Youthbuild PartnershipYouthbuildPartnership

This summer, Praveen Kuruppu, an Investment Associate based in San Francisco, became PGIM Real Estate’s first-ever YouthBuild Ambassador to participate in a Secondment Program with the organization. For six weeks, he spent three days a week at Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation (NMIC) in the classroom with students, working as an ally and providing an outside perspective.

“I wanted the opportunity to work directly with students on a daily basis and touch young people’s lives,” he said. “And to truly understand what they want to do with their lives and help them achieve their goals.”

Praveen helped students write resumes and cover letters, held PowerPoint and public speaking workshops to help them prepare for an end-of-semester business pitch and taught finance, accounting and business concepts. He also revised the program’s business curriculum, organized a tour for students to visit a PGIM Real Estate-owned office skyscaper and provided general mentorship for those applying for jobs and pursuing college options.

Praveen is proud of the impact he’s made on these young people. Many of the candidates are using their new resumes to apply for jobs. One young man is creating a new presentation to start a business based on Praveen’s PowerPoint workshops. Praveen even helped another student apply for college.

“I tried to give the students hands-on guidance for life experiences they were looking for,” he said. “My goal was to help motivate and prepare them for opportunities after the program.”

Praveen highly recommends engaging in these activities to his PGIM Real Estate colleagues in order to create a greater impact in the communities we live and work in and to continue developing leadership skills.

“There’s more that we can do,” he said. “We can spend more time in the classroom, show up consistently and be better resources for the students even after they graduate from YouthBuild. I know we can make an even bigger impact.”

PGIM Real Estate Head of U.S. Transactions, Todd Goldberg, shared his insights on the program:

 

"The Secondment Program is a great opportunity for our colleagues to deepen their relationship with YouthBuild students and make a real impact on their lives. As a YouthBuild board member, I am thrilled we continue to expand our partnership with YouthBuild in innovative ways."

The Secondment Program is another way PGIM Real Estate is helping to build inclusive leaders who are committed to diversity, equity and inclusion. Employees are immersed in a different environment that fosters social awareness, creates connections with people from different backgrounds, deepens one’s own self-awareness, creates vulnerability and increases empathy. All of these skillsets are important to developing more inclusive leaders at PGIM Real Estate.