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While law, medicine, and finance still remain as some of the most popular career paths among recent college grads, Eileen Lee and organizations like Venture for America remind us that there are other options out there. VFA’s two-year fellowship program places young graduates in start-up companies and promotes the spirit of entrepreneurism for the ultimate goal of creating new jobs in America. We talked with Eileen about her belief in VFA’s vision and the potential impact of start-up companies in today’s economy.

 

What are some of the day-to-day roles you are expected to fill as the Director of Operations at VFA?

Aside from managing the organization’s operations, I work with our various supporters, company partners, board members, and partner organizations for recruitment, fundraising, and outreach purposes. All of this work builds towards our first fellowship program beginning in June 2012. Right now college campus recruitment, applications and interviews are on our horizon. Work also continues our website, outreach and fundraising, and developing our fellowship curriculum – all core challenges to tackle in the coming months as we maintain a lean start-up.

It says on your bio that you were a senior consultant at Accenture prior to joining VFA. What led you to make this switch?

So my mom can understand what I do for a living.

In all seriousness, aside from law and medicine, 99% of my friends went into finance. After a string of unsuccessful finance interviews, I discovered consulting and thought this profession would be a good way to learn about businesses. I had no clue that start-ups could be a career path option. I gained valuable skills at Accenture, but I felt ready for a new challenge and wanted to feel more ownership in my work. I was very fortunate to have met Andrew and to be given an opportunity at VFA.

What are some of the pros and cons of working for a young organization like VFA, as opposed to an already established international firm like Accenture?

VFA has been exciting every step of the way. Our company has so much potential to grow and expand, and every day I feel part of something bigger than myself seeing how many supporters we have and how engaged people are with the program. However, there’s always a risk as a new company as there’s no way to predict what will happen in the coming years. Accenture is 200,000+ strong and well established in its industry, so there were numerous opportunities within the company and many people to learn from. The big difference between the two was the impact and passion I had. Here, I have a steep learning curve, a wide range of responsibilities, great impact on the company’s success, not to mention the passion I personally feel for the core mission.

Andrew Yang (founder and president of VFA) mentioned in an interview that VFA was inspired by the success of Teach for America. What sort of response do you expect to see in the upcoming round of applications?

We’re targeting 5000+ applications for 50+ fellowships. Teach for America had 46,000 applicants for 4500 spots last year and has become harder to get into than some Ivy League schools. Our goal is to select the smartest and scrappiest from the pool: those that will thrive in a start-up and go on to build jobs and other great things in our society.

VFA seems to have some ambitious long-term goals, such as creating up to 100,000 jobs by 2025. What are your thoughts on the plausibility of these goals?

VFA’s main goal is job creation. Whether a fellow goes on to start his/her own company and creates jobs or stays at their current company and impacts its job growth, we will consider that success for the fellow and for the economy.  We’ll focus on creating 100,000 jobs by 2025, but a sizable impact on the economy and how society views start-ups as a career path will be a great win for us.

What are some of your personal career goals?

I know it’s cliché to say, but I want to continue to be passionate about what I do at work everyday and to grow and learn at every step of the way. I’m inspired by my father who was a successful doctor and helped his community thrive. While medicine was not the right career path for me, I always wanted to have a positive impact in my community and VFA provides the perfect vehicle for that.

The startup community and the people I have met so far have made for an amazing experience right off the bat. It’s great to learn from and be around people that are driven and passionate about solving a problem.

Do you have any advice for people who are seeking to get involved in start-ups?

Be sure that you truly believe in the idea before committing to work and starting it up. Once you’ve gotten past that, get ready for a ride! Enjoy every moment as you’ll learn loads everyday and feel fortunate that you’re doing something you love.

Venture for America
http://ventureforamerica.org/
Follow VFA on Facebook and Twitter.

[Photos: Courtesy of Eileen Lee; VFA Facebook]