Sophia (Yizhuo) Liu

I am Sophia Liu, the current Alumni Relations VP, and I am running to be the next President. In first year, I was clueless about recruiting. What changed for me was access: to the right people, guidance, and opportunities. This is exactly what I want to institutionalise for you. This year, I built a network of 150+ active alumni professionals willing to mentor and connect, hosted the Finance Conference panel, and launched a monthly webinar series featuring MD-level professionals.

My vision for 2026/27:
- Specialized Divisions: I will restructure events organisation into parallel tracks (Buy-side VS Sell-side) so you can move beyond general interest, pick your path, and train for recruiting.

- FinTech Pivot: being 'good at finance' nowadays requires being 'great with data'. We will partner with CS societies and host Finance & AI hackathons and workshops, so you walk into interviews confident and differentiated.

- Targeted Networking: We will introduce small-group, sector-focused roundtables (e.g. 'Dive in S&T', 'Women in AM') alongside general fireside chats/ panels. You will gain not just LinkedIn connections, but relationships with people who know your name.

Unlike a first-time candidate, I have the experience to know what works, the network to make it happen, and the caffeine tolerance to see it through. My ambition is to turn UCLIS into the society that recruiting teams actually fear losing access to. Let’s move past just talking about finance and actually place people in it!