TI Fellowship Growing Nonprofit Leaders, Careers in North Texas

Individuals at The University of Texas at Dallas training for future careers in the nonprofit sector thanks to an investment from the Texas Instruments Foundation that supports an annual fellowship opportunity.

The yearlong Texas Instruments Founders Leadership Fellows program gives participants the opportunity to work in UT Dallas’ Office of Development and Alumni Relations, gaining intensive, hand-on experience with all aspects of nonprofit management and fundraising operations. Since 2018, three fellows have graduated from the program to build careers in full-time positions with local nonprofit and public sector organizations.

“I’ve had the opportunity to manage this program for the last five years and I’m incredibly pleased to see how it’s helping forge career pathways for new nonprofit leaders in North Texas,” said Julie Piccirillo, senior director of corporate and foundation relations at UT Dallas. “This program’s principal goal is to encourage talented individuals to explore and join the nonprofit workforce. With supportive mentoring and comprehensive training, we aim to produce well-rounded, empathetic and committed servant leaders who will elevate their chosen fields and serve their communities.”

Archie Nettles BS’11, MPA’18 was selected as the inaugural TI Founders Leadership Fellow in 2018. During his time in the program, Nettles focused on frontline fundraising, shadowing UT Dallas’ directors of development to understand the nuances of relationship building and donor management. After completing his year as a fellow, Nettles was hired as a full-time assistant director of development in the Naveen Jindal School of Management, where he worked for two years before moving to his current position as a development officer at the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

“This fellowship really changed the trajectory of my professional career,” Nettles said.

At the Bush Center, Nettles leads corporate and foundation relations and community engagement efforts to connect the North Texas community to the center. His time as a TI Fellow and subsequent professional experience at UT Dallas primed him for success in this role.

“The experience that I was afforded while working with the corporate and foundation relations team, followed by the opportunity to work with the Jindal School taught me how to develop and cultivate a prospect pipeline. These experiences allowed me to hit the ground running at the Bush Center,” Nettles said. “Within four weeks I was able to schedule meetings and engage various people who may not otherwise have had a chance to visit the center. I have been very proud to serve as the bridgebuilder between the Bush Center and the community.”

A veteran of the U.S. military who has remained dedicated to public service since transitioning to civilian life, Nettles said that the TI Fellowship helped put him on his ideal career track.

“I believe that my rich experience as a fellow catapulted me into my current roles. My position is directly connected to both my undergraduate and graduate degrees and my passion to be a servant leader. Most importantly, it allows me to serve my community and to make great contributions to the nonprofit and public sectors,” he said.

UT Dallas’ second TI Fellow was Jessica Howell BA’19. Howell returned home to Dallas after completing four years of service in the U.S. Navy. While enrolled in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies, she focused on developing a service-oriented career. Howell volunteered with a number of campus groups and nonprofits, including the Military and Veteran Center, Down Syndrome Convention, Girls Inc. Dallas and Equest.

Although her fellowship was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Howell said that her work as a TI Fellow helped prepare her for subsequent roles in the public and nonprofit sectors.

“I was able to meet with donors and gain a broad overview of how a nonprofit works,” Howell said. “That gave me a better perspective on organizations in general and how to understand people, how to network and how to bring people together to support a cause.”

Howell was offered a position with Teach for America after completing her fellowship, but chose instead to take advantage of an opportunity to serve the residents of Texas’ 32nd congressional district as a constituent advocate for U.S. Rep. Colin Allred. She would spend the next 15 months directly supporting constituents during the crisis, helping families find housing, collect stimulus checks and navigate mail problems, among other issues.

Now, Howell teaches pre-K in Richardson and coaches basketball for Community ISD in Nevada, Texas. She still considers her work to be oriented toward the public good.

“Social justice and human rights are causes close to my heart,” Howell said. “I hope that by teaching these students, I won’t just be teaching academics, but I’ll be leading by example and teaching kids how to be good people, how to see people for who they are and to treat others well.”

