João Lacerda (BSM ’26)

Name: João Lacerda

Hometown: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Major: Finance and Economics

Minor: Legal Studies

What are your post-graduation plans?

I’m moving to NYC and working in sales & trading at Goldman Sachs.

What are your top Freeman extracurricular activities? 

Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity, First Generation Investors (President), Schwartz Center for Experiential Leaning (Student Worker/Leader), Green Bull Investment Banking Group

What community or volunteer activities did you participate in outside of the business school? 

Service Learning Assistant Leader at the Center for Public Service, Global Ambassador for Admissions Office, Brazilian Student Association

What academic, extracurricular or personal achievement are you most proud of?

I’m most proud of helping develop and grow the financial literacy service-learning program in the business school. I started as a tutor, and after becoming the SLA for FINE 3890, we’ve grown the program to four community partners per semester.

What was your favorite business course?

My favorite business class was The Aaron Selber Jr. Course on Hedge Funds taught by Prof. Force. The class mixes experiential learning with case studies, and we had to come up with our own trade ideas to pitch to actual investors at the end of the semester.

Who is your favorite business professor and why?

Prof. Mara Baumgarten Force. She serves as a mentor, loves to work with students, is willing to give you as many responsibilities as you’d like to take on, and makes her classes very experiential, bringing in guest speakers and connecting you to people in the industry (all while being very funny!)

What’s your favorite memory of Freeman?

My favorite memory is when we first brought all of our financial literacy high school mentees to campus to celebrate their achievements, and their family members watched them present their investment portfolios. 

What are the top items on your professional bucket list?

I want to work at the intersection of social impact and finance.

What’s a fun fact about yourself?

I won my first open water swimming medal in a 1 km race when I was 12!