Our Meet the Professionals series puts students in the room with leaders and innovators across varied professions. Our latest Meet the Professionals brought Priceline’s VP of Financial Operations, Jay Hinton, to our Carver students at Norwalk High School.

Jay Hinton has had well over 20 jobs in myriad companies since he began working his first paper route at age 11. A commitment to hard work and volunteerism was modeled from an early age by his parents: his father retired from the railroad after a 37-year-long career, and his mother, who began her career in civil rights, retired as a social worker. Through their example and inclusion, Jay became not only personally successful but promoted success in his surrounding community. “I’ve been involved with volunteer work, mostly with children, virtually all my life. It’s my privilege to share some of my reflections as the guest speaker for Meet The Professionals.”

On March 13th, Jay was an open book for our students: “I was able to speak with a group of roughly 20 young black men about my background, education, career, and path to success. We then had a great Q&A session in which I gave them full permission to ask anything they wanted. They asked about general knowledge topics like budgeting, saving money, buying a house, buying a hotel, and a range of other concepts and ideas. They also asked about more personal topics like leaving troubled friends behind and moving forward in life, HBCUs (as I’m a grateful graduate of Florida A&M University), and how I figured out what I wanted to do as a profession. It was uplifting for me and, by far, the best part of my week.”

Our students were equally uplifted to have the opportunity to discuss these topics with Jay. Several of our young men at NHS are members of The Carver’s Youth With Purpose group: a program that supports 9th and 10th grade boys as they learn to become community leaders. YWP focuses on building relationships, resolving conflicts, social-emotional intelligence, and community service. Jay’s advice and spirit of giving served to build upon that foundation.

“Reflecting on that discussion, I was reminded of a lesson I learned many years ago at St. Philips Catholic School in Columbus, Ohio,” Jay wrote, “about being a thankful giver. It was one of the many life lessons I learned, despite some of my best efforts, from Sister Mary Anacita Pitstick. The essence of her message was that because we are so blessed when we are able to give, we are fortunate. We are to be thankful not only for being able to give but also for the opportunity to give. That’s one of the many reasons why I’m so thankful for the Carver. The Carver makes it so easy for us to give of our time, talents, and treasure, however and whenever we are best able, that it almost feels like cheating. So, I send a deep and sincere thank you to The Carver for giving me the opportunity to share my insights with those young leaders of tomorrow because it was I who left feeling truly blessed.”

We at the Carver are deeply grateful to Jay for being such a fantastic friend, leader, and inspiring example for our kids. The effect of his Meet the Professionals is sure to ripple outward, as profound kindness often does. Thank you, Jay!