Rachel Blankstein, Co-Founder of Spark Admissions with 14 years of experience coaching hundreds of clients.

Rachel Blankstein,
Co-Founder of NextGen Advising

Rachel Blankstein is Co-Founder of NextGen Advising, a career coaching firm that helps college students and young professionals prepare for competitive internships and early-career job searches. With more than 15 years of experience coaching students, Rachel has personally helped hundreds of clients achieve their goals. 

At NextGen Advising, she helps students identify career interests, evaluate potential career paths and build comprehensive career development plans to obtain internships and full-time roles. Her coaching combines strategic direction with individualized, detail-oriented support.

How Rachel Blankstein Helps NextGen Advising Clients

Rachel supports students throughout the early stages of career development, from exploring potential career paths in college to preparing for competitive internships and a first full-time job search. Her coaching may include support in areas such as:

  • Exploring career interests and recommending potential career paths
  • Advising on major selection and academic planning
  • Developing strategic college-to-career roadmaps
  • Assisting internship and full-time job searches
  • Strengthening resume and LinkedIn profiles
  • Identifying technical and professional skill gaps
  • Guiding networking strategy and professional outreach
  • Building communication and professional storytelling skills
  • Preparing for coffee chats and interviews
  • Providing accountability and organizational support

Rachel’s coaching style is strategic, concise, supportive and detail-oriented. She helps clients establish goals, build the skills and provide the structure and support needed to manage their career search effectively. NextGen Advising does not secure internships or jobs on a student’s behalf.

Rachel Blankstein's Role at NextGen Advising

Rachel’s expertise is central to NextGen’s mission of helping students and early-career professionals navigate career decisions with informed strategy, in-depth preparation and clear direction. Working alongside Co-Founder Caroline Sheu, she delivers the firm’s career coaching services, supporting college students from initial career exploration through the internship and full-time job recruiting processes.

A significant share of Rachel’s work involves internship strategy, including helping students understand the skills and experiences needed to be ready for the college internship process. In addition, she helps students develop the communication and technical skills required to obtain competitive internships. She also helps students strengthen their applications, networking skills and interviewing abilities to improve their likelihood of success. Rachel often begins working with students as early as the beginning of freshman year in college to help prepare them for competitive internship recruiting cycles.

She also works closely with students preparing for a full-time job search, including college seniors and recent graduates navigating the entry-level job market for the first time.

NextGen’s professional skills development is a crucial element of Rachel’s career coaching by helping students strengthen communication, professional storytelling, networking and accountability skills that extend beyond a single application cycle.

Rachel and Co-Founder Caroline Sheu built NextGen Advising around the belief that career preparation should begin as early as freshman and sophomore year in college before students reach the most competitive stages of internship and full-time recruiting. 

By helping students plan earlier, the firm gives them more time to explore interests, build relevant skills and approach recruiting with a clear strategy. Learn more about Rachel, Caroline and the broader NextGen Advising team on the about page.

NextGen Advising provides career coaching and preparation rather than job placement services. The firm does not supply internships or jobs, guarantee specific outcomes or provide college admissions consulting.

Entrepreneurial and Coaching Background

Before co-founding NextGen Advising, Rachel co-founded and served as Co-CEO of Spark Admissions, a premium advisory firm that she helped build, scale and ultimately exit to a private-equity-backed organization. 

During that period, Rachel personally coached hundreds of clients to plan for and obtain their goals, while she hired, trained and mentored dozens of coaches, and led or oversaw marketing, finance, technology and operations. She also developed the strategic, roadmap-driven methodology that now shapes NextGen’s coaching model, helping clients identify interests, build communication and leadership skills and obtain internships and jobs during their college experience.

HR Career Counseling for Full-Time Jobs
White glove career service for job search and hiring process stages.

Client Preparation and Outcomes

Rachel helps students prepare for competitive recruiting processes across industries including finance, consulting, AI and high tech, biotech and pharma, media, consumer products and many other professional fields. Her coaching focuses on helping each student strengthen their profiles, communicate their experience effectively and approach recruiting with a clear strategy.

NextGen Advising clients have obtained positions at firms including J.P. Morgan, McKinsey & Company, Google, Novartis, Roche, Ocean Spray, Havas Media, TD Bank as well as research roles at numerous top universities and hospital systems. 

Education and Distinctions

Rachel earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Miami, completing her degree in three years with multiple merit scholarships. During her time at the university, she was recognized by Mortar Board, the national collegiate honor society for leadership, scholarship and service.

Rachel later earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, with concentrations in Finance, Entrepreneurship and Marketing.

Professional thriving with work-life balance coaching support.

Media, Speaking and Thought Leadership

Rachel contributes perspectives on career preparation, internship recruiting and the challenges college students face as they enter today’s job market. Her expertise also informs media conversations, speaking opportunities and professional discussions related to early-career recruiting and career development.

For Rachel’s latest media appearances, speaking updates and company news, visit the NextGen Advising press page. Media and press inquiries can also be directed through the press team.

