Volunteer Management Group

Overview

Established in 2004, the Merrill Lynch Atlantic Fellowship is an exchange program sponsored by Merrill Lynch and endorsed by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Fellowship’s mission is to provide talented minority high school students in underserved areas of the US and UK an opportunity to learn about financial markets, be introduced to a variety of careers within investment banking, and gain knowledge of government affairs and political systems in the US and UK. Under the patronage of Merrill Lynch Chairman, CEO and President, Stan O’Neal and the British Foreign Secretary, the Rt. Hon. Jack Straw PM, the Fellowship identifies ten US and UK students from each country to participate in the three-week program occurring annually in July.

Fellowship candidates are carefully selected based on a number of criteria with an emphasis on diversity. The objective is to develop their business, financial and entrepreneurial skills during an intense program in London and New York. Participants must be age 16 to 18, in full-time education and studying relevant academic or vocational subjects such as business, math, politics and culture.

In the first year, the Fellowship provided four students from the UK an opportunity to spend two and a half weeks in New York and one week in Washington, D.C. The New York component immersed students in financial markets training based on Merrill Lynch’s internship program and challenged students with a two-day team-building off-site at Green Chimneys in upstate New York. The D.C. component introduced students to American politics, culture and history, and included visits to Capitol Hill and the British Embassy where students interfaced with senior political figures, diplomats and civic leaders.

In 2005, the Fellowship introduced a US to UK exchange. From July 29 through August 10, ten Fellows participated in the program comprised of New York and London components. In New York, Fellows toured Merrill Lynch’s trading floor, the Mercantile Exchange and the Financial History Museum. They were immersed in seminars on business etiquette and communications. In London, Fellows participated in financial training, job shadowing and discussion sessions with senior leaders from Merrill Lynch. Students toured the Foreign Office, No. 10 Downing Street and major London landmarks. They spent two days off-site at Avon Tyrrell Activity Centre in Hampshire where they engaged in team-building exercises.

The Fellowship furthers Merrill Lynch’s philanthropic mission of supporting youth education, leverages relationships with non-profit partners (SEO and the Windsor Fellowship), and builds upon the firm’s existing philanthropic initiatives (Academy of Business Leadership and the Model United Nations Club). The Fellowship embodies the firm’s commitment to diversity and creates a pipeline for future hires from diverse backgrounds. It serves as a mechanism to underline the relationship between Merrill Lynch and the UK Foreign Office and enhances Merrill Lynch’s external profile in the areas of corporate philanthropy, diversity and government relations.

Partner Organizations

The Fellowship is managed on behalf of Merrill Lynch by the Windsor Fellowship in the UK and Sponsors For Educational Opportunity (SEO) in the US. The Windsor Fellowship’s charitable work covers several core challenges including educational under-attainment, achieving greater race equality, valuing diversity and community cohesion. It works in partnership with leading global corporations, FTSE 100 companies, government departments, schools, education authorities and parents.

SEO is a non-profit organization founded in 1963 and is one of New York City’s first mentoring programs for high school students of color. Over the past four decades, SEO has assisted some 4,000 students and their families. It has also expanded its programs to benefit a wider age range of students, helping them develop throughout high school, college and their careers.

In 2004, the Windsor Fellowship was responsible for student recruitment and orientation in the UK, while SEO managed student training in New York. In 2005, SEO was responsible for student recruitment, training and travel coordination, and provided a chaperone to travel to London with the students. Windsor Fellowship provided a male chaperone to join the group in London.

New York Component

Training for the 2005 Program was conducted on-site at Merrill Lynch’s offices in New York on July 29 and July 30. Objectives of the training were to introduce students to the world of financial services, groom them as young professionals, and facilitate student bonding in a group. Students were introduced to SEO and its mission by SEO President and CEO, William Goodloe. They were provided an overview of Merrill Lynch and introduction to the trading floor by Amy Ellis-Simon, Managing Director and SEO Alumna. Students toured Merrill Lynch’s trading floor, the Mercantile Exchange, and the Museum of Financial History. They participated in a series of seminars on business etiquette, networking, formulating questions, writing resumes, bios and follow-up letters, and presenting to an audience.

