Meet Dr. Liz
Hi, I'm Dr. Liz Krider. This program is everything I wish I would have had when I was exploring different interests in high school and when I was asking so many questions early in my career.
I love helping students transform their interests into projects and internships.
This transformation helps students discover their passions and invites them to contribute to their communities.
When we do this, we find ways to level up our skills, to work with others, and to go beyond our comfort zones.
In the process, we discover ourselves
Dr. Liz Krider is a parent, speaker, researcher, teacher and the founder of KSA Catalyst – a boutique consulting group with the mission of teaching 5000 students how to develop purpose through projects and internships. She's not your typical Caltech PhD.
She uses her Caltech Ph.D., professional advocacy expertise and 20 years of mentorship to coach students in 1:1 and group settings to complete projects and internships that matter to them. Her students thrive at top 20 and top 75 colleges and beyond, primarily because of the advanced skills and confidence they gained from working with her. Her students have matriculated to Stanford, Yale, Cornell, Brown, Georgetown, Duke, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Johns Hopkins University, Rice, NYU, Tufts, University of Notre Dame, Purdue, and many other top 100 colleges.
She earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and her research experience spans bioinorganic chemistry, environmental science, and microbiology. She served as Caltech’s Director of Government and Community Relations for five years and currently teaches career development to Caltech undergraduates. In addition to teaching for 8 years at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy (La Cañada, CA), she has spent more than 20 years mentoring students in Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, church groups, robotics and mountain biking. She is the recipient of several awards for environmental advocacy, community service, and teaching in Southern California, and is the author of scientific publications.
She is nationally recognized for her work on independent projects, which have become the differentiator for college admissions for high school students and for internship placements for undergraduates. She is the creator of the Impact Symposium, an in-person, live event where high school students present their community impact and research projects through TED-style talks. She co-directs the Catalyst Research Program, a summer laboratory research program featuring undergraduate-level projects designed and conducted by high school students.
Dr. Liz speaks about cultivating purpose through projects at national conferences, association meetings, and on college campuses. She hosts small-group workshops online and throughout Southern California for parents, students, and community leaders. She lives in Southern California with her husband, where they like to volunteer and to mountain bike, as well as do projects.