Work With Rachel and the NextGen Team

If you are exploring whether individualized career coaching is the right fit for your student, NextGen Advising offers initial consultations to help families understand the process and determine an appropriate next step. The conversation is designed to assess your student’s needs and whether NextGen’s coaching approach is a good fit.

To get started, contact us to schedule a conversation with the NextGen team.

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Jason Chow

Investment Banking & Financial Services Expertise

Jason brings more than 25 years of experience across investment banking, corporate financial planning and analysis (FP&A), and corporate business development at leading companies such as Citi, JP Morgan, Google, and Yelp. Throughout his career, he has personally hired over 75 undergraduates and MBA students as well as managed and mentored dozens of early-career professionals—helping them build confidence, develop practical skills, and advance within investment banking and financial services industries.

As a specialty advisor, Jason’s passion is guiding students and mentoring young professionals to achieve their career aspirations. In particular, he understands how great finance organizations operate and how they evaluate, develop, and promote early-career talent. Having worked on the front lines—reviewing resumes and conducting behavioral, technical, and case interviews at elite colleges and MBA programs—Jason understands not only the common questions but also the unspoken criteria used to judge candidates in a highly competitive process. With the proper coaching and practice, Jason believes all candidates can improve meaningfully. 

Currently advising early-stage start-ups and early career professionals. Jason previously served as the VP of Corporate Business Development at Auctane, where he led global strategic partnerships that drove over $1B in annual transactions. Before Auctane, Jason spent ~15 years as a senior leader in FP&A and strategic partnerships at Google, Yahoo, and Yelp. He began his career in investment banking at Citi and JPMorgan, where he gained foundational experience in financial analysis, corporate transactions, and executive communication. Jason graduated cum laude from Williams College with a BA in Economics.

Sherry Lin

Asset Management & Investment Management Expertise

Sherry is a seasoned investment leader who has over 25 years of global asset management experience, and broad multi-asset class knowledge of alternative assets and public securities. She has built and led four investment offices from the ground up, managed large multibillion-dollar portfolios, anchored and seeded numerous fund strategies, and served in advisory board roles at large, best-in-breed, institutional investment managers, as well as at small emerging funds. Passionate about mentoring young professionals. Sherry has hired, developed, and promoted dozens of asset and investment managers around the world. Her superpower is coaching junior team members critical problem solving, analytical thinking, and communication skills, so they can flourish in their role.

Sherry is currently a Senior Advisor to Argentum Peak, a dual-family investment office which she built and led as Chief Investment Officer from 2021 to 2023 for the co-founders of Silver Point Capital, a $25B diversified credit platform based in Greenwich, Connecticut. Previously, Sherry co-headed Global Private Investments and served as Global Venture and Asia Head at Willett Advisors from 2021 – 2023, managing assets for Bloomberg Philanthropies, Michael Bloomberg’s family office. Sherry was a Managing Director and Partner at Mousse Partners, where she managed assets for the owners of Chanel from 2005 – 2018. At Mousse, Sherry led the Global Illiquid Portfolio in New York and later built and headed two Asia offices in Hong Kong and Beijing as the Head of Asia. Sherry also previously held capital allocator, investment banking and equity research roles, respectively, at the James Irvine Foundation, Thomas Weisel Partners, and Goldman Sachs. Sherry is an Aspen Institute China Fellow and a member of the YPO Presidio Gold chapter in San Francisco. She holds a JD/MBA from Northwestern and a BA from Columbia.

David Leibowitz

Biotech & Pharmaceutical Expertise

David Leibowitz brings 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical and biotech industries. He has extensive experience in product strategy, commercialization, and cross-functional leadership across a wide range of therapeutic areas. He is currently Senior Director, Portfolio Strategy at Roche/Genentech, where he leads strategic portfolio management and lifecycle planning for immunology and ophthalmology assets across all development stages. David has hired, developed, and promoted dozens of strategy, marketing, planning and product managers for many different therapeutic areas and functional domains. His superpower is coaching junior team members on understanding pipeline development, regulatory challenges, market research, cross-functional and stakeholder management so they can succeed in their role.

David has also previously led Patient Marketing for the US launch of Evrysdi, a spinal muscular atrophy drug at Genentech. He has also held leadership positions in pipeline marketing, managed care strategy, and business development. He holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson and a BA from UC Berkeley in Biology.

Rachel Blankstein, Co-Founder

Rachel Blankstein has over 15 years of experience coaching clients and has personally guided several hundred of clients to obtain their goals. As Co-Founder of NextGen Advising, Rachel helps college students and young professionals discover their career interests and helps them translate that into a plan for preparing for relevant career paths.

Rachel guides clients on how to build the strongest possible profiles from the beginning of college and through coaching them through every detail of obtaining internships and full-time jobs. From determining majors and career paths, to developing strong resumes and LinkedIn profiles, to building networking, communication and storytelling skills, and to honing technical and interviewing skills, Rachel’s clients achieve tremendous early career success. Rachel motivates clients through concise, strategic guidance along with detail-oriented support at each step of the process. Her clients have obtained positions at firms including J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, McKinsey & Company, Google, WME, Raytheon, Havas Media, TD Bank and many others.

