February 2025 - Tara Snapper
BA International Studies (Political Economic Development); BA Economics ‘22
Hometown: Wellesley, Massachusetts
University of Michigan Affiliations: UROP, Phi Beta Lambda Business Fraternity, Propel Impact Consulting Group, AISEC, Hillel, Intramural Sports
"Focusing on Political Economic Development through PICS gave me the ability to understand and study how international development has been successful, today and in the past. Getting an interdisciplinary education has allowed me to bring a unique and holistic perspective in my current job and previous positions.
Immediately after graduation, I volunteered in the Peace Corps’ Community Economic Development sector, where I co-taught entrepreneurship and finance in an agricultural high school in Colombia. I also had the opportunity to support small business in the community and teach business acumen classes to women in surrounding towns with my co-volunteers. My senior thesis through PICS, focused on microfinance, gave me a passion and a proven interest for leveraging entrepreneurship to work towards minimizing economic inequality.
I currently work as a Senior Business Analyst at Capital One in Sustainable Finance. My knowledge of geopolitical issues, allows me to better evaluate climate risk on the Commercial Bank. I loved my time learning in the PICS program, enjoyed the ability to get close to professors, and would never change my choice of studying a major that promises you to have an international understanding of the world."
