Staff Spotlight: Isabelle Poblete

I’m a Center Administrator for the Stanford Center for Sustainable Development and Global Competitiveness (SDGC), and I like to think of my role as a bit of a catchall position. A lot of what I do is making sure the center has whatever it needs to support our faculty and their work. That can mean coordinating logistics, helping with operations, or planning events like conferences and symposiums. 

Before coming to Stanford, I earned my bachelor’s degree in Business Entrepreneurship from San José State University. I also ran a mobile coffee business, which gave me a lot of hands-on experience with event planning, organization, and the fast-paced nature of operations work. After that, I worked as an executive assistant at a robotics startup before joining the CEE at the end of March 2026.

What inspires me most about my work is knowing that even the behind the scenes tasks matter. Sometimes administrative work can feel small in the moment, but I’m constantly reminded that there are people relying on things running smoothly so they can focus on the bigger-picture work. I really value being able to support a mission that’s centered around sustainability and positive global impact, even if my contribution is happening quietly in the background.

Since I’m still pretty new to both Stanford and higher education, one of my biggest challenges right now is learning how all the different puzzle pieces of the center fit together. I’ve been spending a lot of time understanding Stanford's processes, department workflows, and how different departments within the university operate so I can eventually help streamline things and make day to day work faster. 

Working in Stanford Engineering still feels a little surreal to me sometimes. I don’t come from an academic background, so being surrounded by faculty doing such innovative and impactful research is really inspiring. One of my favorite parts of the role is planning events and seeing the payoff of everything running smoothly day of. I have also been enjoying learning new things within my role and getting to support the SDGC’s mission in whatever way I can.