Penn LPS Online Certificate in Professional Writing ’23
Master of Education, Counseling Psychology and Student Personnel Administration, James Madison University ’09
Bachelor of Arts, Media Arts and Design, James Madison University ’05
After working in development and fundraising for her alma mater, Kristen Egan (Certificate in Professional Writing ’23) was looking to advance her professional writing skills. “I was a frontline fundraiser and was missing more of the writing work that I had done in some of my previous roles,” she shares. “When I came across the Professional Writing Certificate at Penn, it really aligned with everything I was looking for—improving my writing while gaining a credential that could help me take on new creative projects and future opportunities in nonprofit communications.”
Some of Kristen’s previous nonprofit writing experience included newsletter pieces, donor stories, proposals, appeals, and stewardship reports, so she had an idea of the types of skills she hoped to hone by returning to school. Penn’s professional writing course descriptions, she found, focused on communication mastery applicable to her field. “The certificate seemed targeted around writing you can use in a career—that really interested me,” she says.
The Penn program had the additional appeal of online and asynchronous delivery. Though Kristen lives in the Philadelphia area, her frontline fundraising job had her on the road much of the time. “I needed something that I could do on my own time, around my schedule,” she says. “Having that flexibility was great.”
She enrolled in the four-course certificate program in fall 2022, and it didn’t take her long to adapt to the web-based course platform. “I was pretty new to online learning,” she shares, “but Canvas was really user-friendly and consistent from course to course. And I love the feature of online learning that you have an archive of your work and the discussions and lectures that you can go back to,” she adds.
Her first course was The Power of Storytelling. “Telling the story of your organization and its impact—that’s everything in fundraising and the nonprofit world,” she stresses. “I feel like storytelling is the foundation of what we do in development, so I really loved that course.”
She then took the certificate requirement Fundamentals of Professional Writing. “As the name suggests, it’s very foundational,” she says. “It was a good course to take. We covered rhetorical strategies, knowledge domains, knowing your audience, and always thinking about the genre that you're writing in.”
Her next choice was Strategic Writing for Fundraising. “Of course, it was very much in line with my job working with donors as well as my career goals. It helped confirm that I definitely wanted to be doing more donor communications and storytelling work,” she shares. “I think the course assignments really elevated my work and helped me be more thoughtful in my correspondence with donors at different stages of the relationship cycle,” she adds.
Kristen’s final course was The Elements of Style with Dr. Valarie Ross, which she describes as “phenomenal.” The course challenged Kristen to get out of her writing comfort zone and see grammar as a toolkit for expression rather than restrictive rules. She even met with Dr. Ross outside of class to discuss her career progression.
“All the faculty were just incredible,” she recalls. “The feedback they provided on my assignments was so thoughtful and thorough. And they were so receptive to meeting and keeping in touch.”
As she wrapped up her certificate in December 2023, she kept her eyes open for job opportunities at Penn. “I wanted to be more grounded in the Philadelphia area,” she says, “and Penn is an amazing institution.” When she saw an assistant director position for Penn Medicine Development posted this past spring, she thought the writing and communication-focused role looked perfect for her. She credits the certificate program for helping her land the job. “During the interview process, I was able to discuss my coursework and professional writing skills. I think that helped set me apart from other candidates.”
Today Kristen is busy supporting three frontline fundraisers responsible for a number of clinical areas across Penn Medicine. “I’m sharing stories about truly lifesaving research and care,” she explains. “My dad is also an organ transplant recipient with Penn, so this work is personally motivating and meaningful.”
Looking forward, Kristen hopes to continue taking classes while she grows into her new professional role. “There are two courses that I think will be relevant to the work I’m doing: Writing with Data and Designing Effective Presentations,” she says, noting two more professional writing courses would earn her the Advanced Certificate in Professional Writing.
“These certificate programs are such a great way to continue exploring different areas of personal and professional interest,” she concludes. “I never want to stop learning.”
