Arianne Evans, a recent graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, led one of Aspire’s Mentorship Series. She shared tips for effective negotiating – and its importance in our everyday lives – with Aspire Leaders Program alumni. Throughout her studies and career, she has maintained a passion for sustainability and environmentalism, global experiences, and social entrepreneurship. Evans’ research and experience in the classroom, coupled with immersive experiences outside of the classroom and internationally, shaped the lessons she shared with Aspire alumni and her career choices.
Educational Journey and Early Career Pursuits
Evans has always valued global communities, international travel, and communities of care – evident throughout her educational journey and early career. At Deerfield Academy, she gained valuable exposure to an diverse network, enriching her perspective and belief that communicating with others from differing backgrounds and cultures is the first step in increasing your intercultural awareness and understanding.
While completing her undergraduate degree, she completed six weeks each in Uganda, India, and Brazil for a social entrepreneurship program through the School for International Training. She also embraced various leadership roles in student government as she pursued her studies in sustainability at Bucknell University. This focus on environmentalism and entrepreneurship laid a strong foundation for her future career both as a teacher, graduate student, and now in a new role at Kite Insights.
Post-graduation in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Evans returned to her alma mater, Deerfield Academy. Here, she wore many hats, including social entrepreneurship teacher and sports coach, furthering her interest in education. After her work at Deerfield Academy, she pursued an opportunity to work at the Windsor School in the Bahamas, where she taught advanced environmental science for two years.
After a three year stint as a teacher, she contemplated what her capacity in education would be in the future and how to stay involved in this field, leading her to Harvard to earn her Master’s of Education.
Harvard Journey and Insights
Her journey prior to Harvard focused heavily on sustainability and environmental studies, topics she originally decided not to focus on when she began her master’s degree so that she opened her eyes to other disciplines.
While studying social entrepreneurship during her time through the School for International Training, she was exposed firsthand to situations where it seemed impossible for certain folks to enter negotiations with people in higher power positions.
This, alongside a course she took at the Harvard Kennedy School called Negotiating Across Differences, solidified her interest in the area of negotiations. Throughout her graduate studies, she focused on research and creating programs for youth in other countries surrounding this subject. When she spoke to Aspire Leaders Program alumni, she explained the various steps necessary to a successful negotiation conversation, which included understanding your own interests in combination with the other party to create an amicable solution for everyone involved.
Although Evans initially had no intention of incorporating environmentalism into her journey at Harvard, she began to feel lost and disconnected from this community and topic she felt truly passionate about. So, she applied for Climate Leaders, a professional organization that provides opportunities for Harvard graduate students interested in climate-related topics to network and take action. This became an important community for her in her final months at Harvard – and ultimately solidified her desire to combine climate and education in her career. Evans hopes that, with this combined education, she can continue to inform generations ahead about the complexities and importance of understanding our environment.
“We can’t make [environmental] policies if people don’t understand the problem,” she noted.
Career Transition and Future Goals
The world starts to feel a lot smaller, because you realize that you have so much in common – more than you have different.
Recently, Evans accepted a position with Kite Insights – a London-based climate consulting and learning design agency. Kite Insights works with corporate clients to conduct research and provide insights that help guide sustainable practices, following cutting edge trends with a focus on empowering and educating employees about how they can take action.
Evans remains passionate about working with diverse communities, an interest fostered by various teachers, parents, and mentors throughout the years.
She hopes to continue the conversation with communities around the world and values the work that Aspire Institute does to foster cross-cultural competency.
In her own journey, she cites discussions with others from different backgrounds as key to her own development of cultural awareness.
“It started honestly by just talking to people from other places, which is great about Aspire,” she said. “The world starts to feel a lot smaller, because you realize that you have so much in common – more than you have different.”
Volunteer Work with Aspire Institute and Advice for Young Leaders
Evans decided to volunteer her time with Aspire Institute with a belief in the power of communities of care. She learned from her experiences that a shared ambition amongst a group of people can lead to immeasurable professional and personal contacts.
“Having a consistent community of care that is driven by this intense mentorship and training and leadership that Aspire has created can have a lot of immeasurables,” Evans said.
She appreciated how deeply Aspire Leaders Program alumni connected with her session. She hopes they embrace the possibility of a non-linear career path, encouraging trying new things so long as they provide personal fulfillment.
Evans also highlighted the importance of authentic relationships and networking, underlining how feeding the right relationships can energize you and your career.
“I truly believe in the energy [of] showing care to people,” she said. “We need more of that in the world.”
