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Episode 114

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Published on:

3rd Jul 2024

114: Kalani Leifer — The Economics of Higher Education and the Power of Peer Support

Kalani Leifer is the Founder and CEO of COOP Careers, a company aiming to overcome underemployment through digital skills and peer connections. Kalani began his career as a history teacher at Kappa International High School in the Bronx, NY (with Teach For America). Later, he worked as a consultant at McKinsey in Zurich and Dubai, and as a project leader at Google in California. Kalani grew up in the Bay Area, graduated from Stanford, and earned a master’s in education from Lehman College, CUNY.

In this episode, I talk with Kalani about the profound impact of peer support and community in navigating career challenges. Kalani shares his unique perspective, shaped by his upbringing on Stanford’s campus amidst the economic disparities of Palo Alto and East Palo Alto, and his early teaching experiences. We discuss the broken promise of higher education for first-generation college students, many of whom face unemployment or underemployment despite their degrees. Through Kalani's insights, we explore the crucial role of social networks in career advancement and how peer relationships can drive long-term career success and upward economic mobility.

In this episode:

  • [00:00] - Intro
  • [02:06] - Kalani’s background and early influences
  • [07:36] - Navigating the challenges of higher education
  • [12:27] - The reality for college graduates
  • [18:35] - Why building and maintaining relationships is so important
  • [26:22] - How COOP Careers works
  • [27:34] - The struggles of job hunting for graduates
  • [28:36] - COOP’s unique curriculum: head, heart, and hustle
  • [31:34] - Challenges in workforce development
  • [33:07] - Networking and the importance of relationships
  • [37:12] - The need for federal and state investment
  • [43:34] - Advice for recent graduates
  • [48:01] - The future of COOP and final thoughts

Get full show notes and links at https://mindful.money. 

Watch the episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MindfulMoney.



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About the Podcast

Mindful Money
Do you struggle with money? You’re not alone.
Money is a means, not an end. It’s a necessity of life for sure, but more money does not always guarantee a “good life”. Money enables many aspects of modern life, but as a dominant consideration it becomes destructive. 
The paradox is that more time and energy spent on personal finance does NOT create better outcomes. Unlike many other parts of life, we can’t create better outcomes by being smarter, spending more time, or putting in more effort.
Join Mindful Money author and experienced 40-year investor Jonathan DeYoe as he shares stories from artists, authors, entrepreneurs, and other advisors about how they mindfully minimize their need to think about money and get more out of life.
If you aren’t happy with your finances, feel like money takes more time that it should, or want to place your financial decisions into the broader context of your life, this show is for you. 
Each episode will draw the line between the “enough” activities that the academics tell us are additive to family outcomes, and those “little bit more” efforts that take time and sap energy, but do NOT improve outcomes.

About your host

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Jonathan DeYoe

Jonathan DeYoe is a best-selling author, speaker, financial advisor and angel investor. He is a husband, father and a practicing Buddhist. His simple underlying message brings a welcomed sense of order to financial chaos and restores a calm center to your financial life.