GWI Alumni Spotlight: Meet Nadine Akkawi
Our Alumni Community spans a variety of states, universities, asset classes, and more, bringing a wealth of varied experiences that strengthen GWI as a whole. Among these exceptional individuals is Nadine Akkawi, a member of the GWI Alumni Class of 2021 and the first San Francisco Regional Representative on the GWI Alumni Council. Nadine recently received the Alum of Distinction award for the Class of 2021 at our 10th Anniversary Gala. Read on to discover her GWI story and her advice for those looking to make their mark in the industry.
How do you stay connected with other GWI Alumni, and how do you value those relationships?
A lot of GWI Alumni have become my close friends. We live all over the country (and world!) now, but we’ve always maintained contact. Whenever I’m travelling, catching up with my GWI Alumni friends is top on my priority list.
What motivated you to apply to Girls Who Invest, and what were your career aspirations when you joined the program?
I applied to Girls Who Invest because it seemed like an incredible opportunity to be taught more about a field I had never been exposed to. It felt like my peers had decided to pursue finance well before they began their college careers, whereas I had no exposure to the field, let alone the career paths it could offer.
If you could travel back to your first days in the Girls Who Invest program, what would you tell your younger self?
My fellow Scholars are just as important as the content we’re taught. Being able to form strong relationships with women from various universities who ultimately take various career paths is beyond valuable and pays dividends down the road, both personally and professionally.
What would you want current Scholars and future program participants to know about the legacy they're becoming part of?
You should definitely feel comfortable leaning on the community. This community is so focused on uplifting one another in a way I have never seen before, and to me, it’s what this program is all about.
GWI Alumni Fireside Chat hosted by TPG
What inspired you to join the Alumni Council, and what did you hope to accomplish during your term?
I’ve made so many close friends through GWI, both during and after the program. Having just moved to San Francisco myself ~1 year ago, I thought this would be an awesome opportunity to not only connect with GWI Alumni in my region, but take initiative and coordinate those events myself. As the first SF regional representative, I hope to create a community for Alumni to lean on one another.
What motivates you to support GWI?
For me, it has always been the idea of giving back to a community that has given me so much. I’m motivated by the “pay it forward” mindset, and I hope to help my mentees in the same way my mentors helped me.
As you look ahead, what do you see as the most important priorities for the Alumni Council in the next five years?
The GWI program extends so much further than just the initial sophomore summer. With the program’s 10th anniversary having just passed, there is now a whole cohort of Alumni ~8 years into their careers. I think the biggest priority should be finding a way to bridge the gap between the earliest and the latest GWI cohorts (and everyone in between!), which will amplify the ripple effects of the community as a whole.