Honors Alum, Jessica Santana (Management ’11), on the Forbes 30 under 30 list

Head shot of Jessica Santana Jessica Santana (Management ’11) is the Executive Director and cofounder of New York on Tech (NYOT), a not for profit organization that provides opportunities in technology and innovation to underrepresented students in public high schools in New York City. This initiative garnered Jessica a spot on the 2017 Forbes list of 30 under 30. Prior to her work on NYOT, Jessica was a Technology Consultant at Accenture.

Jessica has fond memories of the Honors program where she had “a great experience and an opportunity to meet like-minded peers who were passionate about their studies, industries and future careers.” For her Honors Capstone project, she examined why Latino students who are interested in business do not pursue accounting degrees. Her findings revealed that “early exposure to professions and having positive mentors in a specific field played a huge role in [choosing] academic majors and [subsequently] career prospects.” This research, among other factors, was the impetus for shaping NYOT’s approach, program design and curriculum.

Jessica advises current and future Honors students to take advantage of the resources the Honors Program offers and to choose a Capstone project that they are passionate about.