On April 7, students, faculty, staff, family members, and friends gathered at the Faculty House on the Morningside Heights campus for the inaugural SPS Next event. Four SPS student speakers, Sharnice Neale-Ottley, Aditi Desai, Maryam Rashid, and Michael Leopold took the stage to share their stories.
Brooklyn native Sharnice Neale-Ottley began the event with her talk titled “Exceeding Limitations: Finding Yourself Beyond Success Timelines.” She told the story of when she realized she was putting pressure on herself to meet unrealistic expectations. On the eve of her twenty-fifth birthday, she found herself in tears. Even though she had just fulfilled a lifelong dream of dancing through the Louvre Museum, her life didn’t include any of the items on the checklist she created for herself at fifteen years old: no big house, no Bentley, no Ph.D. from Columbia University.
In a world of ‘20 under 20’ and ‘30 under 30’ lists, who are we when we don't meet that criteria?”
A student in the Strategic Communication program, Sharnice realized that although she’d just danced alongside the Mona Lisa and other famous works of art she studied as an undergraduate student at Baruch College, she didn’t value the experience because it was not on her list. Her message to the audience was to rid yourself of society’s expectations and deadlines and instead embrace where life takes you.
Aditi Desai spoke about a start-up that is revolutionizing how we recharge electric cars. Her talk, “Charging Forward: Achieving Equity through Lamppost Charging,” introduced Voltpost, a climate tech startup founded by fellow Sustainability Management students Jeff Prosserman and Luke Mairo. Aditi is a project manager at Voltpost, where the mission is to “decarbonize mobility by democratizing charging access for drivers and making electric vehicle charging as ubiquitous as lampposts.” Aditi is pursuing her master's in Sustainability Management and serving as the student group Women and Sustainability president.
Maryam Rashid, Human Capital Management student and human resources professional, then presented “A Holistic and Integrated Approach to DEIA.” Maryam has over twelve years of experience in various industries including health care, management consulting, the United Nations system, and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Maryam is passionate about Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility and wanted to find a framework that could help companies integrate DEIA with maximum impact. After rigorous research, she created a new framework that includes a company’s employees, processes, products, and places.
Michael Leopold, a student in the Human Capital Management program, was the final student speaker. Michael, a Yale graduate passionate about career coaching, felt there was not enough work being done to successfully and thoughtfully pair individuals with jobs that match their values, interests, and skills. He shared that a baffling twenty-seven percent of college graduates actually go into the field they studied. Michael founded Leopold Talent Consulting, a people-focused consulting firm offering college and career advising services to individuals and human resources services to organizations.
“SPS Next was a powerful experience showcasing student leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators across the SPS community. It was inspiring to hear the stories of our fellow students. I left the event feeling energized and proud of our community.”
The following SPS Next events will showcase the insightful stories of more impressive SPS students.
Read about the creation of SPS Next, and learn more about the Columbia University School of Professional Studies programs.