Career Talk: Interview with Marissa from Brookfield Asset Management

July 20, 2022, I had the pleasure to interview Marissa who is an ESG analyst at Brookfield Asset Management.

Rebecca: First off, I wanted to ask what drew you to a major in accounting/finance, how your background in undergrad was, and how it led to your career path?

Marissa: It was actually influenced by my high school coursework. I was super mathematically oriented but I was not sure what I wanted to do exactly. I took AP Statistics and AP Economics and thought they were interesting to learn about. I thought I wanted to go into business, and thought entrepreneurship was cool. At that time, I had no interest in accounting, and I thought it made sense for me to be a finance major. At the same time, I took AP Environmental Science, where I really started to learn about sustainability and climate change. In fact, I took Econ at the same time as Environmental Science. I remember learning about the scarcity of resources in both classes, and I thought to myself, “Wow there is actually a connection between these two things!” So, that is when I started to realize I wanted to potentially do something with finance and integrate sustainability. When I was looking at schools and deciding on a college, I was looking into Fordham, I saw they had this “Social Innovation Collaboratory" and there were a lot of opportunities to focus on sustainable business. I figured it would be a good place to bring these interests together. I ultimately decided to major in Applied Accounting and Finance, which was just a hybrid version of the two subjects. I ended up focusing more on the accounting piece, than the finance. To provide some insight on how Fordham’s business school works, your sophomore year you do this thing called the cohorts, where you take all of your core business classes for that semester with the same 35 students, where and within that you are assigned to a small group to work on projects with. One of the cohorts was specifically focused on social innovation, so I selected that set of courses. “Social innovation” is the idea that you can still make a profit through innovative business ideas while also benefiting society and the environment. All of my core business classes for that semester were focused on social responsibility and sustainability. So, I learned about sustainability reporting in my first financial accounting class, and discovered that environmental data, such as climate change metrics, could actually be integrated into the financial statements. I was fascinated by this and thought it was so cool. That is what got me interested in accounting, realizing that you could account for social innovation, in a way that is transparent about progress. I was still interested in finance because I wanted to understand how money grows, especially in a way that benefits the planet and society, such as impact investing. That is how I picked my major and layered in a Concentration in Social Innovation.Any advice I could give to someone younger than me, is to not be afraid to do something you like even if it is not what everyone else is doing. I think sometimes, especially if you end up at a business school, you may feel like you have to go down one specific path, and my tip is to not feel like that. For example, if you want to do something science related, then just do it! Do whatever feels right for you and do not worry solely about career factors. A lot of people are focused on what they are going to get out of something, rather than what they are truly passionate about. It is very important to do what you are passionate about.

Rebecca: Thank you so much for saying that, that is so important. I was just thinking about that the other day, because I mean traditionally growing up I always thought that if I majored in business, I am going to go to A, B, and C, like move up the ranks in a bank or do something like that, but then with my experience in the Euro/ Fed Challenge, a lot of our research that we did was around climate change. My sophomore year we studied the economy of Germany and how to accommodate their climate goals. This past year in the Fed challenge it was an academic podcast about climate change and its implications on human health. Those experiences are what really helped me understand that economics and business are intertwined with all different social issues. It is not just that I am going to work at a bank with A, B, and C. You can actually solve global issues with what you do in business and that is one of the reasons I became passionate about it so thank you so much for reminding me of that. That makes me feel so much better, that there is someone out there who has been successful as you, that is telling me that I do not have to follow a traditional path. A lot of teenagers really need to hear that. So thank you so much for saying that.

Marissa: Absolutely, of course! It went through my head, “Do I major in environmental science?” However, I believe I would be at the same place I am now. At Fordham I catered all my extracurriculars to sustainability, instead of finance or accounting related clubs.Finance can feel super intimidating, especially because many people know a lot before they get to college. Sometimes I felt like I had to be in those clubs to be successful or competitive because that’s what everyone else was doing, but I reminded myself that I was already learning finance and accounting in my curriculum, so I figured I might as well do stuff outside of that to be well-rounded. For example, I started to attend discussion sessions with the Social Innovation Collaboratory (the network I saw on Fordham’s website when I was making my college decision), where there were several groups focused on different aspects of sustainability, I chose to get more involved in the Fashion Sustainability group because I was very interested in clothing waste. Everyone wears clothes, regardless of style, and it’s a fundamental part of your day. So many pieces of clothing go to waste, and when you learn about the facts and figures—for example, it takes 1,800 gallons of water to make one pair of jeans—it makes you change the way you think about clothes. We had discussions weekly and were trying to develop a Sustainable Fashion curriculum. We also got to work with outside groups, like Net Impact, who funded this campaign called “Wear it Wise” that we got to partake in. We hosted thrift shops and other sustainable fashion companies to come sell their clothes on campus—we called it a Sustainable Fashion Bazaar. This was a lot more fulfilling to me than a typical business club.

