Name: Jordan Lieberman

College: D’Amore-McKim School of Business

Campus activities: Co-founder and COO of the Center for Financial Independence, president of the Interfraternity Council, Student Government Association chief of staff, Husky Ambassador

What was your most significant learning experience at Northeastern?

I took a class called “Business in Government,” for which I wrote a paper looking at the relationship between cable companies and the city of Boston. Doing all the research for that was really fascinating and allowed me to see the nexus of politics and business.

I also took Distinguished Professor of Political Science Michael Dukakis’ class on public policy, which was really interesting in the sense that he would teach politics but was also very interested in how to make something happen. He would tell us “don’t just talk in theory…tell me how you are going to do it.”

What were your co-op experiences like?

For my first co-op, I worked as a constituent advocate for Boston Mayor Thomas Menino’s office and I got to learn a ton about how local government works and what it is responsible for and not responsible for.

My next two co-ops were research oriented. The first was at Northeastern’s George J. Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security, where I primarily focused on transportation and security research and worked on a contract with the city of Boston regarding evacuation planning in the event of a catastrophic disaster.

At my last co-op I worked as a research assistant at McKinsey & Company in Waltham, Massachusetts, assisting client support teams. This was really fascinating because I was taking research and making it more applicable. I was sending reports and three hours later they were being presented to managers at a company.

What inspired you to get involved in so many different campus groups and organizations?

I have to stay active. I can’t have idle time because I don’t know what to do with myself. I also really like to be involved, and it’s a great way to meet people. And it’s been really cool to see it culminate as I get closer to graduation.

What advice do you have for next year’s incoming class?

Get involved. You miss so many opportunities when you don’t. And don’t worry so much about your first co-op. Just do it and see what happens because you are only going to learn by doing.

What are your post-graduation plans?

I’ll be moving to Arizona to work as a project manager for Raytheon.