Student photographer puts equity in focus

The lens zooms in, a reflection of Clark cast onto the camera glass. Click, click.

Natalie Hoang ’25, MBA ’26, is hard at work.

Hoang’s is a familiar face on campus, albeit one obscured by a camera lens. The marketing major is constantly capturing moments at Clark as a photography intern for the Marketing and Communications Department and in her free time.

The internship allows Hoang to amplify Clarkies and their projects through photo and video storytelling. She also is the marketing director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation program, a role that requires her to create social media strategies to promote Clark events, like Thrift Store concerts and panels. Her work comes with a strong focus on equity and representation for all.

This semester, Hoang aims to make her photography accessible and affordable for Clarkies, an extension of a project she began back home in San Francisco with the help of a teacher. As such, Hoang especially loves taking portraits of her fellow Clarkies and is frequently seen around campus hosting LinkedIn headshot popups for students.

“I always think of community first. That’s what all my projects portray.”

“I’ve been raised to always give back, despite not having a lot growing up,” Hoang says. “I don’t have photos of myself as a baby and I don’t know how I looked in my infant years because my parents could not afford a camera. I always have that in the back of my mind when I do photography projects.”

After settling on a marketing major (she initially planned to major in screen studies), Hoang wondered how she could best give back to the Vietnamese American community. She then began learning about inclusive marketing.

“Everyone defines inclusive marketing as sustainability or social impact,” she says, “but what does social impact actually mean?”

For Hoang, inclusive marketing means providing opportunities for companies to do social good and to do right by marginalized and underserved communities. Recognition of how businesses have negatively impacted these communities for generations is central to this pursuit.

After completing an internship in inclusive marketing at First Republic Bank in her hometown of San Francisco, Hoang came across Project Onramp through an email from Clark’s Career Connections Center. Project Onramp removes barriers to ensure traditionally marginalized students have access to high-quality paid positions in the life sciences. The program steered her toward a second internship, at Boston-based Agios, a company that specializes in pharmaceuticals for rare diseases. The role taught Hoang about the interplay between cultural influences and healthcare-seeking behaviors in patients with uncommon diseases like thalassemia and sickle cell anemia. Exploring marketing through this lens reiterated the importance of community.

“Everything I do is for my community,” Hoang says. “I always think of community first. That’s what all my projects portray.”

As a high school student, Hoang found Clark through the Achieve Foundation, a college-access program for low-income first-generation students funded by philanthropist Barbara Bass Bakar. Hoang says that talking to her friends in business and marketing programs at other schools has made her realize that Clark’s focus on sustainability and social change over profit is exceptionally unique. (Another consideration for choosing Clark: the high number of phở restaurants within walking distance. Her favorite is Dalat.)

“The MBA program has helped offer individuals like me the opportunity to break stereotypes,” Hoang says. “I want to use my position and experience to help companies further develop their corporate social responsibilities.

“I’m constantly thinking of equality,” she adds. “I feel like I’m able to get that bigger picture at Clark.”