During the two-day orientation, students dined together and stayed at the Embassy Suites hotel near Merrill Lynch. This time allowed students to get to know one another prior to their London departure. On the second day of orientation, parents of the Fellows attended a Parent Orientation session and pre-departure dinner. Parent Orientation was particularly important as it provided parents the opportunity to air their safety concerns regarding recent events in London. Merrill Lynch security personnel were on hand to speak about measures taken by the firm to ensure the students’ safety while in London, including use of a private mini-bus for all transportation.

London Component

From July 31 through August 10, Fellows participated in an intensive training and touring program in London. Students were introduced to concepts of the financial markets, attended speaking sessions with senior managers from the firm, toured government offices and landmarks, and spent time at a team-building facility.

Students spent two days in financial training class taught by Richard Fernand of 7City Learning, Europe's most successful training company teaching towards examinations and product skills for the financial services industry. The curriculum, titled “Overview of Global Financial Markets,” covered stocks, bonds and causes for market changes. Students learned to interpret stock and bond indices in financial newspapers and engaged in a portfolio simulation game where they allocated funds among different asset classes and were to forecast how allocations might be affected by various market conditions. 7City Training was supplemented with job shadowing where students were paired one-on-one with a Merrill Lynch trader for one hour.

Students were provided a rare opportunity to interface with the firm’s senior managers and ask questions regarding their personal lives, professional careers and perspectives on the financial industry. The following senior managers spent 30 minutes each with the Fellows: Ian Chivers, Bob Wigley, Andrea Orcel, Ausaf Abbass, Andrew Briski, Osman Semerci, Maureen Erasmus, Gary Baker, and Adrian Harris. Following senior management sessions, associates and analysts gave further insight into the business by sharing a “day-in-the-life” of their jobs and how they came to learn about and were hired into their positions. They also provided specific examples of deals they worked on and what their role was throughout the deal process.

Students engaged in effective teambuilding exercises for two days at Avon Tyrrell Activity Centre in Hampshire. They were challenged with structured activities including archery and climbing, low ropes and high ropes courses, raft building, and problem solving games. While there, students discussed and debated the content of their reading assignment, “The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century” by Thomas L. Friedman.

A main objective of the Fellowship is exposing students to government relations and the political system in the foreign country. Students spent one day touring the Foreign Office, No. 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet War Museum, which covers history during Winston Churchill’s term as Prime Minister. At the Foreign Office, students spent 30 minutes in Q & A with FCO staff members, and at No. 10 Downing Street they spent 30 minutes in Q & A with staff member Jonathan Pearse.

Throughout the trip, students were immersed in the culture of the UK. They toured the British Museum, Camden Lock and Markets, had a “Jack the Ripper” tour, and a guided tour of London They rode the London Eye, saw Phantom of the Opera, and dined at a variety of restaurants ranging in cuisine, including British, Greek, Middle Eastern, Italian, Bengali and Jewish.

Method of Student Recruitment and Selection

In 2005, SEO was responsible for student recruitment and sourced applicants by reaching out to its partners in the College Prep Coalition, students in its Scholars Program, and high schools involved with Junior Achievement of New York (JA). SEO marketed the opportunity to siblings of SEO Alumni and posted the application on its Web site. In addition to SEO’s efforts, Merrill Lynch recruited applicants through five of its partner organizations in New York and California.

In mid-May, Donald Ruff, Acting Director of SEO’s Scholars Program, and Daree Lewis, Director of SEO’s Alumni and Philanthropy Programs, began reaching out to organizations in the College Prep Coalition, a partnership of leading New York-based college-prep programs sharing best practices, resources and ideas to help urban students transition successfully to college. Coalition member organizations include:

A Better Chance
Albert G. Oliver Program
Brotherhood Sister Sol
Double Discovery
Fordham STEP
Groundwork
Harlem Educational Activities Fund
I-LEAD
Lang Youth Medical Program
Legal Outreach
Liberty Partnerships
Prep for Prep
SEO Scholars Program
TEAK Fellowship

These organizations distributed the Fellowship brochure and application to their respective student populations. SEO sent brochures and applications for distribution in high schools where JA has relationships.

