Assistant Director of Diversity Initiatives- Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
About
What was your first step after undergraduate graduation & how did it impact your career path?
My first step after graduation was securing a position with Prudential Financial in the Disability Claims division. I learned a lot about the health care and insurance industries and ultimately, it assisted me in determining that I had a passion for education.
What are you doing today?
Currently, I am responsible for diversity recruitment in the admissions office of the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. Specifically, being an advocate in continuing to increase the representation of women, underrepresented minorities and the LGBT community to the business school. And most recently, begun recruiting MBA students on the African Continent. Lastly, I am a student in the Cross Continent MBA Program at Fuqua. It is one of the working professional MBA programs at Fuqua that is based on gaining an international perspective of the business world.
How do you use your psychology undergraduate experience in your work?
I use my psychology undergraduate experience a great deal in understanding how to connect with the different constituencies I engage throughout all the facets of my job. Whether it be prospective students, alumni, corporate representatives, or faculty, I have to be able to effectively communicate with everyone. My psychology degree provided the framework for understanding how to connect with people that are similar to me and very different than I am.
What inspired you to enter that field/job/profession? What excites you most about the future of your profession?
My ideals about access to education for all those that pursue it and passion to give back to my community inspired me to enter and have continued my drive in the education space.
The future of my profession is continuing to become more and more important. As we continue to become more and more connected with individuals that live far away from us, being able to understand people from different places is becoming more necessary. I like being at the forefront of this change because I deeply believe embracing diversity is paramount to being successful now and in the years to come.
What advice do you have for students getting a degree in the UM Psychology Department or considering your profession?
To my fellow Wolverines obtaining a Psychology degree, my advice is the following:
- Embrace not only the opportunities in class to showcase your talents but also use opportunities outside of class (i.e. extracurricular activities) to apply the concepts you learn in your psychology classes.
- Understand that a psychology degree is not a limitation but an opening to provide a different perspective in fields that may not value the degree as much at first glance.
- Do not just limit yourself to psychology classes, delve into other subject areas at the University. The University of Michigan’s resources are vast. The Psychology Dept remains one of the premier in the country as do many departments at Michigan, I encourage you to seek classes of interest outside just the psychology department.
- Discover your passion and continue to pursue it, being able to work doing what you love to do will provide you with great opportunity, short term and long term.
What was your favorite experience while studying in the UM Psychology Department?
My favorite experience while concentrating in psychology was my independent study with Graduate Student Instructor - Jeremy Welland. I and a team of others assisted him with inputting and evaluating his research comparing individuals’ perceptions of themselves within a group and outside of a group and the reasons why they may be different.
