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A Rising Star in the GOLD Community

Ursinus women are rising!  We caught up with this year’s Rising Star Alumni Award, Elizabeth Cannon ’10 to get her advice on the skills that can give you an advantage in the workplace.

As an undergraduate, Elizabeth designed her major, Social Ecology, and was integral to the creation and execution of the Ursinus Center for Advocacy, Responsibility and Engagement (UCARE). During her time at Ursinus, she studied abroad, was a member of the women’s lacrosse team and participated in Model UN.

“Relationships have been a huge part of my professional development,” said Cannon.

While at Ursinus, she built some genuine and authentic connections; and firmly believes that maintaining those relationships, as well as cultivating new ones, is vital to maximizing professional development. This curated network and mentors have provided a trusted group that have aided in both her personal and professional development.

Community or teams have been an important part of her life. We asked her, what makes a great team player?

“Adaptability, being flexible and willing to change, the ability to come up with solutions, the ability to pivot—not get stuck when something new comes up. Being able to adapt not only to your environment, but also your workstyle to find others strengths.” Overall, emphasizing that success in the workplace is not a solo endeavor.

Elizabeth demonstrated the courage to take risks while at Ursinus where she was the architect of her own major. Today, in the workplace Cannon is the senior associate director for Civic House at the University of Pennsylvania. She interfaces with Penn students in support of community service and social advocacy work in the West Philadelphia community and beyond. As a leader, she challenges assumptions and decisions to ensure they are mission centric. She credits “a solution-oriented approach” to problem-solving—which she says she learned during her time at Ursinus (first in her CIE courses)—with getting her ideas, personally and professionally, off the ground.

Elizabeth said, “It’s easy for someone to say, we have a problem. It’s much harder to come up with a solution that works for everyone.”

From our conversation with Elizabeth about her trajectory, many of the most pivotal lessons began to flourish at Ursinus: cultivating relationships, being adaptable and articulating your point of view. These days, in her free time Cannon continues to develop relationships across the community as she serves as vice president and secretary to the executive board of the Victim Services Center of Montgomery County. Additionally, she is working on her doctorate in higher education from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.

Elizabeth is the 2019 recipient of the Rising Star Alumni Award, which recognizes an accomplished graduate of the past 10 years for significant contributions to and leadership in the person’s profession, community and/or Ursinus College.

 

If you have questions or wish to connect with Elizabeth Cannon ’10 further, she can be reached via email at ecannon12@gmail.com

 

By: Kelly Becker ’10

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