Blakely O'Connor

BLAKELY O’CONNOR, PhD ’20, engineering sciences, is a research development associate at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), where she supports grant writing and proposal development to increase extramural funding and grow UAB's research enterprise across campus. She also founded a research consulting business, Besearch Consulting, that provides research services to inform inclusive product and policy design and decision-making for businesses, startups, and nonprofits. Previously, O'Connor held leadership roles in early- and growth-stage digital health startups based in Birmingham, AL. O'Connor is involved with her local Harvard Alumni Club, the Harvard Club of Alabama, where she serves as regional representative for Birmingham. During her time at Harvard Griffin GSAS, she served in various leadership roles on the Graduate Student Council (including President) and was selected as a 2020 Commencement Marshal.