Schonfeld recently marked our eighth consecutive year partnering with Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) Workplace Mentoring program. To wrap up the year, we hosted a “Shark Tank”-style pitch competition at our New York City office for our mentees to showcase the progress they’ve made.

A Milestone Moment for a Remarkable Group of Students

This year’s program held special significance. The students — seniors at Jackie Kennedy Onassis High School — had first connected with Schonfeld mentors three years ago as sophomores. Now in their final year, they’ve grown alongside their Schonfeld mentors through some of the most formative years of their lives, building confidence, career readiness and lasting relationships.

The competition was designed to prepare the students for real-world professional experiences: public speaking, advocating for an idea they believe in and receiving professional feedback. They were challenged to pitch a unique idea around how companies should use social media platforms to connect with candidates, which invited the students to think critically about the way employers can better engage with prospective talent.

The Competition

Students took the floor to present their ideas to a panel of Schonfeld judges, fielding tough questions and receiving constructive feedback in real time. The energy in the room reflected three years of hard work and relationship-building with their Schonfeld mentors. These weren’t strangers presenting to executives; they were young people who had earned their place at the table.

Eight Years of Commitment

Schonfeld’s partnership with BBBS has been a cornerstone in the firm’s community engagement efforts. Over the course of the partnership, more than a dozen Schonfeld volunteers have served as “Bigs” each year, meeting monthly with their mentees in a group format to work through career-readiness topics — resume writing, interview preparation, career planning and general post-high-school navigation. Each session, held on-site at our New York City office, was designed to be interactive and practical, translating classroom concepts into real-world skills and confidence.

Looking Ahead

As this cohort of seniors prepares to graduate and take their next steps — into college, the workforce and beyond — we hope they carry with them not just the lessons from these sessions, but the knowledge that they have an entire community invested in their future and rooting for them every step of the way. Congratulations to every student who stepped up to pitch and thank you to the Schonfeld mentors who showed up month after month to mentor them.