Travelers EDGE^® 15th Anniversary

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Large room full of people at graduation ceremony. TEXT: May 2012

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DAVID FEARON: She just has that spirit and certainly I will remember it as a spirit of EDGE. Jessica Ugbo.

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Jessica O. Ugbo – Senior Analyst, Strategic Resolution Group, Travelers, Central Connecticut State University ‘12

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JESSICA UGBO: I moved to the United States in 2007 from Nigeria where I was born and raised. My father was like, "In this country, the opportunities are out here. You just have to seize those opportunities."

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Alex C. Martinez – Enterprise Innovation, Travelers, University of Connecticut ‘18

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ALEX MARTINEZ: I knew I had a passion for technology, but I had no idea what roles were out there for me. I had no idea who to talk to about figuring those things out.

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Tori Habuda – FLDP Participant, Travelers, Central Connecticut State University ‘22

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TORI HABUDA: As a first-generation college student, I really wanted to make my parents proud.

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student walks down street.
Jah’shawn Vanholten – Travelers EDGE Scholar, University of Connecticut

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JAH'SHAWN VANHOLTEN: I always had a love for marketing, and I was told by my teachers it would be a perfect profession for me. They said, "If you really do want to go to college, you can take advantage ofthis opportunity. The scholarship that we have here at the EDGE program." It's a little tough. I said, "You know what? I'll do what it takes."

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Aerial shot of Hartford.

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Ivelisse Maldonado – Travelers EDGE Program Manager, Travelers

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IVELISSE MALDONADO: The problem that oftentimes exists in predominantly underrepresented communities is young people don't know that they have an opportunity to fulfill their goals, their dreams. So in 2007, the Traveler's EDGE program was the brainchild of our leaders. It's a holistic program that offers opportunities to these students to get them from high school to college to bachelor's degree, and then ultimately work with Travelers full time.

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Kristine Frey – Director, Business Insurance, Travelers, Travelers EDGE Mentor

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KRISTINE FREY: It's critical to our culture and core values that we have an organization that provides opportunities for everyone who is willing to work hard, who's willing to learn, who's willing to raise their hand.

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Mother hugs son who just graduated

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IVELISSE MALDONADO: Our Travelers EDGE scholars are brilliant, funny, innovative. They have what it takes to lead.

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Ann Ulring – Travelers EDGE Program Manager, Augsburg University

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ANN ULRING: They come into this program so hungry for what it has to offer and they really engage and then they accomplish these remarkable things.

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JESSICA UGBO: Looking back into starting the EDGE program, they saw this girl who was intelligent. They saw this girl who was goal driven. They saw this girl who will seize any opportunity.

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Tony Torsiello – Vice President, Business Insurance, Travelers

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TONY TORSIELLO: We're not handing them anything but the opportunity. Their success is because they want to be successful. They've worked for it. We just try to make sure we're providing all the resources, the mentoring, the management oversight to see that they reach their potential.

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IVELISSE MALDONADO: Through the financial support that Travelers provides, our goal is for our scholars to come out of school without any college debt. By not having to worry about paying for school, our scholars are able to concentrate on school, graduate with that degree, save money at the same time, which then provides an opportunity for them to be able to purchase a car, their first home, leave a legacy for themselves, for their families.

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JAH'SHAWN VANHOLTEN: I actually didn't apply to go to any colleges. I knew I wanted to go to college, but I didn't apply because I couldn't afford to. When I finally got accepted into the EDGE program, I was shocked because I got accepted into UCONN. To see that dream come true, that reality, not to just go to school but to go to my dream school at that was something amazing for me.

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ANN ULRING: What's remarkable about this program is that these students have a pathway that's open to them to opportunities and fields that they never even thought they could dream of or it gives them a chance to build a professional network and their own social capital. So to become immediately part of a cohort of people who are all working toward the same goal, that's really powerful.

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Students sit in group discussion

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YER HER: I'm majoring in marketing and minoring in entrepreneurial studies.

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Yer Her – Travelers EDGE Scholar, Augsburg University

YER HER: It made me realize that I was going to be in a community bigger than myself and be in an environment where people see my strength and my talents.

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IVELISSE MALDONADO: I've absolutely seen transformations. We've had students that have never been exposed to a corporate environment, so things that we take for granted, sending an email, setting up a meeting, how to properly answer an incoming call. This is why it was important for us to provide continuous professional development.

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MARCELUS IFONLAJA: I wanted to join EDGE because I wanted to understand what it's like to be a part of a large organization.

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Student walks up to railing overlooking Minneapolis skyline

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Marcelus Ifonlaja – Travelers EDGE Scholar, Metropolitan State University

MARCELUS IFONLAJA: First time I actually walked into the Travelers building was a little surreal. I just got this new suit and I'm coming in and I'm meeting these people and they're very well put together. I'm a college student who's kind of doing this for the first time. Then as you actually get to meet people and have conversations, you begin to realize that as long as you stay diligent, you can also belong here.

