MLDH Team Members
The Master’s Life Design Hub team is a group of experienced Life Design educators and career professionals dedicated to supporting master’s students across Johns Hopkins University at different stages of their academic and professional journeys. Together, the team serves Advanced Academic Programs (AAP), Whiting School of Engineering (WSE), Engineering for Professionals (EP), and other master’s populations, with particular attention to the needs of international students, working professionals, and career-switchers.
Yairs Kurt Director of Master’s Life Design Hub
Yasir (He/Him) is originally from Turkey. He lived in San Antonio, Texas for about 10 years and received his master’s and doctoral degrees there respectively from The University of Texas at San Antonio and St. Mary’s University. Then, he started his professional career services journey at Texas A&M University San Antonio. After working 2 years at A&M, he joined Purdue University-Krannert School of Management (Krannert Professional Development Center). At Purdue, he was an Associate Director of Graduate Programs between August 2021-2022. He is excited to help students embrace their innovative and entrepreneurial spirit and use the LD/DT concepts in their lives and decisions. If Yasir could tell his university-self anything it would be to go and seek for great mentors to guide you in your journey!In his spare time, Yasir likes to go to parks, trails, and playgrounds with his family as much as possible and enjoys reading books and playing table tennis.
Caitlin Broccoli Associate Director of Life Design: WSE Masters Students & Engineering for Professionals
Caitlin is from Bel Air, MD and moved back after being in Rhode Island for the last decade. She is an educator, strategic workforce development professional, and Life Design Educator with varied experience in higher education, healthcare, and non-profit management but her favorite role is “mom” to two little boys.
Prior to Hopkins, Caitlin served as the Education & Workforce Director with the Fort Meade Alliance where she was a liaison between executives in the technology and national defense sector and the education system to strategically develop workforce pipeline initiatives. Additionally, she has designed programs for engineering students at the University of Maryland College Park and created curricular and co-curricular experiential education programs for public health students at the University of Rhode Island. If Caitlin could tell her undergraduate-self anything, it would be that it is to be ok when things don’t go as you planned because it’s ultimately leading you to where you will go.
Laura Fajin-Riviero Associate Director of Life Design, Advanced Academic Programs
Laura is originally from Santiago de Compostela, a small town in Galicia, Spain and graduated with a BA in English Linguistics and Literature from Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, but completed the fourth year of the program at Gothenburg University, in Sweden. In 2021 she graduated with an M.F.A. in Illustration Practice from The Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore. In Sweden, Laura worked as a Teacher of Spanish as a Second Language and as a freelancer. In the US, she worked as an Art Educator and as an Art Studio Manager.
If Laura could tell her undergrad/masters level self anything it would be that you are going to live in many places, meet lots of people from different backgrounds, and feel unsure at times, but you are going to enjoy the ride.
Sylvia (Xiaowen) Chen Assistant Director Life Design, Advanced Academic Programs
Sylvia (Xiaowen) Chen is originally from Beijing, China and brings a unique interdisciplinary background to her work in education. She holds an M.S. in Telecommunications and Computers from George Washington University, an M.S.Ed. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D. in Multicultural and Multilingual Education from George Mason University.
Before joining the Life Design Lab, Sylvia served as a research assistant and project coordinator on two large-scale, grant-funded projects focused on multilingual learners in K–12 STEM education. She has also worked as a program assistant supporting over 1000 international students at George Mason University. She taught both English and Chinese in various community and university settings. Her research and practice center on educational equity, intercultural competence, and student-centered pedagogy.