Spotlight Marushka Hirshon Spotlight Marushka Hirshon

Tongan software engineer, Ikani Samani: “I came from nothing, but education was the great equalizer”

Ikani Samani believes young Pacific Islanders have limitless career potential. After growing up in poverty and briefly pursuing a college football scholarship, Ikani decided to break the Polynesian athlete stereotype and pursue a career in software engineering. After graduating from Utah Valley University with a B.S. in Computer Software Engineering, he worked for 5 years as a successful software engineer. He is now pursuing his MBA at BYU while working full-time at WeWork. He hopes to mentor young Pacific Islanders interested in tech and empower students to find a skill that will make them valuable to their community.

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Spotlight Marushka Hirshon Spotlight Marushka Hirshon

Polynesian McKinsey Business Analyst, Aidan Reiri, encourages students to “break the mold”

After growing up in New South Wales and graduating from BYU with a degree in Finance, Aidan Reiri now works as a Business Analyst for one of the top management consulting firms in the world , McKinsey & Company. Aware of the lack of Pacific Islander presence in business settings, Aidan aims to mentor young Pacific Islanders interested in business and establish a space for Pacific Islanders within his company. He hopes to see more students branching out into different fields of study and pursuing leadership positions.

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