存’s 杰森·哈勒尔 Joins 铅笔 Board of Directors
杰森·哈勒尔, 存对外事务主管, 操作和技术风险, was appointed to the board of directors earlier this year for the non-profit organization, 铅笔. We speak to Jason about his appointment and the story behind why he took on this role.
Jason remembers visiting downtown Chicago as a child, 窥视办公大楼, 想知道里面发生了什么. 虽然他来自奥罗拉, 伊利诺斯州, 大约45英里外, for an African American kid with seven siblings whose family sometimes struggled, 那些塔楼似乎遥不可及. “I always thought it was someplace that you weren’t allowed,” Jason recalled. “I was a good student, but I didn’t really have the exposure that some other kids had.”
这样的回忆, is one of the motivators for Jason supporting kids with similar upbringings, to get the opportunities to receive exposure and achieve their full potential. That’s why he joined the board of directors of 铅笔.
铅笔 is a nonprofit that brings business leaders and educators together, to develop strategies to help students from New York City improve their college and career readiness. It brings students in contact with professional, fostering relationships and provides practical skills they can carry forward. 存 has a longstanding relationship with 铅笔 – Chief Financial Officer Susan Cosgrove is a board alumnus – including participating in its “一日校长” program, providing internships, and partnering with local schools.
Jason knows from personal experience that role models can be inspirational for a smart young kid.
He remembers a Sunday School teacher at his church who worked as a loan officer in financial services. “他总是那么有风度，”杰森说. “He was well put together, he was very articulate, people in the community looked up to him.”
对于杰森, 他帮忙种了一颗种子, “如果他能做到的话, then maybe I could also accomplish and achieve something where I have a certain level and a certain stature,他回忆道。.
Even watching the Black parents in professional roles of a doctor and lawyer in “The Cosby Show” as a kid in the 1980s helped galvanize Jason’s dreams. “It allowed you to see that there’s maybe something possible for you, 在你所看到的事物之外,他说. “People may not understand the effect that has on the psyche.”
Those foundational images helped steer Jason to Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute. 今天, he works to help shape policy and provide advocacy in key risk areas where 存 wants to have influence, 包括网络安全, 弹性, 新兴技术, and financial digitalization – a long way from gazing up at office buildings where he didn’t think he belonged.
既然他在事业上已经站稳了脚跟, Jason has increased his effort to get involved in diversity and inclusion. He’s participated in job fairs aimed at recruiting black and brown talent and is active in 存’s program to recruit from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, 或所.
But it was participating in 铅笔’s “一日校长,” where he went to a high school and directly engaged with the students, where he most felt that his presence and position made a difference.
“The level of engagement was so high,” he recalled. “They were so curious, asking questions like, ‘How did you get there, how did you do it? 我能做到吗??’”
“他们看到了一个长得像他们的人, 谁和他们有着相似的成长经历, 我认为这真的打开了订婚的大门,杰森补充道. “我做了很多D&I work here at 存, but I think that was the high point of my engagement.”
Joining the 铅笔 board seemed like the natural next step.
“The thing I like about the 铅笔 board is that they’re always looking for new ideas for engagement with the students,他说. That characteristic was especially important after the pandemic hit, as remote programming ran into issues like students who were unwilling to turn on their cameras, along with many who didn’t have the needed internet connections to make online programming work.
“从董事会的角度来看, it opened their eyes to some of the additional areas where we may need to look to provide assistance and provide that engagement between businesses and the community,杰森说。.
He acknowledged that there are many different organizations attempting to provide some type of leadership or mentorship or otherwise engage diverse students. “I guess the reason that I was excited to join 铅笔, 在苏珊出色的任期之后, was because of the stature of the board and the level of influence that the board has in the community,” noting that the organization has connections with the New York City mayor’s office and others in top leadership.
He hopes his new role will have the sort of influence his Sunday School teacher had for him.
“我以前也是这样的学生，”他说. “I understand the importance of getting that engagement early, 经常参与, so that you don’t feel like you’re so behind when you start to compete in a college environment.”
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