Kristin Schulz
Class of 2010
By: Megan Griffin
Kristin Schulz currently lives in San Francisco and works at SolarCity as the Marketing Strategy Manager. She is responsible for gathering consumer and market insights to inform marketing campaigns, business plans, and efforts to acquire more customers while reducing costs. She works with various teams internally on strategy development and manages primary research vendors. .
Before working for SolarCity, Kristin was working and living in Washington D.C. for another clean energy company. After a couple of years on the job she pursued her MBA part-time at The George Washington University-School of Business. She was involved in Net Impact, served as an international student ambassador, was a teaching assistant for undergraduate business courses and conducted independent research on clean energy start-ups in emerging markets.
For one of her courses, Kristin was able to study abroad in Ghana and took extra time to visit Kpoeta and spend time with Dr. Amedahe. Being able to travel to her Class’ country of focus after graduation was incredibly meaningful.
After returning from Ghana Kristin collaborated with Briana O’Neil and Olivia Ackerman, two other 2010 Periclean Scholars living in DC, to organize a fundraising event for the Kpoeta Health Clinic. The event raised funds for the clinic and was the first official gig for her neighbors’ band who have gone on to become a successful local band!
Kristin said that this event was one way for her to honor the pledge of being a lifelong community partner. It was also an opportunity to reconnect with other alumni from the program.
During her time in DC, Kristin also volunteered at LearnServe, a program that helps high school students develop and lead a social impact project (coincidentally the same progra
m that led Yasmine Arrington to develop her ScholarCHIPS program when she was in high school!). Kristin enjoyed her involvement as a mentor and felt the program embodied many of the same principles as Periclean Scholars. As a volunteer, she would help to solidify various student’s social entrepreneurship ideas.
While at Elon, Kristin was involved in many activities in addition to being a Periclean Scholar. She was an orientation leader, worked at Campus Rec, participated in an Alternative Spring Break trip to Bay St. Louis, and was a member of Elon Volunteers. Kristin was also a Presidential and Dean scholar and was a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. Kristin said that when she thinks back to her experiences at Elon, Periclean Scholars and Campus Rec were the most formative experiences. Her involvement in these programs helped to shape her values and defined the person she wanted to become. Kristin was a devoted member of the 2010 Periclean Scholar and was the inaugural recipient of the Periclean of the Year award.
Kristin is deeply saddened by the loss of Dr. Heidi Frontani., she said that Dr. Frontani’s emphasis on the academic aspect of Periclean Scholars strengthened her Class’ experience and has helped shape her as a person. Kristin said she would like to find ways for the class to connect with one another despite their geographic separation. She says one of her favorite things about the organization was being part of this inspiring, driven group of individuals. Kristin hopes that her Class will work together to ensure the longevity of their community projects and uphold their lifelong commitment to their Ghanaian partners.
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