Stories

The world is Katie Oliver’s oyster, and she is the pearl. Katie, a cultural anthropology major with a 3.6 GPA, has consistently shown leadership, volunteerism, academic integrity, and global civic engagement since she began her Northeastern journey.

Katie wanted her first co-op to be international and landed a position as the program director of the Manna Project International in Ecuador in 2020. However, the pandemic forced a change in plans. While working remotely, she trained and supervised 12 interns, wrote grants, and headed the organization’s fundraising and outreach. Additionally, she taught three online ESL classes and created a curriculum that was relevant to each community.

Since she couldn’t get to Ecuador, Katie began a supplemental part-time co-op as an in-person teacher’s assistant in the preschool classroom of the Transportation Children’s Center. She says, “The experience with this and working in my other co-op has really opened my eyes to the impact of community-level programming at even early ages.”

Still, she wanted more and began another co-op as the social development coordinator at the Baobuyu Learning Center in Zambia. She designed activities for staff and female empowerment groups, produced resources and books to inspire women, taught after-school workshops for children, and helped with fundraising. In 2022, Katie returned to Africa, this time to Kenya, for a third co-op—Better Me Kenya, an NGO that provides education, food security, and healthcare for more than 300 vulnerable and orphaned children.

At Northeastern, Katie has been involved with the Women’s Rugby Club, the Changing Health Attitudes and Actions to Recreate Girls (CHAARG) club, and is on the CSSH Student Advisory Council—perhaps her greatest achievement. “What I enjoyed the most about these experiences was being able to work hands-on with my NU community and others in my major to find areas for improvement to positively impact the experiences of future students,” she says. She also volunteered as an intergenerational program coordinator for Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly in Boston, and this year is interning at the BPS Office of Equity, Strategy, and Outreach as the My Brother’s Keeper equal opportunity intern.

Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Academic Affairs Mary Mello says of Katie that “She embodies a commitment to leadership, volunteerism, justice, the community, dismantling hegemony, and empowering the disenfranchised (or under-resourced).”

After graduation, Katie plans to continue her work in Sub-Saharan Africa, working with NGOs in community development and ultimately in the public health sphere.