By Michael Omoruan

Since the pandemic closed Lehman’s campus on March 12, many students have had to either work remotely or lose out on potential internship opportunities altogether. Despite the shock of COVID-19 closures, virtual career fairs and online resources like the Braven Accelerator course and the ALPFA Virtual Symposium have given students new opportunities that would not have otherwise been available to them.

Edil Abreu, an accounting major at Lehman, relied on both organizations to adapt to the new normal. “As someone who has never taken a fully online class before, this [closure] brought new challenges to light. Luckily for me, I had Braven and ALPFA by my side.” Abreu explained that Braven “helped me improve my networking skills, short term and long-term goals, [and] ALPFA helped me take that next step that I needed to elevate my professionalism.

Founded in 2013 by Aimee Eubanks Davis, Braven is a non-profit organization dedicated to equipping college students with career-ready skills and resources to ensure they can find work post-graduation. Once students enroll in the course, they are placed into cohorts where they work with peers and an assigned leadership coach to work on weekly online modules and meetings dubbed “learning labs.”

Students are taught job-ready skills and practices during these classes and frequently attend workshops led by members of the Braven team to learn how to network, handle common interview questions, and create their own brands over the course of approximately 6 months. Once students complete this course, they become Post-Accelerator Fellows (PAFs) who can stay in touch with Braven team members and regularly receive job-posting newsletters about national and local companies that are currently hiring.

The Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA) is another national NGO that focuses on building up its members to become leaders. Both organizations consist of individuals that are more often than not, part of marginalized communities including African Americans, Latinx, and more. Because these organizations were able to adapt rather quickly to the pandemic, they continue to serve their communities.

Braven hosts webinars that continue teaching current fellows and PAFs ways to advance their college careers. ALPFA recently hosted a virtual symposium on Aug. 5, where recruiters and employees from Fortune 500 companies, like Microsoft and Bank of America dedicated time to interview and talk with a majority of STEM majors.

“The Braven Accelerator program has helped me tremendously with virtual opportunities,” said Afsana Akther, speech-language and audiology major at Lehman. “I secured an internship at New York Vocal Coaching with the help of my Braven leadership coach and working with other fellows. Braven made me job-ready by providing collaborative online modules, networking activities, mock-interviews, and virtual sessions.”

“From helping me build a professional resume, to boosting my interview skills and elevator pitch, ALPFA also connected me with an extensive network of young and current professionals through the ALPFA Convention and other events,” said Benjamin Arias, an accounting major and Lehman senior.

Arias felt grateful for the resources ALPFA offered him. “Both of these organizations gave me the necessary tools to land an internship at a Big Four accounting firm during the pandemic. I was fortunate enough to receive follow-up interviews from multiple companies and received a total of five internship offers for 2021.”

The ALPFA Lehman chapter typically meets every Tuesday at 4 p.m. via Zoom. The Braven Accelerator is a 3-credit course offered every fall and spring semester and is open to all majors.

On Instagram @alpfalc and @bebraven, alpfa.org, and/or bebraven.org.