Mentor Spotlight: Joshua McNabb
Mentor Spotlight: Joshua McNabb
Firefighter & Paramedic
LINK Alum, LINK Mentor
We’re proud to shine this month’s Mentor Spotlight on Joshua McNabb.
A LINK Alumnus as well, Joshua graduated from St. Rita of Cascia High School in 2003. “As a Scholar, LINK really helped me a lot,” he remarked. “I wouldn’t have been able to afford St. Rita’s without LINK. Also, they paired me with a Mentor—or Sponsor, as we called them back then—and that was very successful.”
“I remember all the workshops we did to help us prepare for the ACT and SAT and all the community service we did,” he said. “I learned a lot from that, and it all helped me become a better person, more well-rounded. In the summer school we did, they brought students from all over the city, from different schools and different backgrounds, and we were able to get to know each other. I still talk to some of them today, so that was very important and memorable to me.”
An excellent math student, Joshua went on to the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he became a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. He graduated from UIC in 2007 with a double major in finance and marketing. From there, he asserts, it was persistence that got him to where he is today.
After college, Joshua started his own marketing business, and then, through networking, he started doing taxes, which got him into the accounting field working for different CPAs. Later he worked as an accountant at Blue Cross and Blue Shield for a number of years before he decided to pursue a career in the fire service.
“After five years at Blue Cross, I was kind of bored, to tell the truth,” he acknowledged. “I wanted to do something that was more exciting, something I was passionate about and could see myself doing long term.”
Since the fire service in Chicago is a lottery system, Joshua began exploring opportunities in the suburbs. Those required paramedic and fire certification, so he did something he never expected to do—he went back to school.
“I went to paramedic school and to the fire academy,” he explained, “and started working in fire service part time while I was still working as an accountant. I really enjoyed it—especially the ride time on the ambulances and with the fire departments. I enjoy helping others and turning bad situations into better ones. I saw myself able to do this long term, so I left my job at Blue Cross. I’m currently working at Oak Park Fire Department as a full-time firefighter and paramedic, and I’m a part-time fire investigator and fire inspector as well.”
Once Joshua felt settled in his new career, he decided to become a LINK Mentor. Grateful for the opportunities he had in LINK, he knew he wanted to give back. His Mentee is Dylan Coffee, Class of 2026.
“Positive mentorship is so important,” he emphasized. “There’s so much going on in the world, and it’s easy to get caught up in the wrong crowd and make mistakes. A Mentor can let you know how it was for them when they had similar situations and experiences, so you can learn from them and not make the same mistakes.”
“I would definitely recommend LINK to students,” he added. “I think it’s a great opportunity to get structure. Growing up, it’s kind of hard to figure out your paths, and LINK does a good job providing different career paths and setting you up with people in different industries who you can talk to and see what their experience was to get there, what classes you need to take—and find out if you would even enjoy it.”
“As far as mentorship,” he continued, “I believe it’s always good to give back and to bless other people. It’s really an investment, to tell you the truth. Invest in a student and help them be something in the world.”
Thank you, Joshua, for being a Mentor and investing in a LINK Scholar!
