Welcome to the 2024 X-Caliber Intern Experience. We hope your time with us proves educational, enjoyable, and helps position you for the beginning of your career. Regardless of what field you are looking to enter, our program is aimed to provide you with useful and transferable skills wherever you may land. We look forward to having you and wish you success over your next eight weeks.
Our 2024 Intern Experience Team
Xavier Canfin
Tufts University
Major: Economics | 2027
Hometown: Tarrytown, New York
Xavier Canfin
I’m an economics major at Tufts University, and I also play on the soccer team there. I was born and raised in Tarrytown, NY, and attended the Irvington schools.
At Tufts, I am in the Tufts Investment Banking Club, a club tailored to freshmen and sophomores interested in pursuing investment banking careers. I would like to be an investment banker in the future, and possibly end up working in private equity.
This summer, I look forward to gaining experience in commercial real estate and learning what it takes to work in the financial industry. My favorite hobbies are playing soccer with teammates and friends, going on walks and hikes with my dog, and going on road trips across the New England area with friends.
Something most people don’t know: I am fluent in French and conversational in Spanish and am taking French and Spanish classes at Tufts. I love listening to all different types of music, like dance, rap, indie, and pop.
X-Caliber Intern Experience track: Operations and Accounting Connect with Xavier here on LinkedIn.
Jimmy Evans
Duke University
Major: Master’s in Management Studies | 2025
Hometown: Norwalk, Connecticut
Jimmy Evans
I just earned a Master’s degree in Management Studies from the Fuqua School of Business and have recently been accepted into the Fuqua School of Business MBA Program, which begins this upcoming August.
I went to undergraduate school at Tufts University where I majored in Economics with minors in Finance and Entrepreneurship. Due to Covid-19, I was granted two extra years of baseball eligibility, allowing me to transfer to Duke. After graduating with my MBA, I’d to like to work in private equity, and I believe this internship will allow me to expand my overall knowledge of investing while working alongside experienced professionals who can mentor me in the world of finance.
I look forward to expanding my network and using my leadership and team dynamic capabilities to drive positive outcomes for the firm. My favorite hobbies include baseball, golf, travelling, family time, community service, cooking, nutrition, and fitness.
Something most people don’t know: I play baseball lefty but eat and write righty. I am the third James Evans in my family.
X-Caliber Intern Experience track: Credit & Underwriting and Secondary Markets Connect with Jimmy here on LinkedIn.
Pablo Fernandez
University of Toronto
Major: Commerce | Minor: Economics | 2027
Hometown: Katonah, New York
Pablo Fernandez
I was born in Canada and grew up mostly in New York, but I lived for two years in California. I am a native Spanish speaker. My high school was Iona Preparatory School in New Rochelle, where I graduated in 2023.
I am attending the University of Toronto’s Business School (Rotman). I grew up always wanting to learn, finding myself continuously embarking on new activities. Therefore, I picked up many hobbies I enjoy today, like surfing, chess, snowboarding, soccer, skateboarding, and DJing. Because of my curiosity, I have found activities I am passionate about and acquired various skills and lessons that I can apply to my life.
Since an early age, I have always been attracted to a career in business. Recently, my first year in college gave me more insight into what areas of business I would like to pursue, including sales, economics, and finance. I hope during my internship I can familiarize myself with the corporate world and put into practice what I have learned in college so far. This is a great opportunity to learn more about myself and what I would like to pursue in my future professional career. It is an opportunity that I greatly appreciate.
Something that most people don’t know: I have acquired a love for cooking at my university - especially chicken karaage (Japanese fried chicken). I love water sports like wakeboarding and surfing, and beach soccer.
X-Caliber Intern Experience track: Sales and Secondary Marketing
Connect with Pablo here on LinkedIn.
Santiago Goyzueta
Commonwealth University
Major: Finance | Minor: Marketing | 2025
Santiago Goyzueta
I'm from Northern Virginia, with roots tracing back to Peru. I'm excited to be a part of this internship to help me gain more knowledge in the finance world. I am eager to learn about finance, negotiations, and community impact. When I'm not working, you can find me on the soccer field, hitting the gym, playing disc golf, or buried in a good book.
Something most people don’t know: My work ethic is very high, especially when I’m focused. I strive for more and never settle for the bare minimum.
Intern Experience Track: Sales and Credit & Underwriting
Connect with Santiago here on LinkedIn.
Aiden Gutierrez
University of Chicago
Major: Economics | Minor: Data Science | 2026
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Aiden Gutierrez
I’m from San Diego, California and grew up playing a lot of sports–mostly soccer–and as captain my senior year where I led my high school team to league and state divisional championships.