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Sue Gray – Director, Enterprise Talent Management, Travelers, Travelers EDGE Mentor

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SUE GRAY: We hope that through their internships and the support that they see enough that gets them excited to come and work at Travelers. So it's a win for the students, but it's a definite win for Travelers.

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Diane Kurtzman – Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Travelers

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DIANE KURTZMAN: When you have a diverse workforce, better decisions are made, you have more innovation, thinking outside the box.

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TORI HABUDA: I really appreciated that it was very mentorship focused as well. We had a mentoring program at CCSU and I also had a mentor here at Travelers.

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Mentor and mentee talk at table

SUE GRAY: Let’s talk about networking a little bit

TORI HABUDA: After all of these experiences, the academic support, the professional support, the mentoring, I feel like I'm much more comfortable in the business world.

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TONY TORSIELLO: When that vision is created and they embrace it and they're able to succeed, where they're seeing their older brother or sister get a scholarship to a university, get internships, it's creating that vision.

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Bryant Mercado – Travelers EDGE Alum, University of Connecticut ‘21

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BRYANT MERCADO: My sister Lily and I have always been close.

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Lily Mercado – Travelers EDGE Scholar, Central Connecticut State University

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LILY MERCADO: Bryant got into the program and I always heard great things about it from him. Year ‘round he'd be talking about it. During the semester, all the help that he'd get. During the summer when he would do the internships. And then I saw the opportunity in high school for myself to go for it and have that same success, same experience, and I went for it.

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BRYANT MERCADO: I would have to say I'm most thankful for the opportunity. It's really opened up a different world for both of us.

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TONY TORSIELLO: It becomes a self-perpetuating process. We've got folks that have graduated from the EDGE program who are here mentoring other EDGE students.

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Melissa Rodriguez, MBA – Marketing Consultant, Travelers, University of Connecticut ‘11

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MELISSA RODRIGUEZ: I've never left EDGE, if you want to say. I've been a mentor and I also go back to colleges, conferences to speak about Travelers EDGE. So, it makes me feel happy to share with them my experience and my journey so they can see that it is possible.

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ANN ULRING: Travelers’ promise is to take care of their customers, take care of the community, and take care of each other. With this program, it's just so rich for them to have thought way ahead of the rest.

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KRISTINE FREY: We can talk about how we show up in our communities. The EDGE program is walking that walk.

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DIANE KURTZMAN: We've had over 500 scholars that have received support through the EDGE program. Typically around a third of the scholars have pursued careers at Travelers. In fact, this last year, over 70% converted to become Travelers employees.

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MAN AT PODIUM: Tori Habuda,

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Tori walks across stage and receives diploma

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TORI HABUDA: I've reached my goals. I have grown, been a leader for this program, and I'll be starting full-time at Travelers in their financial leadership development program. When I was in my internship, I was actually able to apply for full-time offers a year in advance. It was such a relief to start off my senior year knowing that I had a full-time role here at Travelers after graduation.

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JESSICA UGBO: I left in 2018 to go to law school. They kept the door wide open. It was like I never left. The network of people who I met here through the EDGE program continued to stay in my life and check on me. When I graduated, they still opened the door for me. In January of 2022, I started working with the Strategic Resolution Group as a senior analyst.

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Team collaborates at workspace

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ALEX MARTINEZ: We want to get them really, really excited…

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ALEX MARTINEZ: I am working as an Innovation Analyst within our enterprise innovation office. During my time in this program, I've had a lot of corporate experiences that have allowed me to really hone in on what it is that I want to do in our technology field.

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TONY TORSIELLO: The program has grown over the 15 years. You see the success and you see that, hey, this really does work.

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IVELISSE MALDONADO: We've seen the scholars who have said several years ago, "This is what I want to do when I graduate. This is what I want to accomplish." Now they're doing it.

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MELISSA RODRIGUEZ: I was debt free, so I bought my first home in 2019. All I can say, it was a huge blessing.

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Curtis Love – Travelers EDGE Scholar, Augsburg University

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CURTIS LOVE: It gave me opportunity to be different. It gave me an opportunity to stand out in a group of people. It kind of helped shape who I am today.

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LILY MERCADO: EDGE is very empowering. A whole team of people who fight alongside us.

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ALEX MARTINEZ: The experiences that I was able to gain through the EDGE program had opened up so many doors and I'm so excited to figure out which of those doors I'll take.

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TORI HABUDA: There's not enough things I could say about how meaningful this program was to me.

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JAH'SHAWN VANHOLTEN: It's surreal that I have people that are willing to advise me, people that are willing to mentor me, people that want me to succeed. The EDGE program changed my life.

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JESSICA UGBO: They see dreams. They recognize the dreams. They want those dreams to come to life. I came into this country looking for opportunities. EDGE gave me those opportunities.

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Travelers red umbrella moves to reveal text: EDGE NEXT GEN