Community Spotlight: Anusha Fernando

“Anusha hails from Molina Healthcare, and she has been a mentor since I started with the Foundation in 2020. She quickly became one of my favorite volunteers to work with. Anusha also was a guest speaker for one of our Teacher Training sessions. My favorite thing about Anusha’s mentoring style is how she engages each of the team members and really helps to get the best information from all for a productive session.”

–Nichole Semprit, Senior Program Specialist for The Actuarial Foundation

 

Share with us how you found out about MTFC and how long you have been involved.

This is my fifth-year volunteering with The Actuarial Foundation. I first heard about these volunteer opportunities at a Society of Actuaries meeting. I loved listening to the stories of other volunteers and about the impact they have had on the next generation and so was inspired to do the same. Engaging with students via zoom seemed like such a cool idea because it made both mentoring and being mentored more accessible.

 

What do you enjoy most about mentoring?

I enjoy learning from and working with motivated young persons, and being a MFTC mentor allows me to do both. It is always a pleasure to speak with students about the actuarial profession, giving them a sneak peek into risk mitigation and helping them develop their analytical skills. I have had the privilege of mentoring many teams, which has given me the opportunity to engage with my students on a broad range of topics such as the harmful health impacts of wildfires, the merits of sustainable farming technologies, and the health outcomes at private prisons.

 

I was a strong math student in high school, yet I knew nothing about the actuarial profession until I graduated from college. In high school I was not aware of how mathematics could be applied to fields such healthcare even though I have now spent the last 30 years since college in health actuarial roles. I love that MFTC fills the gap that I had in my education by exposing students to the actuarial profession early on so they will know about career options that will bring fulfilment and financial security.

 

What impact have you seen this project having on students?

I have seen students coming together and learning to work in teams. In the initial phase I encourage my students to divide and conquer to gain a deeper understanding of the topics of interest. Later in the project it is nice to see the students sharing their knowledge and refining the details to present a case based on their learning. This project helps students develop many skills such as research, analysis, and both written and verbal communication.

 

Do you have any stories you can share about teams you have worked with? Cool project ideas or “ah-ha moments”?

I have enjoyed learning about all the different topics.  I worked with a team that looked into the housing crisis and learned about spiraling housing costs. The more the students learned about rising housing costs the more they wanted to pursue college and find secure employment. It was awesome to watch them apply the learnings from their project to their own life plans.

 

If you had done this competition in high school, what topic would you have chosen and why?

I think as a high school student I may have picked a topic related to the environment. Growing up in Sri Lanka during a time of rapid urban expansion, I was quite concerned about the environmental impacts of deforestation. In eighth grade I completed a research project on local deforestation, and I think it would have been awesome to have worked with a professional to finetune that project.

 

What makes this a great volunteer opportunity for volunteers and candidates?

I love the fact that I can work with students from diverse backgrounds and various geographic regions from my own home. I live away from the city and would not meet such diverse groups in a local setting. It is great that students get to review the profiles of the mentors and choose who they want to work with. I am always honored to be chosen and enjoy working with students who seek my expertise. The Actuarial Foundation makes volunteering easy by helping with the scheduling, background checks, teacher training and supporting material. And of course, the Garrett’s popcorn that comes at the end of year in the MFTC tins is always such a treat.

 

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We are always looking for great volunteers like Anusha to help with our Modeling the Future Challenge. Please check out the MTFC website for all our upcoming events and visit The Actuarial Foundation Volunteer page if you are interesting in meeting some great students!

 

To view our recent MTFC Launch Event recording, click here.