Off the field, I split my time between surfing, fishing, playing my guitar, and hanging out with friends. I have also collected an array of interesting work experiences that range from a quality assurance lab technician at a beer yeast manufacturing company to a fishing deckhand. I also developed an interest in economics in high school, which is primarily what led me to study at University of Chicago, a place I believed to have the most impressive economics program. Here, I was introduced to the world of finance and have since taken every opportunity to explore specific areas that I find interesting both through clubs and coursework. Two areas of interest have been the energy transition–the history of US energy infrastructure, understanding energy technology, and policy regarding clean energy projects—and credit. I am currently exploring the former in a class and an environmental science club, and the latter mostly through the University of Chicago Credit Group and classes at the business school.
I spend my spare time playing intramural sports, exercising, playing guitar, and planning social events for my fraternity. Right now, I am interested in pursuing a career that combines my interest in clean energy with my interest in finance.
This summer, I am looking forward to throwing myself into this world and learning more about the financial landscape of clean energy developments. I was particularly interested in the C-PACE lending program that CastleGreen Finance uses to provide financing solutions for clean energy projects. I am interested in learning more about C-PACE financing and the financial incentives that seem to underpin the renewable energy market.
Something most people don’t know: I climbed Mt. Fuji; I play the acoustic guitar.
Intern Experience Track: Credit & Underwriting; Secondary Markets
Connect with Aiden here on LinkedIn.
James Hiatt
Indiana University
Major: Finance | 2027
Hometown: Virginia Beach, Virginia
James Hiatt
I was born in Hoboken, NJ, and raised in Virginia Beach, VA. One goal I have for the summer is to establish a strong understanding of secondary markets and trading, specifically capital markets products. I'm interested in learning how bond deals are structured and traded and how markets are made for bonds. I'm also interested in learning about private credit. Specifically, I want to learn about the process of underwriting mortgage loans for commercial properties. I would like to build a career in sales and trading. My hobbies are detailing cars, sports cars, college basketball, and backyard sports.
Something most people don’t know: I'm in the Fraternity Lambda Chi and I'm an Eagle Scout.
X-Caliber Intern Experience track: Credit & Underwriting and Secondary Markets
Connect with James here on LinkedIn.
Phoebe Naughton
Cornell University
Major: Economics | Minor: Sustainable Business | 2026
Hometown: Irvington, New York
Phoebe Naughton
At Cornell, I am involved in a few clubs. I am the Director of Recruitment and Outreach for Professional Development of Women (PDOW). This club helps women navigate careers paths and professional development goals and has taught me so much and helped me decide that I want to go into finance. I am also in Cornell Sustainability Consulting (CSC) where I am on the Sustainable Beverage team. We partner with local breweries and wineries and analyze their current business model and provide them with a report on how they can improve their sustainability. I will be project manager for my team next semester!
Sustainability is something I have been extremely passionate about since high school, and I am minoring in Sustainable Business, so taking classes to fulfill this passion and further my knowledge has been amazing! I worked at a small private equity firm last summer and I had an amazing experience, and it strengthened my confidence in wanting to pursue a career in finance.
However, I was looking for something a bit bigger and a sector of finance that was more market focused for this summer. I have always found real estate interesting, yet it was an industry I have yet to fully understand. I am looking forward to learning more about the real estate industry and how real estate investing works, as well as understanding how a company like X-Caliber follows the market and analyzes situations to make decisions.
Next summer I will be working at RBC Capital Markets in their Global Investment Banking division. I am not sure what product or industry group I will be in yet. I am looking forward to this summer to strengthen my financial skills and broaden my financial knowledge. I want to be able to better understand what is going on in the market and how firms make decisions. I want to understand the deeper financials of the firm and how loans and securities work and the intricacies of those processes.
Something most people don’t know: Some of my hobbies include running, cooking, and reading! My favorite authors are Sally Rooney and Haruki Murakami. I have been running for a few years now and have run a few half marathons. I ran my first marathon last fall in NYC, and I hope to run all six of the world's major marathons! And, I have my scuba diving license.
X-Caliber Intern Experience track: Credit & Underwriting and Secondary Markets
Connect with Phoebe here on LinkedIn.
Justin Shapiro
University of Texas at Austin
Major: Business Honors and Finance with Real Estate Track | 2027
Hometown: Irvington, New York
Justin Shapiro
I have always been interested in business and I hope to pursue a career in finance. I am interested in a career that focuses on securities, start-ups, or real estate investing. I hope to learn more about how X-Caliber makes money and their business model while learning more skills that will help me in my future finance careers. Some of my hobbies include running, fantasy football, golf, reading finance related books, and listening to country music.
Something most people don’t know: I have run two half marathons. The coolest live event I have ever been Coldplay at MetLife two years ago and the has the amazing experience of going to the afterparty with the band.
X-Caliber Intern Experience track: Credit & Underwriting and Secondary Markets
Connect with Justin here on LinkedIn.
