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Renee Gadsden ’08 is pursuing a Master in Public Affairs and Nonprofit Studies at The University of Texas at Austin's Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. She recently became an Education Pioneer Fellow with Kauffman Scholars, Inc., a highly selective, rigorous, and prestigious program. “I feel that my experience, undergraduate business background, and my MPA studies definitely made me more marketable and more competitive for the fellowship,” Gadsden notes.
Renee Gadsden ’08: The perfect synthesis of skills to lead in higher ed
Sep 22, 2018, by Staff Writer
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As a college admission professional for nearly a decade, Renee Gadsden ’08 found that the courses offered as part of her Marketing major and Sociology minor gave her the perfect synthesis of skills to diversify institutions and provide underserved students access to a quality education.

There were other advantages, too. She used skills in market research, data analysis, and communication to evaluate graduation rates and trends, manage recruitment territories, report programmatic results, and conduct college information sessions. She also leveraged her knowledge from sociology to recruit first-generation college students, multicultural students, and students from low-income families and evaluated their applications with an appreciation of their individual situations. “My Urban Sociology course taught me about the disproportionate allocation of societal resources and the implications these have on the success of underserved populations. This understanding made me a more informed and empathetic leader in education,” she says.

“Providing access to a high quality resources to promote the social and economic mobility of traditionally marginalized communities became my life’s passion.”

Gadsden is pursuing a Master in Public Affairs and Nonprofit Studies at The University of Texas at Austin's Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. She recently became an Education Pioneer Fellow with Kauffman Scholars, Inc., a highly selective, rigorous, and prestigious program. “I feel that my experience, undergraduate business background, and my MPA studies definitely made me more marketable and more competitive for the fellowship,” Gadsden notes.

A frequent speaker at educational forums and a former vice president of the Northeast Consortium Bridging Access to College, which awarded her its Founder’s Award, Gadsden is committed to aiding the next generation of scholars, no matter their background. “I am a first-generation college and graduate school student. It’s my duty to share the knowledge I obtained from Bryant with those who didn’t have those opportunities,” says Gadsden, who was the recipient of Bryant’s Berta Hysell Intercultural Center Spirit Award. “I would not be where I am today if it weren’t for someone in Bryant’s Admissions Office believing in me and setting me up for success.”

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