EPCHS Alum In The Spotlight: Alillia Clements, Class Of 2016

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — A leader in the financial world says her involvement in activities at Evergreen Park Community High School helped her develop skills that would eventually land her a job at Microsoft immediately upon graduation from college.

Alillia Clements, Class of 2016, said what sets EPCHS apart from other high schools in the area is “that students are able to be actively involved in a variety of extracurricular activities.”

“I really loved being a part of activities like soccer, cheerleading, mathletes, NHS and FBLA, in which I was able to form deep friendships that I still have to this day,” Clements said. “These activities also helped me develop my leadership skills, and while attending FBLA’s state and national conferences, my interest in business/finance truly blossomed.”

As salutatorian of the EPCHS Class of 2016, Clements had a wide range of options when it came to selecting a college. But Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, immediately set itself above the rest, she said.

“I was instantly drawn to Stanford for its academic opportunities, warm weather, and quirky traditions like fountain hopping (where students hang out and hop around different fountains on campus during warm afternoons).”

Clements majored in Public Policy at Stanford, visited three different continents during two study abroad semesters and founded the school’s Black Business Association.

While at Stanford, she landed a finance internship with Microsoft and before graduation received a full-time offer to work at the tech giant as a Senior Financial Analyst.

“I would highly recommend college students to actively pursue internships throughout their undergraduate career so that you’re able to get a feel for the company/role before joining full-time,” Clements said, adding that her senior year at Stanford was much less pressure-packed because she knew she had a job secured.

Now, Clements is part of Microsoft’s Finance Rotation Program, in which she rotates through four different teams in finance in two years. She’s currently based out of Washington, D.C., and supporting the Central and Eastern European finance team.

“This role has exposed me to so many different facets of finance and has allowed me to work with amazing people,” Clements said.

Many of her financial literacy strategies have gone public through the @FinancialLiaSecure Gen Z-focused Instagram and TikTok accounts. Across both platforms, Clements has a following of about 3,500, with 190,000 likes on TikTok.

“Financial literacy is so incredibly important, so I thought if I documented my journey as a young person trying to figure out money and adulting, it may help make somebody else’s time achieving milestones like setting up retirement accounts and buying their first car a little easier,” she said.

You don’t need to be rich to invest, Clements points out.

“If an EP senior invested $100 a month in a stock that reflects the total stock market, they would, on average, have $50,000 by the time they’re 35, which would be enough for a house down payment, wedding, or a really extravagant vacation,” she said.

Current EPCHS students should “get in the habit of automatically saving a portion of the money they receive,” she adds.

“Saving $10 from, say the $100 you receive on your birthday may not seem like a lot, but over time building this habit will really matter!”