Independent processes and work are relevant across all disciplines, increasingly so as remote work becomes more common. This panel covers the essential skills and mindsets required for thriving in such environments. We’ll discuss the steps to navigating challenges and achieving goals with minimal guidance, and how those experiences inform our journey ahead. We highlight the role of trial and error in fostering self-sufficiency and self-efficacy, allowing us to take ownership of our projects and empower others in the process. Join us as we share our insights on overcoming obstacles, developing new skills, and building a foundation for career development.

Moderator: Rick Feldman, Senior Lecturer in Economics and Entrepreneurship, Organizations, and Society (EOS) & Nexus Track Chair for Global Business Nexus/Co-Director of Fimbel Maker & Innovation Lab

Working from home through a disability lens
Ace MacIntyre ’25, Psychology and Film Media Theater double major & Law, Public Policy, and Human Rights Nexus

Creating a Digital Advocacy Program
Lou Rachwal ’26, Psychology and Gender Studies Double Major & Law, Public Policy, and Human Rights Nexus

Am I an Artist?
Catherine Carja ’25, Studio Art major
Miriam Xu

Speaker name: Lou Rachwal
Title: Creating a Digital Advocacy Program
This summer, I interned at the Coalition for Social Justice Education Fund, a grassroots organization committed to educating and organizing for equity in areas such as workers’ rights, affordable housing, and Environmental/Climate Justice. As an intern, I was equipped with designing a digital advocacy program in order to make political advocacy more accessible. To do this, I created a program outline and training materials for advocates, built a resource library, and designed graphics promoting the program. My work was done primarily independently, and while such a project proved to be challenging, I feel better prepared for navigating further independent work and social justice organizing in the future.

Speaker name: Catherine Carija
Title: Am I an Artist?
“My internship was an independent art project designed to confirm or reject the indoctrinated belief that told me I was not, nor could I ever be, an artist. As a Frances Perkins Scholar, any scholastic pursuit would be a challenge, but to pursue studio arts in my sixties could be seen as folly. While that may be true, I just figured it was now or never.”

“Ironically, I titled my project EXPERIMENRTAL POTENTIAL not because I was testing a theory about my identity, but rather my piece and its title reflected my vision of humanity in general. I wanted to convey how beautiful and amazing I see human beings. I wanted to create a piece that reflected to the viewer how marvelous they are. I don’t know if my piece was a success, because the one gallery to which I submitted it, rejected me. No problem though. That happens to even the best!”

Speaker name: Ace MacIntyre
Title: Working from home through a disability lens
“Due to my own reality and where I lived, I worked from home for my internship at Welcome Change Productions, a small film company that focuses on disability. I will talk about how disability was weaved through my internship in the work I did and in my own personal experience working independently.”