Tag: 2000

Scott Mayerowitz is the deputy global business editor for the Associated Press. He’s also hosting AP’s weekly travel podcast, Get Outta Here!

Shawn Paunchai-Green and wife Chaba welcome their first child to the world, Isana Sylvie, born on July 8.

Adam Zeller writes, “After 18 years in New York, my husband and I have moved to LA. I’ve taken a new role as SVP of global digital marketing at 20th Century Fox and we’re living in West Hollywood. I see Emily Bronkesh-Buchbinder and Melanie Lewis often. Wesleyan is everywhere here, and I’ve connected with Matthew Greenfield ’90 and John Penney ’87 here at Fox. Any Angelinos who want to say hi, e-mail me at adamzeller@gmail.com!”

Alua Arthur joyfully turned 40 this year! As most of us also turned 40, she would like wish us all a very happy 40th trip around the sun!

Mandy Snyder writes “I am living in Norwich, Vt. Inspired by my dance background and years of mindfulness practice, I developed an embodied healing process to help people feel more at home in their bodies and to heal from trauma. You can read more about it at mandysnyder.com. I am also enjoying the Contact Improv community in Montpelier and loving spending time in woods around my home.”

Anne Obelnicki writes, “On Sept. 18, my husband, Chris, and I welcomed our daughter Rosalia Margaret Obelnicki Weiler to the world. Big brother, Alden, is especially proud!”

Te-Ling Nai and Tak Wai Chung had another baby girl, Chun Yan, in last April. All three kids are doing well in Singapore.

Diana Ify Chuke-Nwobi is now in the fourth year of her wellness startup, Miracle in the Green. She says, “We provide our customers with clean and natural alternatives for baby, kids, and adults, with skin care products using the seed oil of the miracle plant named Moringa. Also, Oringaa is our 100 percent moringa powder which can be used in smoothies, juices, soups, salads, tea or in just plain water. Find us on miracleinthegreen.com.”

Avery Esdaile | wesleyan2000@gmail.com

Leah Grabelsky is an assistant principal at a NYC public high school and recruiting math, science, and visual/digital art teachers for 2018-2019. E-mail LGrabelsky@hsartstech.org to set up a visit.

Lily Oglesby completed her MFA in choreography from Wilson College in May (and on her graduation day got a job offer to teach at Dickinson College). The San Francisco native relocated to Pennsylvania five years ago for her husband’s tenure-track position in philosophy (though they still spend several weeks each year back in SF Bay). She has enjoyed her time back on the East Coast, choreographing, teaching, performing, seeing old Wes buddies, and raising her 5-year-old son, Benjamin, who starts kindergarten this fall. She adds, “I am writing this from Smith College, where I am at a conference, serendipitously, with recently retired Wes professor of dance, Susan Lourie.”

Suhi Koizumi was honored by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association as one of 17 recipients for the prestigious Best Lawyers Under 40 Award (BU40 Award). The BU40 Award recognizes talented individuals in the Asian Pacific American legal community who are under the age of 40 and have achieved prominence and distinction in their respective fields—be it the practice of law, academia, business, civic and charitable affairs, the judiciary, or politics—and who have demonstrated a strong commitment to Asian Pacific American civic or community affairs. Suhi practices immigration law at Minami Tamaki LLP in San Francisco.

Melanie Grubman purchased 93 acres of land with friends in the beautiful Mad River Valley of Vermont. Located on trails, rivers, and connected to the local school, Living Tree Alliance is a multigenerational, ecologically-oriented initiative, dedicated to redefining community, regenerating land, and revitalizing culture. She writes, “We are building a residential community, a regenerative working lands cooperative, and offering place-based transformative, education programs that nourish the mind, body, and spirit of all participants. We have four more plots available for people to build their homes on our pedestrian village and share in our dream of creating a vibrant space for collaborative land-based businesses, community, and festival life. Check it out at livingtreealliance.com or come camp on the land during one of our regional family festivals.”

