Tochi Izegbu | Vice President, Securities Division Engineering, Goldman Sachs, Financial Services

Tochi reinvented herself during our Shift Careers program to make the 180 degree pivot from public to private sector - from Foundation to consulting to investment banking.

THE CHALLENGE

"I wanted to make the daunting transition into the private sector."

I had started my career in the U.S. Federal Government within the International Development arena, then traversed via several stints in the Defense, Non-Profit, and Management Consulting industries.

My journey to shift began after graduating from my MBA program in 2012 and taking a position at the United Nations Foundation. In my role, I built corporate partnerships across different verticals and realized the power of business to serve as a catalyst for economic growth.

The challenge that lied ahead was how to translate my skills in program management, relationship management, data analysis, and operations strategy to a position in the private sector.

THE SOLUTION

Shannon helped me reframe my narrative and re-brand my personal story and profile to be compelling to the corporate world.

"Shannon was instrumental in coaching and advising me to see the value proposition I brought to my potential employers in the private sector and how the versatility of my background would uniquely position me to create value for the private sector through efficiencies linked to the triple bottom line."

Having sat in a variety of seats across sales, operations, technology, and advisory functions, Shannon helped me realize that I had built skills in cross-functional collaboration in very complex environments and that these could be channelled into management roles in any private sector vertical with the right industry exposure.

THE RESULT

I landed my dream job as Vice President in the securities division engineering at a leading investment bank.

With Shannon’s help, I was able to reposition into a role leading Global Operations for a sustainability management consulting firm, BSR, and, after a few years made the transition to investment banking operations at Goldman Sachs, where I am now in a senior Engineering function within the Global Markets Division.