Mark Mason, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Citigroup, a global investment banking company and a Howard alumnus, delivered a speech to the School of Business, last Thursday.
Mason serves as vice chair of Howard’s Board of Trustees. Reflecting on his career, Mason said he was once in the same position as current School of Business (SOB) students.
From The Yard to CFO, Mason attributes his success to the power of his voice. He began his lecture by sharing his background, starting with his time at Howard and how impactful it was.
“When I left Howard… The question I faced myself with was, am I ready, and the answer is undoubtedly, was yes,” Mason shared with the crowd. “I was ready because of the academic curriculum that I experienced here at Howard University,” he said.
Danaya Allen, a freshman finance major from Erie, Pennsylvania, said she is an introvert but is learning to be more direct. She shared her biggest takeaways from the lecture.
“Using my platform, making myself known (and) the directness,” Allen said. “Putting myself out there so that I can get/earn those opportunities.”
Mason graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1991. Since 2017, he has served as vice chair of the School of Business Board of Trustees.
“Every course that I took readied me to compete on Wall Street with the best at one of the top firms that there was,” he added.
After Howard, Mason earned his MBA at Harvard Business School, where he deepened his knowledge of finance. He joined Citigroup in 2001.
Founded in 1812 in New York, Citibank has played a role in financial innovation, including the popularization of the ATM, according to the company’s official website.
Mason said one theme has guided his career: his voice. After years of hard work and building a close relationship with the president of business development at Lucid Technology, he was let go when that executive was dismissed.
Even though his work ethic and success had nothing to do with the decision, but rather the connections he made.
“That was a crisis to some extent, that created an opportunity,” Mason said. “I got a call from a search firm and asked what I’d be interested in doing…”
He said he wanted to pursue private equity.
Mason said speaking up has never been something he shied away from. He told students that advocating for themselves — and owning their directness — can make all the difference when it comes to opportunities others may create for them.
“You need to be able to communicate your opinion confidently,” Anyla-Zanii Lee, a freshman business management major with a concentration in entrepreneurship from New York said. “If you don’t develop basic communication skills, you won’t be able to speak up and advocate for yourself to reach new levels and obtain new opportunities.”
She was one of the many students in attendance on Thursday, and one of her biggest takeaways is not being afraid to change paths, as long as you’re able to advocate for that.
Bryce Perkins, a senior finance major from Chicago, Illinois, spoke more on how SOB students could expand on their advocacy skills.
“SOB majors can expand their skills by taking on extracurricular opportunities that force them to speak publicly on subjects they are knowledgeable on,” Perkins said. “The best avenue for this is external case studies where learning how to use your voice and knowledge together comes with a cash prize!”
Perkins had the pleasure of pinning Mason on Thursday after the lecture. He described it as a full-circle moment.
“During my freshman year he came to speak, and I did not get to meet him,” Perkins said. “Since then, I joined Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., making us fraternity brothers.”
He shares that since last summer, they’ve stayed in touch while Mason helped offer opportunities to Perkins to get his finance career started.
“Pinning him 3 years after he first inspired me gave me the confidence to know that I have what it takes to be on that stage being pinned one day,” Perkins said.
Copy edited by D’Nyah Jefferson – Philmore
