CLASS OF 2007 | 2017 | ISSUE 2
Greetings, classmates. Megan here. As I write this, many of us are fresh off a weekend of Foss Hill picnicking and tent party dancing. Over 200 of us attended the 10th Reunion weekend at Wesleyan, but if you weren’t able to catch up with classmates in person, read on for some updates!
Johanna Goetzel was sad to miss Reunion, but delighted that Wes friends from 2005-2008 could join her and James Rising for their wedding on May 28 in Cape Cod. In January, they will be moving from Brooklyn to London, where Johanna will continue to work as the head of member engagement for The Climate Group and James will begin a role at LSE. Visitors welcome!
Nasim Khoshkhou sends word that she and her husband, Howard, moved to Bedford, N.Y., with their new baby boy, CJ, and two dogs.
Using our Wesleyan education as a strong foundation, many of our classmates have been busy completing graduate degrees. Veronica Slaght writes, “I graduated with my doctorate of psychology from Widener University in May and will be starting as a postdoctoral fellow at George Washington University’s Professional Psychology Program this summer. I’ll be seeing patients and helping to train psychology students in their community mental health clinic. Excited to connect with Wesleyan people in D.C.!”
Portia Hemphill says, “It’s been a busy few years! After obtaining my joint PhD in political science and public policy from the University of Michigan in 2015, I began work as a presidential management fellow in the federal government where I helped bring to scale two interagency President Obama initiatives (Promise Zones and My Brother’s Keeper) and served as the federal ambassador to Gary, Ind., in an effort to increase jobs for youth in the area. I also bought a cute fixer upper in Southeast D.C. that is a job all in itself, but where I now proudly call home. Hopefully we can have a Wes fest at my house in 2018!”
The Class of 2007 has also been making career headlines! Gavin Alexander lives in Brookline, Mass., and works as an associate in Ropes & Gray LLP’s Hedge Funds group. He serves as the co-chair of the board of directors of the Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association, and was named one of the “Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40” by the National LGBT Bar Association. Before starting at his firm, Gavin served as a law clerk to the Hon. Ralph D. Gants, chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
Gabrielle Fondiller says, “The organization I co-founded, Hatua, is now 10 years old. Last year we graduated our first class of 14 students from university. One hundred percent of these young people are now working, earning three times Kenya’s average income.”
And Sarah Elmaleh writes, “I moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 2015 for videogame voiceover and have been happily working on a range of indie and AAA games, as well as some commercials and TV. Recent roles include voices in Final Fantasy XV and the female Viking Raider player character in For Honor. I’ve also judged the Audio category for the Independent Games Festival, and co-hosted and co-produced the IndieCade awards.” Sarah adds, “I was thrilled to find out about the new Computational Media: Videogame Design and Development course at Wesleyan. If there are other Wes alumni with a foothold in games who want to help me grow and expand the games presence at Wes, please do not hesitate to be in touch!”
As always, please keep sending your updates, career news, and life events to us.
Megan Harrington | wesleyan007@gmail.com
Victoria Belyavsky Pinsky | victoriapinsky@gmail.com