CLASS OF 2005 | 2022 | FALL ISSUE
Rahwa Yebio has published two books of poetry under her pen name, Amaya Sunn, and has recently completed her first young adult novel. She is also a digital content creator specifically producing visual poetry pieces. Over the period of a decade, Rahwa has created arts programming and spearheaded enrichment curriculums for youth in New York City. She is also the mother of a brilliant and beautiful 11-year-old boy!
Misa Dayson gave birth to her and her husband’s, Jules Hollander, son, Isaiah, in July 2020. He is the cutest baby-toddler in the world, and at least once every day she feels like she experiences a bit of magic being in his presence. At the same time, becoming a mother for the first time in the middle of a global pandemic was challenging, and she decided to document the experience with her friend, Veena Hampapur, through their podcast, Memos from Motherhood (Or, I Gave Birth During a Pandemic?!). Memos unpacks the personal and political nuances of navigating the early years of parenting amidst both a global pandemic, and seismic political, cultural, and environmental change. Trained as anthropologists, Misa and Veena process pandemic parenthood holistically and intersectionality through intimate conversations and voice memos. Misa has really enjoyed hearing about how her and Veena’s shared stories are resonating with a range of people, both parents and child-free alike! When not producing the podcast, she continues her work in film producing and screenwriting. She lives in Harlem, and this past summer enjoyed traveling internationally for the first time in three years visiting family in France. She would appreciate any tips people have to offer on how to make future vacations run smoother with a toddler in tow!
Xiomara Lorenzo and Cara Herbitter ’03, despite nearly convincing themselves in 2013 that they would return to New York City once Cara completed their clinical PhD program in 2020, have truly made a home in Boston; so much so that they are closing on a house this fall! This year they celebrated 17 years together and 10 years married. Xiomara co-leads digital product management at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, while Cara completes their postdoctoral fellowship at the Boston VA.
Ada Pinkston is an artist and lecturer who currently works at Towson University and Maryland Institute College of Art. Her work was recently acquired by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). You can view an iteration of this augmented-reality monument on LACMA’s Snapchat profile.
Maya Lake is a stylist and designer in Los Angeles. You can find her on a film or television set where she is celebrating the wrapping of a show. You can also find her on a volleyball court.
Andrea Cortes-Juarbe is based in San Francisco where she offers workshops to young people in nature and practices somatic healing sessions at various locations throughout the Bay Area.
Liz Andrews is an artist, curator, and scholar. She recently co-curated The Obama Portraits Tour and Black American Portraits at LACMA. Last fall, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to become executive director of the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, the only museum in the nation dedicated to art by and about women of the African diaspora. In May 2022, she got engaged to artist Brian J. Brown.
Natalia Ortiz is a term assistant professor in the Education Department at Barnard College in her hometown of New York City. Every now and then she also does some independent racial-equity consulting. When she is not meeting with students, curriculum planning, teaching, or facilitating, she is keeping busy as a soccer mom to her two children, Amaya Lolita (10) and Maceo Felix (7). As of this year, Natalia became a titi to niece Naia Rae Ortiz Rothwell, the daughter of Nicholas Ortiz. We are thrilled to welcome a new baby to the family.
Justin F. Kennedy is still a Berlin-based community dance artist, teacher, and DJ. Justin’s work has evolved since Wes, from a durational dance and singing practice, and further translates into workshops, science fiction operas, installations, happenings, and films. Notable works of late include: Cannibalizing the Conductor, an experimental dance film and A(un) Necessary World, a sci-fi opera in parts, at the Hammer Museum in LA. His recent work, performing and body doubling in Ligia Lewis’s A Plot/A Scandal, has been fruitful. Justin plans to teach at the School for New Dance Development in Amsterdam in winter ’22 and is trying his hand at the technical side of music production and hopes to attend a sound engineering course in Lagos in 2023.
Sam Leitner and his partner bid farewell to D.C. friends and moved to Boulder, Colorado. He’s loving easy access to outdoor climbing and will continue his work as a (remote) data scientist at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where he leads a program that evaluates credit models for discrimination.
Katie Walsh lives in Highland Park, Los Angeles, and works as a film critic for the Tribune News Service, The Los Angeles Times, and The Wrap. She’s also a frequent contributor of film reviews to KCRW’s Press Play with Madeleine Brand. She often meets neighbor Che Landon for afternoon swims in the pool in their complex.
After many years in many cities, Hallie Dalsimer has been making home in the Sierra Foothills of California since 2015. They love living in a place where people are greatly outnumbered by trees. In 2021, Hallie launched Humaning: in Conversation, a podcast exploring what it means to human well—in our bodies, in relationship, in present time, on planet Earth—with three friends who share an orientation toward embodied practice, social justice, and an animist worldview.
After nearly a decade with NOAA’s Office of Coast Survey and following a four-year stint as an at-home parent, Janice Eisenberg is heading back to graduate school (second time is the charm?) to pursue her MSW at the University of Maryland. She still lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with her husband and three kids.
Tony Alleyne ’05 is the recipient of the Teach for America Delaware Markell Leadership Award. Alleyne is the executive director for Delaware College Scholars, a program is designed for first-generation college-bound high school students and those traditionally marginalized by the higher education system. “Dr. Alleyne’s leadership . . . has positively impacted the lives of countless students across the state,” said Teach for America-Delaware’s executive director, Tamara Smith, in a press statement. Recently, Alleyne has also received leadership awards from the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, and the Delaware Business Times. At Wesleyan, Alleyne majored in African American studies and sociology and earned graduate degrees from Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania.