Not long after earning a Master’s degree in mental health counseling from SUNY Brockport, Erin Halligan-Avery ’08 was working as a case manager at another university. Her role was to help connect students to support services before they reached a point of crisis.

Halligan-Avery knew there had to be a more efficient way of doing it. So she created one.

Today, she is the President and Founder of ConcernCenter, Inc. — an organizational software tool that connects common student concerns with resources on and off campus.

“Students always know what they’re struggling with,” Halligan-Avery said. “Why do we require them to know our internal structure and what department they need to go to? We created a reverse directory system that pairs common concerns with available resources. It’s a central hub where students and their parents can go type in their concern and find out what resources are available to help.”

“I had a full-time job and never expected to be an entrepreneur. But other colleges and universities wanted to use it. I sort of fell into this because I had a good idea that people wanted.”
Erin Halligan-Avery

ConcernCenter was first created in 2015. For the first several years, Halligan-Avery used it at her place of employment. She saw a 141% increase in concern referrals. In 2018, she launched her company.

“I had a full-time job and never expected to be an entrepreneur. But other colleges and universities wanted to use it,” she said. “I sort of fell into this because I had a good idea that people wanted.”

Since its inception, ConcernCenter, Inc. has seen more than 1150% growth. Her alma mater, SUNY Brockport, is one of its clients.

“SUNY Brockport provided me with so many opportunities to fine tune or refine who I was and what I wanted to do with my life,” said Halligan-Avery. “I met some of the most amazing people who made me feel seen and was in a program that really supported who I am as a person.”