By “order” I meant, “honor” 🤦‍♀️

You need to seek medical attention. 1/10

This shirt is not blue. 1/10

Close but also why with the puzzle pieces and hands? Needed more embellishment? 7/10

Neither of these should be fully happening. And neither needs to be on a t-shirt. 5/10

Hmm wanna recruit research administrators too?

Maybe next time someone asks "what do you do?", I'll get back to four words: "I help people thrive."

Links to further information:
lifespan.ku.edu/our-commitment
vimeo.com/1059830959

Are all of these systems perfect? Certainly not.

Everyday I get to go to work and help be a part of a shared vision: a world where people thrive.

I make sure no one involved in the project has a conflict of interest that makes it unethical/illegal for them to be involved. And before a decision is made about the money, our proposal is carefully inspected and thoroughly scrutinized.

You may think that policies/regulations would seem to be the bane of this work but actually, they are fundamental. I make sure we have a budget that will be able to fit the project if it is awarded. I make sure any people (or even mice) who participate in research are valued and cared for.

My team is contacted by scientists with a dream, and together we help them through layers and layers of policies/regulations to build a proposal. We ask for money to make the dream come true.

This announcement clarified for me a path to help better explain my work to the people in my life. I'd been mulling, journaling, even doodling about how to do that. And some of that is now coming into focus.

Here's what I do:

As a grant coordinator, I've spent everyday learning more about research administration and my role in it.

Recently, my team became aware of a highly impactful action which caused incalculable and reverberating waves of concern.

As a teacher, I worked hard to understand my professional responsibilities and the threats/barriers/circumstances/factors which impacted them. I tried to advocate and predict and play the "what if" game to execute my given mission.

Sometimes people find a connection and the conversation deepens, but usually that satisfies the intent of their inquiry and the conversation finds a natural cadence.

a part of KU where they study things like disabilities, autism, special education, eating disorders, addiction and more. While I loved working with students and I miss my coworkers, I love having more autonomy and flexibility while still making an impact in a different, but still important, way."

I usually end up talking about the aspects that people can easily understand and which offer some insight into the job change. Something like:
"I'm a grant coordinator at KU. It's a hybrid position that involves helping submit projects for the Life Span Institute...