Claire Dorn
I met Claire as a mentee through Chicago Women in Philanthropy, and I can say with complete conviction that the mentoring has gone both ways. Claire works with hundreds of immigrant and refugee job seekers primarily in business and finance related industries as a Senior Employment Services Advisor at Upwardly Global. In addition to her deep knowledge about job searches and coaching, she is also the person to talk to about learning new languages and living sustainably.
Originally from Minnesota, Claire majored in Spanish and Sociology at University of Minnesota. Growing up, she lived vicariously through her mother’s memories of growing up in 7+ countries (since her grandfather worked for the State Department Foreign Service). This is what motivated her to participate in a program via the Chilean Ministry of Education to teach English to students. When she landed in Santiago, she had no idea that she would be placed in a very small rural town, and as you can imagine, it was a stark contrast from her undergraduate experience.
It wasn’t an easy experience, but she learned a lot, including building her self-reliance muscle and navigating daily life while learning the language and culture - living somewhere is very different from traveling. Eventually she stayed in Chile for two and a half years, and then moved to Australia for a Master’s in International Development with a focus on refugees and forced migration - visa and paperwork stuff brought her back to the United States.
When she returned in 2016, she moved to Chicago, and started a job with a non-profit affiliated with local high schools. Her role was focused on developing and implementing a mentorship and leadership development program, primarily serving first generation immigrant youths. This involved program design, volunteer management and many college and company site visits, and was a formative experience for her.
She then worked at the University of Chicago career advancement office to place students in international internships and fellowships. In her current role at Upwardly Global, she coaches hundreds of job seekers from countries across the world, working to understand their professional background and qualifications from institutions in other countries, guiding them through the transition to a new work culture, and translating their experience and skills to make them marketable to US employers. It is intense work, and deeply satisfying. Recently her role has expanded to include leading a national cohort of job seekers in high demand business sectors providing networking opportunities with industry experts and industry focused skills training.
I ask Claire what she wished she knew earlier in her career, and her response resonates with me and probably with several of you as well -- it is to remember that there are many different paths in life, and there isn’t a right or wrong definition of what a career path should look like.
I am always curious to know what refuels people, and she tells me about her Portuguese and Spanish lessons which feed into her passion for languages. She recently completed the Chicago Conservation Corps course, and is taking the learning and translating it into lifestyle changes for herself.
As she advances in her career, she hopes to continue deepening her commitment to workforce development, economic empowerment, promoting inclusive hiring practices, and helping others fulfill their professional potential. In the future, she wants to use her language skills in her work, and expand the depth and breadth of her work to programs in the nonprofit world. International work is not off the table either.