Profiles in Leadership: Kristin Peters '13

Young Alumna Employs Leadership Skills in Position with JPMorgan Chase

When Kristin Peters '13 attended an orientation at Isenberg before she applied, she knew it was the right school for her. "I just got a really great vibe," she says. Plus, both her parents graduated from UMass, and they were eager to keep the tradition alive.

Kristin was also impressed by the leadership opportunities at Isenberg. When she was a junior, she worked with other Isenberg alum to start a breast cancer prevention group called Protect our Breasts. She was a member of the executive board for Women in Business. And she was asked by Dean Fuller to be an Isenberg Student Ambassador, as well as the commencement speaker at the Isenberg graduation.

 "When I started my job, I realized that all of the skills that I learned through those different experiences played out in the real working world," Peters says. "I felt very prepared entering the workforce."

With her finance degree in hand, Peters joined JPMorgan Chase as an analyst in Manhattan. She's in a rotational program and is currently working on an internal consulting team for Global Financial Crimes Compliance. Although she's new on the job, she's already calling upon the leadership skills she honed at Isenberg.

Another key to her success: "Being comfortable working with various types of personalities and getting exposed to different ways of thinking-that's been incredibly important," Peters says.

While clocking long work weeks and running her first marathon, Peters is also a member of the planning committee for Isenberg's second Business Leadership Awards Dinner (IBLA). She said she joined the committee because she wants to "pay forward" the support she's received from Isenberg alum.

"I think that working in corporate culture, I've realized how important alumni networks are-not just when you're graduating, but throughout your career," she says.

The event, which will be held on June 18 at Boston's Colonnade Hotel, will honor two outstanding Isenberg graduates: David Fubini '76, the Isenberg grad who has led McKinsey's New England Office and its Worldwide Merger Integration Practice; and Christina Calvaneso '03, senior vice president of finance and business operation at Eyeview.

"I feel proud to have attended the same business school as David and Christina," Peters says. "I look up to them and strive to be as successful and admirable as they both are."