Dr. Sarah Porter & Mr. Michael Bryant
Dr. Sarah Porter and Mr. Michael Bryant are passionate about the power of community college to open doors to greater opportunity, especially for students who have been historically underrepresented in higher education.
Dr. Sarah Porter is a Licensed Psychologist who has served on the faculty of Austin Community College since 2011, providing academic, career, and clinical counseling as well as teaching student development courses. She loves helping individuals and organizations alike navigate big questions, like figuring out roadblocks to success, identifying and harnessing strengths, and taking values-guided action. She developed a positive psychology-based toolkit to help students persist in school with a focus on self-compassion, hope, gratitude, and self-care.
Dr. Porter received a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors in Sociology and Feminist Studies as well as a Master of Arts degree in Sociology from Stanford University. She worked as a management consultant and a career counseling center director prior to earning a second Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology, a Certificate in College & University Teaching, and a Ph.D. in Counseling/Clinical/School Psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Dr. Porter’s training, consultation, and counseling work has been informed by more than two decades of clinical experience in community mental health, domestic violence treatment, and several university counseling center settings, including the University of Texas at Austin and St. Edward’s University. She has published research in multiple peer-reviewed journals, presented extensively at national conferences, and served in leadership positions within her profession, including as a member of the Commission for Counseling and Psychological Services directorate for the American College Personnel Association (ACPA). Dr. Porter was awarded ACPA’s Early Career Achievement Award for her work in college student mental health.
Mr. Michael Bryant is an experienced IT professional who has worked as a network engineer for public and private sector companies for 20+ years. He is a graduate of Luther College where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Management Information Systems. In addition, he is a committed life-long learner who stays abreast of the latest technology. He holds a number of certifications from Cisco, Amazon Web Services, and HashiCorp.
A first-generation college student himself, Mr. Bryant hopes to provide support to students for whom college may otherwise be out of reach financially.