Theresa O'Donnell

Theresa O'Donnell has a diverse work experience spanning multiple industries and roles. Theresa began their career as a Program Assistant at Texas A&M University in 2002 before transitioning to a Mentor Specialist role at AmeriCorps VISTA in 2004. In 2005, they worked as an Admissions Counselor at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.

O'Donnell then joined Illinois State University, where they held various positions. From 2008 to 2009, they served as an Editor, followed by an Instructor role from 2009 to 2011. As an Instructor, they focused on promoting cultural competency research and utilizing multimodal tools in their teaching, such as blogs, Google Docs, Power Point, and collage.

In 2009, O'Donnell also became a Board Member at Illinois State University's LGBTQSSI. Theresa continued to contribute to the organization until 2011.

In 2012, O'Donnell joined Educational Talent Search, NCSU, as a Program Coordinator. Theresa remained in this role until 2016, gaining extensive experience in coordinating educational programs.

From 2016 to 2019, O'Donnell worked at the College Advising Corps, where they served as a Program Coordinator for eAdvising and later as a Program Manager.

Since 2019, O'Donnell has been employed at Henderson Collegiate. Theresa started as an Associate Director of College Counseling in 2019 and transitioned to their current role as the Director of Alumni Success in July 2021.

Throughout their career, O'Donnell has demonstrated a commitment to education and student success, utilizing their expertise in college counseling, program management, and coordination to support and empower students.

Theresa O'Donnell holds a Ph.D. in English Studies with a focus on Creative Writing and Queer Theory, which they obtained from Illinois State University in 2011. Prior to that, they completed their Master of Arts degree in English Studies with a specialization in Creative Writing: Prose at the same institution from 2008 to 2010. Their undergraduate education includes a Bachelor of Arts in English Writing from Loras College, where they studied from 1998 to 2002. In addition to their formal education, Theresa also received a certification in Inclusive Leadership from LinkedIn in May 2019.