A personal reflection on learning styles and the transformative power of teachers who show rather than tell, emphasizing how visual and hands-on instruction can unlock understanding for students of all ages.
Verified Member
Cathryn Harris
Non profit, Cathryn Harris
Salem, OR 97317
2Articles published
9Awards received
Her Story
About Cathryn
I've been in the nonprofit field since I was 8 years old when I started my first nonprofit, which I ran with my mother's help for many years. I went back to school later in life when I was in my 30s, starting from the bottom at a trade school and then continuing to North Central University. Completing my master's degree in organizational leadership for nonprofit management in 2023 really enabled me to start thinking about what I wanted to do more for my future and the kind of impact I wanted to make. My main area of expertise is grassroots nonprofit work, starting from scratch, implementing articles of incorporation, doing mission statements, and getting things funded. I currently work with InnerVisions, but I'm planning to start my own nonprofit to work with young women and women to empower them to become independent so they don't have to rely on somebody. I'm in the planning process for this and giving myself a couple months to get it started. I'm also starting a PhD program in June, which is about 5 years, so I have a full load right now. I'm passionate about mental health, as I've had setbacks with mental health through my journey and I'm learning to overcome those issues and become stronger. I've learned that I could have obstacles, but I could overcome those obstacles. I'm also working on writing my book to tell my story. I think of my journey like the metamorphosis of becoming a butterfly - you have to go through the cocoon stage, and then when you become that butterfly, you're breaking free and able to express yourself, write, speak, and share your journey to other people. That's exactly where I'm at right now.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Cathryn
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success and my drive to the memory of my mother. When she passed away, the loss hit me incredibly hard and triggered a profound battle with my mental health. Navigating that grief was one of the hardest chapters of my life, especially since my relationship with my father was strained.
My mother was my ultimate role model, my constant anchor, and the person who always pushed me to reach further. Today, every single goal I set and every milestone I chase is dedicated to honoring her memory. Transforming that deep grief into a powerful source of motivation is what allows me to keep striving for excellence.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I have ever received is to never give up and relentlessly follow your dreams. If there is a vision or a career goal you want to achieve, you have to understand that it may take a substantial amount of time to come to fruition. A non-traditional timeline doesn't mean your goal is impossible. If you maintain your focus, keep working through the delays, and refuse to quit, you possess everything it takes to bring that dream into reality.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The most critical advice I can offer is to never give up and refuse to let a "no" stop your momentum. You may have to knock on an absolute multitude of doors, and many of them will close in your face, but you must maintain the mindset that a "yes" is always out there waiting for you. Rejection is rarely a final destination; it is simply a filtering process that brings you closer to the right person, the right company, or the right partner who will recognize your value and give you the green light.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the most significant challenges I have had to navigate is the process of resetting and getting back on my feet after facing a difficult period. Managing the day-to-day realities of rebuilding my life—specifically focusing on financial recovery and rebuilding my credit from the ground up—requires immense patience and steady discipline.
However, this personal reconstruction phase serves as an incredible opportunity to establish an unshakeable foundation. The resilience built while navigating these systemic and financial hurdles transforms you into a much more resourceful and strategic professional, proving that you can successfully engineer a comeback no matter where you start.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
My core values are honesty, authenticity, and the willingness to be entirely real about my journey. I believe there is immense power in storytelling. When you are brave enough to tell your true story—including the struggles, the setbacks, and the recoveries—you create a genuine bridge of connection. People don't relate to perfection; they relate to shared human experiences, and operating with transparent authenticity is the best way to inspire and uplift others.
Her Content Hub
Articles by Cathryn
How I actually learn?
Why visual learning and real mentorship matter more than textbooks.
How I Actually Learn
I'm realizing now why I never truly understood accounting and Excel.
I took classes. I passed. But I never became an expert.
I learned basic functions—SUM, AVERAGE, maybe a VLOOKUP if I squint hard enough—but it never fully clicked.
Because I'm someone who learns by watching.
That's how I learn.
Show me.
Don't just hand me a textbook and expect me to figure it out.
At Diablo Valley College, I was tested for a learning disability. Looking back at those results now, I see it more clearly.
I'm not broken.
I just don't learn the way they taught me.
And technical schools and poor teaching methods don't give students an advantage when they teach from the book instead of teaching to the student.
My mother always showed me the way and helped me get to where I am today. She didn't just say, "Do your homework."
She sat with me.
She walked me through it.
She showed me step by step until it made sense.
