Forging the Path as He Walks It: NYCHA-CUNY Scholar David Perez

When David Perez describes his path from the South Bronx to the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, he does it with a smile and with the poise of a New Yorker who has been intentionally forging a path toward success all his young life.

Mr. Perez grew up in a close-knit immigrant family: his mother arrived in the United States from the Dominican Republic as a teenager, raising David and his brother largely on her own while working multiple jobs. “She came here when she was about 18 or 20,” he said. “She had me and my brother and worked non-stop.”

After school, David would walk to his grandmother’s apartment near the 138th Street subway station. “We all lived close by each other,” he recalled. “I’d eat lunch there, study there — everything happened in that one apartment.” Watching his mother’s tireless work ethic, he began to think about money and finance not as something to chase but as a powerful system to study and to understand. “It wasn’t about wanting money,” he said. “It was about my curiosity — about how our system moves and shapes people’s lives.”

That curiosity led him to Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business, where he’s now a junior majoring in finance and a recipient of a 2025 NYCHA–CUNY Scholarship.

While still in high school at South Bronx Preparatory, he picked up a weekend job at a new omakase-style sushi restaurant. The restaurant’s owner, a former finance professional, unexpectedly became an important mentor. “He taught me how transferable those kinds of skills are,” Mr. Perez says. “He ran the restaurant like a business case study. That’s where I began to see how finance connects to everything.”

He kept that job through his first years of college — serving sushi by night, crunching numbers by day — while stacking up internships that helped him deepen his understanding of the financial world. As a sophomore, Mr. Perez interned at the New York Stock Exchange, working in equity strategy, tracking the buy/sell balances and data trends that move markets.

“There’s only one place in the world where you can learn that firsthand!” he noted.

Last summer, he joined a venture capital firm based in Los Angeles that invests in underrepresented founders — Black, Hispanic, and military-veteran entrepreneurs. “It showed me how finance has the power to open doors for people who might not otherwise get the chance,” he said.

Now Mr. Perez is preparing for his next big step: a summer internship with Barings, a global investment firm specializing in private credit. “I’ll be focusing on lending to companies and institutions in the private market,” he said. “I really enjoy situations that are fast-paced and where there’s always something new to learn. I’m looking forward to it.”

His family’s pride keeps him grounded. “My mom doesn’t say much, but when she tells me, ‘You’re doing good,’ I can feel how proud she is,” he said. He still remembers his high school graduation, when she watched with pride as he rose and delivered a speech as his class’s salutatorian. “She was so excited and proud that day,” he said. “That moment really stays with me.”