About Us
Our Mission
Open Possibilities
ASAFE Alliances aims to identify, develop and connect diverse, high performing generations of leaders in financial services law and compliance, including: investment management, investment banking, public finance, capital markets, domestic and international banking, and merged professions including consulting, energy, intellectual property, information technology, tax, mergers and acquisitions, finance, and accounting.
An Efficient System
We provide a platform for leading securities and finance experts to engage with and intellectually enrich graduate students and ASAFE alumni as they progress at all levels in their professional pursuits as members of the business and finance communities. We curate learning experiences designed as live platforms offering challenging intellectual engagements on securities and finance topics with applications in a wide array of enterprises and settings. Part of this learning method underscores the practice of, and skill building in, complex, strategic networking. These complimentary components of ASAFE content and methods are key ingredients of individual ASAFE alumni success.
Generational Reach
ASAFE includes middle school students in after-school activities and faculty development series focusing on financial literacy and building career interest in the securities industry. These semester long series, offered without charge to participating schools, are installed at diverse charter schools in Washington, DC. Paying it forward, each ASAFE participant graduate student is asked to serve as a mentor and teacher to the younger set of middle school students alongside senior members of the industry. Importantly, this experience further deepens and reinforces connections between graduate students, accomplished faculty. This layer models active learning concepts and distills a high value placed upon gaining financial literacy at all levels.
Valuing the Long Term
We now have discovered this suite of elements also ensures mission and enterprise endurance. ASAFE’s long term mission, increasing the diversity of backgrounds and thought leadership within our finance and business industries, is uniquely served by this engineering. The yield is longer term, deep skill development among emerging talent, as well as new muscle and unique insights experienced among and between senior level experts. Faculty and mentors selected by ASAFE to lead customized learning sessions are committed to, and receive systems and methods for leading, a learning experience delivered and curated for diverse, high performing talent.
Prioritizing Relationships
A basic role of each faculty is asking each to deliver a single lecture that includes applied theory, highly interactive case studies and self-verified models of finance and securities practice methods. ASAFE volunteers attend all sessions, working with instructors, administrators, and students to ensure seamless offerings. A basic role of mentors includes close up listening and processing ASAFE student learning goals as well as sharing strategies for professional and personal development. Faculty often serve as mentors as well as lead experts in framing learning content from within their own professional experiences and real-time market intelligence.
Where Leadership Comes From
ASAFE goes beyond training students in the knowledge and content of finance and securities; we emphasize leadership and values development in course content, teaching methods and as a featured characteristic among our volunteers. Our experts model these values through their engagement with learning communities and within their shared stories of challenges met.
Broad-Reaching Benefits
When financial industry jobs are open to a diverse group of prepared, ethical, and innovative leaders, strong networks are forged and we realize benefits to students, instructors, educational institutions, communities, the national economy, and our society at large.
Our History
The Beginning
Beginning in 2003, ASAFE first formed its community around a mission of providing diverse, high-performing talent with in-person, innovative learning venues and methods within law school institutions. ASAFE was structured by recruiting adjunct faculty comprised of high-level securities and finance experts to engage with diverse graduate students, each delivering a single lecture among 10 lectures within a semester with exams as a for-credit course. Success of these early offerings was measured using a variety of metrics by all participants, including law school administrators.
As this learning experiment continued, students, faculty, and mentors contributed to deeper and more innovative offerings. The yield has been a continuing evolution of learning methods, expanded venues, success metrics and high levels of satisfaction among a growing community of learners.
The ASAFE signature has constantly asked for and achieved a commitment from faculty, mentors and students to all identify as learners. This means faculty and mentors are trained to come to each engagement and series of sessions eager to learn how to execute a range of teaching and learning methods and eager to learn from the students. This approach has created rich environments inviting questions and queries that challenge conventions of the securities and finance industry, as well as a focus on the history of finance and securities enterprises. Innovations are frequently born from ASAFE sessions that are part of the dynamic that keeps faculty, mentors and alumni returning and asking to be a part of each new learning engagement.
Over these years, ASAFE has designed and produced customized sessions of a wide-ranging scale. Fueled by participants with a contagious curiosity to develop as leaders in the securities and finance landscape, ASAFE continues to discover next generation perspectives. Contributors continue to innovate how we connect and influence the mission of growing diverse leaders and growing leaders with diverse perspectives, populating the industries that serve the investing entrepreneurial public.
This is a unique community. We have a revealing story that unfolds with each participant’s experience: student, mentor, faculty, board member, board advisor, and volunteer. We invite you to engage with our alumni, faculty, mentors, board advisors and volunteers to learn more about the ASAFE ethos and impact upon leadership of all backgrounds.
The Present
ASAFE has evolved in the years since it began. Learning opportunities continue to include a variety of small group learning and networking engagements, one-on-one professional development sessions, boutique business innovation summits, and private introductions among and between different graduating classes of alumni. These engagements continue to connect faculty and mentors supporting ASAFE Alumni in maturing and progressing career success. These efforts continue to achieve the ASAFE mission of increasing highly skilled, diverse talent in securities, finance and related industries. ASAFE contributes to ASAFE Alumni visibility by offering continuing support in strategic professional development including through ongoing networking and learning opportunities in law firm and financial firm settings. Venues continue to include social media platforms and updated narratives of selected alumni, mentors and faculty.
