There are two events that stand out for Katelyn Bauer, MSc IB CEMS ’18, when she thinks about how she ended up as an agent for change in a field she loves.

The first was a coffee chat before she applied for her MSc at Ivey, where she learned about the type of work management consultants do for their clients.

The second, a trip to India with the Ivey Global Lab (IGL) as part of her Masters, where she realized layering technology on top of education was the most effective way to make an impact.

Together, those events put Bauer on the path to her most recent job as Partnership Development Manager at FutureLearn, an online learning platform based in London, UK.

It’s a role that allows her to combine her love of education with her interest in policy, business, and mentorship.

“When I started my undergrad I didn’t think about the business side of things; I was so absorbed in the policy and the theory and the social science,” says Bauer.

“But when you start going into the working world and dealing with the realities, if you can’t read a balance sheet, there’s going to be certain people you’re going to have trouble talking with because you won’t speak the same language.”

Ivey’s MSc and CEMs combination gave Bauer not only the language to speak to business side of education but also the perspective around the many roles available at tech companies – and all of the ways in which technology could be used to democratize education.

“Putting tech on top of education, there’s a lot of incredible companies doing such cool things in this space, and many of them have a strong social purpose,” she says.

The value of tech to make education more accessible was proven again and again throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, adds Bauer, and that’s a shift she believes will continue to shape the sector well after the crisis is over.

As she continues to pursue her passion, Bauer hasn’t forgotten how instrumental one coffee chat was in setting her on the right path. She has made mentorship a priority both with newer members of her team at FutureLearn and with the Ivey alumni network.

“So many alumni lent their time when I was going through the program; I don’t think I’ve ever come across an alumnus who isn’t willing to give at least 15 minutes; everyone is always willing to chat and share their story,” say Bauer.

“It was a complete perspective shift for me, from thinking about education in a face-to-face context to my world totally opening up and realizing how tech impacts the sector.

And I would not have had that without Ivey and the IGL.”