That's how I got here.
Not because I'm incapable.
Because someone showed me.
Education Is Important
Education is incredibly important.
But it is equally important to have professors and teachers who can teach you and show you the way—not simply give you information and expect you to learn.
Slides aren't teaching.
Worksheets aren't teaching.
"Read Chapter 4" isn't teaching.
Students need educators who can connect concepts to real understanding.
Minority students, especially, often learn differently. Many of us come from homes where survival was the curriculum and where trauma was the tutor.
We need better educators who teach through examples and create pathways that help students truly understand.
Show me on the board.
Work through it with me.
Let me fail safely and try again.
Don't just grade me and move on.
I'm 51, and I'm still a PhD student in training—of myself, of systems, and of how my brain works.
I learn by watching.
By doing.
By repetition.
By story.
If you show me, I'll get it.
If you only tell me, I'll drown.
That's why I budget on paper first.
That's why I turn to YouTube tutorials for Excel.
Because someone showed me.
And now I show others.
We don't need more homework.
We need more teachers.
Cathryn M. Murray
Salem, Oregon | August 1, 2026
A powerful memoir of pursuing a PhD, launching a nonprofit for incarcerated and homeless women, and rebuilding life simultaneously—proving that lived experience transforms into evidence, action, and hope.
Rebuilding, Researching, Rising: Doing a PhD While Starting a Nonprofit From the Ashes*
A PhD student, nonprofit founder, and survivor rebuilding her life while transforming lived pain into evidence and action.
I'm pursuing my PhD while starting a nonprofit for women and rebuilding my life all at the same time.
Most people say pick one. I can't. My life doesn't work in silos. The research is the healing. The nonprofit is the reason. The rebuilding is the proof.
The PhD Keeps Me Honest
I'm in class at 51 years old. Gen X. Latchkey kid turned grad student. I turn in assignments on Canva when I still remember Microsoft Publisher and typewriters. I'm getting As, but the grade isn't the point. The point is I'm finally in a room where my lived experience is data. Where mental health, being unhoused, and criminalization aren't "topics"—they're chapters I lived through, and now I'm learning how to study them, cite them, and change them.
Every article I read for Week 4 reminds me of Week 1 of my life. Every theory connects to a shelter I slept in, a jail I visited, or a case manager who told me, "People like you don't finish degrees." I'm finishing one anyway. Because the PhD isn't just for me. It's so that when I walk into a room to fight for funding, policy, or a woman's second chance, I have the credentials they can't dismiss.
The Nonprofit Is the Promise
I'm starting it while I'm still starting over. My dream is an organization for women rising from the ashes—women coming out of prison, off the streets, and out of the system. Women who've been told they're too broken, too late, or too much. I want to speak in prisons because I know what it's like to be counted out before you even get to count yourself in.
Some days I'm writing bylaws with one hand and APA citations with the other. I'm learning nonprofit law on Tuesday and statistical methods on Thursday. It's messy. It's overwhelming. It's also the first time my chaos has a blueprint. The research informs the programs. The programs fuel the research. The PhD says, "Here's the evidence." The nonprofit says, "Here's the woman."
The Rebuilding Is the Bridge
You don't get to do this clean. I'm not starting from stability. I'm starting from Rent Well certificates, case managers, and apartments I had to fight for. I'm starting from years when the church, the system, and family doctrine told me who I was. I left. I got diagnosed. I got help. I got my name back.
Now I'm building on that rubble. The PhD is part of the rebuild. So is the nonprofit. They're not separate from my healing—they are the healing. Because the opposite of being erased is documentation. The opposite of being silenced is publication. The opposite of being thrown away is building something that catches other women.
People Ask How I Do All Three
I don't sleep much. I cry in my car between Zoom classes. I submit assignments at 11:58 PM. I second-guess the nonprofit name every other day. But I do it because I already lived the alternative. I already did the version where I stayed quiet, stayed small, and stayed stuck. That was harder.
This is hard too, but it's my hard. Chosen hard. Building hard.
I'm not waiting until I'm "healed" to help. I'm not waiting until I'm "Dr." to start. I'm not waiting until I have it all figured out to reach back.
I'm doing the PhD while starting the nonprofit while rebuilding my life because they're the same project.
The project is this: women like me don't stay in the ashes.
We rise. We research why. We reach back.
And we write it all down so the next woman has a map.
That's the assignment.
I turned it in this week.
And I'm already working on the next one.
Cathrynmharris.com
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