OUR STORY
Although Career Launch was founded in 2018, the substance and origins of our programs were founded during Sean O'Keefe’s undergraduate years. Sean is the first person on his mom’s side of the family to get a certificate or college degree, and his dad was the first person in his family to go to a four-year college after transferring from a community college. Sean also attended community college. After starting at Diablo Valley College he transferred to University of California, Santa Barbara. With the advice of a professor, he began using the “Student Card” to proactively earn three highly competitive internships and then a job upon graduation — despite not having connections or the best grades.
Feeling fortunate and grateful, at the age of 29 Sean began paying it forward by teaching as an adjunct professor at Santa Clara University. Due to his methods helping students land the internships and jobs they wanted without connections, Sean was asked to design and teach a class for students in the university’s first-generation student program.
"Sean has an innate passion and energy for his work and to impact students at scale. Students respond so strongly to him, his influence and support in a way I've rarely seen on a college campus. He continues to build capacity around his work to inspire students to have agency in creating their future."
- Rose Nakamoto, Director of Career Services
@ Santa Clara University
Marieli Rubio is a Partner and Director of Impact for Career Launch. As a first-generation college student at Santa Clara University she was taught the Career Launch Method directly from Sean when she was a sophomore. Marieli immediately began to create a professional network from scratch. In doing so, she earned a competitive internship within a civil engineering division of a prominent construction company between her sophomore and junior year. Marieli reflects, “It was a life-changing experience, it opened my eyes to the realities of what I was learning in the classroom and it increased my self-confidence for my career going forward.”
In early 2019, Sean asked Marieli to co-present at the California Work Experience and Internships Association’s annual conference. It was a huge success. As a result of their talk, they were asked to give a keynote at a conference for California Community Colleges in June 2019. That led to many other opportunities for Marieli, including a Partnerships Coordinator position with Career Launch during Summer 2020.
To no one’s surprise, she excelled in the partnerships role. The first partnership she coordinated was with UC San Diego.
Marieli is passionate about empowering students to start their career search early and overcome the barrier of not having professional relationships. She loves helping other colleges, universities, and career programs scale their impact in these areas.
In fall 2020, Marieli co-founded the “Virtual STEM for Latina Girls” Initiative at Third Street Community Center in San Jose to provide mentorship and workshops. She continues to be an advocate for minorities in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math fields.
Marieli will be receiving her BS in Civil Engineering from Santa Clara University. Outside of her social impact efforts, Marieli enjoys playing basketball, hiking, and traveling.
Sean & Marieli's Speaking, Training, and Advisory Specialties
For Students
For Admins, Counselors and/or Faculty
For Students
For Admins, Counselors and/or Faculty
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