Hilary HartmanGraduate Studentshe/her/hers

I am bringing my background as a nonprofit professional to the School of Human Ecology to expand on not only my knowledge of the nonprofit sector, but to also study the ways in which we as individuals, groups, and communities support one another during times of personal difficulty. It has been my observation that we, as a society, are becoming more isolated and losing many of our historical sources of support, such as family, neighbors, romantic relationships, and religious groups. This is particularly true as more people choose to forgo marriage and/or children, work remotely, go “no contact” with parents or other family members, and choose to not belong to a religious congregation. I’m interested in studying these trends and learning of potential pitfalls for individuals, particularly in regards to mental health, as they endure the hardships we all experience at one point or another in life, such as a death in the family, personal illness or surgery, chronic illness, single parenting, and caring for aging loved ones, to name a few. Additionally, I want to learn of ways to avoid these pitfalls so we can create the most supportive society possible for ourselves and our fellow community members.

Upon completion of my undergraduate degree, I became involved in the nonprofit sector, primarily in event and project management. The bulk of my career thus far has been spent as a conference manager, planning and executing 20-25 meetings, workshops, and conferences per calendar year. These events were professional development conferences to support computer scientists in fields including cyber security, systems administration, site reliability, and file storage. I have served on nonprofit boards in both voting and non-voting capacities and truly enjoy the “nuts and bolts” of the nonprofit world.