Mid-career, Chandra scores new skills and professional growth
Before the Roux
With a 20-plus-year career in Maine, Chandra Leister has done it all: event planner, communications manager, marketing director. But she found her true calling—project management—at IDEXX, a veterinary medicine powerhouse and Roux Institute founding partner.
Eager to take her career to the next level, Leister enrolled in the Roux’s graduate certificate in project management program in 2020.
“By my third class, I was thinking, ‘This is amazing. I’m taking what I learn at night and putting it to use the next day at work.’”
CHANDRA LEISTER
2022 Graduate
Flexibility + immediate payoff
She says the Roux’s partnership-driven mission and vision to attract and retain talent in Maine was a big differentiator. With a family and full-time job, the flexibility to learn new skills in the evening meant everything to Leister. She soon switched into the Roux’s full master’s in project management program, after seeing her studies pay off immediately.
“By my third class, I was thinking, ‘This is amazing. I’m taking what I learn at night and putting it to use the next day at work,’” she says.
New opportunities, new networks
When Leister first enrolled in Roux, she arranged meetings with PMs in departments across IDEXX, and consumed all of the advice she could from learning about their roles and career journeys. Following her 2022 graduation, with diploma in hand, she is making the most of her role as a senior project manager for global communications.
She’s now taking advantage of the confidence and connections she gained at the Roux – seeking opportunities to lead interdepartmental projects and delve into technical project management.
She’s also committed to paying it forward. Leister’s grandfather graduated from Northeastern’s Boston campus in the late 1950s. Now with her own degree from Northeastern’s Roux Institute, she wants to deepen her Roux connections and is working to establish an alumni network in Maine.
“The Roux’s work is crucial to moving Maine forward,” she says.