Previously, Rachel was Co-Founder and Co-CEO of a college consulting firm, Spark Admissions, which she founded, scaled, and successfully exited to a private equity company. In this role, she personally coached hundreds of clients, while hiring, training and mentoring dozens of coaches. During her tenure, the company maintained a 5-star Google review with the majority of clients coming from word of mouth. Additionally, she led the marketing, finance, technology and operations functions. Most of all, she took pride in helping her clients reach their goals through creating strategic roadmaps to reach their goals and by coaching them to discover their interests, develop communication and leadership skills and reach their milestones each step of the way.

Ms. Blankstein has also previously held several roles in hi-tech product management, marketing consulting and management consulting.

Ms. Blankstein earned a B.A. in Economics from University of Miami, receiving a full merit scholarship, graduating in three years and was awarded the Mortar Board Award for the student who most represented Leadership, Scholarship and Service. In addition, she earned an MBA in Finance, Entrepreneurship and Marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Scott Bonds

Software Engineering & Start-up Expertise

Scott Bonds brings 20 years of experience leading product management, engineering, and AI-driven consumer services across fast-growing startups and Fortune 500 companies. He has scaled teams of over 100 people, guided companies through major technology transformations, and built some of the internet’s most engaging web, mobile, and social products. Scott has hired, coached, and mentored hundreds of early-career professionals—helping them grow into stronger builders, collaborators, and product thinkers. His passion is demystifying complex product and engineering concepts so candidates can confidently showcase strategic thinking, technical depth, and leadership during interviews. Known for his ability to turn ambiguity into clear frameworks, Scott helps clients sharpen their storytelling, elevate their judgment, and communicate like seasoned product leaders.

Throughout his career, Scott has held senior leadership roles at Indeed, Mixbook, Smule, Electronic Arts, and multiple consumer-tech startups. At Indeed, he led a 100+ person organization focused on international expansion, pioneering an AI-powered system that personalized job distribution across thousands of talent micro-markets. As VP of Engineering at Mixbook, he doubled revenue and turned the business profitable while driving one of the fastest culture transformations observed by The Table Group—improving team health, collaboration, and customer experience. At Smule, he helped build multiple #1 mobile apps, including Magic Piano, featured at Apple’s iPad launch. Earlier at Electronic Arts, he scaled Pogo.com into one of the world’s top casual gaming platforms, created EA’s first microtransaction system, and shipped dozens of AI-powered games. Scott holds a BSE in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from UC Berkeley, where he was a Regents’ Scholar.

Caroline Sheu, Co-Founder

Caroline has 25+ years of general management, senior marketing, and board director experience at public, private, and non-profit companies such as Google, Disney and Adobe, where she has hired and mentored hundreds of young professionals. Caroline’s passion is mentoring young people to help them identify their own passions and translate them into a meaningful and fulfilling career.

As the Co-Founder of NextGen Advising, Caroline understands how to connect interest areas and skill sets to potential positions and career fields. Having managed hundreds of young professionals, she is an expert at helping clients set career goals and build detailed career plans. Caroline’s super power is coaching clients on how to tell compelling stories that make them stand out during the job search and promotion planning process. She provides both strategic and tactical support, tailored to her client’s specific needs, so they can acquire lifelong professional skills such as personal brand storytelling, networking, interviewing, and much more.

Prior to NextGen Advising, Caroline built and led world-class, go-to-market organizations for multi-billion dollar businesses across consumer internet, retail, high-tech, gaming, and entertainment. As a general manager and senior marketing executive at iconic brands like Google, Disney, Electronic Arts, Sony, Gap, and Adobe, Caroline built and led multiple teams of over 100 employees – personally recruiting, mentoring, and advising young professionals on their career development and personal growth. She understands first-hand the complex hiring and promotional practices across a broad range of industries, companies (large and small; public, private, and non-profit), and job functions (finance, legal, marketing, product management, analytics, strategy, business development, HR and more).

Caroline herself struggled to find her true passion early in her career. With a J.D./M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, Caroline tried corporate law, investment banking, business development, and product management, before finding happiness in the field of marketing! Her love for creative storytelling combined with her strong proficiency in data and technology made her an invaluable asset for companies needing to adapt to the latest consumer and technology trends – from web and mobile to social media and AI.

In addition to NextGen Advising, Caroline is currently on the board of PROG Holdings (NYSE: PRG), a fintech holding company that provides competitive payment options to consumers, and previously sat on the board of Lulu’s Fashion Holdings (NASDAQ: LVLU), a well-known online fashion brand. She is on the Advisory Board of Evoto.AI, a popular AI-powered, photo editing solution that revolutionizes photography, as well as a Board Member of USTA (United States Tennis Association) Northern California, the governing body for the sport of tennis. Caroline holds B.A. degrees in Political Science and East Asian Studies from UCLA, an M.A. in Asian Studies from UC Berkeley, and a joint J.D./M.B.A. from The University of Chicago.