Cathy Karry has 20 years of experience in corporate recruiting, industry relations and career development with proven results in creating deep industry partnerships.

Cathy was previously the Sales and Operations Manager at a Fortune 500 global recruitment firm, and for the past 14 years, served as the Director of Career and Professional Development at Art Center College of Design and the Director of Career Services and Educational Partnerships at Detroit’s College for Creative Studies.

Traveling extensively both domestically and abroad to meet with employers, Cathy visited studios, attended industry conferences and events and led roundtable discussions with industry leaders around topics such as skillsets required of graduates entering the workplace and educating future interaction designers.

Cathy’s most rewarding job at both institutions was building bridges to industry for students. Hearing that a student landed a job or internship, is still the brightest part of her day. Cathy’s personal outreach has resulted in relationships with companies including Apple, Porsche, Ford, Pixar, Tesla, IDEO, Sony, Mercedes, Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Wieden + Kennedy, Nike, DreamWorks Animation, Frog, Audi and BMW.

Cathy Karry Consulting was recently founded as a partner to higher education. It will focus on designing cultures of collaboration; creating strategic alignment across departments to define new ways of working. The goal is to increase impact for student success. Cathy believes that colleges and universities are educating entrepreneurially minded students and need to employ the same entrepreneurial thinking when designing the student experience and service delivery. When leadership fully commits to developing a culture of collaboration, recruiting and retention, graduate career success, industry involvement and curriculum will be positively impacted.

Tony Chen: Exterior Designer VW / Audi & Art Center College of Design Alumnus
 
“Cathy was there to help me and my fellow graduates navigate the networking process of the competitive automotive industry. Having access to that kind of support was one of the most valuable aspects of Art Center.”

Dong Tran: Lead Designer ICON Aircraft & former Exterior Designer Honda Advanced & CCS Alumnus
 
“Cathy takes her job down to a personal level and deals with every student as if they were the only student that she was helping. I found her on multiple occasions pulling out all the stops to get companies to come to our school and/or connect with the students.”

Darren Luke: Advanced Design Manager GM, former Assistant Chief Designer for the Opel Astra GTC and the Opel Adam (pictured above), designer on the Opel Insignia & CCS Alumnus
 
“With Cathy’s connections to the industry and her attention to the unique characteristics of the students, she is able to get the appropriate exposure and fit for the students and companies alike. After graduating CCS in 03 Cathy got me in the right place at the right time for a chance meeting with leadership from Opel and 3 months later the most unexpected yet pleasant journey to Germany began. To this day I consider this experience to be a foundational launching pad for my career.”