Brigid Avery

 

Biography

Brigid hails from the East Side of Michigan but fell in love with Grand Rapids while attending Aquinas College. A psychology major and studio art minor, Brigid completed internships with the Aquinas Admissions Office and participated in the Chicago Semester, teaching art classes at St. Agatha and shadowing an art therapist at a group home for boys. After graduating, she worked in Admissions, recruiting future Saints from Detroit and Grand Rapids public schools. The lifelong learning bug, a dislike of Michigan winters, and love of a fellow AQ alum and Marine led her to pursue a Masters Degree in Higher Education Leadership at the University of San Diego. She finished her time in sunny southern California as the Development Officer for the High Tech High Foundation, supporting a group of revolutionary charter schools that served a diverse student population. The Pure Michigan commercials worked, however, and she and husband Jeremy Chesla ’01 came back home to Michigan, and Aquinas, when she accepted the position of Alumni Director. After serving for 9 years, Brigid transitioned to the student side of the “house” and now serves as the Associate Director of Career Services and Internship Director. She lives across the street from Aquinas (she can see inside Albertus from her front porch) with her two boys, Emmett and Leo, and firefighting husband.