CONNECT Summer Cohort Announced

Earlier this month, the CONNECT program kicked off its summer 2022 cohort with 22 graduate student and organization matches. Organizations participating include local and national nonprofits, as well as a continuation of a project with CONNECT’s first for-profit organization, BB Imaging.  

The summer cohort began with a consulting workshop, led by Jaclyn Le, an alum of the LBJ/McCombs dual degree program and former consultant with TIP Strategies. During the workshop, Jaclyn covered different consulting approaches as well as strategies for defining the problem and reframing goals with a client.  

“Consulting skills and experiences can be valuable for grad students no matter what academic discipline they come from or what professional pathway they intend to pursue,” said Jaclyn, who currently works as the Director of Corporate Engagement with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.  

“Learning how to collaborate with clients, manage projects, and communicate with a wide range of stakeholders are important skills that will serve fellows throughout their CONNECT experience and beyond,” she continued.  

Kristen Mosely, a three- time CONNECT fellow and current Ph.D. candidate in Educational Psychology, attended the workshop to kick off her summer working with Austin Bat Cave.  

"Transitioning from the public sector to graduate school was difficult in that I wanted to learn new skills but was also immediately compelled to be able to apply them to community needs," said Kristen. "Being a multi-year fellow of CONNECT has helped me do just that—continue to grow and develop in my graduate school studies while simultaneously sharing that learning and insight with community partners."

This will be Austin Bat Cave’s second semester working with CONNECT. Last fall, ABC worked with a CONNECT fellow to develop a logic model for their youth creative writing programs and synthesize data collection recommendations. This semester, the project continues with Kristen to strengthen ABC’s ability to measure and track the outcomes of their programs.