Laurel Djoukeng

Laurel Djoukeng is on a mission to help everyone establish fruitful connections with people worldwide through meaningful engagements. Laurel considers himself a bridge-builder who understands that everyone has the potential to be impactful. He earned his MBA at Duke University and in 2008 he received his Bachelor's from Hampton University. In November of 2018 at Duke University, Laurel launched Sparc the “People-Centric Marketplace” the primary users are college students and recent grads, Sparc connects those users with Employers for recruiting events and career opportunities. Employers leverage Sparc for our community members, talent sourcing and engagement, HR solutions, and event management capabilities. Aside from the college students leveraging Sparc for career insight and job placement, they earn money on Sparc through paid tutoring engagements with High School students. Djoukeng began his career in 2008 as an Associate for Con Edison's Growth Opportunities for Leadership Development (GOLD) Program. His profession in Finance started in 2010 as an Investment Analyst for PGIM Real Estate, a global private equity firm with $70 billion in assets under management. In 2012, he transitioned to the Carlton Group, an international investment banking firm with more than $140 billion in transactions. In 2011, Laurel founded the Catalyst Network Foundation Inc.(CNF), a 501(c)(3) social enterprise focused on life enrichment and professional development, with a mission to engage high-potential youth and veterans by providing the proper tools, networks, skill-building projects, and development opportunities to maximize talent. Ranking Congressman Ed Towns awarded a proclamation to the Foundation in recognition of the organization's achievements. CNF programming involves partnerships with 21 high schools, 35 community organizations, and 20 Fortune 500 corporations. Laurel has arranged business, law, and tech symposiums at Google, college fairs, resume development, career, and college preparatory workshops throughout the academic school year, instructing more than 5,000 high school students. More than 200 High School students have become CNF Fellowship Scholars. Fellows have experienced corporate tours and pitched capstone presentations and interventions for inner-city school challenges to several companies, including Google, Goldman Sachs, NIKE, LinkedIn, Microsoft, GAP, BET, NPR, Infor, The Carlyle Group, Covington & Burling LLP, The Peebles Corporation, Deloitte, and NBC. Laurel enjoys bringing ideas to fruition and partakes in Hot Yoga weekly, and is always open to a good game of chess. He is a full-time vegetarian, part-time vegan, and works daily to improve the harmony of his Spirit, Mind, and Body.