Alumna Brooke Turner honored for founding innovative online platform Kwaddle

Brooke speaking with the Texas State Computer Science club on how to best use innovation and creativity to develop unique and impactful products.

Texas State graduate Brooke Turner (M.A. ’07) received a Women’s Way Business award in the Production Innovation category for a company she co-founded in 2015 called Kwaddle, an online platform for parents looking for affordable out-of-school education and enrichment programs for their children.

Brooke received her B.A. in English with focus on curriculum and instruction from The University of Texas at Austin and her M.A. in technical communication from Texas State. Her career has been an intersection of these fields with past positions including educator, a global partnership and marketing manager for National Instruments, robotics mentor, and co-founder of a non-profit to support out-of-school STEM programs in the Austin area.

Her work has impacted thousands of young people, and with Kwaddle, she’s helping parents, too. The platform brings together the most useful aspects of word-of-mouth sharing, school flyers, and online searching, according to the Kwaddle website, ultimately to “give children opportunities for life-enhancing experiences that will help them discover their strengths and gain the confidence to take on life's challenges.”

Brooke says winning this award has connected her to many other women in business across Texas.

“This has opened up new conversations for how we can work together toward our shared mission of supporting women in business. To me, this award acknowledges and promotes the importance of women in leadership positions, no matter what kind of company it is.”

Looking back, Brooke is confident that her graduate studies at Texas State contributed to her professional success.

“I was a translator between engineers and K-12 educators for many years, utilizing technical skills and rhetorical and communication theory to help sales and marketing better reach this unique audience,” said Brooke Turner. “This skill set gave me access to leaders all the way up to the VP level, which in turn gave me opportunities to create my own career path, learn how to pitch my ideas, and work with a global team—all of which now lets me lead my company and help others who are newer in their career.”

Brooke’s advice to current students? “If you have to work through the night sometimes to build your dreams, remind yourself that it is not forever. It's just for this next step.”