The SEO Scholars Program is comprised of 25 students in grades 9 through 12 respectively. SEO distributed the application to approximately 50 of its Scholars Program participants in grades 11 and 12. Students in grades 11 and 12 are required to participate in a summer enrichment program and a majority of them had commitments by the time they were informed of the Fellowship opportunity. These commitments are typically made in May for the upcoming summer programs. Of the 50 students who received the application in the SEO Scholars Program, 14 applications were yielded, of which six were interviewed.

SEO sent an email to its 2,100 Alumni asking that they inform their siblings of the Fellowship opportunity. Whether or not SEO Alumni have siblings is not tracked, making it difficult to correlate the 2,100 SEO Alumni with the two applications that were yielded.

Applicants in New York were interviewed in late June/early July by the following SEO staff members: Daree Lewis, Director of Alumni and Philanthropy Programs; Jonathan Feldman, Program Coordinator for Alumni and Philanthropy Programs; Rishi Sihpura, Summer Program Coordinator and SEO Alumnus 2002; and, Julie Marks, SEO Atlantic Fellowship Program Coordinator.

Merrill Lynch sourced applicants from its existing partners, Academy for Business Leadership and the Model United Nations Club. Applicants in California were interviewed by Eddy Bayardelle. Fourteen applications were submitted.

Ten finalists were selected based on academic achievement, demonstrated leadership skills, ability to work well in teams and commitment to community service. A strong focus was placed on diversity and the group demographic is as follows: five males and five females, three 16 year-olds, six 17 year-olds, one 18 year-old, five from New York and five from Los Angles, five Latino, three Black and two Asian. Five represented the firm’s partner organizations, and five represented SEO and its partner organizations. (See Student Profiles)

Impact

The high school years are a challenging time when students are faced with a multitude of decisions about their future. They can easily become overwhelmed trying to decide where to go to college and what to study. Often they do not have mentors or someone to guide them. Therefore, it is critical that students be exposed to the banking environment particularly during their high school years in order that they may consider careers in business and financial services.

The Fellowship creates opportunities for talented high school students from diverse backgrounds to gain knowledge of the financial services industry and exposure to careers in investment banking. 7City’s “Overview of Global Financial Markets” helped students understand how the financial markets affect our everyday lives. Students reported that the content of the curriculum coupled with job shadowing increased their understanding of various careers in banking, helped shape their futures, and guided them toward careers in business.

For some students, simply having the opportunity to sit on the trading floor or engage in a discussion with a managing director has influenced their career choice. Students reported that feeling the pace, excitement and challenge while on the trading floor made them realize that trading was a good fit for them. Many students recognized how studying business can benefit them even though they might be set on pursuing another field. Students previously interested in business studies said the Fellowship broadened their perspective and further strengthened their commitment to pursuing a career in business.

During the Fellowship, students received the rare opportunity to speak with senior leaders and hear first-hand the personal sacrifices and professional challenges one can face throughout a career in financial services. Students commented on how their interaction with senior leaders helped them to understand what it takes to succeed and make it to the top, namely perseverance, dedication and a willingness to be flexible. They also came to see the personal sacrifices that one must make in order to sustain a leadership position.

As a result of the 7City financial training and senior meetings, students commented that they were able to connect the banking world to global financial markets and understand how they too can make choices allowing them to pursue a career in business. They gained insight on how one must at times make sacrifices to reach a lofty goal and sustain a high level of success. One Fellow commented: “The Fellowship gave me an opportunity that most people do not get in a life time. I had the honor of meeting so many executives and listening to their success stories. I had no idea what I wanted to become and the Fellowship basically helped shaped my future. It has given me more strength than I ever thought I had.”

Many students reported that the Fellowship gave them increased self-confidence. The program is challenging for a high school student as there are many anxieties and concerns that accompany a young Fellow traveling abroad. Students are faced with being away from their parents, traveling with a group of students from diverse backgrounds and being immersed in the professional world of investment banking. Recent events in London created additional concerns. An emotional, physical and social challenge awaits the young Fellow and presents an opportunity for students to dig deep within themselves, tapping into a reserve of strength and determination in order to manage these challenges and gain self-confidence.

