Meet the alumni who represent the best of Cal Poly and Learn by Doing, whether that’s by making a difference through volunteer work, their professions or in their communities. Do you have a story to tell? Let us know!
Announcing the New Latinx Alumni Community
In the next year, the plans of the Cal Poly Alumni — Latinx Community include hosting alumni networking and social events and increasing visibility and support for current Mustangs through events and activities such as the Chicano/Latino Commencement Ceremony and the grand opening of the new on-campus Latinx Center. To receive more information, complete the Interest Form to be added to the group’s mailing list.

Alumni Communities Give $42,000 to Student Success Initiatives
Cal Poly Alumni Communities recently came together to donate $42,000 to student success initiatives on campus. The funds were sourced from the net proceeds of events hosted by communities throughout the year and include more than $13,000 earmarked toward scholarships and $8,000 to the Cal Poly Food Pantry.

Cal Poly Career Connections Match Leads to Job Offers
A match made through Cal Poly Career Connections led to a job offer and more for 2020 graduate Epsa Sharma and her mentee, fourth-year business student Mia Habib. Their successful collaboration began when Habib reached out to Sharma for help applying for internships and ended with Habib receiving a full-time job offer.

More Cal Poly Proud Stories

Duhs' Career Comes Full Circle
Shore Fire Media, a leading public relations firm representing talent and businesses across the arts and entertainment industry, promoted Mikaela Duhs (Journalism, '18) to senior account executive. During her time at Cal Poly, Duhs served as an arts reporter and editor at Mustang News in addition to working as an on-air DJ and video editor for KCPR. In fact, she once filmed an interview for KCPR with Chicano Batman — which would later become her client at Shore Fire. Congrats, Mikaela!

Kelsey's Diverse Career Path
Thomas Kelsey (Journalism, ‘77) has worked as a tour guide and theatre presenter for the past two years at the Lone Pine Film Festival in Lone Pine, California. His tours focused on the life of photographer Ansel Adams and his iconic black-and-white images taken in the Eastern Sierra. Kelsey also worked as a staff photographer and writer at nine different newspapers, including 12 years at the Los Angeles Times. He has published two books, “The Spirit of the West” and “75 years later – Warbirds, Airman & Veterans of World War II.”

Land Conservation and Love!
Mandy Brazil-Schmidt (Agricultural Communication, '13) is in the business of love and land conservation! Brazil-Schmidt used her agricultural communications degree from Cal Poly to help her launch a luxury wedding venue in Northern California (The Haven at Tomales). The venue is located in the center of a sprawling ranch with priorities on land conservation, carbon sequestration, and regenerative farming practices.