Kristen Reid Boldridge (MSI ’15) has built a thriving career at the Obama Foundation in Chicago, where she serves as a metadata and digital discovery strategist. She credits her UMSI education — encompassing both coursework and field experience — with preparing her to excel in this essential, trailblazing and creative role, where the past, present and future collide.

At the Obama Foundation, Boldridge bridges technical and non-technical collaboration, promoting inclusive metadata practices. Drawing on foundational skills from her UMSI experiences, she takes a thoughtful approach to managing complex data systems.

Boldridge notes that her part-time work with the University of Michigan Library and Archives, as well as her collaboration with UMSI associate professor emeritus Paul Conway, gave her invaluable hands-on experience in the field. These opportunities, paired with her coursework, helped her develop the concrete skills that professional information scientists need to succeed.

Her advice for current students? “Network and never give up. Think of your first job as a stepping stone to your second or third — the roles where you’ll really begin to do what you want to do.”

Read more about Boldridge’s most valuable UMSI experiences, and how she applies them in her day-to-day work, in her UMSI Alumni Snapshot.