Business Development Analyst at Triumvirate Environmental

Boston, Massachusetts

Ryan Mach ’24 arrived at Connecticut College from his hometown of Concord, Massachusetts, unsure of where his career path eventually might take him. What he was sure of was that Conn was the place for him.

“I couldn’t take tours of colleges when I was applying because of COVID,” he recalls. “But my brother [Christopher Mach ’22] was two years older, so I had been to Conn already. I had seen it, walked around, spent time there. I was like, ‘I know this school. I like this school. This is where I should go.’ It made the choice easy.”

Every day at Triumvirate Environmental validates his choice. A member of the Men’s Squash team, Ryan majored in economics with a minor in finance. That led to an internship in Boston the summer after his junior year.

“I interned at an ESG (Environmental, Social, Governmental)-friendly investment shop—no weapons, oil or bad governance practices. We’d invest money for institutions like schools, endowments and churches that don’t want exposure to those things. I really liked a lot of aspects of it, but I wasn’t overly fond of hours behind Excel sheets,” he says.

“When I came back my senior year, I started taking a hydrology class with [Rosemary Park Professor of Geoscience and Environmental Studies] Doug Thompson that I really enjoyed. That made me willing to look at the job market with a bit of a wider scope. And this narrative starts to take shape: I interned at this ESG-friendly firm. I enjoyed this environmental class. So every job search I did, I included ‘environmental’ as one of the keywords.”

That keyword helped him find Triumvirate. The firm consults with other businesses on their environmental impact and assists them in executing plans to improve their systems.

“We go in and say, ‘Is this as efficient as it can be? Where are you losing money? Is this being done sustainably? How can we improve it?’ Or we look at health and safety. ‘Are workers getting hurt? What plans can reduce that? What kinds of trainings might help?’ Then we help them execute,” Ryan explains.

“For example, we create a plan for their waste streams. We’ll plant people on site to organize the waste streams, get it all set to go. Then we’ll actually go in and transport the waste to the right disposal facilities.”

At Triumvirate, Ryan is a business development analyst. He was selected for the role by the executive vice president, who now acts as a mentor.

“Job No. 1 is being his associate, organizing relevant information, building the slide decks for some of our biggest clients,” Ryan says. “Triumvirate’s in a pretty heavy stage of growth right now, looking to expand our footprint across the U.S. So, job No. 2 is analyzing where in the country looks best for growth and presenting that to the rest of the team. Third is just going out to meet with new prospects. I negotiate with them through the sales cycle and get them on board, generating revenue for the company while building my own book of business.”  

That variety is something he deeply values in the position, pointing to it as a great starting place for his career.

“I’m really grateful to Conn for giving me the ability to shift focus between many tasks,” he insists. “As a student, especially a student-athlete, you have to shift your focus so many times a day. You start at a cryptocurrency class, then maybe you go to corporate finance. After that, you are literally breakdancing in a hip hop dance class across campus. Then, it is on to the squash courts to practice. And for me, because I was a captain my junior and senior years, I’m not just practicing, I’m leading it. So I think I—and a lot of Conn students—learned how to switch gears quickly and effectively.”

Conn’s influence extends to other parts of Ryan’s life, too.

“We got freedom there to socialize, explore our interests. When you leave college, the downtime you have, what you do with it, is all up to you. You have to be intentional about building your social life. Conn gave me a starting place to do that,” Ryan says.

“I still play squash in a league here. It is great for meeting people and networking. And I run squash clinics with my brother for younger kids. It takes a little bit of initiative to get those systems set up. But Conn made getting it started easier. And it’s so worth it.”