Tim Howard writes, “My wife and I are moving to Berlin in May. I will continue to edit the podcast Reply All (replyall.limo), and will be reporting stories from Europe for the show. I’m very excited to meet journalists from anywhere in Europe, and also to get a drink with anyone in Berlin. Please contact me on Twitter: @newtimhoward. Also, I just released my eighth Soltero album, Western Medicine Blues.”

Jordyn Bonds says, “I’m coming up on my 15th year living in Boston, which is just crazy to think about. The big news for me right now is that I started my own company to finally focus full-time on my side project. It’s a data diary app called TallyLab and everyone is welcome to try it out: tallylab.com. Boston-area alumni who I get to see with some regularity (though never often enough!) are Rhiannon Luyster and Lenore Tsikitas Maniaci.”

Dana Hale writes, “I am the sales director for Island Creek Oysters in Duxbury, Mass. We are an oyster farm who sells our own farm-raised products like wild razor clams, mussels, and a handful of other shellfish grown locally in Cape Cod. We have five sister restaurants and have just purchased a large property that will house our farm, hatchery, events, and some alfresco oceanside dining. My partner, Rafael, is attending MGH, studying to become a physician assistant, and my son, Santiago, works on climbing upstairs when I’m not looking and eating cheese. I’m still in touch with so many Wesleyan classmates. I am most closely located to Chloe Garcia-Roberts and Mara Voukydis ’01. I see them and their lovely families as much as I can. Other dear friends are more far flung, when they read this they’ll know who they are and how much I miss them.”

Ify Chuke-Nwobi writes, “I am the founder of a leading moringa brand, Miracle in the Green. We also have a line of all-natural baby skincare, Mummy’s Miracle. Running this baby and enjoying life with my husband and four kids in sunny Orlando, Fla. Will love to meet up with any Wes alumni in central Florida.”

Avery Esdaile | wesleyan2000@gmail.com

Tony Ducret received his MFA from the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC in May. He screened SPARKS, a short film that he produced and directed for USC, the night before graduation. Tony will remain in Los Angeles as he pursues opportunities in the television writing and independent feature producing spaces.

A.J. (DeAses) Hernandez Anderson and her husband, Mauricio (Swarthmore ‘00), welcomed their second child, Ronin Quetzal, on February 9, in Miami, Fla. Ronin’s big sister, Sienna Metztli, is almost 4. A.J. is back to practicing civil and banking litigation at Lapin & Leichtling, LLP.

Andrea McKnight sent the following update: “I am still on Cape Cod with my son. I am proud to announce my selection to the 2017 Massachusetts Super Lawyers Rising Star list! This is my fifth consecutive year. It is such an honor! I am still coaching lacrosse, which gets me out of the office for some fun in the spring. Maura Trail-O’Brien, Stacia Poulos Rozanitis, and I went to Florida a few months ago to celebrate Adrienne Smith Chang’s birthday. It was so much fun. I see Julie Hook Bunnell and Jeanne Gabbay a few times a year. I had lunch last weekend with Emma DeSimone ’01!”

Luke Davenport writes, “I am still analyzing data for public schools in the Bronx and Harlem with my business, District Public. I have also gotten involved in grassroots political organizing through a new group called Empire State Progressives. If you live in New York and are looking to get involved, give me a shout!”

Lauryn Siegel continues to not be married or have any children and is extremely grateful for this. She’s been bicoastal between NYC and LA, where she makes commercials/content with her consultancy, Team Collective, and multimedia art with herself.

