When I got the chance to chat with Walt Zabriskie — founder and chair of the Economics Mentorship Program and a member of the Economics Visiting Committee — the last thing I expected to learn about him was that his highly successful career and life path was experimental and unplanned.
Zabriskie founded the mentorship program in response to student requests for more opportunities to connect with business professionals. The mission of the program is to enrich and support the professional, academic, and personal experiences of undergraduate students in the Department of Economics in order to assist them in the transition from academic to professional life.
A UW economics alumnus, Zabriskie believes his undergraduate education was incredibly valuable and formative — and his involvement in student mentorship came from a desire to give back.
“My UW undergraduate education was a time in my life that I absolutely loved,” Zabriskie said. “I wanted to get back involved — at that point I had been consumed by working in business for 20 years and spent most of my time travelling. I wanted to reconnect with Seattle, and an institution that benefited my life.”
Zabriskie received his economics BA in 1971 and continued to benefit from his foundational education throughout his various educational and career pursuits.
“Economics gave me a broader academic background — unlike a professional degree, the lessons and skills I learned were foundational,” Zabriskie said. “It has been extremely beneficial in my business career, and there isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t apply foundational Economic concepts to my current career.”
Following his undergraduate education he continued on to law school, but found it wasn’t the right thing for him. It was from there onward that his career took a more “experimental” path. He continued on to pursue an interest in finance, exposing himself to as much as the business world as he could, and pursuing higher education at Seattle University and Harvard Business School in business and marketing.
“I usually tell my mentees that they are going to have at least three different careers in their lifetimes.” Zabriskie said. “An education in economics allows you to be well prepared to transition from one career to another”
Today, Zabriskie is a partner at NextLevel, a Pacific Northwest-based professional services firm focused on guiding businesses through strategy, growth and other business transitions. Given the nature of his career, it makes perfect sense why he chose to found the mentor program.
“The program is all about the student-mentor relationship, as determined by the student,” Zabriskie said. “Everyone goes different directions and it’s important for students to take the leadership role. The mentor is meant to help the student meet goals, and it’s up to the student bring the issues to the table.”
This program links undergraduate economics students during their junior year with mentors in order to enable students to develop life and career skills through the guidance of seasoned professionals. Mentoring allows the student to learn about specific jobs, career paths, networking, organizational cultures, business functions and industries. Students receive constructive feedback about career goals, career building, personal skills and business skills. Zabriskie always advises his mentees to try new things, and seize opportunities.
“I’ve always had a fear of getting old and wondering about the chances I didn’t take. I’m an advocate of tasking risks instead of relying on the traditional, safe, paved path.”