. Thank you so much for helping make my educational dreams a reality.

What do you want to study and why?

At Arizona State University Barrett, the Honors College, I plan to study Finance with a Certificate in International Business. Attending the National Young Women’s Business Institute last summer made me realize how Finance plays a central role in the global economy and an extreme societal role in encouraging investments that are beneficial to the environment. By pursuing Finance and exploring its intersection with sustainability, I can impact my community through sustainable investing, assessing ESG risks within investments to deliver both social and financial returns. My objective is to become one of the trailblazers in sustainable finance leading the way to a thriving and resilient future.

What is your dream job?

Last year, while representing Arizona at the National Young Women’s Business Institute, I evaluated the intersection between finance, sustainability and corruption. I grew fascinated by the increasingly popular environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives that are challenging companies to become more compliant with socially conscious standards. ‘ESG’ can be a framework for global accountability to foster social change and force transparency. Finance plays a central role in the global economy and an extreme societal role in encouraging investments that are beneficial to the environment. Therefore, my dream job is the Head of Sustainable Investing for a global financial services or investment management company (ex. Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan, BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, etc.), assessing ESG risks within investments to deliver both social and financial returns.