$2M endowment to fund mentorship program in economics department

UCLA’s department of economics received $2 million to fund a mentorship program for students pursuing careers in finance.

The donation from Kevin Albert, a co-founder of the Sharpe Fellows Program, will be used to establish the Albert Family Career Development Endowed Fund within the economics department. The money will be used to provide resources for the Sharpe Fellows Program.

The program, established in 2008, provides internship opportunities and mentoring for undergraduate students pursuing careers in finance or consulting.

Roughly 50 third-year students are selected to be Sharpe Fellows each year. One-hundred percent of Sharpe Fellows have secured summer internships at businesses including Goldman Sachs, Apple and Google, according to an article from UCLA Newsroom.

The program aims to expose fellows to the financial industry through resume training, interview coaching and networking events. Fourth-year students and graduates from the program serve as mentors.

Albert, who received his bachelor’s in economics and master’s from UCLA in 1974 and 1978 respectively, has spent more than 35 years in the financial industry. He currently works for Pantheon, a private equity investment firm.

He has also been a long-term donor to UCLA and a member of the department of economics’ board of visitors. The board members serve as liaisons to the private sector to secure internships and donations and provide feedback to students within the economics department.

Albert previously created the Kevin Albert Family Fund Program in Applied Microeconomics in 2003, which hosts seminars and speakers.

The gift is part of the UCLA Centennial Campaign, which surpassed its goal of raising $4.2 billion by December 2019 in July.