Career & Life Design Center

Our Mission

Our mission is to support Trinity College students and alumni as they navigate college and career transitions, providing life design coaching, programming and experiential learning opportunities, and global connections.

Our Vision

Our vision is to guide Trinity College students and alumni in designing meaningful, individualized plans for a fulfilling journey – through and beyond Trinity – enabling them to become active global citizens.

Get Involved

Festival of Nations, October 19, 1:00-3:00pm

View all Career & Life Design Center Events

Outcomes

Trinity College is proud to have is proud to have a 95% Career Outcomes Rate for the Class of 2024. Find more information and data from previous years on our Outcomes page!

Meet the Team

	Joey Abad Assistant Director, Career & Life Design Hello, I’m Joey! I’m here to help Bantams navigate the exciting journey from classrooms to careers, offering guidance on everything from résumés to interviews. As a performing artist, administrator, and manager, I have publicly performed and spoken in over 200+ recitals (in four countries) to a variety of age groups. For over 20 years, I have taught an extensive age range of music students (8-62) at all levels of learning (elementary to graduate school). As a photographer, I have recently been grant-funded from the Free Center’s (Hartford) Independent Artists Fund, and published in several publications throughout the state. Cornelia Center Office #135 [email protected] Schedule an Appointment with Joey
	Catherine Chica Marketing Specialist Hello, I’m Cat, I design flyers, create social media posts, manage the website, and make sure the Center has all the marketing materials they need! My creative practice emphasizes balance and legibility to generate communicative media. Cornelia Center Office #126 [email protected]
	Katie Clair Associate Director, International Students & Scholars Hello, I’m Katie! I advise international students on their personal, academic, and cultural transitions to Trinity College and the U.S. I have worked at Trinity since August 2013. In 2016, I was selected to participate in the Fulbright International Education Administrator’s Seminar in Japan. I have spent time living abroad in Sicily, London, and Bulgaria. Cornelia Center Office #129 [email protected] Schedule an Appointment with Katie
	John D’Angelo Administrative Assistant Hello, I’m John! I’m here to support my team and you! As an administrator, I have over 10 years’ experience supporting teams in various industries, as well as C-suite executives. Utilizing organization and efficiency, I thrive on formulating solutions for challenging problems, supporting complex schedules, and working in a fast-paced environment. Prior to my administrative career, I was in management for several years honing my skill sets from corporate America to small nonprofits. Cornelia Center Office #111 [email protected]
	Maria Dyane Associate Director of Strategy & Student Development Hello, I’m Maria! I coach and advise students on different aspects of their college journey and beyond (life design, career, immigration, and navigating the overall student experience). I work with the colleagues across the Career & Life Design Center and with campus partners to develop structures and initiatives to uphold the vision of empowering our international and domestic students and graduates to be active agents in designing their Trinity College experiences and careers at Trinity and beyond, and to use their liberal arts education to adapt to and transform the future of work around the world and live and lead as global citizens. I am a proud Trinity first-generation international alumna, and was very involved on campus during my Trinity journey as a student. After graduation, I decided to work at my alma mater, where I took on various roles within the Bantam Network. Before making my move back to higher education recently, I worked in the hospitality industry as a director of marketing and communication, and in the consulting industry, as a strategy and management consultant, where I had the opportunity to work with clients from across the globe. I am excited to continue to work with students to help them navigate their journey to, during, and after Trinity. Cornelia Center Office #127 [email protected] Schedule an Appointment with Maria
	Paul Gagnon Alumni Career Consultant Hello, I’m Paul! I support alumni with highly responsive and strategic guidance in all their career search endeavors, whether it be as they seek their first career role, transition to a new job and/or industry, or further their education by gaining admission into graduate degree or Ph.D. programs. My career is really four careers rolled into one. The first 10 years were devoted to learning everything about the golf industry. After my time in Malaysia participating in the U.S. Peace Corps, I earned my MBA and then went on to work for 14 years in strategic planning, financial research and analysis, new business development, mergers and acquisitions and product marketing with three Fortune 500 organizations. Since that time and over the past 25 years, I started and managed my own management consulting firm where I advised executives of government agencies and small businesses, and then diversified into roles in higher education where I designed curricula for and taught numerous college courses in entrepreneurship, business and management, counseled students on career management, helped launch Wesleyan University’s Social Entrepreneurship Center, and even served as the Interim Associate Dean at Central Connecticut State University, School of Business. My most recent higher education experience is as a Career Counselor with UConn’s Master of Science in Business Analytics & Project Management program, and prior to that worked at the UConn Center for Career Development, where I served students and alumni from the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, School of Nursing and School of Pharmacy. Remote Office [email protected] Schedule an Appointment with Paul
	Nate Hopkins Career & Life Design Coach; Pre-Health Advisor Hello, I’m Nate! From aspirations to actions, goals to roles, and dreams to schemes, I am here to help you design and way to find a meaningful career and life. As a life-long learner with over a decade of professional experience in education, I am passionate about holistically advising, coaching and teaching students through the emotional, social, academic and professional milestones that define each year of college and beyond. My background includes working with underserved communities, diverse and international populations, as well as neurodivergent and undiagnosed learning differences through individualized instruction. After graduating from Trinity College, I became a lead teacher in the New York City public and charter school systems while simultaneously earning my master’s degree at Hunter College in Manhattan. I have also worked as a Learning Specialist and Varsity Lacrosse Coach at Worcester Academy, and most recently, an Academic Success & Career Advisor and Adjunct Professor of first-year seminars at Dean College in Massachusetts. What I enjoy most about my role is helping others better understand how to actualize their full potential, pursue causes greater than oneself, and continuously construct a coherent life that harmonizes who you are, what you believe, and what you do. Cornelia Center Office #137 [email protected] Schedule an Appointment with Nate
	Lisel Moynihan Senior Assistant Director, Career & Life Design Hello, I’m Lisel! I support students as they explore college transitions, career opportunities and the internship/job search process. While I meet with all students on topics related to life design and those in the exploratory stage of their major/career, I also focus on students interested in pursuing opportunities in Business, Finance, and Consulting. I have worked in education throughout my career, and my background includes work as a Career Advisor for undergraduate business students at the McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin. I have two daughters in college and enjoy bringing my perspective, both as a career professional and parent, to the students of Trinity College. Cornelia Center Office #125 [email protected] Schedule an Appointment with Lisel
	Roberta Rogers Director, Retention Strategy & Transition Programs Roberta’s career centers on identifying and interceding on behalf of observed trends and helping constituents effectively navigate transitions. Roberta has developed and implemented robust orientation and transition, student leadership, and peer mentor training programs and implemented a strategic plan for Retention Strategy & Transition Programs. She mentors and supervises both professional and student staff and though she supports all students and families at Trinity, Roberta is steeped in experience with transfer, first-generation, post-traditional, student-athletes, and high-achieving students. As Trinity College’s Director of Retention Strategy & Transition Programs, Roberta is the architect of Trinity’s retention strategy, collaborating with key divisions to continue the cultivation of a data-informed retention eco-system. Roberta is deeply connected to the mission and power of higher education and is not only a Trinity alum (Bachelor’s and Master’s), but she is also a ‘legacy’ (Roberta’s mother graduated among the first class of women at Trinity ’73) and is the parent of a student-athlete from the class of ’18. #ProudBantFam Cornelia Center Office #130 [email protected] Schedule an Appointment with Roberta