No one is sure when Elle Ohayon has time to sleep. That’s because the Hamilton, Ontario native is a super active student leader who, as a junior at the Sy Syms School of Business, already has a lengthy resume.
Ohayon is pursuing a double major in Accounting and Finance with a minor in Strategy and Entrepreneurship at YU and is serving in her second year as the elected president of the Sy Syms School of Business - a role she first attained as a freshman, making her the first in school history to do so.
She is a member of the YUWILL and Golda Meir Fellowship, TAMID, and the Sy Syms Honors Committee, and was recently elevated to VP of the Asset and Wealth Management Society. She also plays on YU’s Women’s Volleyball Team; works for YU athletics, which includes taking game statistics and working the scoreboard; is involved in YUNMUN (Model UN); and helps run Syms’ social media. And of course, she’s on the dean’s list.
This past summer, Ohayon did anything but “take it easy.” She interned at Portland Holdings, a prominent private investment firm with a focus on Canada and Jamaica, where she worked on their new private equity growth fund focused on nuclear and clean energy.
Her responsibilities included conducting due diligence, preparing applications for sovereign wealth funds, building the investment pipeline and performing in-depth financial analyses of potential portfolio companies. At one point during the internship, she delivered a speech to the entire firm and had the opportunity to meet and build a relationship with Michael Lee-Chin, the CEO of Portland Holdings. “I was privileged to sit alongside him during potential investor meetings, gaining firsthand insight into his approach to business and leadership, and learned a tremendous amount from his guidance and example,” she said. She also facilitated meetings with both investors and investees, and beyond her formal role, took initiative to design and build a functional website for the fund, rebrand its logos, and contribute to other creative and operational needs.
She is very appreciative of how YU is preparing her for her future career in finance. “Nowhere else would I be able to do the things I do, be a student-athlete while serving as president of my school and actively contributing to a variety of clubs and societies,” said Ohayon. “I am deeply grateful for the incredible support I have received at èapp and for the invaluable mentorship of leaders like Dean Michael Strauss and Dr. Sharon Poczter.”
