03/30/2026
🚀 Celebrating International Women’s Day with an inspiring Rock The Street, Wall Street Insight Session at Morgan Stanley’s New York headquarters, the event featured an exciting trading floor tour, a career panel, speed networking and keynote reflections that brought the day together.
🏛️ A special thank you to Penny Novick, Managing Director and Co-Head of Prime Brokerage and an RTSWS Board Member, for opening the session with thoughtful guidance for our students. Penny encouraged the cohort to be bold and ambitious, work hard and make an impact, while also remembering the importance of collaboration, confidence, and humility. She also congratulated the RTSWS students on their hard work and thanked them for their perseverance.
🎓 The session closed with powerful remarks from Samuel P. Lalanne, Managing Director and Chief Diversity Officer, who spoke about the importance of colleagues, community, and clients. Sam also shared a personal reflection that resonated with the room. As a first-generation American and the first in his family to attend a four-year college, he had little sense in high school of what a career on Wall Street could look like. An economics class opened his eyes to the possibilities and set him on a path driven by curiosity and questions about networks, mentors, and next steps.
✨ RTSWS teams, industry leaders, and volunteers bring financial and investment fundamentals to life, opening doors to the industry while connecting students with peers and professionals who help expand their view of what is possible. As both Sam and Penny emphasized, teamwork is essential, and success is built through a focus on colleagues, community, and clients.
💙 A big thank you to the leaders and volunteers who made the day possible, and especially to our incredible co-chairs Lara P., Emma Keegan, and Sha'Quanna Brown. Their involvement began as volunteer roles and has grown into leadership within the program, a wonderful example of mentorship and collaboration in action.
