Connecting Students to the World Beyond Campus

This summer marked the launch of Masters Connects, the School’s internship and mentorship initiative, designed to give students meaningful opportunities to explore their interests and gain real-world experience by partnering with our alumnae/i and parent/guardian communities. 

Before settling into their placements, students participated in school-hosted workshops focused on résumé development, interview preparation and professional workplace skills. 

With the goal of gaining some real-world experience before heading to college, Ryan Mah ’27 participated in a product development mentorship at Mastercard and worked as an intern at Herbie, an AI-native estate planning law firm.

“I worked on the business development playbook and designed and coded a prototype for an AI voice-driven client interview tool,” Mah explained. “This was my first internship, and I couldn't have asked for a better one.”

Siena Versaci ’27 also interned at Herbie for four weeks. She said, “I am very interested in ethical technology. My research [with Masters’ Science Research Program] into AI emotion detection to act as a suicide prevention tool stemmed from my interest in developing technology that improves society. This internship allowed me to work at a company with a similar goal to better society through democratizing estate planning. I now know that the startup world may be a great future path for me.”

Yosi Sergant P’33, founder/director of TaskForce, a creative and cultural marketing agency, invited Jaden Laboriel ’27 and Laura Peralta ’27 to participate in a mentorship opportunity.

“Masters students are special,” Sergant said. “Jaden and Laura were professional from our first communication through the end of summer. They came in after having studied our organization, and were prepared to help in any way needed. We will continue our relationship beyond the program, and I look forward to and am already preparing for another round of whip-smart mentees next year.”

Sharing her expertise as the creative director at TBWA/Media Arts Lab, a global advertising agency for Apple, alumna Yoshie Hozumi ’05 offered remote mentorships to Sam Friedman ’27, Liza Melnikova ’26 and Adara Levey ’27 from her office in Los Angeles.

“I was struck by each mentee's ability to make realistic future plans, assessing their strengths and interests and seeing how they could apply well into a career,” Hozumi said. “Each one showed excellent thinking and thoughtfulness, which was wonderful to see. It served as a great reminder of the overall educational direction of Masters and critical thinking. I was very pleased to see that alive and well.”

Molly O’Keefe, Masters Connects coordinator, is thrilled with the success of this inaugural summer and excited to see the program grow in the years to come. 

“I am so grateful for the support of the Masters community in our first year providing these incredible experiences for our students,” O’Keefe said. “Masters students have real skills that would be an asset to any company or individual, and I look forward to continuing to expand this program with more internships, mentorships and professional development opportunities.”

Masters Connects is seeking hosts for future mentorship and internship opportunities. If you are interested in sharing your professional experience with our students, even for a short-term opportunity, please contact mastersconnects@mastersny.org.