Breaking Barriers: From Ƶ Classroom to Goldman Sachs, Students Unite to Learn from Women Leaders
Left to right: ’21, a risk associate at JPMorgan Chase, , vice president of Mercantile Bank of Michigan and ’18, a vice president at Goldman Sachs in London, England talk with ‘13, director of marketing at Feyen Zylstra at Breaking Barriers: From Ƶ Classroom to Goldman Sachs, Students Unite to Learn from Women Leaders.
In her final leadership role before graduating, Knight Investment Management (KIM) student leader Delanie Minnema ’25 provided vision and guidance for a first-of-its-kind learning and networking event on Ƶ’s campus. Breaking Barriers: Navigating a Career in Corporate Leadership featured a fireside chat with , board member at , and a panel discussion with , vice president of Mercantile Bank of Michigan; ’21, a risk associate at JPMorgan Chase; and ’18, a vice president at Goldman Sachs in London, England.
The gathering opened its doors to more than 80 guests including Ƶ faculty and students, alumni, community members, and even secondary students from nearby Grand Rapids Christian High School.
Strength in Diversity
KIM faculty advisor Leonard Van Drunen was among the morning’s attendees. He says Minnema’s interest in creating a learning opportunity like Breaking Barriers ties in with a key core value of KIM, a student-led organization that invests about $2.8 million of the university’s endowment.
Founded in 2012, from its earliest years, the organization made a concerted effort to recruit high
ly committed students from a wide range of academic interests and backgrounds. “Many student investors are finance majors, but we also have students who are studying things like philosophy, engineering, political science, and marketing. Anyone can apply to join.”
Minnema, who served on the KIM leadership team during the 2024-25 academic year says she frequently noticed a gender gap in her finance classes. “Often I was the only woman or maybe one of two women in my finance classes. During my first internship at an investment bank in downtown Grand Rapids, I was the only female. I was a little bit surprised—it’s 2025. I wondered if that gender gap existed everywhere.”
Sharing Gained Perspective
During the summer of 2024, Minnema landed a highly competitive internship at , a wealth management firm that holds a long-standing relationship with Ƶ’s School of Business. Placed on the alternative investment team at the Salt Lake City office, Minnema was delighted to discover the head of the office and all three of her managers were women.
When she returned to Ƶ that fall, Minnema had a message to share with her female classmates, one that evolved into a unique opportunity organized and hosted in partnership with Women’s Business Network, another School of Business student organization.
Leadership, Authenticity and Growth
Even the panelists took meaning back to their workplaces. Panelist Anaiah Zainea appreciated Judy Gawlik Brown’s focus on authenticity—something she has recently given more thought to as it applies to her own career development. Early on, Zainea says she felt extra pressure to “show up as my best self every day.” And while she still strives to do that, she also emphasizes the importance of approaching difficult or challenging experiences with curiosity rather than self-condemnation.
“As I’ve looked at past roles and projects I’ve done, I think I’ve developed so much more peace and acceptance of my work. Self-imposed pressure needs to be evaluated. You really need objective perspectives for growth,” Zainea explains.
Minnema, too, gets excited when she recalls the positive feedback she received from presenters and attendees alike. “It was super inspiring to hear from all the panelists and Ƶ alumni. And even though this was a female-led event, I really wanted it to be focused on leadership in a way that would be helpful for anyone.”
The morning achieved that goal. “Judy Brown said she had never been at an event that had the underpinning of being female-oriented and was also attended by so many men,” Minnema says.
Looking Back while Stepping Forward
As she reflects on her time at Ƶ, Minnema says she is grateful not only for the knowledge she gained from her business and philosophy double major but also for the soft skills she feels Ƶ excels at nurturing in its students. “My life experiences have made me a natural leader, but what Ƶ taught me is that being a leader is modeling love towards everyone, care towards everyone, tolerance towards everyone. And that’s only possible with a strong sense of your own identity. I think that’s going to be super important for me to remember.”
Minnema also notes the sense of belonging she experienced at Ƶ. “That’s a unique thing about Ƶ as a smaller school. Ƶ students really want to help out other Ƶ students. And Ƶ alumni building careers at Goldman Sachs want to see more Ƶ alumni there.”
In May, Minnema participated in Ƶ’s commencement ceremony to receive her bachelor’s degree—but she knew she was leaving with far more than a diploma and a résumé of hands-on experiences as she prepared to return to Salt Lake City.
The newest member of Goldman Sachs’ alternative investments team says, “I feel like my résumé only touches the surface of how each opportunity at Ƶ has helped me learn and grow.”