Taryn Urban (she/her) serves as the Program Coordinator at the Grad Center, where she oversees the newsletter, social media accounts, and online calendars in addition to assisting with event planning.
Taryn received her B.A. from Bucknell University in 2018 with a double major in Animal Behavior and Women’s and Gender Studies. She earned her M.S.Ed. in Higher Education from Penn in 2021, experiencing firsthand the unexpected switch to virtual learning as the COVID-19 pandemic took off. During her time as a student, Taryn was a Graduate Assistant for the Office of Equity & Inclusion at Penn Law and served on the board of Penn’s Graduate School of Education’s Student Government (GSESG). Within GSE she also helped organize the 2021 Women of Color in Higher Education virtual conference.
Taryn returns to Penn from her role as Coordinator of Student Engagement at Drexel University, where she organized student events. She has also interned at several nonprofit organizations and was a summer fellow for the Mayor’s Office of LGBT Affairs here in Philadelphia. Before starting grad school, she worked as a barista while volunteering for her church’s youth choir, where she got to run theatre rehearsals and chaperone their annual tour.
Outside of work Taryn serves as a volunteer organizer for LFG Philly, a local club that aims to create welcoming meetups for LGBTQ+ gamers. In her free time she loves binging YouTube videos, dressing up, and exploring Philly. She lives with her cherished cat named Chamomile.
