Career Catalysts is an incubator for networking, experiential education, and professional development. The team draws on years of experience to unite all of the university’s diverse entities – students, alumni, parents, and faculty – to create a single web of connections. They are committed to ensuring effective, productive, and meaningful interaction between all of the university’s networks, on and off campus to connect students with the opportunities they are looking for. Let the Career Catalysts team help you get connected! To get started, visit our Stanford Alumni Mentoring program.
Danielle Wood
Associate Dean of Career Education &
Director of Career Catalysts - Faculty Networks
Danielle Wood is Associate Dean and Director of Career Catalysts at Stanford University. Prior to joining the BEAM, she co-founded Education.com, and helped grow the site to over 7 million unique visitors and nearly 2 million downloads per month. For 8 years, Danielle served as Education.com's VP of Content and oversaw content strategy for the site. Danielle's work has been published in Newsweek, the Christian Science Monitor, the Huffington Post, and many other publications. She wrote a book on experiential learning and has appeared as an expert on that subject on The Today Show, CBS Early, NPR, and other shows and been quoted extensively in print. She previously served as Director of Publicity for Sterling Publishing. Danielle graduated with honors from Harvard University, where she spent four summers and several semesters interning to figure out what she wanted to be when she grew up.
- Follow @daniellewood15
- Email daniwood@stanford.edu
Ahmad Wright
Assistant Director of Career Catalysts - Diversity Networks
Ahmad develops career connections through networking events, mentoring programs, and career meetups that serve as catalysts for students and alumni of diverse backgrounds and underrepresented groups to discover career paths, connect with mentors and opportunities, and engage in the career development process early and often. Ahmad’s professional experience includes a combined 9 years of work in higher education and the recruiting industry. Ahmad received his M.A. in Education and B.A. in Sociology, both from the University of California, Berkeley.
- Follow @ahmadbwright
- Email ahmadbw@stanford.edu
Annie Vleck
Assistant Director of Career Catalysts - Alumni Networks
Annie manages the Stanford Alumni Mentor (SAM) program along with other emerging alumni engagement opportunities that allow both local and long-distance alums to mentor students through either quick-touch or more long-term interactions. Before joining BEAM, Annie worked in Alumni Relations at the Stanford Alumni Association, engaging students and recent graduates in projects and programs on campus. Prior to that she gained four years of experience working in student activities and leadership at both Tufts University and Kenyon College. Annieholds a B.A. in Biology from Pomona College and a Ed.M. in Higher Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education. In her free time, she enjoys running, throwing dinner parties for friends, and testing out all the best restaurants in San Francisco.
- Follow @AnnieVleck
- Email avleck@stanford.edu
Open Position
Assistant Director of Career Catalysts - Experiential Education
