Kasia Kalata, AB’12, can tell you a thing or two about adapting to new situations.
Situations like moving to a new country at age four. Being a first-generation college student. Transitioning careers from education to sales and back again. Or, most recently, helping underrepresented students thrive during a pandemic and economic crisis.
Kalata’s adaptability and her UChicago education are serving her well in her current role as director of communications and marketing at Braven, a nonprofit that helps low-income and first-generation college students find meaningful careers.
Braven provides college-to-career programming for students enrolled in its partner institutions across the country, including National Louis University in Chicago. These programs include Braven’s flagship “Accelerator Course” – a semester-long experience that helps students master foundational career skills and build self-confidence – and a set of post-course resources, including a professional mentoring program and listings for jobs and internships.
As a former Odyssey Scholar, Kalata finds her work at Braven deeply meaningful.
“I see this as a wonderful opportunity to apply what I learned in the classroom at UChicago and help make a difference,” said Kalata. “As a first-generation college graduate, I know how important it is for our students to have this type of support.”
Kalata’s not the only Maroon working with Braven. This summer, amid a difficult financial time, UChicago added capacity to Braven through its funded internships, which was a win-win for the organization and students and alumni alike – including four undergraduate Metcalf interns, one College Kimpton Fellow, and one graduate intern from the Harris School of Public Policy. These interns helped Braven expand its services in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
This is only the latest example of the close partnership between the two institutions. UChicago advises Braven on trends in career education and collaborates with the agency on special events. Braven in turn provides UChicago students with high-quality jobs and internships. Meredith Daw, associate vice president and executive director of Career Advancement, serves on Braven’s Chicago board of directors.
“Every student, regardless of their financial status, should have the opportunity to find a fulfilling career in their field of interest,” said Daw. “Our partnership with Braven is designed to give low-income and first-generation students – both our own students at UChicago and Braven’s Fellows – resources and support so they can reach their full potential.”
The Metcalf interns and Kimpton Fellow at Braven have had the opportunity to work on a wide range of substantive projects. For example, Edward Chung, AB’20, worked closely with Kalata on social media communications and marketing Braven’s new online “Career Booster” course, designed specially to support seniors heading into the job market during the COVID-19 crisis.
“As a Braven intern, I've felt like both an employee and a student at the same time,” said Chung. “Braven has taught me professional skills, while simultaneously giving me valuable real life job experience.”
While Chung marketed the Career Booster course, Brian Alvarez del Real, AB’20, and Class of 2021 student Nathan Mitchell focused on implementing it. Alvarez del Real handled communications with participating students while Mitchell took on operations projects, such as recruiting volunteers to hold one-on-one mentoring calls with students.
“Working with Braven has been one of the most rewarding experiences I have had in a long time,” said Alvarez del Real. “Everyone I met so far on the Braven team has shown me nothing but kindness and enthusiasm in their work and it just pushes me to work as they do.”
“Taking such a flexible role gave me valuable transferable skills in data analytics, research, writing/communication, strategy, project management and marketing,” said Mitchell. “I enjoy contributing to increasing resources provided to disenfranchised college students so that we can get closer to seeing true equal opportunity for all within the American education system.”
To support students heading into a difficult job market, Tiffany Yue, AB’20, prepared a regular newsletter for Braven students with links to job and internship opportunities.
“My internship experience with Braven has been so rewarding because I had the chance to support students whose backgrounds were very similar to mine,” said Yue. “This was an internship that allowed me to immediately dive deep and take responsibility for various projects. I loved every moment of my time at Braven!”
Building on the work the interns did this summer, Kuba Sokolowski, AB’20, will spend the next year at Braven through UChicago’s Kimpton Fellows Program working on expanding the organization’s partnerships with universities and employers.
“My first two months with Braven have taught me much about national nonprofits—from development and systems design to public policy and business with external partners,” said Sokolowski. “I feel very lucky to be honing my analytical and strategic skills while working with such a talented and warm group of colleagues at the intersection of education and social impact!”
To learn more about the Jeff Metcalf Internship Program and the Kimpton Fellows Program, visit careeradvancement.uchicago.edu. To learn more about Braven, visit bebraven.org.