About
I help faculty reclaim the narrative of their scholarly lives.
So their work reflects what they actually came to academic to contribute—not someone else's definition of what matters.
The Person Behind the Work
I’m Dr. Brielle Harbin, a political scientist, educator, and the Founder of Your Cooperative Colleague.
I spent over a decade inside higher education as a tenure-track faculty member. I taught political science. I mentored students. I published. I served on committees. I did all the things you’re supposed to do — and I did them well. I earned tenure. I won the American Political Science Association’s Distinguished Teaching Award.
And somewhere along the way, I realized something that changed the direction of my career: the system I was working inside was never designed to sustain the kind of work I came to academia to do. Not for me, and not for most of the faculty I knew.
So I started solving that problem. First for myself — building systems, rhythms, and boundaries that let me do rigorous, meaningful work without constant overextension. Then for other faculty who were asking the same questions I’d been asking: Why does this feel so hard? Is it supposed to cost this much? What would it look like to do this differently?
That’s what Your Cooperative Colleague is.
What I Actually Do
Systems thinking.
I’ve spent years dissecting and critiquing the “how to work” problem in academia—how to manage a research pipeline, how to teach without it consuming everything, how to track progress in ways that keep you grounded. I’ve built the systems so you don’t have to start from scratch.
Narrative work.
Faculty have internalized academia's definition of what a successful scholarly life looks like — publish endlessly, chase prestige, seek external validation. I help them recognize how those scripts drive their overwork, name what's actually theirs, and define what 'enough' looks like on their own terms.
Institutional redesign.
For institutions, I work at the systems level—helping leaders redesign the conditions under which faculty teach, write, and lead. Not resilience workshops. Not time management tips. Structural change that makes sustainability possible.
A Guiding Belief
Higher education doesn’t need more individual endurance. It needs better design.
The faculty who are struggling aren’t struggling because they lack discipline or commitment. They’re struggling because they’ve been working inside structures that rely on invisible labor, informal norms, and personal sacrifice to function—and they’ve been told that’s just what academic life requires.
It doesn’t. Proving that—one faculty member, one institution, one redesigned system at a time—is what this work is about.
Recognition and Context
I’m the recipient of the American Political Science Association’s Distinguished Teaching Award and have collaborated with faculty and leaders across research universities, teaching-focused institutions, and professional programs.
My approach is grounded in both research and practice. I don’t offer theory without having lived inside the systems I’m helping people navigate. Every framework I teach, I built first for myself.
How This Work Takes Shape
For individual faculty: Through private consulting engagements that move from narrative clarity to strategic implementation—helping faculty redefine their relationship to their scholarly work and build the infrastructure to sustain it. I also host Steady in the Storm, a monthly live session, and write Notes from a Work Friend on Substack.
For institutions: Through keynotes, workshops, cohort programs, and strategic partnerships— helping academic leaders redesign the systems that shape faculty experience, retention, and contribution.
Ongoing Connection
Notes from a Work Friend
Story-rich reflections on teaching, writing, and leadership in higher education—for those reimagining what sustainable academic work can look like.
Contact
Interested in a conversation or collaboration?