Accelerate to Industry
Accelerate to Industry (A2i) is a workforce development program that allows graduate students to explore diverse career paths with our industry partners in the Charlotte region and beyond. This program offers a variety of modules that teach students how to transfer the skills they’ve acquired in their degree programs to meet the needs and challenges of industry. From one-day company site visits to semester-long team projects, A2i creates a host of meaningful interactions between sponsor companies and top Charlotte graduate students and postdocs.
Interested in presenting an A2i talk or workshop? Contact Dr. Jill Huerta (jhuerta2@charlotte.edu).
Fall 2025
| Date | Partner | Workshop | Presenter |
| September 25 |  | Do Good, Get Ahead: How Volunteering Supercharges Your Career | April Whitlock, Executive Director, LendingTree Foundation | Head of Corporate Citizenship at LendingTree |
| October 17 |  | TBD | Katie Conrad, Director, Deputy Chief of Staff at Novant Health |
Spring 2025
| Date | Partner | Workshop | Presenter |
| Feb 6 |  | Ins and Outs of Professional Negotiation with Ally Banking | Sarah Haley, Campus Engagement Lead, Talent Acquisition |
| Feb 26 |  | Navigating Change: Adapt and Lead in a Dynamic World | Raul Castaneda, Regional Sr. Director Talent Mgmt, & Mfg. Learning Centers |
| March 10 |  | Career Pathways for Students with Technical & Data Analytics Skills | Sumitha Natarajan, Head of Data Solutions and Data Products Dr. Melissa Dabb, Executive Vice President of Architecture Infrastructure & Cloud |
| March 28 |  | Work Organization in an International Company | Giuseppe Scaziota, Managing Director |
PAST a2i events
Fall 2024
| Date | Partner | Workshop | Presenter |
| Oct 18 |  | A2i: Insights from a Charlotte Alum: Leveraging Your Opportunities to Chart Your Career Path | Katie Conrad, Director and Deputy Chief of Staff at Novant Health |
| Oct 22 |  | A2i: Career Success Insights from Industry Experts | Mike Cowell, Executive Vice President, Chief Auditor/Internal Audit Services at TIAA Pete Greve, Partner at Pesta, Finnie & Associates Chris Moxley, entrepreneur and Co-Owner of Charlotte-based lifestyle brand 704 Shop |
| Oct25 |  | Don’t Blow It: Make a Positive Impression on Employers | Matt Bryan, Squad Leader for Manufacturing in Enterprise Data & Advanced Analytics at Siemens Energy |
Spring 2024
| Date | Partner | Workshop | Presenter |
| April 5 |  | A2i Professional Storytelling Advice from Accenture | Milan Damani, Accenture’s Managing Director & COO, Global Delivery Leader, Chloé Human, a Charlotte alumna now in Strategy & Consulting, and Peyton Watson, Management Consulting Senior Analyst |
Corporate Participants
