Hosted by former pupil Rachel Spatz (Class of ‘03), Gordonians in North America came together to share their perspectives on how we can thrive during and after the pandemic as part of the Fire up the Future webinar series. This webinar explored how different states are dealing with the pandemic and how that is impacting careers and travel.

Rachel Spatz is Vice President for Marketing at Ninja RMM, a remote monitoring and software management company, and lives in San Francisco. Rachel was joined by a panel of former pupils based in the east and west coast of America including:

• Jonathan Pacitti (Class of ‘99) Industrial Design & Engineering Consultant in Houston, Texas

• William Rhind (Class of ‘96) Founder & CEO of GraniteShares based in New York City

• Euan Milne (Class of ‘06) Principal at Artemis Capital Partners in Boston

• Paul Gallagher (Class of ‘05) Director of Product Research at Liberty Mutual headquartered in Boston

• David Milne (Class of ‘73) Global Head of Shop Design at Krispy Kreme based in Charlotte, North Carolina

During the event Rachel discussed the different pathways and routes to working in the US and said: “You really have to just pick something and try it. Be it a city, industry, or role. It may not provide everything you are looking for but will tell you where to go next. You have to trust the process.”

Attendees of the webinar included current and former pupils, parents, governors and staff of RGC. S6 pupil and Gordonian Student Leader Katy Downie attended the event and said: “I felt that one of the highlights of the webinar was the panelists’ passion for specific industries which really shone through and I enjoyed hearing about the cultural differences between the UK and the US.”  

David Milne added: “There are even differences to consider between the east and west coast of America” when sharing with the audience his initial experience of job hunting overseas.

A recording of last night’s full webinar is available to view online.

The next webinar in the series takes us to Singapore and will be hosted by Amy Read on Tuesday 18th May at 10am BST.  Amy will be joined by former pupils living in Asia-Pacific including John Duffus (Class of ‘64), Michael Flynn (Class of ‘88), Sam Hepburn (Class of ‘03) and Keith McLean (Class of ‘78).  The panel will share helpful hints and tips on creating opportunity out of a crisis.  To register for this event please visit the Fire up the Future events page.