In partnership with the Career and Professional Skills Committee (CAPSC), the Alumni Office is excited to host Career Lab 2023-2024. This year-long program presents opportunities for juniors and seniors to engage in active conversation with our alumni community and learn about different career paths and the skill sets necessary in the modern workplace.
This year, the Alumni Office and the student CAPSC will host three separate labs focused on “work and the future of work.” This series will include one student-led panel discussion with a variety of alums from different industries and two symposia featuring alumni thought-leaders sharing their perspectives on this theme and other career-related topics.
Additionally, a hands-on masterclass on LinkedIn, exclusively for seniors, will jumpstart their career exploration by providing an introduction to this essential tool. Once they’ve completed their LinkedIn profiles, the seniors will be invited to join our Potomac School Alumni Association Professional Networking Group.
Since Potomac’s first Career Day in 2015, our goal has been to connect alumni and students, challenge our juniors and seniors to think critically about their potential careers and career aspirations, and encourage them to consider areas they may not have previously imagined. Our alumni’s “real world” experiences and their valuable insights never fail to inform and contextualize what our students might expect as they move from our campus through college and beyond.
Career and Professional Skills Committee
Leila Bodner
Daelyn Dimps
Sofya Donets
Auden Easter
Nuna Endale
Nathanial Estes
Kerri Greene
Emmy Holland
Campbell Hughes
Madeleine Magielnicki
Will Mellis
Zoe Myslewicz
Paige Ramsey
Laith Weimer
Abigail Woldgebriel
Career Lab Speakers
Monday, November 20
Erik Schluntz '11
Erik Schluntz '11 is the Co-Founder and CTO of Cobalt Robotics, a 160 person company that's raised over $90M to build safety and security robots. Cobalt Robotics does business around the world after just six years of operations, with clients on five continents using its physical-security robots. Valued by its investors at more than $300 million, Cobalt’s success is generating considerable buzz.
Before Cobalt, Erik dropped out of Harvard University and teamed up with a classmate to co-found Posmetrics, a data analytics company that immediately interested investors and would ultimately be acquired by a larger firm. He went on to graduate from Harvard with a degree in Electrical Engineering in 2015.
Along the way, Erik has formed connections with some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley. He interned at Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Cobalt’s lead investors include Sequoia Capital and Coatue, and Forbes Magazine included him on its highly prized 30 under 30 list in 2018.
Erik discovered his love for robotics as one of the founding members of the Potomac Robotics Team. He credits Potomac with helping him catch the entrepreneurial fever. The inspiration came in large part from an alumnus, Drew Durbin ’04, who returned to speak at the Upper School while Erik was there.
Erik reflects, “At the beginning of high school, I was most interested in mechanical engineering and building things with my hands. I thought I might want to be an architect or a civil engineer.” And when he heard Drew speak about his business building low-cost tools for African farmers, Erik thought, “I can use engineering to help people all over the world.”
To learn more about Erik, read the feature article about him in Potomac's spring Term magazine.
Alumni Insights: A Lunchtime Speaker Series
Monday, November 27
Christopher Martin '14
Chris Martin is the founder and CEO of LA-based company Symphony, a streamlined, SEC compliant exchange for IP owners to list shares of their music while providing investors exposure to a stable, culturally relevant asset class. Symphony was recently awarded $25,000 dollars as the winners of the early stage track Bend Venture Conference, the longest standing angel investment conference in the Pacific Northwest that served as a hub for entrepreneurship in the region, early stage track.
Chris and his co-founder, Kyle R., also have a podcast titled "Coffee, Anxiety, and Credit Card Debt," where they discuss the stories behind some of the world's most innovative companies, ranging from Twitch to Home Depot and Reformations to Glossier.
Before Symphony, he spent five years working in private equity and venture capital. At one firm Chris re-wrote thesis to take a hyper-specific angle into government and defense technology. After graduating from Potomac in 2014, he received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Boston University in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
If he's not asking investors for money, you can find him exercising, making music, or enjoying his favorite anime.
Wednesday, September 27
Sasha DiGiulian '11
Alumni Insights: Lunchtime Series on Wednesday, September 27, features world champion rock climber Sasha DiGuilian, who graduated from Potomac in 2011. Sasha tells her story, from coming of age under the scrutiny of social media and navigating a male-dominated sport to sharing the power of perseverance and positivity that is chronicled in her new book Take the Lead. You’ll hear about her adventures as a record-breaking mountain climber, an advocate for important causes, and a writer, and how she has achieved balance along the way, first as a student-athlete and later as a woman in a male-dominated field.
Sasha began climbing at age six, and she was a Potomac Upper School student when she received an offer to become a Red Bull Athlete. She is now at the top of the climbing world, winning the World Championships for Female Overall, remaining the undefeated Pan-American Champion from 2004 to the present, as well as, the three-time US National Champion. Amazingly, she has accomplished multiple First Ascents, including the First Female Ascent on the North Face of the Eiger.
In addition to climbing, Sasha empowers others to succeed by serving on the Board of the Women's Sports Foundation and as a Global Athlete Ambassador for Right to Play, Up2Us Sports, and the American Alpine Club.
A Columbia University graduate who studied Nonfiction Writing and Business, Sasha also writes a recurring column for Outside Magazine. She travels globally for appearances and events, so we are very fortunate to be hosting her here at Potomac.
“Personally, I thought that I had an idea of what I wanted my future career to look like,
but after hearing last spring’s program, I realized how much knowledge I lacked about the current
climate of careers. I was shocked to discover the number of potential careers that I previously had not thought about or realized exist. That assembly made me want to explore many more fields rather than focusing in on one area and encouraged the people around me to do the same.”
–Student, Class of 2023