Student Spotlight
Kiersten Abate (SOM ’16) graduated from Boston College in 2011 with a B.A in Sociology and Environmental Studies. Before SOM, she worked at Affirmative Investments, Inc., a mission-driven economic development consulting firm. As Assistant Project Manager, Kiersten worked with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to pull together tax credit financing for deals across the US including Boys and Girls Clubs, charter schools, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and affordable housing.
At Yale, Kiersten leads the Economic Development Club and is an advisor to Net Impact. Her focus is on innovative financing and her areas of interest include workforce development, health, and education. Kiersten also consulted for a Brazilian social enterprise through the Global Social Enterprise class as well as a nonprofit in Connecticut through Outreach Nonprofit Consulting.
Kiersten spent her summer at Social Finance, a social impact bond intermediary and nonprofit in Boston. As Summer Associate Director, she spent a large part of her summer working on the deal development team on a project in Michigan focused on improving outcomes for first time mothers and their children. After SOM, she will be completing a Fellowship with USAID’s Center for Accelerating Innovation and Impact.
Ethan Geiling (SOM ’16) graduated from Northwestern University in 2010, where he majored in Economics. After graduation, Ethan worked at the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) in Washington, D.C., a national nonprofit with the mission of expanding economic opportunity for low- and moderate-income Americans. In his role as a Program Manager for Policy & Research, he drove policy change by providing policy expertise, technical assistance, and strategic advice to advocates, legislators, and reporters. He presented poverty data and policy solutions at conferences and events across the country. Through his work on the applied research team, Ethan researched solutions that promote access to safe and affordable financial services for underserved consumers. He also provided expertise and guidance that helped nonprofits use behavioral economics to improve the effectiveness of their programs.
At SOM, Ethan led the Economic Development Club, led Out Of Office (the LGBTQ club), and consulted for a B Corporation in Brazil through the Global Social Enterprise course.
Ethan came to SOM to learn how to envision, design and market high-quality and scalable financial products for low-income and underserved consumers in the United States. After SOM, he will be working at Chase, doing marketing and product development on the consumer and community banking team.
Shira Beery (SOM ’17) graduated from Stanford University in 2009 with a B.A. in International Relations. Prior to Yale, she spent six years working at a nonprofit consultancy, a foundation, and an economic development nonprofit in the U.S. and abroad. Most recently, Shira was on the fundraising and communications team at Trickle Up, which helps women living on under $1.25/day build sustainable livelihoods in India, West Africa, and Central America. She spent the summer of 2015 with Trickle Up in eastern India working on a strategic partnership assessment. This summer, she will intern at Deloitte Consulting in the Strategy & Operations practice. Shira hopes to pursue a career in cross-sector partnerships for large-scale social impact.
Tess Hart (SOM/FES ’17) graduated from Brown University in 2009 with a B.A in Classics and Political Science. She spent a year on Capitol Hill working for Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), the Chair of the Armed Services Committee, before joining Hattaway Communications, a mission driven communications firm in Washington, DC. As a Senior Associate, she led the development of messages and communications strategies for nonprofits, social enterprises and foundations across a variety of issue areas, including clean energy, workforce development, and education.
At Yale, Tess is a joint degree candidate between the School of Management and the School of Forestry, focused on understanding how social enterprise can catalyze social, economic and environmental progress in American cities. She co-chaired the Net Impact and the Business and Environment Clubs, conducted an independent study on sustainability initiatives among craft breweries, and has been active in entrepreneurship at SOM. Tess also consulted for a social enterprise in Brazil through the Global Social Enterprise Class and a nonprofit in New Haven through the Outreach Nonprofit Consulting Club.
Tess interned with the Reinvestment Fund, a community development financial institution in Philadelphia. She will be returning to Philadelphia full-time upon graduation to open Triple Bottom Brewing Company, a community craft brewery committed to making its neighborhood stronger, happier and more connected by bringing people together through good jobs and good beer.
Tory Grieves (SOM/FES ’18) graduated from Hamilton College in 2012, where she majored in Environmental Studies. Shortly thereafter, she joined Biohabitats, a boutique environmental consulting firm in New Jersey. As an Environmental Scientist, Tory worked on green infrastructure projects under the PlaNYC initiative, including oyster and mussel pilot projects in Jamaica Bay. She also conducted forest and stream assessments in city parks, contributed to shoreline stabilization projects, and conducted endangered species monitoring.
Craving a different challenge and international work experience, Tory then moved to Kathmandu to work for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Nepal Country Office via a Princeton in Asia Fellowship. As a Programme Officer with IUCN, Tory developed and secured funding for three new programs focused on livelihood enhancement and species conservation. She also contributed to the final English version of new national policy that integrated nature conservation into development efforts across sectors in Nepal.
This summer, following her first year of the MBA-Master of Environmental Management joint degree program, Tory is returning to Kathmandu to work as a Summer Analyst for Dolma Impact Fund, the first commercial impact fund ring-fenced for Nepal providing growth capital to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Tory will assist the investment deal team with financial analysis and will support the impact measurement team in developing and measuring social and environmental impact metrics – while putting her Nepali language skills to use!