Young Alumni Changemaker Award 2025

When Rachael Fuchs graduated from ASIJ in 2017, she carried with her not just a high school diploma, but the seeds of leadership, community building, and a global perspective that would shape her path through MIT and into the heart of New York City’s tech industry. Those seeds have since begun to sprout and flourish,
leading to Rachael’s nomination for the Young Alumni Changemaker Award.

Today, as a senior software engineer at Bloomberg LP, Rachael is not only working on one of the company’s most high-impact products, but she’s also reshaping what inclusive leadership looks like in tech. Her support of other women in the workplace and the founding of affinity groups to build community with colleagues led the ASIJ Alumni Council  Awards Committee to name Rachael as this year’s Young Alumni Changemaker.

"My day-to-day work is very technical," Rachael explains, referencing her role on the Instant Bloomberg (IB) chat team, which supports internal and client communication across Bloomberg’s ecosystem. One of the company’s flagship products, the tool connects people companywide, facilitates trade negotiations, and functions as a communications channel. "But what makes Bloomberg unique is its encouragement to build beyond your job title."

That freedom gave birth to something meaningful for Rachael and ultimately others as well. Inspired by her experience attending the Grace Hopper Celebration—the world’s largest gathering of women in computing—Rachael launched WINC (Women and Non-binary in New York Core Products), a grassroots initiative that now connects and supports more than 150 women and non-binary individuals across her department.

"We started small," she says, recalling the early days of trying to gather momentum post-COVID. "But it quickly became clear that a community like this was something people needed."

WINC organizes everything from technical lightning talks to social events, mental health check-ins, and philanthropic initiatives. One of their standout efforts is their annual Women's History Month trivia event, which brings fun and learning together in equal measure. The group also provides support and mentoring through activities such as their Eval Workshop which helps participants better prepare for their evaluations by bringing in female managers to provide advice and their perspective on the process.

That philosophy extends to another Bloomberg initiative Rachael leads: CC Engage, a group focused on bringing people together post-COVID through networking and shared learning. "After the pandemic, a lot of those hallway conversations disappeared. This group helps people reconnect."

These endeavors aren’t the first experience Rachael, whose sister Ariel ‘19 and brothers Aaron ‘19 and Reuben ‘21 also attended ASIJ, has had with leadership. In high school, she headed Hands On Tokyo, a student-led volunteer group, and credits those early experiences with teaching her the importance of community-driven action. "ASIJ gave me the confidence to step into leadership roles, and living in Japan gave me the ability to think cross-culturally. That perspective has been huge."

Her path to software engineering was sparked early, too. “I already kind of knew in middle school that I was interested in technology and I would do any kind of technology classes that existed at the time. I think that the website design class was the first one where I did coding and we learned HTML,” Rachael explains. “And that's when I really found my passion for coding and then eventually did CSS and things like that.” In high school, Rachael sought out high level STEM courses, further cementing her passion further. She credits chemistry teacher Karyn Watt (FF ’11–’20) for expanding her love of science saying, “I was already interested in computer science and math, but she got me really interested in chemistry and science in general.” Her AP European history teacher Mark Johnson (FF ’05–’23) helped her find her voice. “I feel like he had the most unique teaching style that made me feel confident in speaking up in a classroom”

From ASIJ, Rachael went on to pursue computer science at MIT. There she thrived in a more gender-balanced environment—a contrast to her earlier experiences at school where she often found herself one of the only girls in the classroom.

Now, back in a male-dominated industry, she’s keenly aware of the weight and opportunity of representation. Rachael cites the many studies that have shown that diversity and diverse perspectives in the workplace make teams more successful and push boundaries further.  "There are moments when you look around and realize you’re the only woman at the table. It comes with pressure, but also power. If I’m here, others can see themselves here too."