Hannah Roth, Class of 2013, has a plan: having secured and deferred a job offer from Citibank, she will spend a year of service working for a nonprofit in New York City, and then return to Citibank as a socially-engaged leader. How is such a thing possible? Roth was nominated for a ServiceCorps Fellowship by Citibank which, along with GE and Bloomberg, sponsors the ServiceCorps program.

Roth attended Schechter Westchester for high school and recently graduated from Vanderbilt University with a Bachelor’s degree in Human and Organizational Development, which teaches students to solve problems in organizations and communities. Two of her SW teachers made a lasting impact on her, both personally and academically, and contributed to her success in college: “Mrs. Bloch and Mr. Modica really knew me. They always asked about my family and what I was doing. They were always willing to go the extra mile for something I needed, in or out of the classroom. The critical thinking skills that Mr. Modica tried to instill in us made his class more analytical than a typical history class where you just memorize facts. I think that was vital to my success throughout college.”

During her year of service, Roth will work at Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit that works to connect low-income families to affordable, well-designed homes. She credits SW with planting the seeds for this, too: “The school instilled a strong sense of tikkun olam in us,” said Roth. “When we went to Washington, DC in tenth grade and gave out care packages to the homeless, it really spurred my interest in helping that population.” She also participated in midnight runs (deliveries of personal items to people in need on cold winter nights) with many other SW families through her synagogue. After meeting her current commitments, which include her year of service and two more at Citibank, she will focus on social enterprise (starting a business to give back). She hopes to one day launch a business which benefits homeless people in New York.

Roth has stayed close with many of her SW classmates, traveling to Asia with one and living with another in the fall when her fellowship begins. “The community at Schechter was really strong and it has stayed with me,” said Roth. “Moving back to New York was easy because I have a strong network of people here, mostly from Schechter.”