Meet Emma Cerda
It’s about time we got to know each other in this little corner of the universe we call WE@T. For our first guest, what is more fitting than to introduce the graceful return of our president Emma Cerda!
Emma has always been an entrepreneur. Hailing from New York, New York, she spent her childhood conducting market research- literally. When she had lemonade stands outside of her building, she made sure to count every person that passed by, just to see how many customers she was getting out of the bunch. I think we can see how she has now translated this pre professionalism into her current endeavors.
This is Emma’s 6th semester in WE@T, and she has served in roles ranging from VP of merchandising to co-President. Emma has been an instrumental part of building and creating the vision for WE@T as a group to claim space in the entrepreneurial sphere. Her background majoring in economics and international relations with a concentration in international finance, Emma has helped build a business plan that would help WE@T become so successful in such a short time.
Emma recounts that a year ago, the membership stood at 6 women and today, even remotely, WE@T @T has over 60 women signed up for Summer Session 2020. Joining the founding semester, she became the head merchandise, served as co-president, and returns this summer as President following a (short-lived) semester abroad in Paris, France. In her time at WE@T, Emma has helped plan the club’s first ever conference, We Lead @ Tufts, which played a huge role in shaping the club into what it is today. In addition, she helped spread her vision of inclusivity and showed the impact of taking risks to build a brand and create impact.
At the beginning this summer break, Emma wanted to make Summer Session 2020 into something bigger than the club itself. So much that the women of Tufts had worked for was taken away with so many internships cancelled, but she wanted to make this time meaningful for everyone involved. After launching the plans and gaining so much traction, Emma looks towards the future with expanding WE@T to have a permanent hold within the Tufts community after she graduates, and she hopes to be able to expand its reach to other college campuses. She states that it has been an “invaluable part of my college career and I could only imagine the scale of the impact it could have on students and the entrepreneurial space if brought to other schools”.
On top of the Summer Session, starting in late June, Emma will be working as a Fixed Income Research Analyst intern at Morgan Stanley. When asked about her future goals, she hopes to figure out the impact she wants to have on the world, while combining all my different interests, which has proven to be very difficult.
“I definitely see myself going back to school and starting my own venture at some point in my life, but I try not to dwell on the details because that takes the fun out of it.”
I know I speak for all of WE@T when I say that we are so lucky to have someone as driven and intelligent as Emma as our president. Thank you for everything, Emma.