Alumni Spotlight: Avery Chobotor-Caya

Avery Chobotor-Caya is a notable graduate assistant alumnus of UConn, a former Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills employee, and has left a stand-out legacy throughout these roles. They have contributed towards numerous blog posts and resources surrounding LGBTQ+ individuals, establishing pathways to further career readiness. Since obtaining their graduate’s degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs, they are hoping to pursue a career in social justice and continuing to advocate for marginalized groups of students.

I sat down with Avery to get some more insight on how working at the Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills benefited them. Avery began by sharing their experience working at the Center and expressed how it shaped their plans. They shared that their experience gave them so much insight into the multiple ways that they can advocate for students, as well as be an inclusive practitioner – not only in DE&I roles but outside of it as well.

“Because of my experience with the Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills, I have expanded my career goals beyond only focusing on DE&I positions and have moved towards applying to more generalist roles where I can still act as an inclusive, justice-minded practitioner.”

Since graduation, Avery’s current career goals include becoming the director of a college LGBTQ+ Resource Center or Women’s Center, academic advising, and career counseling. They’ve dedicated their time to focusing on DE&I advocation by increasing the number of resources provided on our website. Avery has written blog posts for both the LGBTQ+ community and the Native American and Indigenous communities, fostering further inclusivity at the Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills.

In addition to writing blog posts and creating resources, they’ve also planned a multitude of events and presentations. One of these events is the “Finding LGBTQ+ Inclusive Employers” -presented at the Rainbow Center Symposium, Avery is a co-creator. On this presentation, Avery elaborates;

“It was great being able to give guidance to members of my community and I really enjoyed being able to delve into research on tools people can use to find a workplace that is truly inclusive.” This presentation provided a step-by-step guide on how to determine if workplaces were inclusive specifically to the LGBTQ+ community with red flags and green flags of what to look out for.

Areas of improvement are always important to recognize, especially when the world is ever evolving in the realm of inclusivity. Hence, I asked Avery if there were any areas of improvement that both the university and the center itself can work on – specifically in terms of inclusivity for the LGBTQ+ community here at UConn. They responded that both should continue the work they do in exploring the intersections of identity and career development, while also exploring issues of equity in all aspects related to career readiness and workplace

culture. One piece of advice that Avery offers to LGBTQ+ students for resource and campus navigation is:

“Find your community on campus, whether that community is found at the Rainbow Center, within student organizations, within your dorms, within your classes, etc.”.

Avery emphasizes that having even a small community can be incredibly important to your well-being. They also recommend using the campus resources you have at hand, such as those offered through the Rainbow Center and on the Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills’ LGBTQ+ Affinity Community Page. Stop by the Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills if you ever have any questions or need career consulting advice!

By Lydia Sutton
Lydia Sutton