Sam Gersten participated in YouthBridge-New York from 2008-2010. As a high school student, Sam attended Ramaz, a Jewish day school. Sam’s experience in YouthBridge was transformative, giving him the opportunity to meet and connect to peers from a wide range of communities and cultural backgrounds, some of whom are friends to this day. It also had an impact on his career by enabling his first professional internship, with the Office of the Speaker of the New York City Council.

Today, Sam works as a Senior Manager for Corporate Strategy at Cisco, advising early-stage startups on growth and operations strategy. He holds an MBA from Northwestern University and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Over the past decade, he has served on nonprofit boards and volunteered for religious, immigration, and worker advocacy organizations across the United States. He lives with his wife and two children in White Plains.

Sam is committed to supporting YouthBridge as a launching pad for the next generation of New York City leaders and playing a part in the next stage of the organization’s growth as it enters its twenty-fifth year serving high school students from across the New York metropolitan region.