I am a URM consortium applicant. After 8 years as a Real Estate Paralegal, I'm looking to switch into M&A Consulting. The purpose of the switch is so that i can gain the financial and operational skills necessary to start my own affordable housing firm. This motivation is stemmed from the fact that I grew up homeless on the South side of Chicago. Throughout my professional and personal experience, I worked on projects that created affordable housing to those who need it. My early days after college, I worked as a Program Manager at a nonprofit where I created an impact fund to buy vacant houses and turn them into affordable housing, housing more than 30 families. I transitioned to a corporate law firm where I became very interested in M&A work. I wasn't interview in the legal side but I definitely was interested in the operational and finance side of M&A. From there i worked at 2 Private Equity firms where I led teams of executives to close real estate deals. I also assisted with raising capital in 3 different countries to provide an affordable housing fund to buy affordable housing in 3 different States that had the highest rate of homelessness. Today I work as a Paralegal at a PE firm focused on senior housing affordability where I'm leading a team to analyze housing and provide the best care for seniors.