In 2019, while a junior in high school, Giuseppe Di Cera noticed he and friends were struggling to find their first jobs or internships.
“This was not because they weren’t capable – it was because they lacked a network of connections, such as family or friends, that could help them find available opportunities,” said Di Cera
At the time, Di Cera was chairman of the Youth Council for Ladue Mayor Nancy Speak and mentioned to her his idea to create an organization to connect business and students. What resulted was the Student Opportunities Network, an organization that partners with local businesses to find jobs and internships for high school and college students. In the past three years, the Student Opportunities Network has created more than 300 jobs, internships and volunteer roles for students, partnering with local firms that include Gladys Manion Real Estate, Women’s Exchange of St. Louis and Ladue News. Di Cera, 20, is currently studying at the University of Chicago, but has plans to expand the Student Opportunities Network locally.
Did you always envision becoming an entrepreneur? I always envisioned becoming an entrepreneur because I am ambitious and persistent in the way I tackle problems, and I want to have a large impact in the world. Transforming the Student Opportunities Network from a simple idea to an impactful community initiative has shown me that there is nothing in life that is out of reach if you make bold plans and are persistent in executing them beyond any obstacles you encounter.
What are your expansion plans for the Student Opportunities Network? I would like to expand the Student Opportunities Network to more businesses in St. Louis County and St. Louis city. I am more than happy to work with any business, large or small, that feels they would benefit from a centralized platform that advertises their jobs, internships, or volunteering positions to interested high school and college students year round. Partnering with more companies would allow me to expand to more communities in the St. Louis area. If possible, I would enjoy collaborating with companies like Varsity Tutors/Nerdy that could serve as important partners for me as an EdTech entrepreneur.
I would also like to make the Student Opportunities Network an LLC and start generating revenue. If I had access to funding, I would establish a merit-based scholarship program that would serve as a form of financial aid for students applying to college.
You’re the son of immigrants and a first-generation American. How does that shape your experience as an entrepreneur? This is very important to me. Everything I do is for my family. My respect and admiration for my parents has stimulated my work ethic and entrepreneurial drive. Being a first-generation American means having big dreams and turning those dreams into reality through hard work and discipline. It’s challenging but rewarding to push through early mornings and long nights while managing my academic load with running my business and working a few jobs. Failure and persistence are also very important – one of the things that I’ve enjoyed the most about building my business is how many times I’ve failed and how much I’ve learned as a result by continuing to believe in myself and my ideas.
What’s your proudest accomplishment? Building the Student Opportunities Network from the idea phase to what it is today is one of my proudest accomplishments. By collaborating with 20-plus local businesses in the St. Louis area, I have helped up to 305 high school and college students secure jobs, internships, and volunteering positions. It makes me proud to have helped create a more tightly-knit community in St. Louis, but this is only the beginning of an initiative that I hope can help bring local students and companies closer together and solve many of the critical problems facing students in our nation’s education and career development systems.
In August 2022, I published a nationally cited health economics paper with Tomas Philipson, the former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to President Trump. The paper discusses the impact of pharmaceutical innovation on national health care spending, specifically how price controls on drugs could raise total health care spending by $50.8 billion over 20 years. I’ve worked for Tom as a research assistant since May 2021, so this was a very proud accomplishment to publish a paper with him.
Where do you see yourself and your career in five years? My career goal is to become a CEO. Whether I will be the CEO of my own business or an existing business is something that I need to think about more. I would love to start a new business in the fintech space. In order to prepare myself to become a more effective CEO, I want to work in finance or management consulting after college. Following this experience, I hope that in five years I find myself in an executive position at the strategy level of a mid-to-large size business, where I can be given enough responsibility and trust to help grow the company day-by-day. This summer I interned in Miami, and I want to start my career there because of how vibrant and growth-oriented the city is.
Who are your biggest mentors? My biggest mentors are Enrico Di Cera (my dad), Maria Gurrieri (my mom), Leonardo Di Cera (my brother), and Francesca Di Cera (my sister). Everything I do is for my family, and they have been my greatest teachers in helping me become the man I am today. Nancy Spewak, Denny Marschuetz, Tom Kibarian, and Tomas Philipson, Nancy Schaller and Victor Lima have also been great mentors. I will always remember how they believed in my ambition and creativity when others didn’t and challenged me to grow as a student, athlete and man.
