Degree: B.S. in Fraud Examination and Financial Forensics
Programs: APPLE Corps, Honors Program
Mentors: La Vaughn Emanis-Samuel, Muldy Flecher,  Elton Beckett
Internships: National Futures Association, Morgan Stanley
Hometown: St. Catherine, Jamaica; Queens, NY
Career Aspiration: Forensic Accountant

“Coming to John Jay was pivotal to my success and the launching pad to achieving my career goals. At the College, I found mentors who championed me and connected me to vital internship opportunities that would enhance my skill set and expand my network,” says Taneil Newell ’24, who is the first in her family to earn a bachelor’s degree. “I’m excited for what’s next. After graduation, I’ll work full-time as a compliance analyst at Morgan Stanley.”

What was life like before John Jay?
I was raised by my mom and aunt in St. Catherine, Jamaica. I went to an all-girls high school where I took a lot of business classes, such as accounting. It’s there where my knowledge of and passion for forensic accounting began. I’ve always been good at managing my money and loved the idea of being a money detective—making sure the money is going where it is supposed to go and that it’s being used properly.

Why John Jay?
My interest in finance and money management made the prospect of investigating fraud and embezzlement intriguing to me. When I arrived in New York, migrating from Jamaica in 2019, and heard of John Jay College, I learned it was the only school with fraud examination as a major. I knew immediately that it was the right college for me.

How has APPLE Corps enhanced your John Jay experience?
APPLE Corps has been there for me from the beginning. Learning that they provide their students with a stipend was such a Godsend for me because it meant my time at John Jay would be debt-free. The program also offered me the most incredible opportunity to grow, not just academically but personally and professionally as well. Before APPLE Corps, I never had a job and had no experience volunteering. APPLE Corps changed all that, giving me the space to build my resume, connect to internships and service-learning opportunities, and become a mentor. One of the first service-learning experiences I had the chance to do under APPLE Corps was with the Hunter College Food Policy Center. Being able to perform outreach, connect with different pantries in the city, and update the Center’s database so that people searching for these vital food resources could find them on the website was really fulfilling. I also had a peer success coach who helped me navigate my John Jay journey early on. She was so patient with me. I was so grateful for the experience that I wanted to provide that same level of guidance and support to other students, so I applied to become an APPLE Corps peer success coach during my sophomore year.

How did your mentors at John Jay put you on the path to success?
Professor Elton Beckett has been monumental to my success. He changed the way I communicate, from how I interact with people to how I give a speech confidently. His teaching taught me to be an excellent communicator and how to amplify my voice. He also wrote a recommendation letter for me to join the Honors Program and become an APPLE Corps peer success coach. Being able to help another student and watching their successful trajectory at the college has been so gratifying and one of the best ways to pay it forward.

APPLE Corps’ La Vaughn Emanis-Samuel and Muldy Flecher were also incredibly supportive throughout my John Jay journey. I worked with them so closely, especially during my time as an APPLE Corps peer success coach. Being able to talk to them about everything in my life and my concerns for the future was helpful. They shared their experiences, letting me know I wasn’t alone. I had a team of people rooting for me. Having them be so motivational made a real difference in my life.

How did your internships at the National Futures Association (NFA) and Morgan Stanley help shape your career goals?
At NFA, I was an over-the-counter derivatives compliance intern. I underwent an extensive two-week training course in Chicago, which was exciting. My role was to examine banks and cross-reference the associated person’s list with our database. The goal was to make sure they were certified to conduct trades.

I learned of the Morgan Stanley internship via an email from the Honors Program. I was excited to apply because I had interned on the regulatory side of the industry during my time with NFA and I wanted to experience how the bank side worked. It’s an incredibly competitive internship program and I was so proud to get in. I was placed on Morgan Stanley’s privacy and data compliance team, which was a relatively new unit. In privacy and data compliance, the mission is to ensure the client’s personal data isn’t being collected and misused. I got the chance to perform several different functions, from going through documents with privacy language and putting the information in a repository to attending meetings with higher-ups at the company. I also helped lay the groundwork for a new internal site for privacy data compliance and assisted the secretary of the global privacy data compliance committee.

Finish this sentence: Because of John Jay…
I was able to take all the incredible opportunities presented to me—internships, mentorships, and learning experiences—and make the absolute most of them. Because of John Jay, I’m on my way to becoming a forensic accountant.