Alumni Accepted to Top Universities for Advanced Degree Programs
This spring, seven partner institutions graduated Posse Scholars who now join the Posse Alumni Network of more than 2,600. Many Los Angeles alumni are enrolled in rigorous, competitive post-graduate degree programs across the country. Below highlights just a few of their pursuits.
Sophia Acevedo, a 2014 graduate of Dickinson College, will begin a master’s degree in mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. She hopes to work at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she interned for four consecutive summers working on the Mars Science Lab and as the primary mechanical designer for a planetary landing testbed facility proposal.
“It’s a little daunting at times to be a woman of color in this field,” Sophia says. “Maybe I’ll inspire a younger girl, and she’ll realize that she can do it, too.”
Tina Hossain, a graduate of Claremont McKenna College, will attend Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Tina received a generous Posse Graduate Fellowship from Northwestern that will cover a portion of her tuition. She plans to use her MBA to strengthen public health care systems.
“Posse changed my life by opening doors to opportunities I never dreamt possible.”
Most recently, Tina was a senior policy manager at the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, restructuring an underperforming health care practice to achieve statewide strategic political victories and increased organizational capacity.
“I can’t wait to pay it forward to the next generation of Posse leaders through mentorship and financial support,” Tina says. “Posse has changed my life by opening doors to opportunities I never dreamt possible.”
Elias Rangel, a Claremont McKenna College Posse alumnus, will attend the top-ranked UCLA Anderson School of Management this fall. He received a full-tuition scholarship from The Consortium, an organization committed to increasing numbers of underrepresented minorities in business schools and corporate management across the country.
Currently a commercial insurance project manager at Lockton Insurance Brokers, a Posse Career Program partner, Elias’ long-term goal is to establish his own company to provide private consultation to minority-owned small- and mid-size sole proprietorships in the Los Angeles community.
“I received a full-tuition fellowship to UCLA through The Consortium specifically because I have been so involved with Posse and pursuing diversity in the professional world,” says Elias. “I firmly believe that the cultural capital that Posse has given me is something that will continue to pay dividends for the rest of my life.”