Rebecca: Could you describe to me what you do in your job as an analyst or auditor? What were the steps in your career path to where you are now?

Marissa: The first place I had a true internship, is still where I am today. When you are in business school, oftentimes, the most traveled career paths are presented to you. A lot of the finance and accounting internships I saw seemed very general. Many were not specific to a certain industry.I would go to career fairs and ask recruiters if their companies had any groups for ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and sustainability. The Big Four accounting firms specifically did not have many groups in that niche five or so years ago, but now there are many. Now, lots of consulting wings specialize in climate change and sustainability. Investors are demanding transparency and initiatives related to ESG progress. I got an email in my inbox one day from Fordham’s accounting-focused career services group. It had a link to an application for an internship at Brookfield Asset Management. It was a Rotational Accounting Internship program. I was looking into Brookfield and saw that the organization was split into several business platforms, with a focus on alternative assets—which means you are investing in assets other than stocks and bonds. The businesses included Real Estate, Infrastructure, Private Equity, and Renewable Energy. I was immediately so excited when I heard that a company I could intern at had a renewable energy sector. The internship was specifically meant for New York City students, and I went through the interview process feeling very good. I spoke to my interest in sustainability during my interviews. I was accepted into the program, which was mostly focused on Real Estate. I would work in the office full-time over the summer and part-time during the school year, and rotate into a new position every three to six months. My first rotation was on the Internal Audit team, where I got to work on a Real Estate Environmental & Sustainability advisory project (because I had expressed interest in the topic), as well as other projects related to financial reporting and accounting processes. My next rotation was a Real Estate Fund Accounting internship, where I really got to hone in on my Excel skills and understand the inner workings of a private fund. Then for my next rotation, due to the fact I kept expressing this interest in sustainability, I was placed on the ESG Management team at the corporate level. This is where I learned about fundamental climate-related reporting frameworks, as well as environmental and social strategies. When it came time to look for a full-time job, after doing the internship from the summer after my sophomore year of college to senior year, I was interested in staying at Brookfield. The Internal Audit team was open to hiring and so I expressed interest in returning to the team. For context, internal audit is more about checking processes in place—which, at Brookfield, involves looking at different functions of various entities within the company—than just reviewing accounting and financial reporting practices. For example, you could do a development and construction audit on a sample of new real estate properties. I thought it would be cool to learn about all different aspects of the business, so that is how I ended up back with Internal Audit. At the same time, I knew my end goal was to specialize in ESG, whether in Internal Audit or on another team, and I certainly continued to voice my interest in the subject. Long story short, a year and a half to two years after I joined the organization full time, my resume got passed around. It came up that our Hospitality Portfolio Management team (focused on our hotel investments within the Real Estate group) was looking for candidates. I had a few informational meetings, and once the team built out the position, they offered it to me. So that is what I am doing now!Even though I work in portfolio management, my job is not super finance focused. I am essentially an ESG subject matter specialist on the team, and I basically get to develop sustainability strategies for a bunch of hotels, which is really awesome. Reporting on greenhouse gas emissions and other metrics is a huge aspect of the job, so the accounting skills definitely help, but I am focused on sustainability and social responsibility overall.

Rebecca: You are a great speaker. Your storytelling is incredible. Second of all, you are truly inspiring me, because you had a passion and no matter what even when you went to look at traditional paths for business, and they did not have a certain department, you found a company that had a goal similar to yours. You were so passionate about what you wanted, that you stuck to that. You ended up getting a job doing exactly what you love. I find that so inspiring, and I am going to remember you when I am looking for a job and thinking what am I passionate about? I am going to stick to it, and I am going to get a job with what I truly want, because that is exactly what you did. I think that is so inspiring, like you did not take no for an answer, because your passion shined through. And that is why you got that position. That’s amazing and you should be so proud of yourself. Also- it is a little intimidating coming from an all girls school, I feel I might be more confident than someone who did not, but I know something I am going to face when I go to college is .. especially if I go into anything that has to do with science or business, a lot of those fields are dominated by men. I feel like that can be intimidating, not because I do not believe in myself, but there are all these men generally speaking in those types of careers, the gender difference is so much and I am happy that it is starting to get better over time. Your passion and the way you stuck to what you wanted to do, that inspired me so much, so thank you so much for saying that.