Scarlett Whitney
Emory University
Major: Business and Environmental Science (double majors) | 2026
Hometown: Irvington, New York
Scarlett Whitney
I have lived in Irvington my whole life and graduated from Irvington High School. I just completed my second year at the Goizueta Business School at Emory University, where I am pursuing a degree in Business and Environmental Science. I hope to pursue a career in sustainability; but I am curious to gain experience in other fields.
This summer, I am thrilled to intern at X-Caliber, where I look forward to gaining hands-on experience in finance, an industry that fascinates me. I am particularly excited about the opportunity to collaborate with a team on various projects, as I thrive in environments where teamwork and collective effort are key to achieving common goals. My intellectual curiosity drives me to seek new knowledge and learn from those around me, and I am eager to bring this mindset to my internship.
In my free time, I enjoy staying active by exercising outdoors and playing sports such as volleyball, spikeball, and frisbee. I have a strong interest in sustainability and organized a thrift drive on campus this past semester aimed at promoting a more sustainable lifestyle.
Something most people don’t know: I have my scuba diving certification, and I was also on the Fencing and Bowling team in high school.
X-Caliber Intern Experience track: Accounting and Marketing
Connect with Scarlett here on LinkedIn.
Curriculum
Here are some of the formal coursework sources we will provide to help you earn badges and certifications for your resume and LinkedIn profile. Topics will range from underwriting, to marketing, to cybersecurity, to artificial intelligence, and more.
Please follow your Master Intern Calendar created in Outlook.
Each of you will have a customized action program that is set up in BaseCamp with the selected courses and links. Here are some of the course platforms that will be used to develop your experience.
This year, the intern team is being paired with mentors who can help support their specified areas of career interest. Each of them has expressed interest in one or two of the following areas:
- Operations
- Accounting
- Credit & Underwriting
- Secondary Markets
- Sales
- Marketing
The One and Done Book Club
As part of the intern experience, we’re pleased to introduce the summer book club for our intern team and the entire company! Our CEO, Chris Callahan has selected “Liar’s Poker,” and the book has been ordered for each of the intern team members.
Company team members welcome to join if they would like, but it is not mandatory, of course. At the end of the program in August, Chris will lead a lively discussion to talk about the book’s themes, characters, and relevance to the finance industry.
For any company team members who are interested, please purchase through your Amazon business account. Happy reading!
Shark Tank
Yep. That’s right. We have our own X-Caliber Shark Tank. X-Caliber is highly entrepreneurial, and to share this atmosphere and what it may be like to work in one, each year, interns are assigned a product to develop. The teams meet regularly and you and your assigned team will present their product to a live X-Caliber audience at the end of their time with us. More details to come!
Where Do I Find My Stuff?
All forms, corporate presentations, and materials are saved in the Intern folders in the Round Table library.
Mentoring Matters
Mentorship is an important component of the program. We rely on our mentors to help provide guidance and support for the intern team during their time with us. Meet this year’s 2024 X-Caliber Intern Mentor Team.
Bobby Nadella
Jim Higgins
Martin Nunnally
Mike Hammond
Nash Stapleton
Amanda Samai
Bucki Rogers
Jeff Goldberg
Jordan Blanchard
Molli Tierney
Sara Pietka
FAQs
1. How do I navigate the company’s culture and office etiquette?
X-Caliber supports a welcoming environment where exchange of ideas are welcome and people are encouraged to be their authentic selves. Please check out our company culture page here to learn about our core values, our recognition as a Great Place to Work and other key items about our working environment.
2. What tools and software will I be using, and how can I learn to use them efficiently?
Here is a general list and we will support your training and progress.
- Microsoft suite
- Basecamp
- HubSpot CRM
- Everyone Social
3. Who do I call if I have a computer issue?
Please contact human resources for assistance.
4. What are the expectations for my role and how can I excel in it?
Our intern team is expected to bring their best selves every day and enjoy the environment, learning as much as possible, and participate to make the experience a productive one.
5. How does my mentor assignment work and how should I approach supporting a meaningful mentorship.
Human Resources will introduce you to your mentor and the two of you will decide on your communication frequency. Interns are encouraged to feel welcome to reach out to their mentor on their own for guidance. Mentors are here to support your growth and they welcome exchanges and interactions that will support maximum development.
6. What opportunities are there for networking and professional development?
The X-Caliber Intern Experience is designed to support networking and professional development internally and externally. We are providing you opportunities to take industry courses, to work on developing a product concept, and will help you with standard interview protocols, resume development, and will access and work to improve your professional LinkedIn profile.
7. How can I balance my internship responsibilities with my academic commitments?
Your academic obligations are your number one priority. We ask that if there is a conflict, please simply provide appropriate advance notice to your manager.
8. What are the possibilities of a reference after my internship?
Your mentor and the key people you interact with will be more than happy to provide you with an earned recommendation.
If you have any questions, reach out to Alison D’Elia at adelia@x-caliber.com.