Elyse Rosenblum
Principal
Grads of Life
Santa Fe, NM USA
“The trick is to be confident in yourself, be open to continue to learn and grow, and be flexible about the opportunities that present themselves.”
Videos
By Roadtrip NationElyse Rosenblum
Milestones
My road in life has taken me all over.
I grew up in a family that put education as the top priority—it was expected that I’d go to college and that I’d use my education to make the world better.
I earned my bachelor’s degree from Williams College after transferring from the University of Texas—having grown up in Texas, I really wanted to go out-of-state for college.
After undergrad, I took a break from school and worked in the nonprofit sector, focusing on women’s rights in Washington D.C.
I decided to go to law school back home in Texas because I saw it as an opportunity to gain more skills and knowledge to help drive equality for women.
After law school, I worked for a couple of judges before moving on to a big law firm in Washington D.C., but I hated it—I felt like I was on the wrong side of every issue I was working on.
I moved on to work for a very small female-owned consulting firm that worked on public policy issues, which was a better fit and showed me there are other ways to make change outside of the law.
Since then, the main consistent in my career has been the drive to create change for more economic equality and opportunity for people who are traditionally overlooked.
For the last decade or so, my focus has been on helping “opportunity youth”—16- to 24-year-olds who are not in school nor in jobs with a career path opportunity.
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Career
Principal
I work with companies to change their talent practices to be more inclusive.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Non-Profit Organizations
Education
Helping People
Day to Day
I'm the principal of an organization that works with companies to change their talent practices to be more inclusive of young people who might not have finished college or have gone through other hardships in life. We work to make sure companies aren't overlooking people who could be great employees but don't fit the company's traditional employee profile.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for college students
Put effort into building your interpersonal, critical thinking, and communication skills while in college. You'll need those skills to navigate the world successfully. As far as majors go, my law degree has given me a lot of opportunities and extra knowledge, but it's not necessary to go to law school to make positive change in the world.
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Society in General:
"You can't do it."
Challenges I Overcame
Family Stress
Changed Major
Work Stress
