The Second-Year Spotlight Conference

The 2026 Second-Year Spotlight Conference will take place the evening of Friday, November 6 and all day Saturday, November 7.

The Second-Year Spotlight brings together our best resources—our alumni paired with networking opportunities and tools to elevate your career journey. This event is designed exclusively for second-year students and will feature panels of industry experts, guidance on financial literacy, and an interactive etiquette dinner. Located on the Grinnell College campus.

Registration is open now and will close October 27, 2026. Registration is limited to 100 students, with a second-year standing required.

To register, complete the form here: Second-Year Spotlight Registration Form

Day 1: Friday, November 6,2026

5:00 PM – 5:30 PM: Etiquette Dinner Check-In (Harris Center)

5:30 PM – 8:30 PM: Etiquette Dinner (Harris Center, meal provided)

Day 2: Saturday, November 7, 2026

8:00 AM: Check-In Opens (JRC)

8:15 AM – 8:45 AM: Networking Breakfast & Morning Welcome (JRC, meal provided)

8:45 AM: Opening Address by Penny Bender Sebring ’64 (JRC)

9:15 AM – 10:30 AM: Session 1: Alumni Career Panels & Ask Alumni Mentoring Circles (HSSC)

10:30 AM – 10:45 AM: Snack Break (HSSC, snacks provided)

10:45 AM – 12:00 PM: Session 2: Alumni Career Panels & Ask Alumni Mentoring Circles (HSSC)

12:00 PM – 1:15 PM: Networking Lunch (Marketplace Dining Hall Whale Room, meal provided for students without dining plan)

1:30 PM – 2:20 PM: Keynote Address by Lisa Eshun-Wilson ‘12, Introduced by Morgan Howard ’27 (HSSC)

Follow Your Curiosity: From Grinnell to Berkeley

When Lisa Eshun-Wilson ’14 arrived at Grinnell, she packed snow pants and a dream to see the world. What followed was a winding path: a biological chemistry major; internships at UCLA, UCSF, and CalTech; and trips to Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Saudi Arabia. After graduating from Grinnell, Lisa completed a postbac at the NIH, a PhD at UC Berkeley, a postdoc at Scripps Research, and a scientist role at AI protein design startup Profluent Bio, Inc. Now, Lisa is working to make genomic science more accessible at a smaller AI startup in Berkeley. For personal wellness, she also became a certified yoga teacher and built her own global yoga retreats business. In this talk, Lisa shares the experiences at Grinnell that shaped her the most, the advice she would give her second-year self, and how she learned to choose a path by following curiosity, values, and community rather than a fixed plan.

2:30 PM – 4:00 PM: Professional Development Fair (HSSC)

Campus Partner Tabling
Interactive CLS Resources & Tools
Alumni Résumé Review & Mock Interview Sessions
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM: “Financial Fluency: Skills for Thriving Beyond Grinnell” with David Kurzman ’96

4:00 PM – 4:30 PM: Closing Ice Cream Social (HSSC, snacks provided)

Arts, Media & Communications

Business & Finance