Wesley Rowlands

Age: 31

BS business administration ’09

Founder and CEO, National Youth Mentor Academy

My Greatest Accomplishment

Becoming a best-selling author (“How to Make $100K Out of College,” 2016), starting a business and becoming a partner at an investment management firm. That’s three things, but everything is interconnected in business and I could not have accomplished one of them if it wasn’t for all of them.

How Drexel Helped

Outside of all my mom’s sacrifices and support in raising me, Drexel was the No. 1 reason for the success I have had in business. The co-op program, in combination with Drexel’s outstanding professors, like Scott Warnock, PhD; Diana Sandberg; Ed Nelling, PhD; Amy Kratchman; and Peter Amato, PhD, make the University world-class. And I mean that literally — I honestly believe that a Drexel-trained student is, by far, the best-equipped candidate for today’s complex and innovative workforce.

Where I’ll Be In Five Years

My team and I will have built a media company that provides education, products and services within all of the domains that I am passionate about. Above all else, my No. 1 goal is to provide for my family, especially my mom, Debbie, who raised me as a single mom, and grandmom Rose, who gave me everything she could to ensure I was on the right track. I owe everything to them.