Howell is working toward certification to become a pre-K director, a position that would directly benefit from the organizational and nonprofit management skills she trained as a TI Fellow.

Tiffany Page Carter BA’21 joined the Office of Development and Alumni Relations in an entirely virtual role during the 2020-21 academic year. Even though her program was remote, it still provided formative experiences that led to full-time employment after the fellowship’s completion. Carter is currently a development associate for corporate and foundation relations at UT Dallas.

A first-generation college graduate, Carter returned to college in 2016 after caring for her children full-time for several years. She enrolled at UT Dallas as a Terry Scholar in the School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication and a Collegium V Honors student in 2018. While finishing her coursework, Carter accepted the TI Fellowship to learn more about fundraising. She immediately found community among UT Dallas’ development staff, training a technical skill set to support her burgeoning philanthropic career.

“Everyone in the office has such a heart for what they are doing,” Carter said. “Something I heard a lot from my mentors was that our work is mission driven. Every day we remember those students who are on the receiving end of the support we raise and think about how it will change their lives.”

As a TI Fellow, Carter gained a privileged view into higher education, meeting with faculty, program directors and University leadership across UT Dallas. During her rotation through the Office of Development and Alumni Relations’ various units, Carter found herself drawn to work on the corporate and foundation relations team. She took advantage of a grant writing course included with the fellowship and soon found herself contributing significantly to the team’s efforts.

“This fellowship involves meaningful work,” Carter said. “I was given opportunities where my efforts were valued, where I was in charge of real projects that went out to donors and partners, including successful grant proposals.”

Carter is now preparing to return to UT Dallas as a student in the Master of Public Affairs program alongside her full-time position with the University, continuing to advance her career in the nonprofit sector.

“The TI Fellowship allowed me to learn all the facets of a high-functioning fundraising unit and to discover my place in that world,” she said.

UT Dallas’ current TI Fellow is Sreoshi Chowdhury BS’21. Chowdhury began her fellowship while completing her undergraduate majors in psychology and speech, language and hearing sciences in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

Chowdhury has devoted herself to academic and volunteer work with an intention to serve others throughout her life. At UT Dallas was president of the University’s chapter of Pratham — an organization that helps provide children in India with access to quality educational opportunities — and was also a member of Wishmakers, a student group that supports the Make-A-Wish Foundation. She also experienced working in healthcare in as a medical scribe, pharmacy technician, behavioral technician, bereavement coordinator for hospice and as a student volunteer at hospitals.

Applying to the TI Fellowship was a natural extension of these experiences for Chowdhury.

“Even though my background is in a STEM field, my passion lies in nonprofits,” she said. “I’ve seen that passion across all the teams I’ve worked with at UT Dallas. They are incredible people and they really care about the University.”

Her experiences so far as a TI Fellow has offered a behind-the-scenes look at the factors that have contributed to UT Dallas’ rapid growth.

“As a student you really don’t get to see these things and it took me a while to realize that these buildings and programs don’t just appear,” Chowdhury said. “I’ve gotten to see where that money comes from, who our donors are, how to build the relationships we need to make all this possible. All these things are truly important.”

Chowdhury has taken on responsibility for several important projects as a fellow, including grant submissions and as a volunteer leader during Comets Giving Days. As she prepares to enter graduate school in the fall, this experience will continue to motivate her desire to serve others in her future professional work.

Supported by one of the University’s most important philanthropic partners in Texas Instruments, the TI Founders Leadership Fellows program is paying forward its benefit to the UT Dallas community, training individuals who now lead efforts to support students, individuals and nonprofit organizations across North Texas.

“I could not be prouder of Archie, Jessi, Tiffany and Sreoshi for their hard work and dedication,” Piccirillo said. “I can’t wait to see how the next five years unfolds for them and this wonderful program.”

---

---