Hello! My name is Thomas Lee, and I am a senior studying finance with a minor in history. I grew up in Montclair, NJ. Ever since beginning my freshman year here at the University of Pittsburgh I have been really interested in both consulting work but also international programs more generally. During my time here at Pitt I have had the opportunity to take a lot of incredible courses, my two favorites were Northern Ireland, a history class which discussed the Troubles, and the Portuguese Empire and Globalization. The highlight of my education was certainly my previous study abroad, Leadership in the Himalayas, a 1-month course in the Indian Himalayas focused on leadership, and outdoor survival skills. This trip challenged me in ways I don’t think I fully understand yet, but I see it as the holy grail of my time at Pitt. In addition to my academic interest, Pitt Business has helped me to begin my professional career.

At the beginning of my professional career, I worked for a non-profit and land-use consulting firm back at home in NJ. This was my first experience with both project based and client facing work, and it is when I began to realize my passion for trying to help others through my work. Throughout this experience I also began to learn more about the consulting process. As I’ve progressed through my professional and academic journey here at the University of Pittsburgh, I have had the opportunity to pursue a few other internships. A key highlight of my time here at the University of Pittsburgh and the most impactful internship that I had the chance to participate in was in my role as a strategic enablement strategist at Proofpoint. In this role I had my first chance to collaborate with global teams such as a division within Europe as well as the team in Australia New Zealand and Japan. This experience really helped me to begin to understand just how much I wanted to participate in the international aspects of business. Most recently since July of 2023 I have been working at a seed round startup called Bottleneck. Based in New York City bottleneck aims to disrupt the food and beverage supply chain through innovative software solutions. In my role there I have continued to grow my client facing skills which I hope to implement during this project.

I chose to participate in this global service-learning project because I felt that it aligned with both my professional academic and personal goals. 1st as a young professional I am always seeking new experiences which help to craft my professional skill set and my professional presentation. I believed that choosing the global service-learning course would help me achieve these goals as I have no international experience directly through my coursework outside of my trip to the Himalayas which was focused on a less tangible set of goals. Academically I’ve always sought to improve my worldly view which is why I decided to pursue a minor in history. My history minor has provided me with a truly global perspective which I am looking forward to applying. One course that particularly stands out to me is the history of the Portuguese empire and globalization. Although the course is titled Portuguese history if largely focuses on colonial expansion into the new world in Latin America. Through this I’ve had a decent amount of exposure to the systems in place in Latin America which makes it a unique business environment.

As a young professional certain aspect of this program aligned well with my goals. Particularly those around project management and consulting as well as working in an environment that you are not necessarily comfortable in. Having a more global experience will surely help me in both getting new jobs as an adult but also in enabling my general ability to converse in professional settings. An added challenge that I believe will make this interesting and more professionally aligned with my goals is the language barrier that exists between the client and us the students who are taking the global service-learning course. Personally, I am motivated to take this course through my desire to help others. I believe that the cause of CEOLI is exceptionally admirable, and I am confident that both myself and the team that I am working on can assist them in not only improving their existing processes but enabling them to pursue new social entrepreneurship venture.

The particulars of the program that I will be working on are focused on three different project objectives. The first of these is to create an assist in implementing a new marketing plan for the client to engage the wider community ahead of a community fair in April. The client has a new afternoon service that they provide to children with autism which they would like to promote. I believe with my business development background I will hopefully be able to help them build out this marketing plan to advertise and promote the services. Next, we would like to create a development plan to increase the opportunity for more international aid for CEOLI. By utilizing the resources that have been provided to us as well as developing a new outreach strategy I’m confident that we can assess successfully assist CEOLI in broadening their streams of income to ensure a bright future. Finally, as the first group returning to Bolivia in an extended period of time from the University of Pittsburgh, I believe that it is our duty, and it is part of our objectives for us to update and continually improve the 10 year plan between the two organizations so that future goals are more closely aligned with those of the client.

My excitement for the program is exceptionally high and I’m excited to be able to bring what I’ve learned in the classroom and apply it in the real world. Personally, I am really looking forward to experiencing the cuisine in Cochabamba as I’ve heard many different positive things about the food there. The journey will be long but very rewarding.