To help ring in the new year, the Nelson Institute staff welcomed a new team member: Christopher Kilgour. A Nelson graduate, Kilgour joins the staff as the institute’s first outreach manager, a new role created to help expand our recruitment and community efforts.
“One of the institute’s historic strengths is our engagement with communities, here in Wisconsin and around the world,” says Nathan Schulfer, director of Nelson’s international and professional programs. “With Christopher joining our team, we now have the chance to better harmonize our work across the institute and to simply be more present in the communities we serve.”
A true Madisonian, Kilgour graduated from East High School and continued to UW–Madison, earning his degree in anthropology with certificates in American Indian and environmental studies. After finishing his studies, he joined the Department of Information Technology (DoIT). There, Kilgour served as the tribal programs manager for a program he cofounded as a student: DoIT’s Information Technology Academy (ITA), a pre-college program for diverse students attending public schools in Wisconsin. At DoIT, he bolstered ITA’s relationships with Wisconsin’s Native Nations, leading to the expansion of UW–Madison outreach programs for Oneida and the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa youth.
Kilgour also founded Color in the Outdoors, an outdoor adventure group that seeks to reduce barriers to outdoor activities among diverse communities. He has run the group since it started 20 years ago and led its incorporation as an LLC in 2018.
“I am extremely excited to be joining the Nelson Institute team after having the privilege of graduating from UW–Madison with a certificate from Nelson, as well as participating and partnering with Nelson through my other organization, Color in the Outdoors,” says Kilgour. “I think this is going to be an exciting opportunity to explore, continue to foster, and develop new partnerships and engagement opportunities with local communities and beyond.”
In his role, Kilgour will support multiple facets of the Nelson Institute, from administration to academic planning to research. With increased outreach capacity, the Institute will be able to ensure diverse access to our programs and services by building deeper relationships with post-secondary institutions, campus partners, and community organizations. “This is a moment the Institute has long worked towards, and we could not be happier to have Christopher’s support moving forward,” adds Schulfer.
“This role will help generate new, community-focused opportunities for our current students, as well as open the door for more diverse classes of future Nelson students,” says Dean Paul Robbins. “We have a real opportunity to move the needle and be a campus leader in this space, and Christopher’s experience on the UW campus and as a community leader will help us do it.”