Mariah Johnson

As you can see from the page my name is Mariah Johnson. I am originally from Chicago, IL. I was born and raised there. I have been living in Austin, Texas since the day after I graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a BS in Finance so since May 11, 2014. I have always gotten an enormous amount of attention from employers because for my age I've been lucky enough to have alot of great opportunites. I worked for the United States Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration for two years full time as an undergraduate specializing in Accounting, Finance, and Grant Management. I loved Economic Development and everything that it stood for yet it was not my end goal. I left the Federal Government to go intern for a non-profit called After School Matters. This organization was a set closer to what I ultimately wanted to do. They helped under privledged teens from some of the most underserved communities in Chicago. They provided teens with the opportunity to further there passions by offering paid apprenticeships in STEM , culinary, and the arts. After School Matters was a great opportunity but it wasn't my opportunity. So from there I moved to Austin. The goal behind moving to Austin was to attend the University of Texas-Austin Innovation Leadership, and Marketing Analytics. Why is what many people ask? The answer is always the same. I did not major in finance to become the next "Wolf of Wall Street". I did not major in finance to become anything in the finance field. Although, I feel that my finance education was a great investment towards my end goal. I wanted a career that focused on providing minorities both adults and children with financial knowledge so that they may go into the world as financially literate individuals. Despite the variations and different career paths, the main goal to help improve the status and lives of young people throung entrepreneurship and volunteerism. My ultimate goal is to work with minority youth through a program that facilitates the personal, social and educational development of youth.