Alumni Spotlight: Caitlin and Kelly Stefanick ’13 - A Life in Social Connections 

As part of our Alumni Spotlight Series, Gill St. Bernard's recently sat down with Caitlin and Kelly Stefanick, GSB lifers from the Class of 2013, whose professional paths have taken them from positions in the financial industry to co-founders of an entrepreneurial start up fostering social connections in Manhattan. 

How did you land at GSB? When did you start? 

We are GSB lifers! We started at Gill in preschool and stayed there all the way through high school. So, it’s not so much that we landed there, but that we really grew up there.  

Do you have a favorite GSB memory?   

There isn’t one memory for either of us specifically. It’s more of a collection of memories: Stone Soup Days, Homecoming soccer games, Lower School Halloween parades, Turkey Days, finishing AP exams in Upper School. It was all so special, but more than anything, when we talk about our time at Gill, we always come back to how beautiful the campus is and what a nice community of people we were surrounded by there.   

What was your favorite class? 

This is definitely different for both of us. (Kelly) I loved my Upper School history classes, especially AP Euro and AP U.S. History. (Caitlin) And I loved Calc AB and Calc BC.  

Tell us about the Spring Units you took part in. What were they and when? What did you do? 

Like everything else, we did all of our units together. We did cooking our freshman year, and we got to take lessons locally at Natirar for that, which was fantastic. Then, we went to Vancouver our sophomore year for hiking, canoeing, and lots of fun and eating. It was back to cooking our junior year, but in Boston for some added experience. And then, we went to Paris our senior year for history, art, and of course, more eating! Or—Caitlin was supposed to go to Paris, but she had broken her leg shortly before and wasn’t able to make it in the end.  

How did GSB prepare you for college and the working world? 

GSB is very academically rigorous. In terms of reading, writing, and critical thinking, we were prepared for a lot of what the University of Chicago had in store for us. Gill also showed us what it meant to work hard and juggle a lot of things at once.  

Tell us about what you do now. 

This probably won’t surprise you, but we work together now! After college, Caitlin was an Equity Derivatives trader at J.P. Morgan, and Kelly was in PR at hedge fund Millennium Management. A few years into those jobs, we started The Shaka Club, a social club that hosts events around New York City for young professionals in their 20s, 30s, and beyond. We felt passionately that it should be easier to make new connections with people from similar or different schools, industries, and backgrounds well after your academic career has ended. It’s been amazing to see how that mission has resonated with people, especially amidst the current loneliness epidemic.  So, for anyone from the GSB community looking to meet new people in real life, come hang out with us in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and our other locations!  

What would be your advice to current GSB students be?   

It’s a school with a lot of amazing resources, so put them to work! If there is anything you are interested in exploring, you will be able to find someone in the GSB community who can help. As you know, we think relationships are a key part of learning and development, so make connections with everyone—your teachers, classmates, upperclassmen, underclassmen, etc.!  

What are some hobbies you enjoy? 

We are both very active, so most of our hobbies are centered around that. We’re big golfers, but we also really enjoy yoga, Pilates, weightlifting, running, and hiking… anything that gets us moving when we don’t have to be at our desks working!