Alumni Update: Where are they now?
Name: Stephanie Chappell
Degree(s) Received: MSG, MBA
Job title: Corporate Financial Gerontologist
Company: Corporate Gerontology Group, The Hartford
Location (city and state): Southington, CT
Please briefly describe your position and your company:
Now, as Corporate Financial Gerontologist at The Hartford, I’m working in a new industry, yet in a familiar role as consultant to the business. For over 20 years, The Hartford has been the exclusive provider for AARP's home and auto insurance, and also manages the customer contact center for AARP's health and long-term care insurance programs. To support its AARP line of business, the company has employed gerontologists since 1984. Today, there are nine gerontologists on staff. We focus on employee and public education, specialized services, and consultation within the business. In my role, I'll be supporting the investment and life insurance side of the company on the "Retirement Initiative," a major undertaking that spans multiple product lines with the goal of developing innovative solutions for helping Baby Boomers prepare for retirement. I'm very fortunate to be a part of a company that views Corporate Gerontology as a strategic advantage in the marketplace.
Why did you choose to study gerontology at the USC Davis School?
As the first person to graduate from the University of Southern California's dual-degree program in Gerontology and Business (MSG, MBA), I've created my own role within many organizations and industries over the past fifteen years- and had great fun along the way.
Please briefly describe how the USC Davis School’s curriculum helped prepare you for your current position.
While in graduate school, my first internship helped confirm that Gerontology was the field for me. I lived and worked at Kingsley Manor Retirement Center in North Hollywood, California. I thought that by living among the age group I was studying, I'd be able to tell pretty quickly if Gerontology was the right career choice for me. My answer to that question was a resounding Yes! As I joined my older neighbors in the common dining room for dinner every night and chatted with them in the lobby, the key lesson I learned was that they were all so different. I experienced first hand the diversity of aging - an important lesson I will never forget. From my work, I also learned some business basics in marketing, sales, regulatory compliance and accounting.
My other two internships offered the exciting opportunity to live in a different part of the country, and for two summers I lived on the East Coast. I spent the first summer in Boston and worked for Work/Family Directions, a small, privately-held company working with corporate clients to provide child care and elder care benefits. My second internship was not far from New York City at IBM's US Headquarters in White Plains, New York. When working on a paper about elder care, I called Ted Childs, IBM's Director of Workforce Diversity to interview him about IBM’s elder care benefits and get his insight on where things were going with this benefit in the corporate world. Later, I attended his session on eldercare at a conference and asked him if I could work for him that summer. Together, we found a way to make IBM’s Human Resource internship program meet a gerontology program’s internship requirements. I learned a lot during these internships by observing and working with some of the pioneers in business and aging.
I really enjoyed my time in graduate school and internships. It was a time of learning, exploring and networking-some of the important activities professionals have trouble fitting in with work and personal demands.
What advice would you offer to a prospective student interested in studying gerontology at USC?
As alums encouraged me, I encourage students to make the most of their time in school by attending conferences, volunteering and completing internships. Use your role as a student to call up people in the corporate world. Ask for advice, get their insights and explore opportunities. Most everybody likes helping students. And they just might need an intern to handle a couple projects that no one on staff has the time for.
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