Daniellia Marshall

When Daniellia Marshall graduated from Whitney Young in 2011, she had already found her passion – and immediately started doing freelance graphic design to build her portfolio.

To help pay the bills, they worked full-time at an emergency dispatch center. Not feeling totally fulfilled in their career, in 2018 they decided to pursue their degree full-time.

As a first-generation college student who was paying their own way, they looked for an affordable option close to home. They took classes at both Malcolm X College, near their Austin neighborhood home, and Harold Washington College. Ultimately, they became a full-time student at Harold Washington as they pursued a degree in psychology.

While at Harold Washington, Dani put her skills to use as a social media and marketing intern as part of her work study. She helped with marketing projects and campaigns, made school promotional posters and materials, and produced social media design.

Also helping them get one step closer to their goals, Dani landed a paid internship with City Colleges partner and IT consulting firm SDI Presence in January of 2020. They had a busy semester as a full-time student and part-time creative design intern, but it paid off in May when they earned their associate Degree in Psychology and a new title at work: creative director intern. On top of that, Dani was accepted to a range of four-year universities, including Howard University, the Milwaukee Institute of Design, the School of the Art Institute, and the University of Michigan.

Dani transferred to the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design before completing their studies at Columbia College Chicago, where they earned a bachelor of arts in Graphic Design followed by a master of arts in Strategic Communication before graduating from The One School – Portfolio School. They also continued to work at SDI. Dani’s impressive performance led to a promotion to Marketing Enablement Apprentice, a position they held until October 2022. After completing their apprenticeship, Dani continued to build their career as a freelance artist and an art director apprentice.

When Dani faced challenges in securing full-time employment after the apprenticeship, she reached out to Transfer Director Ellen Goldberg and Career Advisor Jasmin Dobson at Harold Washington College. With their assistance, Dani successfully landed a full-time position as an Associate Digital Production Artist at Epsilon.