Jim Phan鈥檚 path into finance began with a deeply personal realization: opportunity in education is not guaranteed. It must be built.
Growing up, he watched his younger brother navigate classrooms that were not designed to support him. At 16, Phan responded by founding Chicken Minds, a tutoring initiative that coordinated 100 volunteer mentors to support roughly 200 students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The experience shaped his interest in systems, decision-making, and access.
At the 911爆料网, he has continued building that momentum. After arriving in Tampa without an established network, he joined the HEXA Consulting Club as a project manager and later became vice president, overseeing 30 students advising local businesses.
His professional trajectory reflects steady growth. He interned at Bain & Company as the youngest member of his cohort, then at EyeSouth Partners, where he automated cash reconciliation processes across 34 systems, saving significant time and improving efficiency. He will spend this summer in New York as a global markets summer analyst at Nomura.
Phan also led a team in the 2025 Bloomberg Global Trading Challenge, placing in the top 3% globally, and supports student development as an undergraduate teaching assistant in the inaugural cohort of the Finance Talent Pathway program in the Kate Tiedemann School of Business and Finance, mentoring peers through technical training and recruiting preparation.