From NAF to KPMG: How Alumna, Marcela Harmuch’s AOF Journey, Paved the Way for Her Success

Marcela Harmuch, a 2017 North Rockland High School NAF AOF alum and current Senior Associate in the Forensic Advisory practice at long-standing NAF partner, KPMG, remembers clearly what drew her attention to NAF: “Dress for Success” Wednesdays. During these events, she witnessed her classmates walking the halls in their business casual best. NAF and its 40+ year mission and vision of infusing college and career readiness experiences into the high school journey were undoubtedly woven into the school’s culture.

“I was always just hearing about NAF around school,” said Marcela. “The AOF would do their dress up days during school, and I would hear from seniors about their experience when I did cheerleading. I knew that teachers would invite former alumni who lived in the area or entrepreneurs to talk about their businesses. I saw the school investing in NAF and understood the value of it.”

While she recognized the potential benefits of the academy experience for her future, little did she anticipate how it would pave the way for her current dream job at one of the world’s leading accounting firms. Her first foray into the working world came through a summer internship at a local government agency her junior year, where she helped with budgeting and procurement. The experience also emphasized the importance of collaboration across individuals, departments, and agencies.  

Marcela’s extensive work-based learning and internship experiences thoroughly equipped her for a double major in Economics and Business Administration at Binghamton University. Her confidence in networking and interacting with adults, honed through those high school experiences, empowered her to seize opportunities at career fairs and events.

“[In a NAF academy,] you learn how to relate and talk to adults from such a young age, because you’re always working with different people from different backgrounds or levels of experience. The communication skills I learned from that were really helpful,” said Marcela. “There were times when I was younger, where a mock interview wouldn’t go well, because I was so intimidated, but trying that exercise really pushed me out of my comfort zone, which was great. Now I can talk to people and treat it as a normal conversation – I feel very comfortable and that’s key to making a connection.”

In fact, establishing a connection could have been the key to securing a prestigious college internship at KPMG. “I saw [the internship] on Binghamton’s job board and applied,” Marcela said. “I ended up meeting one of the managers from KPMG at a career fair and we had a great conversation. It turned out that once I was in the interview process for the internship, he was one of my interviewers! I had already made that preliminary connection, which was ideal, because then it just felt like a regular conversation.”

By the time she graduated college and was interviewing for jobs, she knew KPMG was where she wanted to be. “I had heard about KPMG in high school, but I mainly knew about their audit side,” she explained.

Marcela continued, “After completing college and my internship, I learned more about their consulting side which I was more interested in. Being able to talk to different people [during my internship] and establishing mentor relationships to learn more about the company – that came directly from my NAF experience. The more you network or do internships…the more you realize that every employee has experienced failure, or setbacks, or felt the same emotions as you in specific situations. My previous experiences have given me the confidence to lean on others for support and have that personal confidence to say, ‘I did this before, I can do that here.”

Today, Marcela is doing forensics work for KPMG, something she already got a taste of during her junior year summer internship. She’s seeing the direct throughline of her high school experiences to where she is today, and it’s not just in the day-to-day work, but also in her ability to act as a mentor and leader to others.

“I pride myself on not just being a team player, but understanding where I can elevate myself to being a trusted ‘go-to’ person,” she shared. “Upon finishing my second year at KPMG, I was already on track to getting a promotion to Senior Associate, because I put myself in a position where people around the organization could vouch for me and knew what I was capable of.”

Marcela joined the NYC Advisory Board this year, since she knows firsthand the importance of making the right connections and having the right mentors. Her story is a testament to the power of opportunity – every door that opens is one that leads you to personal and professional growth, helping you get to where you want to be.  

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