Chicagoans seeking finance careers participate in Opening Bell at New York Stock Exchange

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Several Chicagoans who aspire to have careers in the finance industry were invited to do the Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

"To be standing there and to be able to experience this, it's just amazing, to be honest," said Greenwood Project CEO Kwesi Smith.

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It was an extraordinary start to the day.

"I don't think it's sunk in that I'm doing this interview now. It was a surreal experience, I will say," said Greenwood Project Scholar Kyra French.

French was among the seven scholars and two alumni of the Greenwood Project to take part Tuesday morning.

The Greenwood Project is a Chicago-based organization that introduces Black and Brown college students to the possibility of working in the world of finance.

'Walking out onto the New York Stock Exchange, we realized we were probably the most diversity the floor has had in a minute," French said.

"It's a kind of joyous feeling to know that these are not opportunities that are presented to everyone, and sometimes, you know that they may not realize the opportunity got for another five, 10, 15 years," Smith said.

They got word of the invitation on Friday, and on Tuesday, they took in the moment.

The name of the organization is in honor of what had been called Black Wall Street, the Greenwood community which was destroyed in the 1921 Tulsa massacre.

The organization's mission is help change the face of the financial industry.

"We have a lot of scholars who are bright, who are brilliant, who are driven, but they never consider Wall Street as an opportunity, so we really try to step in to help scholars understand this is a real opportunity for them," Smith said.

"So, it was a very excited and exhilarating experience, because we were the ones standing. We were the ones standing up on the podium. But I hope to see more of us in the future," French said.

After the opening they went to work, they have two more weeks of their internships. Then, they will be among the 200 scholars who have gone through the program. Seventy percent have gone on to have careers in the financial industry.