Fall 2026 Applications Open Soon
Please stay tuned!
Our Team
Pro Bono Director: Sarah Angle
4th-year Chemistry PhD Candidate
Sarah is a fourth-year PhD candidate in the Department of Chemistry at Duke University and a member of Dr. Katherine Franz’s lab. Her research focuses on developing antibacterial prodrugs that selectively target bacteria that cause disease while sparing beneficial bacteria. Sarah has previously served as both a consultant and Engagement Manager for DACC and now serves as Director. Outside of research, she enjoys spending time with her pups, hiking with her husband, and running.
2026 Pro Bono Senior Engagement Managers (SEMs):
Tra Truong
MBA Candidate
Tra is an MBA student at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Prior to Duke, he spent over six years leading growth initiatives and advising clients across technology, financial services, and healthcare. Most recently, Tra worked in strategic marketing at LivaNova, where he helped shape growth and product strategy in the medtech space. He is passionate about the intersection of technology, strategy, and innovation and how they can create meaningful impact across industries. Outside of work, Tra is an entrepreneur at heart, having co-founded an EdTech app, and enjoys crafting cocktails, playing chess, and training for half marathons.
Colin Brown
3rd-year MEMS PhD Candidate
Colin is pursuing a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at Duke, where he is researching new semiconducting materials that can harness electron spin to enable more efficient memory and computation. His work aims to uncover new understandings into the relationship between atomic structure and spin-related properties in these complex systems. Before graduate school, he studied Chemical Engineering at Princeton University and completed a pair of internships at Intel’s R&D campus. Outside of research, Colin enjoys hitting the gym, cheering on the Duke basketball teams, and hiking with friends.
Our Impact
The Duke Advanced Degree Consulting Club (DACC) brings together 100+ graduate students, post-docs, and medical students from over 24 programs at Duke to create interdisciplinary teams to solve real-world business problems for industry clients! Our members bring diverse skills ranging from biomedical engineering, statistical sciences, and computer science to business management and public policy, allowing us to craft unique and holistic solutions for any problem.
Our students go on to work at top-tier consulting firms such as The Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, L.E.K., IQVIA, ClearView, and Triangle Insights Group.
Our Services
What To Expect For Potential Clients?
1. Initial Contact
A member of our executive team reaches out to discuss your service request and helps draw a project outline according to your needs.
2. Form an Engagement Team
Consultants are chosen through a thorough application process and matched to projects based on expertise, skills, and interest. Teams typically consist of 3-5 consultants led by an engagement manager.
3. Create Deliverables
Team are provided a defined Statement of Work (SOW) outlining project aims. Consultants work over a period of 9-12 weeks to execute the requested services. Clients are updated at regular intervals regarding project progress.
4. Project Completion
Clients receive a consolidated final presentation synthesizing the work completed over the course of the engagement along with any supplementary materials created by the team.
Interested?
For Companies:
If your company would like to work with us, please apply here or contact our Pro Bono Director – Gracie Kreissler (gracie.kreissler@duke.edu) with a brief description of your company.
Projects typically start at the beginning of each semester. We’re always looking forward to establishing collaborations and contributing to boosting the business of startups nationally!
For Students:
The Pro Bono Consulting Program is open to all Duke University graduate students and postdocs other than MBA students. MBA students are served by Fuqua Consulting clubs.
The program runs twice a year:
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Fall Program: Recruitment happens from late July to mid-September. Projects run from mid-September to late November.
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Spring Program: Recruitment occurs from late November to mid-January. Projects run from mid-January to early April.
Time Commitment:
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Consultants typically spend around 5–10 hours per week working on the project, including client meetings, team check-ins, research, and analysis.
Team Structure:
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Each project team typically consists of 3–4 consultants and one Engagement Manager (EM), who oversees the team’s progress and handles client communication along with working on project objectives.
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Teams are also supported by Senior Engagement Managers (SEMs) who check in periodically and provide guidance throughout the project.
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Project teams are staffed based on a combination of applicants’ industry preferences, skill sets, and project needs. We aim to match consultants with projects that align with their interests and expertise.
