Ask Jennifer Berg '76 about building an international banking career when few women worked in the field, and she can trace a line straight back to Franklin University Switzerland.
Ask this alumna about building an international banking career when few women worked in the field, and she can trace a line straight back to Switzerland.
“Franklin strongly influenced my decision to live and work in London,” explained Jennifer Berg ’76. “This place changes your world in a profound way and gives students the confidence to feel comfortable in just about any international setting.”
Independence through Travel
For Berg, confidence grew with freedom. "I vividly recall being at the Lugano train station with my backpack, Interrail pass, and youth hostel card, looking up at the train schedule and realizing I can go anywhere I want!” She traveled almost every weekend, visiting Italy, former Yugoslavia, Greece, Scandinavia, and beyond.
After convincing Williams College to extend her Franklin semester to a full year, she participated in Academic Travel in Prague and designed an independent study on Jung, taking several classes at the Jung Institute in Zurich. Another favorite memory is hitching a ride with a Franklin cohort to the Interlaken Olympics and somehow talking their way into the U.S. vs. Russia hockey playoffs.
Berg packed her year at Franklin with academic and independent travel and returned to Williams College for her senior year. She later went to Yale University for a master’s in Public and Private Management.
Learn how Jennifer Berg broke through the glass ceiling of the investment banking world and is now giving back to Franklin University Switzerland on page 60 of the Spring 2020 Franklin Gazette.