We’re continuing the momentum at The Parish Group with another exciting addition to the team—please join us in welcoming Pat Brothwell.
Pat brings a unique blend of storytelling, strategy, and higher ed experience, along with a sharp instinct for what actually resonates with audiences (not just algorithms). We’re thrilled to have him on board and excited for the way he’ll help shape how we communicate, connect, and support our partners moving forward.
Welcome to the team, Pat! Let us know more about your role and responsibilities.
I help manage and strengthen The Parish Group’s content across the website, social media, newsletters, and thought leadership—work that explains who we are, what we believe, how we work with colleges and universities, and what sets The Parish Group apart in the world of postsecondary enrollment.
A lot of my role is thinking about how a smaller firm like The Parish Group can stay visible and distinctive at a time when search, AI tools, and social platforms are changing how people find information. We’re not trying to compete by publishing more than everyone else—we’re trying to make sure what we share reflects the depth of experience on our team and provides real value to institutions navigating the same challenges.
My aim is to ensure The Parish Group’s marketing reflects its actual approach: not relying on what has worked in the past, but helping partners prepare for what they’ll need next as higher education continues to evolve.
Tell us a little bit more about your professional background.
Before joining The Parish Group, I spent more than a decade building content and thought-leadership programs for mission-driven organizations, much of that work focused on education.
I started my career as a high school teacher, where I created a district-wide postsecondary exploration program to help students better navigate college and career pathways before eventually moving into marketing and strategy roles, including work with an HR platform focused on making the job search more people-centered—helping folks figure out what comes next has been a consistent throughline in my work.
While my work has morphed into often being more strategy than actual content creation, I first and foremost consider myself a writer/storyteller. In the past few years, I’ve had bylines in Fast Company, The Daily Beast, GQ, Men’s Journal, and Slate, where my work has primarily covered corporate culture, technology, power structures, identity, and ideally, how they all intersect. I like to think this editorial work complements my content career, keeping me focused on what people actually find interesting and worth paying attention to—not just what organizations want to say.
Now what are some of your goals for your position at The Parish Group?
One of my main goals is to help strengthen The Parish Group’s voice as a place where institutions can find thoughtful, practical perspectives on the challenges they’re navigating right now—not just commentary on what’s already happened in higher ed. There’s a lot of noise online right now, and I’m interested in helping make sure this team’s genuinely valuable insights and experience are visible to the institutions that need them most.
A big part of what excited me about the role was the impressive content foundation The Parish Group’s small but mighty team had already built. I’m excited to build on that foundation by continuing to grow brand recognition and making the team’s perspective more visible to institutions navigating a rapidly changing enrollment landscape. I’m also interested in helping show that even in a future shaped by AI and automation—and I’m not anti either of those—a personal touch and a deeply human approach still matters, especially in a field as personal and consequential as college enrollment.
As champions of higher ed, we’ve gotta ask: Where did you go to college?
I went to The University of Scranton, a small, liberal-arts, Jesuit university located (huge plot twist here)…in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
We’re excited you’ve joined the team, Pat!
You can read his first article for The Parish Group, “College Decision Day is Just the Beginning for Most Enrollment Teams.”
Together, we do BIG things.
