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Humanists of Impact: Exploring a Non-Profit Career

February 25, 2021

This workshop helps doctoral students strategize about how to potentially move into the non-profit world. In recent years, Dietrich School Ph.D. students across the arts and humanities have consistently indicated a strong interest in careers in the non-profit sector, often linked to their passion for advancing diversity, equity, and social justice. Many alums of our Humanities Ph.D. programs pursue impactful careers in the non-profit sector while indicating that they wish graduate school had exposed them sooner to such possibilities and prepared them more rigorously for careers beyond the classroom and the academy. Humanities Engage partners with an expanding universe of non-profit organizations both locally and nationally to enable doctoral students to gain funded immersive experiences that leverage their skills as researchers and writers in mission-focused, collaborative projects and develop their professional networks.

The following non-profit leaders and summer 2020 immersive fellows reflect on their experiences and provide advice.

Full Panel

Stephanie Romero

Stephanie Romero, Ed.D., is the Executive Director and Founder of Awaken Pittsburgh, a non-profit that does mindfulness programming and works towards mental health and well-being in a variety of communities. She taught in K - 12 public schools for 15 years before returning to get a doctorate in education leadership. Her dissertation focused on mindfulness in education.

Stephanie Romero on key factors that lead people into non-profit careers.

Kimberly Hoover

Kimberly Hoover (English) completed research projects that culminated in the proposition of final instruments to measure the efficacy of Awaken Pittsburgh's mindfulness training programs as summer 2020 immersive fellow.

Kimberly Hoover on skills humanities PhDs can bring to non-profits.

Beth Sondel

Beth Sondel, Ph.D., is the Director of Education at the Women and Girls Foundation, a local non-profit that engages in policy and programmatic work to advocate for gender equity, approached from an intersectional lens. She has worked as a middle school and high school social studies teacher and an assistant professor at North Carolina State University and Pitt. She has a Ph.D. in curriculum theory.

Beth Sondel's advice for humanities doctoral students interested in pursuing a career in the non-profit sector.

Courtney Colligan

Courtney Colligan (Theatre Arts), as a summer 2020 immersive fellow with Women and Girls Foundation, conducted narrative interviews with their program GirlGov's alumni to create a magazine-yearbook hybrid that traced its history and impact.

Courtney Colligan on diversifying careers for PhDs.

Maureen Anderson

Maureen Anderson, Ed.D., is the Founder of RefocusED, Inc., a research, development, and implementation non-profit organization dedicated to innovation in public education. She worked in the government, corporate, and non-profit sectors before going into education and becoming a classroom teacher and then founding RefocusED to start a new school.

Maureen Anderson on passion for the mission and vision of non-profits.

Felipe Castañeda

Felipe Castañeda (Hispanic Languages and Literatures) supported the Voices Against Violence Summer Camp and built research on trauma-sensitive youth educational models, practices, curriculum, and programs as a summer 2020 immersive fellow with RefocusED, Inc.

Felipe Castañeda on the impact of his summer 2020 immersive with RefocusED on his dissertation research.

Grant Writing

Beth Sondel, Stephanie Romero, and Maureen Anderson answer "How would you suggest students go about getting the experience with grant writing that they can use to then move into different kinds of positions?"

Dissertations and Non-Profit Missions

Maureen Anderson and Beth Sondel answer "What degree of importance is placed by nonprofits on the relevance of dissertation research to the mission of the non-profit?"

Letters of Recommendation

Stephanie Romero, Beth Sondel, and Maureen Anderson answer how faculty can write letters of recommendation to support students.