Chatham Financial partners with Project Destined for a summer of education for real estate interns

Chatham Financial is proud to partner with Project Destined, a leading social impact platform that empowers students from underrepresented communities through training in financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and real estate.

Project Destined interns learn financial literacy and real estate investing through a blend of live courses and e-learning grounded in ownership, investing, and financial health. Throughout the nine-week-long program, interns are supported by their mentors as they learn the fundamentals of real estate and develop their own professional networks. The program culminates in a live investment pitch competition where interns present an active real estate opportunity to a panel of executives with the opportunity to win scholarships.

“Chatham’s real estate team members dedicated themselves to mentoring this bright and talented group of college students, and we were honored to host Project Destined students on our campus,” said Tim Mitchell, Managing Partner and Head of Global Real Estate at Chatham Financial. “These students will improve commercial real estate as an industry with their ideas and their ambitions.”

“Working with Chatham Financial mentors through Project Destined was such an amazing growth experience for me. Every single mentor was so patient and willing to assist every member of the team. They helped so many of the interns, not only through the team presentations but also with personal career advice and goals,” said Steven Abraham, Project Destined’s program manager for Chatham Financial.

Puja Mondal, who participated in Chatham’s boot camp for Project Destined students, said, “During the summer, I had the opportunity to attend the Deal Making 101 Bootcamp with Chatham Financial where I was able to learn about core dealmaking and financial risk management tools from a global leader in the sector. This session was a great opportunity to expose myself and others to what the finance industry has to offer. I loved how engaged and vibrant the session was, and I now feel more confident in my knowledge and understanding. The Chatham Financial speakers were extremely eager to help students digest the content and answer all types of questions.”

Bret Wurster, who served as a mentor to Team Chatham and is a part of Chatham’s Hedge Accounting team, said, “Mentoring for Project Destined was a phenomenal experience and a wonderful growth opportunity for me personally and professionally. As part of the program, I was able to work with a team of impressive college students who demonstrated great interest in learning about real estate and professional growth. Every three weeks the team prepared presentations and came in with thoughtful questions to continue to grow their real estate knowledge.”

Chatham Financial looks forward to continuing its support of Project Destined and its mission to ensure that underrepresented students have the opportunity to become leaders and owners in the communities in which they live, work, and play.

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