May 20, 2026 · Talent

How Rediscovering Alabama Helped Raegan Harris Find Her Future

College students experience much of their education on campus. But transformational learning can also take place outside of the classroom walls.

For Raegan Harris, stepping off campus and into rural and urban communities across Alabama profoundly shaped her perspective on the state and her vision for the future. Harris, an Alabama native, recently graduated from the University of Alabama, where she studied urban planning and community development. In her sophomore year, she reflected on her familiarity with Alabama and decided she needed to further explore her home state to better understand the places and people she hoped to work alongside one day. This desire prompted her participation in two programs supported by Innovate Alabama: FuelAL and the Student Retention Council (SRC).

“Being in these programs… reignited my passion for planning in the Southeast, and I saw that maybe this is where my efforts can be best spent,” said Harris.

Through FuelAL – a summer program facilitated by the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama – Harris traveled across the state while engaging in professional development, service opportunities and social events. At the same time, she interned with the Walker Area Community Foundation in Jasper. FuelAL and her internship introduced her to a wide range of local leaders and young people with distinct insights into their hometowns. This exposure prompted Harris to seek out more opportunities to bring her urban planning and community development interests to life.

Soon after concluding FuelAL, she was appointed by former University of Alabama President Dr. Stuart R. Bell to participate in the 2024-2025 SRC cohort. A program of the Higher Education Partnership of Alabama, the SRC empowers college students to share their perspectives on what would keep them in Alabama after graduation. Through the program, student representatives (like Harris) travel across the state, listen to their peers and collect insights. According to SRC, Harris’ cohort engaged with more than 1,000 students across 15 communities.

For Harris, the experience was eye-opening. “It taught me a lot about assessing community assets and needs. Because as I traveled to all of these different communities, I was able to have conversations with people who might be making the decisions, and people who were affected by the decisions,” she said. “It was really special, too, because it felt like every community was giving us the keys to the city for a couple of days.”

Harris and the other SRC representatives learned a lot along the way. Students expressed strong interest in the knowledge-based job economy and said they wanted more clarity around relevant career pathways. They also emphasized the importance of outdoor recreation, public spaces and quality-of-life investments.

The program is more than a listening tour, though. It is also designed to bring these insights to elected officials and other state leaders to inform future decisions and policies. Given that additional goal, Harris organized her findings and presented them to legislators and leaders in Montgomery, including Bill Poole, Director of the Alabama Department of Finance, and Greg Reed, then-Senate President Pro Tempore and now Secretary of the Alabama Department of Workforce.

Those presentations clearly made an impression. Soon after, Poole wrote a glowing letter of recommendation for Harris to include in her graduate school application.

“Programs such as FuelAL and the Student Retention Council are critical to Alabama’s continued growth and long-term success. These initiatives expose and connect talented college students with employers, communities, and career opportunities across Alabama while strengthening their professional development and leadership experiences,” shared Director Poole. “In doing so, they showcase Alabama’s exceptional quality of life and the many career opportunities available here at home – encouraging students to build their futures, careers and families right here in Alabama.”

Raegan Harris is a shining example of the impact these programs can have, and the opportunities Alabama offers to the next generation of talent.”

Through these experiences, Harris developed a strong sense of pride in Alabama and the opportunities she found here. She says Innovate Alabama opened doors that reshaped how she sees the state and her role within it.

Harris has since been accepted into the University of Texas at Austin’s Master of Science in Community and Regional Planning program, where she will begin classes in Fall 2026. While she looks forward to gaining experience in a larger city, she plans to bring those insights back to Alabama in the years ahead.

For Harris, FuelAL and the SRC offered more than professional development. They helped clarify where her work can have the greatest impact and affirmed her desire to build a future in Alabama.