When Andrew Hinckley ’23 started his college search six years ago, he didn’t just want a university with a strong business school. Hinckley, who double majored in Politics and Law and Finance, needed a place that could also provide him with a robust liberal arts education.

Graduating this past spring, Hinckley is now using a diverse skill set honed at Bryant in Fidelity Investments’ Emerging Leader Program (ELP). The 18-month program for liberal arts majors includes four-month rotations in Agile, support functions, data analytics, and product roles.

“Fidelity is looking for graduating seniors who want to creatively solve problems,” Hinckley says. “I couldn't have gotten into this program without my liberal arts degree.”

Shaping his legacy

Bryant has always played a role in Hinckley’s life. Growing up in North Attleborough, Massachusetts, Hinckley spent winters attending youth soccer tryouts in Bryant’s Multipurpose Athletic Center and springs playing high school tournaments on the university’s outdoor fields. He is also the son of two graduates, Suzanne (Caprio) ’94 and Chris ’94 Hinckley, and would accompany his parents to alumni events every now and then; today, his brother, Ryan Hinckley ’26, also calls Bryant home.

“The first time I went on an official tour at Bryant, my dad took me off the tour route and showed me all of his favorite places,” Hinckley says, noting how they visited his dad’s former townhouse and ordered takeout from Parente’s Restaurant.

After attending Admission’s Bulldog Experience where he shadowed an accounting class, Hinckley fell in love with the university. He made his way to campus in the fall of 2019 and got involved in Student Government, Men's Club Soccer, and (his favorite) Mock Trial, which helped him develop skills in organization, team management, and leadership.

“I had done Mock Trial in high school, so I was enthusiastic about continuing it in college. I started as a competitor and ended up being vice president my sophomore year and president for junior and senior year,” says Hinckley, who developed the Tupper Classic last year and, this fall, coached Bryant’s team and helped run the tabulation system at the competition.

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Liberal arts in practice

Working for Bryant’s Student Affairs during the school year, Hinckley spent the summers before junior and senior year as a corporate finance intern at Fidelity’s Smithfield location. During his second year, the company held presentations on their early career development opportunities.

“ELP immediately stuck out,” Hinckley says, describing the program as the company’s best kept secret. During the interview process, Hinckley drew significantly on his liberal arts experiences and found that his design-thinking background from Bryant’s Innovation and Design Experience for All (IDEA) program for first-year students set him apart from other candidates.

Starting ELP in July, Hinckley is now part of a 21-person cohort of recent graduates from Tufts University, Boston College, Boston University, Duke University, and Holy Cross. Hinckley is based out of Boston, while many of his peers in the program work out of different locations. In between rotations, all associates gather in one location for a professional development week.

“You get this group of like-minded liberal arts individuals who are very smart and in the same place as you. They’ve just graduated, they're figuring out corporate America, and you're all together; it's good for relationship building,” he says, noting that ELP’s second year act as program mentors for his cohort.

Playing into strengths

Officially one month into his second rotation, Hinckley is currently on Fidelity’s Public Affairs team and works with elected officials from Massachusetts and Rhode Island by conducting policy research for legislative sessions. Since ELP aligns rotations with an associate’s skills, Hinckley credits his extensive research experience with Politics, Law, and Society Associate Professor Richard Holtzman, Ph.D., and Lecturer Ilisabeth Bornstein, JD, for supporting him through this rotation.

“It's a cool group because you look at all things that could affect not just Fidelity customers and how Fidelity does business, but also our employees and customers” Hinckley says.

Wrapping up in January of 2025, the culmination of the ELP program is a three-month capstone project where Hinckley and his associates will use design thinking to solve a real-life business problem. After this, Hinckley will receive a final placement at the firm that aligns with his interests.

Click here to learn more about Fidelity’s ELP program.