Fellow Profile

Name: Mark Gero
Hometown: Westlake Village, CA
School: U.C. Berkeley
Major: Business Administration, B.S. 
Hobbies: Traveling, sports, Netflix, and anything outdoors

Social Sector Partner Placement

Placement Organization: StreetSquash
Location: New York, NY
Organization Title: College Access, Success & Alumni Support Fellow
Role: Placed in the College Access and Success Program, Mark works one-on-one with students of all high school grade levels in all facets of the college preperation and application process. His responsibilities include but are not limited tutoring and guiding students through standardized test preparation, school curriculum, and essay writing--all while playing squash and forming friendships along the way.

Motivation

As a high schooler I thoroughly enjoyed giving back to the community through multiple extracurricular activities. As I began my college career however, I found myself caught between professional development, community service and a social life. Unfortunately there were quite a few instances where the almighty resume took priority over my other passions. As I have matured though, I have increasingly found importance in pursing my passions for personal development, rather than as a means to a better job.

I am passionate about improving our world. When I heard about service year I knew this was a golden opportunity. This year will give me the ability to better my community and in so doing, develop as a person. Although this program is only a year, I hope to continue in this mindset with a life rooted in community service and personal growth.

Bio

Mark Gero is a recent graduate from U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business. He is also a ServiceCorps fellow, and will be returning to Citigroup as an investment-banking analyst following his year at an NGO. His main interests are community service, traveling, sports, and friends and family.

His community involvement began primarily in high school where he served as a Special Olympics coach for four years and was president and co-founder of the Forgotten Soldier Initiative, a student group aimed at supporting veterans and their families. In college he served as a director for Sage Mentorship, a program that partners U.C. Berkeley student mentors with Oakland elementary and middle school mentees.

His professional development up to this point has mostly been through internships. He began by working at two tech startups, Roomer Travel and Caplinked, in primarily business development and marketing roles. He then moved to the financial sector through an internship in Morgan Stanley's wealth management division. Most recently, he worked as a summer analyst on Citi's healthcare investment banking team.

Besides saving the world and paving his way to CEO, he enjoys spending time traveling, playing sports, and with his family and friends. In college he was very involved with his social fraternity as well as Tamid, a consulting and investment club. He enjoys playing a lot of sports with friends He played on five to seven intramural sports teams each semester of college. He graduated in December and has spent the last two months traveling through Southeast Asia, and will be spending the next two months traveling through Central and Southern Africa. Other than that, he is perpetually happy as well as hardworking, and is extremely excited to bring his talents to a non-profit and help make a difference in our world!