Dylan Reilly writes, “For the past year, I have been working for Oscilloscape, a startup in the Hartford, Conn., area. We create technologies for listening to sound (like music) using neural networks. After having just completed a grant from the U.S. Air Force, we are gearing up to release our first product based on the tech: Synchrony. It’s an LED controller that can react to music like a human. As the CTO, I’m responsible for all the software and hardware engineering. If you want to check it out, go to synchronyleds.com. Before that, I had a fun run working as an engineering team lead for the game developer, Venan Entertainment—right down the street from Wesleyan. Unfortunately, Venan fell victim to the fickle nature of the freemium gaming industry and had to close its doors just about a year ago, but you can still find our games in the app store.”

Avery Esdaile | wesleyan2000@gmail.com

 

NEWSMAKERS | 2000s NEWSMAKER EDUARDO MEDINA ’00 Eduardo Medina ’00, MD, MPH, co-authored “Structural Racism and Supporting Black Lives—The Role of Health Professionals,” published last December in the New England Journal of Medicine. Working with colleagues at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, the article addresses the link between premature deaths, both in the criminal justice system and in the healthcare system in America. Medina’s integration of social justice and medicine, he notes, actually echoes a history of political activism among Latin American physicians, like Che Guevara and Salvador Allende, something he studied as a Latin American Studies major, even while on the pre-med track at Wesleyan. After Wesleyan, Medina earned advanced degrees at the University of Minnesota.

Scott Cunningham and his wife, Christina Frigo, recently celebrated the birth of their daughter, Ada. Scott lives in Miami where he serves as the director of the O, Miami Poetry Festival. Melissa Stevens and Robert Debbane welcomed their second son, Sami Alexander Debbane, born July 8. Shawn Green is attempting a career change, from education to engineering. He’s working on a degree and working at Covestro, a polymer company.

Caroline Cho writes, “I’m enjoying my new job as communications manager for WW Sales at F5 Networks based in Seattle. Juggling a career and managing the role of mom to three keeps me pretty busy and leaves little time for myself. When I do have some free time, you can find me training for Ragnar or aspiring to be a CrossFit athlete. Would love to sync with other Wes grads in the area!”

Eric Steffen writes, “After having great difficulty finding jeans that fit my soccer player’s thighs, I recently started my own custom denim business in Brooklyn called FITTED Underground. Find out more about us at fitted.nyc or on Instagram at FITTED.underground.”

Trace Peterson writes, “I’m a trans-woman poet, publisher, and professor. I currently teach at Yale University and Hunter College. I run a small press called EOAGH Books. A book I published and wrote the foreword to, Succubus in My Pocket, by Kari Edwards, won the first-ever Lambda Literary Award in Transgender Poetry this past year. It’s a new award that was just created, and a significant milestone in LGBT literature.”

If anyone is interested in joining the Class of 2000 secretaries, please let us know. We would love to have you on the team!

Avery Esdaile | wesleyan2000@gmail.com

Zachary Hurwitz writes, “My wife of five years and I welcomed our first son, Ilan Mateo, in January 2016. We both found new jobs in the D.C. area, where we’ve been living since 2015, after two moves from Oakland, Calif., and Austin, Texas. We’re grateful to have reconnected with Eric Hoover and family, and Chris Saenger ’01 and family, and hope to do so again soon.“

Molly Bruce Barton writes, “In 2014, I taught a course at Wesleyan, the senior seminar in the Writing Certificate program. I left my role as global digital director at Penguin Random House to found Serial Box (serialbox.com), the HBO of reading. Last year, I married television and film producer, Jack Turner, at Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden in Staten Island, N.Y. And this year we had our first child, Clyde Lucien Turner. He was born on March 30, weighing 8 pounds, 9 ounces, measuring 22.5 inches. Tall boy.”

Keefe Murren writes, “This year I started as managing director of FilmAid International. I’m really interested in getting the Wesleyan community involved with our work. E-mail me at keefemurren@gmail.com.”

Avery Esdaile | wesleyan2000@gmail.com

Keefe Murren has a new job as head of FilmAid International, an organization that uses film, journalism and radio to create public information campaigns with refugees around the world.

