English Alum - Allison LeCavalier, Project Management Associate, BlackRock

Degree and Year: 
BA 2013
Professional Title: 
Project Management Associate
Employer: 
BlackRock

 

Professional Background: 

Before transitioning to my current role, I was a client services Analyst at BlackRock. My role involved providing day-to-day technology support to users of a complicated investment platform. In this role, I leveraged the communication skills I learned at Duke to explain complex processes in a simple manner.
 

How has being an English graduate from Duke University helped shape your professional success?: 

As a project manager in financial technology, one of my primary roles is to pitch new projects to all sorts of stakeholders. I need to understand how to communicate the project I am working on and its goals to a wide variety of people. Duke's English program taught me how to consider my audience, and effectively communicate ideas to that audience. This ability to frame an idea is invaluable, helping me to lead large-scale projects at a very early stage in my career.