Student-run series “EF Talks” welcomes first speaker

This year at EF Academy New York, a small group of students has created a new series of events called EF Talks. EF Talks is an interactive speaker series inspired by the prolific TED Talks, where high-power professionals and experts in various industries speak about their experiences and engage in discussion with the student audience. The students behind EF Talks created the series with several goals in mind: to provide a space for students to learn from industry leaders in a variety of fields by giving students a chance to ask questions, practice networking, and discuss our rapidly-changing world.

Mr. Garcia is the President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Contour Asset Management LLC, which is a hedge fund that invests in the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sector. Our discussion with Mr. Garcia allowed students to hear (a brief version) of his life story and ask him questions about his life, his profession, and his passions/goals. Mr. Garcia spoke of his childhood, growing up in a poor family with a dozen (12!) siblings, and explained that this is what gave him the drive and perseverance to find success. He gravitated to Wall Street (following the career path of a sibling) in search of a better life to financially support his parents and family. He has been successful, and the students were happy to hear of his endeavors, his struggles, his goals, and what drives him to keep doing what he does.

The conversation and Q&A session was followed by a reception, which gave students an opportunity to connect with Mr. Garcia one-on-one, ask more questions, and discuss with each other the interesting points raised in his presentation.

The students of EF Talks would like to thank Mr. Garcia for his willingness to participate in this first event, Mr. Balazs Simon for his assistance with organization, and the rest of the administration here at EF Academy for their support in this endeavor. We look forward to hearing from many more engaging speakers through EF Talks this year.