Tiffany Fong

Tiffany Fong graduated from SFU Beedie in 2017 and discovered a career path as a Project Manager at an Experimentation agency. Prior to landing her current role, she worked as ann enterprise project coordinator with a crowdsourcing company, which owns contracts with NASA to manage their Open Innovation Services 2 projects, valued at $175 million USD. Tiffany event got to visit the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, TX and see everything in person.

Tiffany likens the process of managing these contracts to managing case competitions at SFU Beedie, with which she has had ample experience both in a student and staff capacity. When she was handling the logistics of case competitions as part of organizing committees at SFU Beedie, she didn’t expect it to directly translate into a career path in managing similar projects for NASA.

MY JOURNEY

On day one of her university experience at SFU Beedie, Tiffany felt a little lost. There weren’t many people she knew from high school. She was even considering skipping out on LAUNCH, SFU Beedie’s event for new undergraduate students. But Tiffany was persuaded to attend, and her experience at LAUNCH launched a lifelong love of event logistics and project management—a passion that would go on to serve her in her career.

After LAUNCH, Tiffany got involved with various planning committees for the remainder of her degree, organizing numerous events and case competitions, including being a two-time LAUNCH leader and organizing CaseIT five years in a row. She was also heavily involved with organizing JDC West and was a leader in the SFU Beedie mentorship program.

MY SFU BEEDIE EXPERIENCE

Tiffany recalls that as an undergrad, there was pressure to join case competitions as a competitor. “Joining case competitions as a competitor was heavily promoted,” says Tiffany. “I was not a case competitor—that just wasn’t me. But I still wanted to get involved.” Being part of the logistics planning and organizing committees for various student events and competitions became her way of getting involved and giving back to the SFU Beedie community.

Tiffany did two co-op terms, which turned into a one-year contract position, at SFU Beedie. A member of SFU Beedie’s staff, with whom Tiffany had worked closely during LAUNCH planning, called her up and offered her a co-op role at SFU Beedie. She got to work with the school’s staff at the Career Management Centre as a program assistant, and later as a student engagement coordinator.

“I never thought of event logistics planning as a career path,” says Tiffany, who majored in human resources and marketing. “The moment I graduated, I was being evaluated as an adult rather than as a student. My job competitors weren’t just other students—they were the entire workforce, including very experienced professionals. So, it’s incredibly important to get some experience under your belt, whether it’s through co-op or something else.”

Where I am Today

Tiffany credits her involvement with extracurriculars at SFU to helping her open up to opportunities and new experiences, and to embrace stepping out of her comfort zone. She is now working on getting her PMP certification and has embraced a career in project management.