Kate Driscoll Derickson
CDP/MA ’05

1. Please describe your present professional position.
I am at Penn State working on a dual Ph.D. in Geography and Women's Studies. Between my time at Clark and beginning my Ph.D. program, I managed a small nonprofit called TransitWorks, which did research based advocacy for improving public transit in Boston.

2. What do you find satisfying about your position?
Pursuing a Ph.D. in Geography and Women's Studies is tremendously satisfying. I am able to combine my interest in theoretical analysis with research about real world issues of social justice.

3. How did the CDP program at Clark University help to prepare you?
I found my MA in CDP has prepared me well for both career paths; as a nonprofit manager and an academic. My course work in finance, research, and nonprofit management gave me the hard skills I needed to successfully manage a nonprofit, while my course work in community development theory, participatory methods, critical development studies and feminist theory provided me with solid base for beginning a Ph.D. in Geography and Women's Studies. I also find that the combination of the two -- fundamental skills and theoretical analysis -- make me better at both. With a critical theory background, I was able to asses the implications of what seemed like straightforward management decisions. With a background in the nuts and bolts of community development and planning, I am able to ground my theoretical inquiry in the real world challenges that community-based organizations face.

4. Did you have an internship as part of your Clark education? If so, how did it help to connect you to your current career? In what ways was the experience valuable?
As part of my Clark education, I served as a research assistant for a large grant writing process which gave me insight into that complex process. I also worked as an intern with Silent Spring Institute, and worked with a team to develop a web-based interactive map overlaying environmental pollutants with health outcome data. Those positions provided me with experience that was critical in both obtaining, and being successful, at both my subsequent positions.

5. What was the topic of your research while at Clark University?
While at Clark, I critically engaged with the practice of developing statistical, neighborhood based indicators of social well being. My collaborator Stephen Metts and I developed a critique of that practice and argued Geographic Information Systems provided a tool to integrate qualitative, "bottom-up" data. We argued such a process would better serve the democratic function that practitioners were seeking in developing such statistical systems.