Ascend Fellows foster their personal and professional growth through engagement with inclusive leadership skills, financial education, and identity-specific career exploration. Foundational to the program are conversations centered on race, class, and how professionals from historically under invested communities navigate business.
All students are welcome. Current Ascend Fellows come from diverse backgrounds, including students who identify as first-generation, low income, immigrant, and of all racial backgrounds.
Established in 2017, Ascend is the flagship program at Questrom’s Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Dedicated to serving all members of Questrom’s student communities, the Center for DEI offers ongoing diversity education, identity conscious programs, community building initiatives, and equity focused solutions. Learn more about the Center here.
Current Questrom students can apply to join Ascend each summer, with participation in the program beginning in late August. The 2025-2026 Cohort application will open in early May. For now, can complete an Interest Form to receive the application the moment it goes live!
Company Visits
This year, Ascenders visited American Express, Oppenheimer, Citadel, ELEMIS Beauty, and 150Bond on their ‘Ascend NYC’ trip. This annual trip supports the fellows’ career path decision-making, offering exposure to real-world professional spaces. It’s also one of the many opportunities to strengthen connections with one another.
Questrom Ascend – A Fellowship of Support
Questrom Ascend is designed to support Fellows academic achievements and professional journeys, while providing a foundational community to champion their success.
Academic Support
Each semester Ascend Fellows take ES090 Ascend Seminar, a career management and skills development course designed to engage Ascend students in their own career exploration and professional development through identity-conscious storytelling, company engagements, and workshops.
Programming evolves each semester, with workshops and visits focused on navigating identity in professional spaces, understanding different types of professional opportunities, building a career community, and expanding upon financial education and inclusive leadership skills.
Ascend Company Visits
Ascend Fellows have the opportunity to attend Ascend Company Visits with professionals from many of the country’s premiere organizations in Boston and New York City, through participation in our annual Ascend NYC Trip and semesterly Ascend Seminar. These visits help to introduce Fellows to different organizations & industries, show examples of professional careers to pursue, and provide opportunities to learn about how to navigate identity in professional spaces.
Many students in our Ascend Fellowship identify as coming from under invested communities and are the first in their families to go to college. These company visits offer our students the unique and often life-changing opportunity to visit professional spaces they may have previously felt were “not for them”.
Community Support
Ascend is a Community that Cares for Itself.
Each entering Ascend Fellow is provided 1:1 support through a dedicated Ascend Mentor, to help address personal needs and further provide a connection to their new Questrom community. Throughout the academic year, Ascend Mentors and Mentees will gather for Ascend-sponsored meals, community events, and coffee chats at the Center for DEI.
In addition to their Ascend Mentor, Ascend Fellows are supported by a number of dedicated Full-Time Staff, Faculty-in-Residence, and Graduate Students at the Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Most importantly, Ascend Fellows have each other. Through group chats, study groups, and having friendly face in the halls and in the classroom – Ascend Fellows are each others #1 resource. Our Fellows are constantly giving back to the program and to each other, knowing one’s success is a community’s success and that “a rising tide lifts all boats.”
A Year in the Ascend Fellowship
Ascend is a year-round experience, and every aspect of Ascend is informed by the lens of the students in the program. From volunteering on the Ascend Executive board to being employed as Ascend Coordinators at the Center for DEI, this ensures Fellows come first in the design and implementation of the program.
Ascend Week
Ascend kicks off each year with our Ascend Week program, which brings new Fellows to campus a week before the Fall semester begins and provides opportunities to engage with on-campus resources, Questrom Faculty & Staff, and upper-level students to learn how to build community, redefine academic success, and own their professional journey. Fellows attend a company visit to aid their career exploration and building of a personal network.
Fall Ascend Seminar
The fall semester of Ascend Seminar helps Fellows understand the importance of storytelling, and what it means to navigate business through the lens of their identities. Conversations on career exploration and networking are intentionally focused on helping Fellows prepare for the major on-campus career fairs.
Ascend NYC Trip
The Fellowship continues with our Ascend NYC program the weekend prior to the Spring semester. This trip allows Fellows to explore different industries and careers in New York City, visit corporate partners, meet with Ascend Alumni, and further strengthen their relationships across the Ascend Community.
Spring Ascend Seminar
The spring semester of Ascend Seminar helps Fellows understand the importance of nonlinear professional journeys, and what it means to develop inclusive leadership skills through the lens of their identities. Conversations on career exploration and networking are intentionally focused on helping Fellows maintain connections previously made through company visits.
EOY Celebration
Each year culminates with our “End-of-the-Year” Celebration, where we look back on the accomplishments of the year, honor the graduating class, and welcome back local alumni.