At the time of the writing of this entry, Eden worked with Allison Partners. Since, she has worked for Yext and now serves as the Manager of Partner Operations.

Life before UVA:

Eden is from a military family. She is one of seven children and grew up primarily in Northern Virginia. She was homeschooled until high school.

Life at UVA and since graduating:

Eden graduated from the University of Virginia in 2016 with a degree in Economics and Psychology. As an undergraduate, she served as a research assistant for the Olsson Center for Applied Ethics at the Darden School of Business, where she studied corporate social responsibility, and with UVA’s Department of Psychology, where she examined the relationships between happiness, social interaction, and technology.

She now works as an organizational development consultant at Allison Partners and spends her days exploring what makes people and organizations work effectively. She incorporates her interests in curriculum development, academic research, and behavioral economics into her work supporting client projects, creating training materials, conducting analysis, and managing proposals.

In your own words, what is Organizational Development Consulting? 

We help with the messy, wonderful, complicated people stuff that happens when more than one person is in a room.

Advice to job seekers from Eden:

• Build relationships with faculty by getting involved in undergraduate research
• Always follow up on contacts that faculty / other supervisors may give to you
• Conduct informational interviews with people who work in fields that interest you and fields that don’t
• Learn to talk about yourself and your interests; know your story
• Read! Lean about and be able to discuss current research in your fields of interest
• Do more than match your interests with jobs—think about the kind of daily routine you really want

Eden’s Recommended Reading for Interviews

• Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling to Get Jobs and Propel Your Career by Katherine Hansen

Eden’s Recommended Reading for Organizational Development Consulting

• The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker
• Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes Are High by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler