Voices of Making Waves: Meet Elaine Fernandez Bravo

Elaine Fernandez Bravo (she/her) graduated from UC Davis in 2024 with her bachelor’s degree in managerial economics and sociology.  

Her accomplishments in college happened both inside and outside of the classroom. In addition to earning a scholarship and coaching as a part of Making Waves Education Foundation’s college and career success program, she gained leadership skills as a career prep fellow at Management Leadership for Tomorrow and as the finance chair and later president of the Sigma Pi Alpha Sorority at UC Davis. 

“One of the biggest things that I learned in college was that I belong,” Elaine shared. “I feel like higher education honestly pushed me to do more with my career and to believe in myself and my capabilities.”  

While Elaine currently works as an engagement financial advisor at Deloitte, she didn’t have her career path all figured out when she first started college.  

“Honestly, I wasn’t sure where I wanted to take my career when I was in college,” Elaine shared. “I chose sociology to learn more about people and civil society, which is something that I really enjoy.”  

“Then I chose to do managerial economics to proceed down the business path, which felt like a career field that I could excel in.” 

Finding belonging and building confidence for post-grad life 

Navigating the business field brought its own sets of challenges, especially for Elaine, who is a first-generation Latina woman. The historical underrepresentation of these groups within business left Elaine doubting if this was the right career path.  

“I noticed that a lot of people didn’t have anything in common with me, and that made me feel like I wasn’t in the correct rooms. It developed imposter syndrome for me, and I didn’t feel I belonged or that my work would be enough,” Elaine said about entering the business world. 

“There weren’t many people that looked like me in the career field at all. It’s mostly male dominated and predominantly white.” 

“That motivated me,” Elaine shared. 

The motivation resulted in Elaine’s pursuit of internships and career pathways that would help launch her career. 

“For me, the lack of representation of Latina women in business motivated me to get a lot of internships and really compete with people that didn’t have my background, so that I’d be able to match up with them, and so that I’d feel like I belonged in the rooms that I was in.” 

Elaine explored different career paths through internships and externships with NielsenIQ, Project Destined, Making Waves Education Foundation, and Deloitte, before receiving her full-time job offer with Deloitte. 

“I feel like the most challenging part of my early career was getting an opportunity or getting a chance,” Elaine reflected.  

“In my sophomore year, people around me were talking about summer internships and I didn’t know that you could have one as a sophomore. I thought I had to wait until my junior year, and it made me feel like I was behind.” 

Elaine’s first “yes” came from Making Waves Education Foundation when she joined the organization’s first cohort of marketing and storytelling interns – an experience that bridged her education and career goals.  

“If I hadn’t gotten that ‘yes’ I don’t know if I would have had the confidence to go to other places, to try other internships, and then to eventually gain that confidence in myself,” Elaine shared. 

“Making Waves gave me the chance to give back. Being an intern was the most rewarding part because, as a Wave-Maker and scholarship recipient myself, it was nice to get to be behind the scenes and impact students like me.” 

Elaine credits this experience as the one that helped accelerate her pathway to meaningful career opportunities. 

Studies show that students who have had multiple career experiences and opportunities across fields earned an average of $7,000 more than their peers who did not. 

“The Making Waves internship is what started it all for me. From there I was able to hit the ground running and did five internships after Making Waves,” Elaine shared. 

She also reflected on a few of her mentors who helped her to this point: her high school counselor, Christina Pelayo, Management Leadership for Tomorrow mentor, Carmen Franco, her Making Waves college coach, Rosie Simpson, and her Making Waves internship manager, Bonnie Shea. 

“I didn’t know a lot of unwritten rules,” Elaine shared. “Bonnie taught me so much about applications, interviewing, and working with diverse groups of people. I was able to leverage many of these lessons in other internship and job applications.” 

“Bonnie took a chance on me when other people weren’t doing that,” she shared. 

Navigating a new chapter: from college to career 

Elaine’s transition from college to post-grad life hasn’t been without growing pains.  

“I feel like it was an adjustment for sure,” she shared. “At first, I didn’t want to try new things or open myself up to new experiences, but now I do.”  

Elaine found balance outside of work by continuing to pursue her passions from college, like dancing and being active in her sorority, and by picking up new ones, like traveling.  

“I’m still trying to bridge that balance between work and all the things I want to do outside of work as well.”  

Today, Elaine’s confidence, resilience, leadership, and strong network fully prepared her for the business career she has stepped into.  

“I can’t express how thankful I am to Making Waves for everything that they’ve done for me, and the opportunities that they’ve given, not just to me, but to other students.” 

Elaine’s top content at Making Waves