Sterling Kassela

Experience

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  Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo

  Nov 2018 - Jun 2019

  Project Manager

  Food Bank Coalition Waste Analysis ProjectThe Cal Poly Honors project that I took part in with the Food Bank Coalition really helped me to understand a lot about the San Luis Obispo community, and it helped me learn more about how sustainability is implemented and supported. I was also able to learn more about the different aspects of sustainability through the various perspectives my group provided me with. Each one of us is studying in a different field and attacking sustainability at a different angle. We were able to analyze the inner-workings of the Food Bank to observe how exactly they operate and what can be changed. Our main problem was trash. The Food Bank receives a lot of donations that are not healthy—which would be against their business ethics to distribute—and a lot of donations are expired or rotten. It was hard finding places to distribute this trash. Helping to get rid of this trash would relieve the Food Bank from this financial burden while also releasing the environment of the pressure that results from putting the food in the dump. Given the timeframe we were allotted to work on this project, we decided to analyze the Food Bank’s waste and the sources that receive portions of this waste. We also recorded all of our contacts and our trial and error process. With the help of these contacts, our research, and our development of a future waste study survey, we have contributed a tremendous amount of the groundwork for the next Food Bank project group. With our "Torch" to light the way, they will be able to pick up where we left off, rather than start by scratch, and provide the Food Bank with valuable data that will help them be more efficient, and in turn, help the community of San Luis Obispo become more sustainable. Show less

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  California Philanthropy Group

  Oct 2019 - Jul 2020

  Director of Polyvision Music Festival

  Polyvision 2020 is a new music festival at the well established Slo Brew Rock brewery in San Luis Obispo (SLO), CA. ★ As one of two directors on the project, I was in charge of executing crucial investment and marketing decisions leading up to the event, including the management of a $25,000 budget. Through strategic, value-based negotiation, I was able to finalize our partnership logistics, increase our ticket quota from 600 to 1000, and achieve the rare use of Slo Brew Rock's entire property for the event. This—along with other key investments—enabled our estimated WITH US donation to increase from $2,000 to where it currently stands at $10,000.-----What started as a nonchalant conversation in the living room, turned into a five-hour-long, sold-out event at one of San Luis Obispo’s most iconic venues. During the fall and winter quarter of my second year at Cal Poly, I was lucky enough to be a director of the first-ever student-run music festival in SLO County. Not only was this project an excellent leadership learning experience for me, but it was an event that brought together many influential organizations throughout the Cal Poly community, and allowed us to donate roughly $10,000 to the WITH US Cal Poly national nonprofit.Polyvision is a special event bringing together community-oriented, social Cal Poly and SLO organizations with the effort of raising money through live entertainment, silent disco, merchandise, and raffle. The event provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for DJ representatives from each organization to play in front of over one-thousand students with professional audiovisual effects. After partnering up with Red Bull and Drip Drop, we were able to debut Red Bull's first "Dance Floor Legends" competition in the U.S. and add an even more diverse and inclusive range of entertainment for ticketholders. Show less

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  EY

  Jul 2020 - Jul 2020

  FSO Launch Intern
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  EY

  Jun 2021 - Aug 2021

  FSO Business Consultant Intern
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  Cal Poly Orfalea College of Business

  Sept 2021 - Sept 2022

  The field of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is becoming not only one of the fastest-growing industries in business but a major interest to investors. This research has the potential to benefit society and contribute to the broader understanding of private equity and leveraged buyouts. A better understanding of the environmental impacts that "going private" has will create better opportunities to strategically manage a company's (or industry's) ESG goals in the future. If the private equity industry is creating an abundance of pollution or environmental disruption that is surpassing the previously public company's output, it is important for us to know how might private equity mitigate these effects or change its management/reorganizational approach. If the private equity industry is actually helping to reduce the footprint that companies are creating, this is good to know too, as it is the first step in a possible reevaluation of how we operate in the business world. With pollution and an abundance of climate and environmental problems apparent within the business world, it is now becoming more important than ever that we analyze our operations under an even finer scope and with a more specific climate focus.Expanding my knowledge in this field would further my educational and occupational skill set - providing me with a better understanding of both private equity and ESG. My minor in Statistics is also complemented well by the data collection and analysis done throughout the project. Show less

  • Research Assistant - Private Equity & ESG Effects

    Nov 2021 - Sept 2022

  • Economics Teacher Assistant - International Trade Theory

    Sept 2021 - Jun 2022
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  Ernst & Young Global Consulting Services

  Sept 2022 - now

  • Senior Consultant - Financial Services

    Aug 2024 - now

  • FSO Business Consulting Staff

    Sept 2022 - Sept 2024