Stephanie Vidales took a two and a half year break from her HR career to care for her family. When she was ready to return to work, Stephanie decided to try pivoting into IT support. She completed a returnship at Akin Gump, and now works there full-time as an IT Support Specialist. Stephanie talks about her return-to-work experience, how Akin Gump’s robust support and training helped her career transition, and…
Success Stories
Success Story: Sherri Ruhl
Sherri Ruhl took a break from her career as the director of technology at the Houston Symphony when she had her second child. After a 16-year gap for childcare, eldercare, and many family moves, Sherri felt ready to return to the workforce. After learning about returnships, Sherri applied for and completed a returnship at Trimble, where she now works full-time as a business analyst. She talks about her return-to-work experience,…
Success Story: Naga Vijaya Lakshmi Ijjada
Naga Vijaya Lakshmi Ijjada took a 12-year break from her career in tech when health issues coincided with a family move from India to the US. However, Naga always intended to return to her career. “I love to work and I love to code, so I couldn’t just give it up,” she says. When she started her job search, Naga soon realized that it would be difficult to find a…
Success Story: Sophie Yazdı
Sophie Yazdi took a 20-year break from her career to care for her children and a parent. She always wanted to restart her career and so was thrilled to be accepted into and to complete the return to work program at T. Rowe Price. She is now an associate vice president, senior sales consultant. In this engaging video, Sophie appears with Mary Helen Donovan, a regional sales manager – vice…
Success Story: Sandra Norris
Sandra Norris took a 17-year break from her career in program management when she realized that her busy, travel-filled job didn’t give her enough time to spend with her child. During her break, she supported her family through nine moves and volunteered extensively. When Sandra was ready to return to the workforce, she completed a returnship at Dell, where she now works full-time as a project manager. She talks about…
Success Story: Isabela Quitzau Conceicao
Isabela Quitzau Conceicao worked as a Product Engineer at a foundry in Brazil when she took a career break to support her family’s move to the United States, and to care for her newborn child. When she was ready to return, Isabela found a returnship role at PepsiCo that would be a perfect match for her skills, and jumped on the opportunity. She returned to work as a Process Improvement…
Success Story: Sandy Goodwin
Sandy Goodwin took a 12 year break to spend more time with her children. When she was ready to return to work, Sandy completed a returnship at CDK Global, where she now works full-time as a Design Operations Lead. Sandy talks about her return to work experience, finding work-life balance in her post-break career, and how being a robotics coach for her kids helped boost her own technical skills. What…
Success Story: Laura Carey
Laura Carey took a 12-year break from her career as an HR professional, during which time she raised her kids, acted as her dad’s primary caregiver for a year, and volunteered extensively. After a great experience volunteering at a Northwell Health hospital, Laura found a returnship opportunity at Northwell Health that would be a great fit for her. She completed her returnship in talent acquisition, and now works there full-time…
Success Story: Drew Schuetz
Drew Schuetz took a break from his career in project management to care for his partner. Once he was ready to return to the workforce, Drew found it difficult to get back to his career, even with an MBA and job experience. After finding out about Path Forward, Drew applied for a position at Motorola Solutions, where he completed a returnship in project management. Now a full-time senior project manager…
Success Story: Ranjany Krishnan
Ranjany Krishnan took a four-year break from her project management career to care for her children after a cross-country move. After deciding to return to the workforce, Ranjany found herself applying to positions she was overqualified for. Then, she saw a returnship opportunity at Campbell that was a perfect fit for her – and applied. She completed her returnship in IT Project Management, and now works at Campbell full-time. Ranjany…