Matt Lenard was awarded a grant from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation (~$83K) to study the impact of an academic and behavioral support model in the Wake County Public School System.

Tamar Wilner writes, “My husband, Will, and I still live in Dallas and surprisingly even enjoy it! Our little boy just turned 7—but he is a cat, so still no words. I have just started the online journalism master’s at the University of Missouri and I’m really enjoying it. My studies center on the role of online media in people’s health knowledge (and misperceptions). On the side I consult for the American Press Institute and write the odd article.”

Calvin Warner married Sarah Koby on April 25, 2015, in Kent, Ohio!

Matt Freeman and Bethany Caruso ’03 report, “We welcomed our daughter, Hannelore Scout Caruso Freeman, on Dec. 30. We moved into a more child-friendly home in Atlanta just in time and both continue to work at Emory University, exploring ways to improve access to water and sanitation and health in low-income countries.”

Jess Fantz updates: “I’ve been keeping incredibly busy after leaving the agency world to work for myself as a freelance UX/web designer for the last three years. I have been consulting with smaller design agencies who often don’t have an in-house Web design team. In addition to my work for my bigger corporate clients, I most recently led the redesign of the website for the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care, a nonprofit cancer center in Harlem. (My personal site: jessfantzdesign.com). My wife, Caroline, and I moved this summer from Brooklyn to Glen Ridge, N.J., and are both still commuting to Manhattan for work. Our toddler, Jay Alexander, turned 1 in October. He’s keeping us on our toes!”

Tim Howard writes, “For the past year or so I’ve been working at a podcast called Reply All, out of Brooklyn, and it’s a blast. It’s ostensibly a show about the technology and the Internet, but is actually very far-ranging and irreverent, generally narrative-driven reporting. Anyone with story ideas should get in touch: tim@gimletmedia.com.”

Ray Sanchez was named to City & State NY’s 40 under 40 list in October.

Alok Appadurai is in Tucson, where Fed By Threads, his sweatshop-free organic clothing company, has provided more than 474,592 emergency meals to Americans in need. He is also writing a book, Good Elephant, about his adventures changing the world, while being a proud father to his 4-year-old son, Sequoia.

Lauryn Siegel continues to live in Brooklyn where she works as a creative director and producer of new media, content and multimedia art and video. She recently started a digital design, media and art studio called Dimensions in Bushwick and encourages alumni and friends to come by and hang out. She is excited to come to campus and hang out with her friends who are now professors! She has no babies or marriages, though maybe by the time this gets published that will change…. Never say never! 🙂

Tak Wai Chung and his wife Te-Ling Nai write, “We have moved our family to Singapore from Hong Kong at the end of 2015. Tak Wai has assumed the role of head of Mid Market Southeast Asia for EQT. Our daughter, Chun Yee, loves the sunshine and the green here and is enjoying her new school very much.

Samantha Kennedy writes, “After four-and-a-half years of running Pika Sign Language Interpreting Services, I am branching out on a new entrepreneurial endeavor. In 2015, I launched The Fabulous Babe (thefabulousbabe.com), supporting ambitious women (like us Wesleyan grads!) achieve their dreams without being overwhelmed, exhausted or worried so much about what others think of us. This one has been in the cooker for a while, and I’m so excited that it’s now a reality.”

Andrea McKnight says, “I am proud to announce that I was named to the 2015 Massachusetts Super Lawyers Rising Stars, which is the third consecutive year. I continue to work at a small firm in southeastern Mass. If I can help anyone, my e-mail is attorneymcknight@gmail.com.”

Avery Esdaile | wesleyan2000@gmail.com

Please write to your class secretary!

Avery Esdaile | wesleyan2000@gmail.com

Class of 2000, great to see many of you at the 15th Reunion in May, and we have officially began the journey towards our 20th Reunion! Now on to the news, notes and updates…

Scott Mayerowitz and his wife, Sheri, are excited to announce the arrival of their daughter Leah Paige Mayerowitz. That’s why the family wasn’t able to attend our 15th Reunion but they look forward to seeing everybody for our 20th.

