Gryphon Capital Shows the Value of a Liberal Arts Education in Finance
Gryphon Capital pictured with Sarah Lawrence College President, Cristle Collins Judd
Gryphon Capital is Sarah Lawrence’s only student-run investment firm at Sarah Lawrence that serves as a unique opportunity for students who are interested in the world of finance. The club, established in 2014, had been founded by three students who were unsatisfied with the lack of business classes and resources offered on campus.
Gryphon Capital consists of three different branches: the Economic Review, the institution's only student-run Economics-focused journal, Gryphon Capital Management, a student-run club focusing on education and investment, and Gryphon Capital Outreach, an outlet for the club to utilize returns from their investments and reinvest them back into the community. Outside donations are given from people who believe in the club’s promise and potential. To achieve this, they have managed to organize economic competitions, such as an essay contest judged by a panel of alumni and invest in student-produced films.
The two current heads of Gryphon Capital: Sam Johnson, President, and Omelebele Edeoga, Vice-President, assure that the club’s mission of “building important financial skills, developing research skills to find high-value companies, and then, investing in those companies” has remained the same. They hope, however, under their leadership, that there will be an “emphasis on teaching such financial literacy to the club’s members.”
They plan to present half-hour lessons about a variety of financial topics and afterwards, splitting members into small discussion groups for explorative dialogue. This year, they also hope to reach out more to the community to get the message across that despite being a finance-focused club, students of all concentrations can learn how to properly invest and budget money.
The club has undoubtedly proven its success. Post-graduation, members of Gryphon Capital have gone on to successful careers in business, from Credit Suisse, a multinational investment bank, to an international bank in Brazil.
Contrary to popular belief, a number of Sarah Lawrence alumni work in the financial world. To utilize the prosperous yet close-knit network of alumni, Gryphon Capital reaches out to get them to share where they work, how their Sarah Lawrence education has helped them, and advice on breaking into the financial sector. In addition, students are made aware of career-building opportunities like fellowships at financial companies and even reminded about deadlines for applications.
The club takes pride in LinkedIn Day, one of its many activities over the semester. A photographer is brought in to take professional headshots of the students, and a workshop on how to effectively create effective a Linkedin profile is offered. This career-building activity has been a helpful way for students to both simultaneously organize their respective resumes and search for jobs.
Edeoga attributes her success in job searching to her active participation in the club. “I never saw myself as a financial person before joining the club in my sophomore year. As a senior, I can confidently say that the skills I have learned are what recruiters desire. I probably would not have stood out to interviewers if it wasn’t for the experience gained from this club.”
The liberal arts education at Sarah Lawrence has been an invaluable asset to alumni in finance. The tools needed to thrive, whether it is problem-solving or researching, are skills that many Sarah Lawrence students hold. “It is unfortunate that people feel that by attending Sarah Lawrence, there’s a barrier with the financial word. At this point, finance has become an open marketplace,” Johnson said.
“Couple of years ago, there was an influx of quantitative jobs on Wall Street focusing on making data-driven models. Now that computers are able to calculate most Math and create models, the sought after skills are personability, networking, critical and creative problem-solving. Mathematical models simply cannot conceptualize alternative data,” he explained.
Social responsibility is at the forefront of Gryphon Capital’s endeavors. For example, the club has focused on investing in environmentally sustainable firms like SeaBridge, a Canadian gold mining company that upholds environmentally-friendly regulations. The club has also invested in having inspirational speakers speak about business ethics.
Both leaders affirm that Gryphon Capital aims to push for inclusivity and diversity in the financial world. “There is a preconceived notion that finance is white men sitting in Wall Street. We’re trying to expose students to a world where anyone can immerse themselves in finance,” Edeoga explained.
Johnson believes that the most effective way to change the inclusivity of the financial world is through education before they head into the field, “So that once they work in finance, they can make a positive impact.”
Palden Lhamo, ‘22