“Juma Ventures helped me transition to adulthood by offering me my first job at 16 years old selling ice cream and coffee at San Francisco’s AT&T Park. I opened my first bank account, created a monthly budget, and completed financial literacy training. Their rigorous workforce and professional training program taught me to deliver superior customer service – an invaluable skill that I believe applies to every line of work. As a Juma program participant, I learned how to collaborate within a team and use constructive feedback to further develop my professional skill-set. Juma gave me a new perspective on life, which helped me succeed in my career and beyond.

After graduating from the Juma program, I worked in the retail industry applying my excellent customer service skills to drive profitability for businesses. Later, wanting to pursue post-secondary education, I attended UC Santa Cruz and majored in economics. During my studies I strengthened my leadership skills by teaching others and helping them succeed. This passion for education led me to graduate school where I studied finance and continued teaching part-time. Currently, I am an Associate Portfolio Manager at Bank of the West, still applying world class customer service skills to manage clients and exceed business goals.”