Jason Robinson and his fiancée, Cassandra Flemming, are proud to present Bryce Robinson, born June 7, 2014. Mom and Dad have known each other for 20 years and are happy and blessed to be a family.

Luke Davenport writes “I recently left my job at IBM to start an education consultancy called District Public that helps New York City school leaders use their data more effectively. It’s an exciting change and very rewarding so far.”

Andrea McKnight says “I continue to practice law in southeastern Massachusetts. I’m pleased to announce that for the third consecutive year I was recognized with the Massachusetts Super Lawyer Rising Star award. My practice consists of domestic relations matters and civil litigation—pretty much anything that keeps me in a courtroom!”

Many people in our class continue to welcome new babies into their families. Chinelo Dike-Minor and her husband, Randall Minor, welcomed a new baby boy, Obi Minor, in Nov. 2014. Everyone is thrilled, including his big brother!

Demian Szyld and Pia Chatterjee welcomed their daughter Lila on Dec. 24th, 2014. “We are enjoying her smiles and our time together in Brooklyn, N.Y.”

Caroline Cho Reed writes, “We welcomed our third child, a son, in Sept, 2014. His two older sisters are thrilled to have a real live “baby doll” in the house! I’m happily managing and maintaining a busy household schedule but finding some time to do some pro bono communications work for an exercise franchise.”

Melanie Kessler and her husband live in Bristol, Vt., with their two wonderful sons, Ezra (2) and Judah (6 months). She writes, “We manage a small school/community farm and I provide Jewish spiritual education and community programming for a synagogue in Burlington along with organizing community harvest festivals. My husband creates functional metal sculpture and takes care of horses’ feet out of the blacksmithing shop in our backyard. What wonderful joy we have bringing ritual, craft, and celebrations to our home and extended community. Visitors welcome!”

Also, in Vermont, Sadie Danforth Brightman, along with the help of husband Nick Brightman has had an exciting year fulfilling a dream to start a music school. Middlebury Community Music Center is an up and running nonprofit with 20 faculty members and more than 100 students. The vision has long been to create a place for collaboration and diverse music classes for all ages. One of the biggest thrills is having both daughters, now 6 and 4, attending as music students!

Gian-Murray Gianino writes that he and his wife, Maggie Thom, are absolutely enjoying the joys and follies of raising their son, Sebastian Thom Gianino, in Brooklyn. Maggie continues to dance, most recently at BAM with Jodi Melnick, as well as teach at Plymouth Church School in Brooklyn Heights. GM continues to teach and perform all over the map with his theater company, SITI Company, most recently at the Getty Villa in LA.

Ali Haider is an interventional cardiologist in western Massachusetts in private practice with Hampden County cardiovascular associates. He is affiliated with Baystate Medical Center and is an assistant professor of medicine at the Tufts University School of Medicine. He is a new member of the heart valve team and performs coronary, structural, and vascular interventions.

Shawn Green is working on his third degree, this time in engineering, at Berkshire Community College.

Josh Lerner published two books last year—Making Democracy Fun: How Game Design Can Empower Citizens and Transform Politics; and Everyone Counts: Could Participatory Budgeting Change Democracy? He lives in Brooklyn, where he directs a nonprofit, the Participatory Budgeting Project, and plays Duplo with his son Miro.

Paul Josephs is still working as a musician and educator with Metrosonics Concepts in Brooklyn, NY. He has a new website: pauljosephs.com, as well as metrosonicsconcepts.com.

Ian Moulton writes, “On July 5, 2014, I married Jillian Johnson in my parents’ backyard in Elkhart Lake, Wisc. Lots of friends and family were in attendance, including my brother Sam Moulton ’98. After the ceremony Jillian and I got into an amphibious car and drove into the lake while our guests followed in a pair of pontoon boats. It was a lot of fun. Jillian is from Klamath Falls, Ore. She is director of HR at the online video company JW Player. I work at TouchTunes as a product manager of digital jukeboxes. We live in the Prospect Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn.”

