Kelvin Wong, MAOP 鈥�11, was always interested in talent management and organizational psychology, but found it difficult to jump into those fields without demonstrated experience. After working a few years in finance, he decided it was time to pivot back to his original interest while leveraging his prior experience. Coming to 91香蕉视频成人在线 for the Master of Arts in Organizational Psychology (MAOP), he utilized his knowledge and field education experience to create a talent management and organizational development role at his employer during the program, Brown Brothers and Harriman. Now a human resource business partner at Akamai Technologies in Cambridge, Wong says, 鈥淭heory helps drive practice, but experience drives your value proposition. The MAOP program provided me the opportunity to learn the theory, gain real experience in the field, and stay full-time employed to accelerate my entry into the field.鈥� Sarah Menard, MAOP 鈥�14, also came to William James to change her career path. Working at Forrester Research to help manage the implications of technology change, she realized that she was more interested in how the organization managed the people-side of change. Looking at graduate school as a platform to change fields, she saw that the MAOP at William James was the 鈥減erfect combination鈥� of business and psychology. Menard is now a business transformation specialist at Kronos in Lowell, MA, where she provides consultation, programs, tools and resources to support teams and leaders to instill a customer-first, collaborative and innovative organizational culture. Chair of the Organizational and Leadership Psychology Department, Dr. Kathryn Stanley says that Wong and Menard are good examples of the types of students who come to the MAOP program to enter this field. With students from around the world and a range of experiences, they share an interest in organizational psychology, which is 鈥渢he art of planned versus unplanned change and how to make human systems healthier and higher functioning,鈥� she explains, noting that 50 students will graduate from the MAOP program this January. Stanley adds, 鈥淲ith opportunities for hands-on learning in internships, this program hones skill sets for lifelong careers. It is experiential and blended learning at its best. As alumni grow in this field, they will become thought leaders and master practitioners.鈥� MAKING A CAREER TRANSITION When Wong sought to transition from finance to organizational psychology, he came to the College to differentiate himself from others in the field. Continuing to work at Brown The MAOP was critical in getting the knowledge and real-life experience needed to achieve my career goals. It facilitated my entry into the field of organizational development and human capital consulting.鈥� Kelvin Wong, MAOP 鈥�11 WILLIAM JAMES COLLEGE 19