Finance for the Greater Good

The Stevens School of Business has always produced financial scholars. Now, thanks to the efforts of senior business and technology major Pedram Behrooz, it is creating Scholars of Finance.

Already the former, Pedram is the co-founder of a chapter of the latter at Stevens. Scholars of Finance is an organization with the mission to “inspire character and integrity in the finance leaders of tomorrow” to fulfill their vision of “stewarding the world’s capital for the greater good”. Their values include integrity, humility, compassion and excellence.

“The organization understands that finance can have a bad stigma to it,” Pedram, a local product from Jersey City, said. “Everyone has heard many stories of the people within this industry who lack good ethics and morals, but we believe that finance does not have to be that way. People can utilize it for the greater good. Non-profits do great work, but we also believe there's no limit to how much you can raise and how much you can do with finance if you have the right people in the industry. Financial professionals control a big portion of the world’s capital, and if you can utilize that, it can create a huge impact.”

Based on its creation story, the Stevens chapter could add a fifth value—persistence.

While Pedram was trying to build his resume with extracurricular activities and leadership experience, he came across Scholars of Finance when browsing for opportunities on LinkedIn. After learning more about the group, he applied to establish a chapter in Hoboken. He didn’t stop working after receiving the automated reply to the submission. Pedram took it a step further and immediately reached out directly to ask about the next steps and what he could do to maximize Stevens’ chances of being accepted.

But Pedram wasn’t the only one trying to bring Scholars of Finance to the Stevens campus. Current Executive Vice President Caroline Koniarski, a senior pure and applied mathematics major and quantitative finance minor, also submitted an application form.

“I went to a Women on Wall Street event for Wells Fargo, where I did my internship,” Caroline recalled. “I saw resumes from the other girls, and Scholars of Finance was a huge trend. I was very curious because I knew Stevens didn't have that. I did some research and applied for Stevens to become a chapter. The national team connected Pedram and I, and ever since then, we’ve been building a team.”

Their hard work paid off. In the spring of 2023, the national organization chose Stevens as one of 10 new chapters from a pool of more than 100 university applications and more than 180 student applications. The chapter was formed just in time. Scholars of Finance has discontinued accepting any new universities for the 2024-2025 academic year.

“I just liked everything about it: the vision, the mission, the fact that it's a national organization, its partnership with different companies and its large mentorship network,” he said. “They have a lot of resources. I saw that NYU, Rutgers and Baruch had chapters and thought about joining one of them, but when I saw an option to launch another chapter, I knew I had to do it. Not only was it exactly what I was looking for, but I also felt that it was an experience other students were looking for. I envisioned the impact it could have here at Stevens, so I put my all into getting accepted.”

“Stevens is already a prestigious school, and our business school has programs specifically focused on technology, such as the business and technology and quantitative finance majors,” Pedram continued. “Everyone knows Stevens Business School is on the rise, especially when paired with our great location right next to Wall Street. When explaining this to the national organization, they were convinced, and we were selected.”

Pedram and the rest of the executive team went to work in the fall of 2023. In the first year, the chapter has grown to 50. This semester, they have had more than 60 applicants and have recently accepted more than 20 new members.

The group isn’t just about recruiting new members. Programming includes a mandatory eight-week leader development program. The national organization provides the curriculum, but the chapter leadership board presents it. The group holds weekly meetings, including hosting six guest speakers, four of whom came to campus, principles workshops where they discuss case studies connecting finance to their core values, and professional development workshops where they discuss best practices to land top roles in the financial industry. The group also attends leadership conferences throughout the Tri-State area and will host their own conference with the Baruch chapter in November.

The work did not go unnoticed. The Stevens chapter was honored with the Scholars of Finance’s 2024 New Organization of the Year Award.

“I’ve learned a lot through the Leadership Development program,” Caroline said. “I have been a facilitator for three semesters, and I think it is rewarding to see everyone getting to know each other on a deeper level. You go from zero to 100 talking about your challenges, how you can overcome them, building like a list of things and goals and having a partner that holds you accountable to these things. I love leading people and seeing them grow.”

What is Next for the Stevens Chapter of Scholars of Finance?

This semester, the group is looking to evolve the organization with “Scholars of Finance Version 2.” The group has added a six-week recruitment boot camp concluding with a stock pitch competition to help sophomores navigate internship recruitment. The winner of the competition will have a chance to pitch their stock to the national organization for possible investment in its integrity fund. Furthermore, the group introduced a six-week industry introduction program for first-year students.StevensChapter members are also volunteering at least once per semester to give back to the local community.

“The leadership development program is one of our core events,” Pedram, who serves as the chapter president, said. “The goal is to learn about yourself to find your true values and principles. What do you stand for? How will you try to accomplish a goal that has a purpose greater than yourself? After answering these questions, we would then discuss as a group how we can use finance to support these causes. Overall, we build a community with each other and learn why each principle of Scholars of Finance helps us to become a better leader, a better person and a better industry professional.”

While the route from his native Jersey City to Stevens is minimal, the path to founding a club and accepting a full-time job offer at JP Morgan took a few more steps, or in Pedram’s case, laps in the pool.

Using his prowess in the water—he competed on the Stevens varsity swimming team for two years— Pedram founded his own business in high school, which provided private swimming lessons to Hoboken, Jersey City, West New York and North Bergen clients. He quickly found that not only was he good at being a swimming instructor, but he excelled at growing the business year-over-year.

“I learned that I was good with people and client services,” he said. “I also enjoyed the overall business and financial management aspect, and I felt that studying business would be a good path for me. I became much more interested in finance specifically, and I knew I wanted to pursue that as a career.”

Prepared by his concentrations in finance and computer science, a minor in quantitative finance, and a stint as an analyst with Stevens’ Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF), Pedram completed an internship as a corporate and investment bank payments analyst last summer. He received an offer to return in a full-time role that he will begin next September. As a rotational analyst, he will work with three different teams in J.P. Morgan’s corporate investment bank during a two-year period.

How The Finance Degree Prepared Pedram for Success

Pedram believes his experience in the classroom as a finance major and his leadership of Scholars of Finance have positioned him for future success.

“The overall experience has been phenomenal,” he said. “It’s been one of the greatest learning experiences I've had. Doing things hands-on is the best way to learn, especially when it comes to management. I think you have to actually manage a team to get a good idea of what works and what doesn't. Being one of the founders and the president and watching it grow, I've learned a lot about how to help develop a team. It has helped me a lot with communication and the soft skills of working with people.”

“Scholars of Finance also taught me the importance of being surrounded by a community with character and morals,” Pedram continued. “J.P. Morgan was the perfect fit as the company is aligned with similar values as Scholars of Finance. I was able to fit right in with the company culture because I had already received exposure to these principles during my time with SoF.”

2024-25 Scholars of Finance Stevens Chapter Leadership Team

• Pedram Behrooz, President & Founder

• Caroline Koniarski, Executive Vice President & Founder

• Gavin Ng, VP of Professional Development

• Anna Velardi, VP of Leadership Development

• Andrew Thomas, VP of Finance & Operations

• Rishi Konda, VP of Member Experience

• Kristi Liu, VP of Marketing & Outreach

• Jack Seitz, Co-Founder & Advisor

• Arjun Patel, Co-Founder & Advisor