From a young age, Naomi Evans' parents instilled in her the importance of uplifting others. This grew into a passion for working with communities, leading Evans, MNM ’23 (nonprofit management), to the University of Oregon, where she was able to tailor her coursework, leverage professional development opportunities, access professionals in the field, and get the hands-on experience she needed to prepare for a career after graduation.

Today, Evans works as a Community Relations Coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings. In this role, she creates and facilitates meaningful volunteer experiences for the team's players, staff, and coaches; supports the activation of the Vikings' community programs; and curates the team's community impact report.

To get there, Evans leveraged the flexibility and prestige of an Oregon graduate program to her advantage, utilizing informational interviews to build a professional network and receive guidance in skill development. "I asked everyone I met what courses they thought would be useful for pursuing [community relations]. Based on their advice, I tailored my course load to ensure I was building the right skills," Evans shared.

Curricular flexibility is critical to career preparation, allowing graduate students to select coursework that fits their interests, skill gaps, and career goals.

"The coursework I engaged in was essential for my professional growth and development," Evans said. "Classes like event planning, visual design, strategic communication, negotiation, project management, and quantitative methods are ones I find myself using daily in my work. A course I wish I had taken [is] volunteer management; while I have a solid foundation in this area, it would have been fantastic to add some additional skills to my toolkit, especially since it relates so closely to what I do now!"

Flexible curriculum within graduate programs also creates space for students to gain unique and exceptional field experiences that cultivate their skills, applying what they've learned in the classroom to real-world challenges. Evans engaged in a number of these opportunities during her time at the UO, including working with a local youth sports nonprofit organization to increase awareness of their programs.

"[We] focused on leveraging marketing, branding, social media, and community activations to help the community learn more about the nonprofit," Evans said. "Through this, we emphasized that this approach could encourage families to consider enrolling their children in the program, ultimately helping to grow awareness and build trust within the community."

Evans also worked with the World Athletics Championship as a Workforce Experience Manager for Oregon 22, an instrumental experience that laid the groundwork for her future in the sports industry. According to Evans, these experiences outside the classroom "laid a solid foundation for my understanding of the core principles of community relations in sports. For sports teams, the community relations department is vital for connecting with community members, fostering trust, and, in turn, cultivating dedicated fans."

As the UO moves into its 150th year, the new strategic plan, Oregon Rising, highlights leading in career preparation as a key goal. To make progress toward this goal, the Division of Graduate Studies created Project LEAD, an initiative designed to enhance graduate students' preparation for career paths, inside and outside of the academy and in service to their communities. The School of Planning, Public Policy, and Management – Evans' alma mater – is one of several academic programs participating in Project LEAD this year.

The division has partnered with Dr. Stacy Hartman, a higher education specialist who connects top-level organizational thinking with on-the-ground strategy, for the past two years to work with select program faculty and strengthen their comprehensive approaches to graduate student professional and career development.

"We talk directly with faculty, students, and alumni, and use educational outcome data, to identify how we can provide more real-world training experiences, exposure to a greater diversity of careers, and access to mentors," shared Krista Chronister, vice provost for graduate studies.

This initiative, combined with flexible curriculum, professional development opportunities, and access to mentors, alumni, and professionals, lays the groundwork for career preparation in a way that Oregon can uniquely provide. Evans is an outstanding example of how the UO supports students with building a graduate education experience that nurtures their knowledge, passions, and skills for the benefit of their communities.

"I love leveraging the platform of a major sports team to connect with the community in meaningful ways," Evans said. "Creating opportunities for both staff and players to realize their potential impact in the community is a truly fulfilling aspect of my work."

—Ashly Lilly, MNM ’23, is the communications coordinator for the Division of Graduate Studies.