Team-building activities at Avon Tyrrell contributed immensely to increasing students’ self-confidence. Students commented that they learned to establish relationships with total strangers in an effort to achieve a collective goal. They learned how to communicate effectively and identify particular characteristics of a good leader, such as listening to individual opinions and thinking about the best possible outcomes for the team as a whole. These experiences bolstered the students’ self-esteem and self-confidence. One student shares: “I learned to be a better communicator and a team leader. I was able to improve my skills in a business environment and work with total strangers in order to establish a solid relationship and interact in a professional way.”

There were many instances where students set aside their fears in order to participate in a group activity. One student was afraid of heights yet challenged himself with the high ropes course. Another was afraid of swimming but jumped into the lake during the raft building exercise. Another was afraid to ask a senior leader a question and mustered the courage to engage in a discussion. Breaking through barriers makes for a life-altering impact on a student’s self-esteem and re-patterns their thinking. Many students shared this sentiment: “I was afraid to try [something] but I tried it anyway. And you know what? I succeeded.” This affirmation becomes part of their approach to life’s bigger challenges and has a profound effect on their attitude toward achieving future goals. One Fellow shares her feelings about how she gained self-confidence through the Fellowship experience: “It has changed my life in that I look at myself differently. I no longer see the shy Stephanie, always hiding or being afraid of doing something wrong. I see a young girl that knows where she wants to go, exposes herself to new things and is always confident about herself.”

Providing opportunities for students to learn about government affairs and the political system of the UK added significant value. Students reported feeling fortunate to have toured the Foreign Office and interact with staff members. They felt honored to visit No. 10 Downing Street and speak with Jonathan Pearse. One student shares how this aspect of the Fellowship has made an impact on her: “The Merrill Lynch Atlantic Fellowship has increased my understanding of the world on many different fronts. While learning about business and markets, we were also learning about London’s political system. It was interesting to learn about the different branches of power in the UK and how they work together to make decisions. Instead of having a president, they have a queen. This makes for a very different hierarchy of power.”

The diversity element or the program created a deeper personal experience for the Fellows. Students spent time discussing their backgrounds, when and how their families came to the United States, where they live, what they eat, how they celebrate holidays, what traditions they observe, etc. Students talked about who inspires them and while many students shared that they don’t necessarily have a particular role model, they indicated the family as being their number one source of support. Parents encourage their children to pursue academics, live the American dream, and achieve a higher standard of living than themselves. Students realize that while they differ in race, gender and ethnicity, they are all striving to be their best, overcome obstacles and achieve goals. They commented on how they will carry with them a deeper understanding of and appreciation for diversity wherever they go.

Summary of Recommendations

· In 2004, the Fellowship was initiated by and managed out of the Government Relations Department in Merrill Lynch’s London office. Rita Sheth, an employee in Government Relations, was instrumental in coordinating the inaugural program and has since departed the firm. Now that the two-year pilot has concluded and the firm seeks to continue the program, a staff member must be assigned the full-time responsibility of managing the program. Since the program is a combination of diversity and philanthropy, it could feasibly reside in HR or Global Philanthropy. An annual budget will need to be allocated.

· The program should consist of a US and UK visit, with one trip starting later to allow both student groups to spend some time together. Plans for the 2006 program should begin immediately to allow for marketing and communications to be developed, followed by student recruitment in January. Merrill Lynch should host a roundtable breakfast in mid-October inviting the Executive Directors to attend and learn about the Fellowship. This will facilitate recruitment and expedite communications when SEO circles back to the organizations in January with recruitment materials.

· An Alumni Association should be planned immediately to support ongoing communications with and among the Fellows. Merrill Lynch should host an annual alumni dinner and invite executives and key partners. The event should be held while the Fellows are in New York from London, and vice-versa.

· Ways in which the firm’s employees could potentially serve as ongoing mentors to the Fellows should be discussed, for example, is it feasible that a Merrill Lynch employee who has attended Howard University could be a mentor to Larry Ball who is a new Howard freshman? Other students still in high school could also use direction on how and where to apply to college.

