Switchboard

Here’s how co-founder Mara Zepeda describes the networking platform:

I was an economic reporter for NPR, so I was reporting a lot on millennial debt and student debt, and I’d also come from higher education. I started to ask questions of my own alma mater, Reed College—what are the support services on campus helping students with economic mobility? So we launched Switchboard for Reed College, really to solve our own problem.

It’s a marketplace: It connects students and alumni around their needs. Switchboard has two primary things you can do: Ask or offer. Not surprisingly, students and young alumni are looking for jobs, internships, and mentorship, and alumni are excited to offer those things. But, as more alumni go through more career transitions in their lifetime, they’re also asking for professional support. We’re trying to create a thriving marketplace of opportunities that the institution can offer to students, family, and alumni.