Next Up: A Career and a Cause

After high school, Khiem Tran spent a gap year working and saving — to achieve his dream of earning a bachelor’s degree. At Brightpoint, he discovered a lasting desire to give back and took advantage of the college’s guaranteed transfer agreement with Virginia Commonwealth University. 

Now as a Campaign Development Manager at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), he’s rallying support for a cause that’s close to his heart.

Here’s how he brought his dreams to life:

Get experience that transfers.

Serving on his high school’s yearbook staff ignited his love for design. At Brightpoint, Khiem majored in visual communications and got the chance to conceptualize a new brand for a real client before transferring into VCU’s creative advertising program.

It was the first time he encountered a real-world opportunity to practice his future career. “I was able to design a logo, stationery and a full rebrand, and pitch it to the organization,” Khiem said.

His experience at Brightpoint also offered him a good sense of what to expect in upper-level classes at a four-year university as well as tactics to choose extracurriculars that would have the biggest impact.

Build confidence, then go full out.

At Brightpoint, Khiem helped organize and fundraise for the Art Club’s annual trip to visit galleries in New York City.

“It was my first organizational leadership role,” Khiem said. “My experience as treasurer enabled me to be involved in so many other organizations.”

Khiem says that going to Brightpoint also allowed him to manage his time better at VCU and focus on the things that really interested him.

At VCU, those interests were wide ranging: He was an admissions ambassador, the president of the Recreational Sports Club Council, a member of the rowing team and a member of Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity — all while juggling classes, work and a design internship at the Children’s Museum of Richmond. 

Make a difference.

As his fraternity’s philanthropy chair, Khiem spearheaded fundraising efforts with its national philanthropy partner, LLS, and developed close relationships with staff members at the nonprofit’s Richmond office. Five years later, they offered him a full-time job.

Now as a Campaign Development Manager at LLS, Khiem builds corporate partnerships for its annual major fundraising event, Light The Night. It brings together cancer survivors, families and supporters in cities across the country, who walk to end cancer and to honor people touched by the disease.

“Cancer runs in my family,” Khiem said. “We lost my grandmother to stage-four brain cancer in 2010. My mom is a breast cancer survivor of over 20 years. I love being able to give back through our mission and to impact research and drugs developed for many types of cancer. It’s satisfying knowing that every time I make a call or send an email, it plays a little part in, hopefully, one day finding a cure.”