Also I wanted to ask

Do you believe your education at Mount (our high school), being an all girl’s high school , influenced your career and your work today?

Marissa: Yes, absolutely, I probably wouldn’t be as driven, like so focused on working hard and being diligent, if I didn’t go to Mount. The classes are challenging, and so I took them really seriously, and that is likely why my high school classes influenced what field I ended up in and my career. Funny enough, I had dinner last night with two of my friends from Mount, and we were talking about how our high school made us so smart. We forget how smart Mount made us. It is honestly so nice—aside from the work-focused stuff—I made friends at Mount that I will keep forever. You know, I feel like it varies, some people keep their high school friends, and some only stay closer with their college friends, but I have friends that I will never lose. I live in Manhattan, and lucky for me I have friends from Mount that also live in the city. It is so nice to still be able to hang out with high school friends often. Switching gears, in terms of going into a male dominated field, I did want to touch on that a little bit. It is true, obviously business fields, such as finance and accounting specifically, as well as the sciences, are more male dominated. However, I will say from my personal experiences and observations, that it is more so at the executive level. You typically see (and this may just be my opinion) more women in leadership positions at the ground level, like where you would be working initially. Then when you look higher up the chain, that is where you may see more men and fewer women. One thing I would say to that, is never be worried that you’re being too “girly.” You don’t always have to come across as tough, laser-focused, and overly formal. It is absolutely important to be professional and assertive, but I have to remind myself sometimes that it is okay to not fit a certain mold. I sort of consider myself Gen-Z, and I am on the younger side for people working at my company, and I probably say things that are more informal and youthful. You are who you are, everybody should be themselves at work to some degree, and you shouldn’t overthink about how people perceive you. As long as you’re getting the job done and doing the right thing, it doesn’t matter! Being candid as a woman in business from a younger generation does not make you any less smart or accomplished than someone else.

Rebecca: That is definitely great to hear. It does sound nerve-wracking, getting to a new job and having to be very professional, and being on your toes/

Marissa: Just know, I work with so many powerful and amazing women in higher up leadership positions. My commentary is just based on general trends in the industry, and things are rapidly changing for the better! So definitely do not feel like you’re going to go in and it’s only going to be men. Do not feel like you are going to be the only girl in the room, because you won’t be.

Rebecca: Yes, I agree. I also feel like since women give birth, it definitely creates a gap in who can rise up in leadership. I get really frustrated by those statistics, like how the U.S I have heard does not have an official federal law for paid maternity leave. I just feel like women deserve to have the same rights and opportunities as men, even in that sense so that they can have the same ability to keep moving up in the ranks and progressing in their career. But you know that will come in time, because of women like you and women like me who are passionate about things.

Marissa: Absolutely. That obviously should not be the case, and there is still a gender pay gap. Those kinds of things, like a woman having a baby, or even a man going on a longer paternity leave to spend time with his new family, involve boundaries that still need to be more established, not just in the workplace but in American culture. Something that is really awesome is that Gen-Z employees are entering the workforce pushing for exactly what they want off the bat, a lot more than other generations have. I would say I’m somewhere in between Millennial and Gen-Z, so I’m not fully in tune with this mindset. Obviously, you are a lot more Gen-Z than me. People are really demanding flexibility for the things that they need, and telling not asking. I think your generation is really going to break down a lot of barriers, so I wouldn’t be concerned if I were you!

Rebecca: Okay, yeah, thank you so much for all of your advice, I mean you are really an inspiring person, like you have really inspired me to stick to what I am passionate about, and maintain my values all through my education, and my career. I mean you are very well spoken, so kudos to you and all of your accomplishments so far. You seem very intelligent, I am impressed by how intelligent and well-spoken you are. Everything you spoke about was so helpful and you gave such incredible advice.

My last question, although you mostly covered it already, was, what advice would you give your younger self?

Marissa: I feel like I would have told my younger self—I mean you go to Mount, so I am sure you are so driven about school like I was, and this will probably resonate with you—take things with a grain of salt. I would get way too overly stressed about minuscule things, when I really should have been more focused on myself, my happiness, and what I really wanted. I would say, have more of that mentality. It’s a balancing act. Don’t think too much about how much you are achieving or about being competitive. I would want my younger self to go with the flow. Do what you want to do (with reasonable limitations of course), and everything will be okay! You can’t be perfect!

Rebecca: Thank you so much, I really appreciate that, I need to get that in my head too. All of your advice was so helpful, you are such a genuine kind person. I really appreciate you being here today.

Marissa: Absolutely, it was so nice meeting you virtually. Please feel free to keep in touch, and I am happy to answer questions anytime!