Recipient Spotlight

Laura Durity

After practicing law for four years, Laura returned to Darden to explore the intersection of business, regulation, and policy.  Laura received both a BA in public policy and a JD from Duke University.  Following her first year at Darden, she interned in the Division of Banking Regulation and Supervision at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, DC. 

Laurel Nguyen

The National Park Service, Grand Canyon National Park

 Preserving our natural and cultural resources for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.

Business Plan Consultant

• Produced a comprehensive business plan evaluating park operations and providing recommendations for mitigation of financial risks
• Focused on three primary strategic issues:
  
  • Optimizing allocation and sources of funding
  • Management of the contracts that govern concessioners providing services within the park
  • Prioritization and planning for the maintenance of the park's large portfolio of fixed assets

Jason A. Pan

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Risk, Strategy, and Financial Innovation-Washington, DC

Legal Intern

• Rulemaking projects: Reviewed cost-benefit analyses behind rulemaking; assisted with implementation of Dodd-Frank "bad actor" rule for Rule 506 offerings.
• Risk analysis projects: Researched defects in asset-backed securities dealmaking process; examined credit derivatives reporting of bank holding companies.

Kathleen Sheehan

Kathleen Sheehan spent the summer after her first year of Darden as the Special Projects Consultant to Year Up, a nationwide nonprofit designed to bridge the opportunity divide that disconnected youth face in America’s workforce.  In her role, she synthesized and analyzed data from a recently conducted alumni census to determine what characterizes both successful and struggling graduates of their program.  Based on her conclusions, she provided recommendations to Year Up leadership to enable them to optimize their programming.  Kathleen began her career at a news wire in DC and later served in an operations leadership role at charter school, which sparked her interest in applying her business skillset to the education sector.  She graduated from Georgetown University with a BA in government and Spanish language.  

Isaac Salem

Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Structured Finance, Washington DC

In addition to an MBA from Darden, Isaac is working towards an MA in International Relations and International Economics from Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies.  After his first year of this dual-degree program, he spent the summer working at OPIC, a self-funding development bank that is part of the US federal government.  There, he conducted due diligence on project finance loans, primarily to US companies building infrastructure in emerging markets. 

Richard Thomsen

Porter took his internship during the summer after first year at Darden with the District of Columbia Public Schools in the Office of the Chief Operating Officer. Porter came from aerospace manufacturing engineering at GE Aviation and was exploring roles in the education and public sectors. At DCPS, he worked two primary projects:  

• Performing a study on DCPS procurement activity since 2007, consulting internally and delivering a final report to launch the COO’s procurement initiative aimed at improving organizational efficiency  
• Building a budget tracking and dashboard tool for $10MM competitive grant awarded internally, worked on strategic allocation of financial resources for 59 schools receiving these funds, and made recommendations to ensure future success as the program is renewed annually  

DNIF allowed Porter to live in DC during the week and work for a high quality but resource strapped organization while his family remained in Charlottesville over the summer.