· In regards to recruitment efforts, SEO and Merrill Lynch should meet to discuss specifics regarding applicant selection criteria, such as: Business experience vs. business interest; How do community service and test scores weigh in; Is the program going to be nationwide; Where should students be recruited from, existing Merrill Lynch partner programs or SEO enrichment programs; how diverse should the population be other than gender and city mix; Is the program to be geared toward students who are already on track to enter business careers or those with high potential but needing an eye-opening experience?

· A redesign of the application is necessary and should include space for the parent’s email address and the best time to reach them. Some of the questions should be based on selection criteria and more instance based, for example, Question # 2 should ask for specific descriptions, i.e., “Describe your community service.” Question # 3 should be rephrased to ask, “Please describe an instance when you were a leader.” Question # 4 should be a separate 200-300 word essay. Reference letters should address student behavior and conduct. A web-based application is recommended. This will allow easy access not only for those managing the program, but also for students applying.

· Student outreach and recruitment must begin in January to compete with existing summer enrichment programs and ensure a quality candidate pool. The goal should be to receive between 200 – 250 applications for the 10 spots. Recruitment should run until mid-March. A slate of interviewers needs to be sourced and scheduled in advance, with at least one SEO staff and one Merrill Lynch staff per panel. The interviewing session should be standardized by using benchmarks in order to eliminate subjectivity in selections. More than one round of interviews should be conducted throughout April and the first week of May with final offers going out prior to May 30. Alternate students should be waitlisted. Students without passports can be included in the interview process but contingent on program dates. If Merrill Lynch would like to extend and offer to a student that is not a U.S. Citizen, SEO requires that Merrill Lynch provide consultation on best practices for managing visa and reentry issues.

· To eliminate the possibility of missing a connecting flight and to ease the length of the journey home, students should fly non-stop from London to their local airport. The project coordinator should have a credit card in case of emergencies.

· Parent orientation should be held separate from and prior to student orientation. This will ensure enough time for parents to discipline and prepare the students before departure. Parents should be provided with a “Communication Schedule” prior to students departing so that parents will know when they can expect to reach their child. Parents should use email to communicate with their child when possible and the project coordinator should update the parents via email daily. Students should be informed to exchange money prior to coming to New York orientation and to purchase Amex travel checks, not Amex gift cards.

· Overall, New York training ran smoothly and delivered effective pre-departure preparation. Two days of training was sufficient, however, if parent orientation is held prior to the student training it is recommended that parents still join the pre-departure meal in order to build rapport with the program coordinators and chaperones.

· It is important that everyone who participates in the student training (speakers, session leaders, and facilitators) be informed in advance of the program objectives so they may better prepare to meet students’ needs and abilities, and eliminate any possible redundancy of information in other sessions.

· A Fellowship Web site should be developed in order to promote the program and communicate effectively with the public. The site should reside within Merrill Lynch, have an “ml” URL and link with SEO and Windsor Fellowship sites. The PDF version of the brochure and application is very useful and should be posted on the site. The site should include an Alumni section and a message board to promote networking.

· Merrill Lynch and SEO need to discuss the best way for SEO to follow up with the Fellows. The age of the Fellows makes it difficult for them to become integrated into an existing SEO program because they are too old for the SEO Scholars Program (college prep program) and too young for SEO Career Program (college internship program). SEO can code the Fellows in their database as potential candidates for the SEO Career Program and they will receive SEO email. When the Fellows consider doing an internship in their junior year of college, they can consider doing it through SEO.

Conclusion

After successfully completing a two-year pilot of the Merrill Lynch Atlantic Fellowship, the firm must take a moment to recognize the incredible impact this program has made on these young peoples’ lives. Fellows typically come from low-income families where they or their parents have emigrated from their native country and are struggling to assimilate in the U.S. Students selected as Fellows strive for excellence in their academic and personal endeavors and have established a consistent record of achievement. Most importantly, they have big dreams and aspire to become leaders and make a difference in whatever career path they choose. Merrill Lynch is making it possible for these students to make those dreams a reality. The firm’s next step lies in identifying an ongoing Fellowship Coordinator to continue management of this meaningful and worthwhile initiative.