{"id":21232,"date":"2022-04-22T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-22T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/?p=21232"},"modified":"2023-07-06T15:12:36","modified_gmt":"2023-07-06T19:12:36","slug":"poole-advisory-board-spotlight-francesa-cain-watson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/2022\/04\/22\/poole-advisory-board-spotlight-francesa-cain-watson\/","title":{"rendered":"Poole Advisory Board Spotlight: Francesa Cain-Watson ’08"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Updated July 2023<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Poole College advisory board member Francesa Cain-Watson thinks about the future of the college, she can\u2019t help but get excited. As an NC State alumna (bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology) and technology professional, she knows the market is ripe for the talent the college is producing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating from the university in 2008, Cain-Watson took an inside sales position at Lenovo. She spent the next decade at the tech giant in different roles before taking a position as an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) data center account executive. However in mid-2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, she found herself presented with an opportunity she couldn\u2019t pass up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was approached by a young startup company, Merlyn Mind, which created the first AI-powered digital assistant designed to assist and empower K-12 teachers,\u201d Cain-Watson says. \u201cAs the company\u2019s sales director, I got to play an important role in helping build our go-to-market strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After two years with Merlyn Mind, she started a new position in July 2023 as Sales Director, Americas, with Iceotope Technologies Limited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She hopes her technology, and now start-up, experience will be an asset to the Poole College board. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cain-Watson got connected to the Poole College board through longtime board member Henry Campen<\/a>, who then introduced her to current board chair Christine Holmes<\/a>. She instantly bought into the vision for the board, and jumped at the opportunity to give back to the university in a meaningful way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She currently serves on the board\u2019s student success task force where she\u2019ll work with other board members to increase opportunities for students and improve post-graduation outcomes like job placements and starting salaries.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

I\u2019ve really enjoyed working with our task force as we set specific goals for how to continue to improve student success for students \u2013 whether it’s creating additional networking opportunities or increasing the focus on career prep courses.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve really enjoyed working with our task force as we set specific goals for how to continue to improve student success for students \u2013 whether it’s creating additional networking opportunities or increasing the focus on career prep courses,\u201d Cain-Watson says. \u201cWe also have spent a lot of time discussing the best avenues to communicate with our students about potential career and development opportunities. We want to reach students where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cain-Watson is encouraged by the college\u2019s focus on entrepreneurship and innovation, and the passion for problem solving, critical thinking and providing real-world experience for its students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is a real commitment to students and their success, and that mentality has extended to the board,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s really exciting to be a part of that.\u201d  <\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\n\n\n\n\n

(Updated July 2023<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Poole College advisory board member Francesa Cain-Watson thinks about the future of the college, she can\u2019t help but get excited. As an NC State alumna (bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology) and technology professional, she knows the market is ripe for the talent the college is producing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating from the university in 2008, Cain-Watson took an inside sales position at Lenovo. She spent the next decade at the tech giant in different roles before taking a position as an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) data center account executive. However in mid-2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, she found herself presented with an opportunity she couldn\u2019t pass up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was approached by a young startup company, Merlyn Mind, which created the first AI-powered digital assistant designed to assist and empower K-12 teachers,\u201d Cain-Watson says. \u201cAs the company\u2019s sales director, I got to play an important role in helping build our go-to-market strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After two years with Merlyn Mind, she started a new position in July 2023 as Sales Director, Americas, with Iceotope Technologies Limited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She hopes her technology, and now start-up, experience will be an asset to the Poole College board. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cain-Watson got connected to the Poole College board through longtime board member Henry Campen<\/a>, who then introduced her to current board chair Christine Holmes<\/a>. She instantly bought into the vision for the board, and jumped at the opportunity to give back to the university in a meaningful way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She currently serves on the board\u2019s student success task force where she\u2019ll work with other board members to increase opportunities for students and improve post-graduation outcomes like job placements and starting salaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve really enjoyed working with our task force as we set specific goals for how to continue to improve student success for students \u2013 whether it's creating additional networking opportunities or increasing the focus on career prep courses.<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve really enjoyed working with our task force as we set specific goals for how to continue to improve student success for students \u2013 whether it's creating additional networking opportunities or increasing the focus on career prep courses,\u201d Cain-Watson says. \u201cWe also have spent a lot of time discussing the best avenues to communicate with our students about potential career and development opportunities. We want to reach students where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cain-Watson is encouraged by the college\u2019s focus on entrepreneurship and innovation, and the passion for problem solving, critical thinking and providing real-world experience for its students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is a real commitment to students and their success, and that mentality has extended to the board,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s really exciting to be a part of that.\u201d  <\/p>\n"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Poole College advisory board member Francesa Cain-Watson thinks about the future of the college, she can\u2019t help but get excited.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":21291,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/default-post-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{\"showAuthor\":false,\"showDate\":true,\"showFeaturedVideo\":false,\"caption\":\"\",\"displayCategoryID\":137}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[137,286],"tags":[1800],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"class_list":["post-21232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry","category-newswire","tag-advisory-board"],"displayCategory":{"term_id":137,"name":"Industry","slug":"industry","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":137,"taxonomy":"category","description":"Stories about Poole College faculty\/staff or students related to industry.","parent":0,"count":410,"filter":"raw"},"acf":{"ncst_posts_meta_modified_date":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21232"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54681,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21232\/revisions\/54681"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21232"},{"taxonomy":"_ncst_magazine_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/poole.ncsu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_ncst_magazine_issue?post=21232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}