Devan‘s take on:
Coordinating community.
In college, Devan served as Secretary of the Gonzaga Hawai’i Pacific Islander Club. It was a way to make friends and build a community of students with shared lived experiences, like moving to the mainland for the first time. At DH, she employs many of the capabilities she learned in the club into her work building rapport with clients and teams. “I learned a lot of organizational skills in that role that I now use in my Account Coordinator position,” Devan says.
DEVAN Says:
Supporting accounts, I get to learn so much every day. I’m always picking up new facts about clients and various ways of working that I can implement. There is so much to absorb and observe from how different professionals approach their work.
Leaning into leadership.
Every week before the pandemic, Devan led a group of students to an assisted living home near campus to keep the elderly residents company and give them someone to talk with; when COVID-19 hit, she transformed her group into a pen pal corps, writing letters and sending artwork back and forth to the residents so no one would lose touch – or the vital connections they had formed. ”My goal is always to make someone’s day better, whether that’s helping out with a heavy workload or even just getting them to smile.”
Breaking an impactful story.
A journalism major who ended up doubling in public relations, Devan enjoyed reporting on breaking news in the community and on campus for the school paper. Then a report landed with serious allegations about a religious authority figure who had resided on campus. “It was one of the most impactful pieces I’ve every written, because of the subject matter and the sensitivity around the topic.” The story won a collegiate journalism award.
Education
Bachelor of arts, journalism and public relations, minor in communications studies, Gonzaga University