CLASS OF 2004 | 2017 | ISSUE 2
Meeghan writes for this issue. Thank you to my classmates for taking a moment to share their lives (and allowing me some room for editorial commentary per usual, mostly in the form of happy exclamations). In these strange times of escalating extreme nationalism, racism, sexism, terrorism, elitism, climate change denier-ism, and all the other negative “isms” out there, I asked to hear about good people doing good stuff, and they have delivered. So check out ’04’s positive impact in their families, communities, and world.
Saori Imaizumi has made D.C. her home for the past seven years, while spending significant time on the road traveling to countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tajikistan and Sri Lanka. The main purpose of her travels? To improve quality of education and access to it, increase youth employment, and create an innovation ecosystem. Through her work at the World Bank, she leverages technological and innovative solutions to address these very challenges. Saori is working on the African regional partnership platform called PASET, to enhance applied science, engineering, and technology capacity at the institutional level across Africa. She is happy to hear about any collaboration opportunities for this initiative if anyone is interested!
Eliza Simon is living in D.C., and she and husband Micah welcomed two adorable and energetic little boys, Caleb and Nate, into their family in 2013 and 2016. When she isn’t busy with her family, she is getting it done as an attorney at the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice, working on housing discrimination. She feels lucky to still have so many great people from Wesleyan in her life! And we feel lucky to have you, Eliza, and are proud of the important work you’re doing. I am probably embarrassing you, frosh roomie, but it’s true!
Elaina Dellacava completed her psychiatry residency at Montefiore Medical Center as the chief resident, and is starting a fellowship in geriatric psychiatry at New York Presbyterian. She lives in Manhattan with her husband. She has free advice for those coping with the stress of 2017: Do as the doctor does, and get yourself a large dose of family time and improv comedy.
Abraham Lateiner and his partner, Erika, just hit a major milestone: 10 years of marriage! They’ve made their home in Cambridge, Mass., with daughters Estella (7) and Lulu (3). They frequently hang out with Bess Thaler and Sam Fentress, Ben Abrams ’03, and occasionally Tom Peteet. Abe is still mourning the mass departure of other classmates like Ben Morse and Ethan Butler, but is delighted to still be in the same state as Ariel Pliskin. Abe left his 10-year teaching career to do something different: community organizing work to co-create spaces for healing/transformation for people who benefit materially from systems of injustice. This work affirms for him that freedom is possible. The current occupant of the White House is, to him, a sign that the hegemony of rich white men is starting to crumble, and he sees himself as part of a hospice effort for this process.
Carl Cervone graduated from Columbia Business School and co-founded Enveritas, a platform that allows coffee companies to validate the sustainability of their purchasing with complete transparency. Carl lives in Brooklyn with his wife and their 2-year-old son, Lucas.
Bernadette Doykos just wrapped up her PhD in community psychology at Vanderbilt, and is very much loving post-dissertation life in Portland, Maine. She spent quality time with Meriel Darzen and Erin Malone ’03, and got to snuggle the next generation of Wesleyan lacrosse fans (their adorable kids, Nico and Josie). She’s looking forward to a Wesleyan reunion at Rich Renzi’s wedding this summer!
Brian and Jessie Adams live in Nashville with their two little boys, Caldwell (4) and Harding (15 months), keeping them quite busy. They’ve had a lot of fun cheering on the Nashville Predators and Wes Lax teams during their respective playoff runs over the spring (sidenote from my editor/husband, Daniel Creeden: the Predators would have clinched it had it not been for Pekka Rinne. No comment on Wes Lax, but I’m trying to teach him the fight song…). Brian and Jessie are also quite busy in their professional lives. Brian is an investment manager, and Jessie is the director of service learning at an independent girls’ school. Congrats to Jessie for being awarded the Jones Prize in Philanthropy for people under 40 working in the philanthropic space! They love hearing from classmates who are coming through Nashville. They recently had a visit from the new Dr. Bernadette Doykos, and look forward to summer beach trips with Brad Wasik and family.
Congratulations are in order for Alden Ferro and his partner, Richard Luedeman. They got engaged in February when Richard surprised him at dinner and popped the question! They’ve set the date, September 15, 2018, in New Haven. Jess Richman and Marc Berger welcomed their son, Sidney Joseph, in December. The whole family is doing great in Seattle and is excited for a summer of swimming, dog walking, and plenty of porch sitting.
Jenina Nuñez | jenina.nunez@outlook.com
Meeghan Whooley Ward | meeghan.w.ward@gmail.com