Doing Something: Not Just Another Advisory Committee
The College welcomes industry and community partners for Olin Circle of Advocates kickoff.
A group of doers convened on the Olin College campus in early April to kick off a different kind of committee.
The Olin Circle of Advocates (OCoA), led by Lauren Palmer ’09, Associate Director of Partnership Development, is a new initiative that will support issues of importance to Olin and help advance the College’s goals through hands-on projects and “strategic doing.”
We are excited to launch the Olin Circle of Advocates and provide a new way for our constituents to 'Do Something' in support of Olin,
By using Strategic Doing methodology, we are building a true partnership board that can help us reach our aspirational goals through external collaboration and support.
Lauren Palmer '09
Associate Director of Partnership Development
The kickoff event was held on April 4 with a group of 10 external and 10 internal participants, who formed two teams to develop and select a project idea that builds toward Olin's aspirational goals in the sustainability and AI spaces.
Among the students, faculty and staff from Olin in attendance, the group included several representatives from local industry, as well as alums Becky Belisle ’10, Jona Raphael ’09, and Tiana Veldwisch ’08, and parent Hyun Moon P’28.
Palmer and Sam Michalka, associate professor of computational neuroscience and engineering and associate dean at Olin, attended the January KEEN conference together and were inspired by the Project Unlock methodology. This method is part of the KEEN Engineering Unleashed initiative to build entrepreneurial mindset in engineering students, and Palmer and Michalka were eager to put it into action for OCoA.
Pictured is the 2025 Kickoff meeting joined by students, faculty and staff from Olin, as well as alums Becky Belisle ’10, Jona Raphael ’09, and Tiana Veldwisch ’08, and parent Hyun Moon P’28.
“Our kickoff meeting had great energy. I’m very excited to work with our industry partners to explore how AI is shaping engineering practices and to think about how we can best support students across disciplines,” said Michalka
Jay Hill, VP of Advanced Technology at GE Healthcare and “OCoA Champion” for the AI group said, “It was a thrill to work with this group. We have experts in engineering tool design, education and industry uses of design tools, all coming together to brainstorm how to bring these tools into the Olin curriculum. We hope to set an example for other institutions to learn from.”
Veldwisch, principal at Tiana V Consulting, is the “OCoA Champion” for the sustainability group. “It was exciting to do some in-person sticky-note brainstorming and impact assessment with a group of folks ranging from first-time Olin visitors to fellow alums and current staff and students,” she said. “It's hard to narrow down among so many great ideas, and I think we found an area where we can sequence some next steps and move toward some tangible impact in the coming year.”
Olin Circle of Advocates pictured brainstorming the Olin Way!
Ike Walker ’26 agreed. “Going through the process of brainstorming and designing a potential idea for our spaces on campus was something that felt exciting and just plain fun, and incorporating it with sustainability made it feel like it could have a tangible impact on the future of students' experiences at Olin.”
By the end of kickoff day, each team had developed a project plan. They will continue to meet monthly to move their projects forward and will reconvene in the fall to assess and celebrate completed projects.
“We’re looking forward to continuing to grow this initiative and to make great strides collaboratively for Olin,” says Palmer.