CLASS OF 2016 | 2020 | ISSUE 2

Pierre Gerard is helping develop the City of Oakland’s Slow Streets Program by mapping proposed streets to be closed to vehicular through-traffic. While the program may not close all 75 miles of streets as announced, they have closed 20 miles of streets so far, and are working on a number of new traffic safety improvements throughout the city.

He is also helping his bicycle shop, The Missing Link Bicycle Cooperative in Berkeley, stay in business. They raised $30,000 through a successful business crowdfunding campaign ($10,000 more than their initial goal), and look forward to keeping the community rolling during and after the pandemic.

Last year, Matthew Stein left his job at YouTube to start an immersive puzzle design studio. He released an album of Romanian folk music and is working on a new collection of forest-inspired Yiddish songs with his klezmer trio, Baymele.

Melissa Leung moved back home to NYC and has been settling in by taking Kate Davis, Vanessa Chen, and Ammar Zafar to her favorite dumpling shop. Their adventures have also included Teresa Wu introducing the group to vegetarian char siu, which is pretty dank.

Madeline James just received her master’s in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is beginning her PhD in the same department (history).

Mariam Torres ’16, MA’17 and Martin Malabanan have been roommates in Boston for the past three years. Mariam has been busy conducting clinical trials for an antiviral drug that could help treat COVID-19 patients, while Martin has been making sure the apartment is full of freshly baked goods for Mariam to come home to.

Ellen Paik | epaik@wesleyan.edu