F&M Stories

'I Left As a Leader': Young Alumni Share Stories

In a panel sponsored by the Alumni Leaders of Tomorrow program, Franklin & Marshall College graduates Emma Corrado '16, Wyatt Behringer '18 and Danielle Sang '18 spoke to students about their top F&M takeaways and the strength of the True Blue network.

President Barbara Altmann moderated the panel, held April 11 in Stahr Auditorium.

Below, meet the panelists and learn about their careers in the public and nonprofit sectors. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Emma Corrado '16

  • Chief of Staff, New Jersey Economic Development Authority
  • Hoboken, N.J.
  • Major: Public health

Corrado joined the NJEDA in March 2022, where she worked as a senior adviser for community development. Prior to that, she served as a projects specialist for U.S. Sen. Cory Booker. Corrado earned her master's degree of public administration in economic development from Columbia University.

Wyatt Behringer '18

  • Communications & Policy Strategist, City of Lancaster
  • Lancaster, Pa.
  • Majors: American studies, government
  • Minor: Women's and gender studies

Behringer began his career in local government as the marketing and communications manager for Lancaster's Office of Promotion. He was promoted to communications & policy strategist in November 2020.

Danielle Sang '18

  • Public Health, Bloomberg Philanthropies
  • Brooklyn, N.Y.
  • Major: Public health
  • Minor: Environmental studies

Sang supports noncommunicable disease and injury prevention initiatives at Bloomberg Philanthropies, a philanthropic organization focused on the environment, public health, the arts, government innovation and education. She joined Bloomberg shortly after graduating from F&M.

President Altmann: What did you take away from F&M that is useful to you now in your current positions?

Behringer: The two most important things were writing skills and being able to think critically and form an argument. That is 90% of my job. That formula I learned over and over again at F&M. I do that daily.

"The two most important things were writing skills and being able to think critically. That is 90% of my job."

Sang: I get to bring all of the classroom experiences I had: Trying new subject areas and trying new things, seeing what works and what doesn't. If I come to a point where we're working on something and I don't think it's a good fit or we need to change our approach, I'm not afraid to suggest that.

The second thing is confidence. I left F&M as a completely different person. I left as a leader. I wholeheartedly credit the mentors and the people here and my professors. Those are some things that I take with me every single day, no matter the challenge at work.

"I left F&M as a completely different person. I left as a leader."

Corrado: One of the big things that F&M teaches you — just in the way courses are structured — is a self-starter attitude. I find that F&M students are very comfortable with the uncomfortable in a way that takes people a really long time in the professional world. We just hired an F&M grad and she's on briefings with the CEO every day like it's nothing.

It's ingrained in you that you have a voice, that you participate and what you say is good and it matters. It's that self-starter attitude, that entrepreneurial spirit of just getting a job and doing it and doing it to the best of your ability.

"F&M students are very comfortable with the uncomfortable."

President Altmann: Do you think that leadership is distinctive to F&M?

Corrado: Absolutely. Folks are really engaged and really involved. They're leaders in the classroom and also leaders outside of it. I think that is unique to F&M because of the size and because of how active the student body is. I credit a lot of who I am now to the leadership positions that I had here. I don't think that I would've been so comfortable speaking in front of people, planning events or leading anything if I didn't have that here with a hundred of my peers once a week for several years. That's a really formative thing that a lot of people don't get the opportunity to do.

"I credit a lot of who I am now to the leadership positions that I had here."

Behringer: Leadership seemed very prominent. For me, it was kind of a strategic thing. I knew I wanted to go into government and politics and community work. I had already had leadership positions in high school and I knew I was excited to have those opportunities here. So I seized them right away in that hustle to get more of them. You don't necessarily have to always be chasing the next thing, but when the time comes, F&M students are distinctly prepared for that.

"F&M students are distinctly prepared."

Sang: There's definitely a leadership culture here. I think it comes naturally with the students that we have. You come here because you want to be involved, you want to make a difference in this community and I think that passion leads you to it. It's certainly not something I thought of — that by the time I graduated, I would be class president. The exposure that you get, and the opportunities here, are unique.

"There's definitely a leadership culture here. I think it comes naturally with the students that we have."

"I left F&M as a completely different person. I left as a leader."

– Danielle Sang '18

 

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