Fresno State student body president Juan Pablo Moncayo is one of 434 students selected nationwide to intern this summer through the nationally-recognized Sponsors of Educational Opportunity (SEO) career program. SEO’s career program received more than 4,900 applications for summer internships.

Moncayo was assigned to New York City where he is a summer analyst at financial services firm UBS, working in the Municipal Securities Group. His duties include assisting the organization to provide financing options to governments and institutions that use municipal securities to raise capital.

SEO was founded in 1963 during the height of the modern Civil Rights Movement as a mentoring and college prep program for underprivileged high school students in New York City. SEO’s career program was developed to create more opportunities for minorities in the corporate workforce.

Moncayo, a 23-year-old senior majoring in physics and business administration, will serve his second term as ASI president in 2007-08. He was born in Quito, Ecuador, and at age 6 moved with his family to Los Angeles for six years before returning to his homeland. He came to Fresno State in 2002.

“Fresno State students have the talent, drive and dedication and SEO can provide a conduit for students to enter a full-blown career,” Moncayo said, “After completing this internship, I hope to encourage more Fresno State students to apply for the program. To make this happen I will conduct presentations about the program and hope to coach interested and committed students on how to prepare competitive applications.”

SEO’s mission is to strengthen communities and empower future leaders who will empower their communities. Moncayo said. “It is very refreshing seeing how much emphasis the program places on this. This sense of service is what makes the program even more special.”

Since its inception, SEO’s Career Program has placed over 4,000 African-American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian and Native American students in internships that lead to opportunities in careers in the most competitive industries worldwide. The program is featured in The Princeton Review’s 109 Best Internships in America.

Related link: www.seo-usa.org

(Copy by University Communications student-intern Megan Jacobsen.)