2022 Careers Panel | Department of Anthropology
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2022 Careers Panel

February 17, 2022

6:00 - 7:30 PM CT

This panel will start with a celebration of our Alumni Making a Difference Award (congratulations to Jannell Robles!). Next, panelists will be asked a series of pre-arranged questions. Finally, the panel will be opened up to all participants for Q&A. Attendees can put their questions in the chat or ask verbally.

Careers Panel Recording

PANELISTS

Jannell Robles, Assistant Public Defender
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Jannell Robles is a bilingual criminal law attorney and third-generation Harris County resident. She currently serves as an Assistant Public Defender representing indigent persons accused of a crime and previously served as a prosecutor representing victims of domestic violence. Ms. Robles graduated from Pasadena High School and attended San Jacinto College - Central. She participated in the National Science Foundation Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates in Sociocultural Anthropology at the University of North Texas (UNT) and transferred to UNT that Summer. While at UNT, she participated in the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program and became involved with student organizations, earning the James Carl Matthews Award. Ms. Robles received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology with a minor in Mexican American Studies. After college, she moved back home to Houston to volunteer and work with immigrant rights organizations and subsequently went to work in San Antonio with the renowned national legal civil rights nonprofit, the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund (MALDEF). After advocating for immigrant rights in the state legislature and working on a redistricting lawsuit with MALDEF, Jannell came back to Houston to work for the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC) on the Reconciliation Project with now Houston City Councilwoman Tarsha Jackson. While at TCJC, Ms. Robles advocated for and advanced criminal justice reform issues at the City of Houston, Harris County, and in Austin with the state legislature. After a few years of grassroots organizing and policy advocacy, Jannell returned to school to obtain her Juris Doctorate from South Texas College of Law Houston (STCL). During law school, her advocacy and service earned her the Dickerson-Moore Humanitarian Award, the Lyndon B. Johnson Civil Rights Award, and a Pro Bono Honors Certificate. After becoming licensed in 2016, Ms. Robles worked as an immigration attorney representing persons seeking asylum and persons caught up in deportation proceedings. She currently serves her community as Board President for a grassroots immigrant disability rights organization, Living Hope Wheelchair Association, and as Vice President for the Mexican American Bar Association of Houston. Jannell is also running for Judge in the March 2022 Primary for Harris County Criminal Court at Law No. 2, a misdemeanor court handling low-level offenses.

Isabelle Clerie - Director of Impact at CASELI Haiti | Researcher in Residence at Bright Ventures
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Isabelle is a Haitian anthropologist whose work has focused on claiming local narratives by leveraging the power and assets of communities in Haiti. She has worked with a variety of organizations including community-based organizations and agricultural co-ops, large multi- and bi-lateral institutions, impact investors and more across diverse fields such as small business development and microfinance, climate justice, food security, and human rights. In 2019, she worked with the UN's Office of the High Commission for Human Rights to lead an entirely civil society led process to design Haiti's first national strategy for confronting past crimes and impunity.

Molly Beyer - Senior XD Researcher & Strategist at RTI International
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Molly is a health-focused researcher with experience in applying research to inform new and existing products, technologies, and services. She has conducted applied research and strategy across the fields of global health, national and local public health, and healthcare delivery in diverse settings, from non-profit organizations to the federal government and Fortune 100 tech companies. Molly considers herself a health generalist, without a specific topical or methodological focus. Some of the topics she has worked on are chronic illness management digital applications, specialty telemedicine, patient experience, opioids, vaping safety, social dynamics of epidemics, environmental health, and food security in the Global South. She utilizes a range of research and visualization methods, including those from the fields of traditional qualitative research, anthropology, evaluation, public health, implementation science, service design, and user experience. Outside of her career, Molly has a passion for cooking, eating good food, and a variety of outdoor activities.

Cathy White - Sacramento County Office of Education in California
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Cathy White graduated in 2013 with a Master's degree in Applied Anthropology at UNT. She has been applying the skills she learned at the Sacramento County Office of Education in California within the Assessments, Research, and Accountability department. Cathy leads evaluation projects, teaches others about how to analyze available education data, and uses that data to support improvement in student outcomes in county districts and schools.

Erica Hawvermale - Research Analyst at Aperio Insights
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Erica Hawvermale works as an evaluation associate for Syracuse University's Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF). At IVMF she assists in developing and executing program evaluations for military family serving non-profit organizations. Before working with IVMF, Erica worked as a researcher for Aperio Insights. During her time at UNT, Erica co-chaired the NAPA-sponsored 2019 American Anthropology Master's Career Survey, which has provided key insights on anthropology master's degree holder's perceptions of their educations, careers, and professional organizations to the discipline as a whole. Erica's thesis project evaluated the impacts of United Through Reading, a military family serving non-profit, on service members, caregivers, and children (2020 graduate).

Autumn McDonald, Insights Maven, Research Consultant, Anthropologist, Board Member
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Autumn earned a Dual Degree in Mathematics and Spanish from the University of Texas at Austin and has completed her Master of Science defense in Applied Anthropology at the University of North Texas. Her specialization is Socio-Cultural Anthropology, with an emphasis in intersections of race, ethnicity, and space. Autumn engages with the broader business and anthropology communities in her capacity as an appointed member to the Board of Directors for the Global Business Anthropology Summit. With over 2 decades of experience in Research, Insights, and Analytics spanning 6 continents, Autumn D. McDonald is the owner of ADM Insights & Strategy, LLC. She leverages her multifaceted expertise to aid the clients of ADM Insights & Strategy, LLC in designing research organizations, developing research plans, harnessing impactful learnings, and identifying actionable paths forward. With diverse angles of expertise ADM Insights & Strategy is uniquely equipped to greatly illuminate insights. ADM Insights & Strategy, LLC utilizes mixed methods approaches that integrate market research with an anthropologically inspired lens for greater human-centricity and depth of understanding.

Danyel Rios Printz, Sr. User Experience Researcher at Google/ Applied Medical Anthropologist
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Danyel (she/her, they/them) is an anthropologist and user researcher who is passionate about bringing empathy, understanding, equity, and action to product and design strategy. She is currently a Senior User Experience Researcher at Google working on internal tools for Google's Legal teams and Google.org. Prior to joining Google, Danyel led UX Research at Ancestry and AncestryDNA exploring the intersection between technology, biology, family history, and identity. Danyel has lived and worked all over the US as well as internationally in Japan, Germany, and Mexico.

Danyel has a background in Applied Medical Anthropology from The University of North Texas and credits that as where her passions for social justice and equity were nurtured. She currently lives outside of Austin, TX with her ever growing family. They enjoy hiking with their 4 dogs, spending as much time as possible in the pool, playing outside, and generally being goofy together.