Demetrius Washington is A Wall Street Executive With a Heart Of Gold
Dothan, AL. native Demetrius Washington decided to attend FAMU because of the reputations of SBI and the HBCU experience. He was given the opportunity to intern in the sales and trading programs of Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, later accepting a full time job on the Equity Derivatives Sales desk at JPMorgan where he spent the first 2 years of his career, before taking a job at LinkBrokers. In 2012, he joined Sunrise Brokers to co-manage their Emerging Markets Equity Derivatives Desk.
Demetrius currently co-heads the Equity Derivatives Group at XP Investments in New York City. “I have worked on Wall Street since graduating from FAMU but I did not have a clear vision of what I wanted in my professional life.” says Demetrius.“The chaos of the 2008 financial crisis cost me my first job but allowed me the freedom to find a role that was much more gratifying.”
A lifelong learner, Demetrius says he appreciates the academic training he received at FAMU. “The lessons of perseverance and resourcefulness that I learned in college are the lessons that prepared me most for my career”
Demetrius’ favorite Rattler memory is TOPS. “I didn’t know any current or future Rattlers when I decided to attend FAMU. My summer TOPS session gave me the opportunity to meet other incoming freshmen that became the nucleus of my social circle freshman year.”
As a donor, Demetrius says it was important to support the FAMU 2020 Vision fund, explaining “The University is extremely important to me…The experiences and relationships I cultivated at FAMU helped shaped the person I am today.” His generosity extends past Alumni giving. “I support Samaritans NYC (an organization focused on suicide prevention) and IAMBK, Inc (an organization focused on providing family and social services for disadvantaged youth and at-risk families).”
For our next reunion, Demetrius is looking forward to seeing FAMU(ly), the changes on campus, vendors, and tailgating. In his spare time he enjoys soccer, traveling, fine dining, and the arts.