I (Hilda) continue to live in Brunswick, Maine, where I work as a school psychologist in the elementary school down the road. My husband, Peter Wiley, is working at Bowdoin College in data warehousing and analytics. We just had our third child in December, Naomi Joy, and she has been warmly welcomed by big sister Simone (7) and brother Ian (5). I will be stepping down from doing class notes, so if anyone wants to take over for me, please send me an e-mail at hildawiley@yahoo.com. Avery is great to work with!

Hilda Ives Wiley and Avery Esdaile
wesleyan2000@gmail.com

In his first class note ever, Dave Jenkins writes, “After 10 years as a firefighter/EMT and local firefighters union leader, I left the Santa Fe, N.M., Fire Department in order to start my first year at the University of New Mexico School of Law.”

Joe Griffin and his wife, Sandra, welcomed their third child into the world. Reese Madeline was born on August 19th and her two older brothers, Kian (4) and Bode (almost 2), are very excited with the arrival of their new little sister. The Griffin’s moved to Connecticut and now reside in Ridgefield. Evans Anyanwu got married and became a partner at the law firm of Roth D’Aquanni, LLC in Springfield. Evans also joined the Board of Link Community Charter School in Newark where the chairman of the board is Andrew Lacey ’89.

Laura Alward writes “My husband, Brian Alward, and I just had a fabulous (we’re not biased or anything!) baby girl on July 19. Petra Eloise Alward is her name, and we have already started executing our plan to have her on skis before she can walk and climbing before she can use the toilet. We’re utterly whupped and think she’s divine!” Scott Mayerowitz married Sheri Askinazi (Binghamton ’99) on June 8, 2014. Scott is working as an airlines and travel reporter for The Associated Press; Sheri heads the global alumni program at the law firm of Shearman & Sterling LLP. The couple live on the upper west side of Manhattan.

On June 7, 2014, Matt Freeman married Bethany Caruso ’03 at a farm outside of Atlanta, Ga. The couple never met at Wesleyan, but have many friends in common and even lived in the same room in Earth House three years apart. “We danced, swam, drank bourbon lemonade, and ate fried chicken with a number of fellow WesTech grads.”

Matt Lenard completed a two-year Strategic Data Project Fellowship with the Wake County Public School System and was just named the district’s director of data strategy and analytics. Matt will be leading efforts to leverage education data to help improve outcomes across the district. Also, Matt and his wife, Melody Moezzi ’01 , celebrated the birth of the paperback edition of her memoir, Haldol and Hyacinths: A Bipolar Life.

Timothy Howard writes, “I’m living in Brooklyn, married to an accordion player, and working as a reporter at WNYC’s Radiolab. I’d love to hear from any former classmates who have ideas for radio stories. I’m also still/always/forever releasing music under the name Soltero (soltero.bandcamp.com). Any interested upright bass players out there?”

Andrea McKnight was awarded and named a 2014 rising star super lawyer of Massachusetts, and named to Boston magazine’s top female lawyers 2014. She has settled down in Cape Cod, where she is raising her son. Andrea writes “I can’t believe our 15-year Reunion is coming up in May! Seems like yesterday!” Elizabeth (Doctors) Alleva moved over the summer to a new home in Lynbrook, Long Island, with her husband Neill and her dog Kylie. She continues to teach dance, choreograph, and serve on advisory boards for NYC’s Department of Education. Leah Grabelsky has moved from Boston to Brooklyn to work with the Learning Partners Program—Chancellor Farina’s exciting new initiative to facilitate ongoing collaboration and learning throughout NYC public schools—and return to her New York roots. She’s thrilled to be working with Maris Yanow ’04 and living closer to her sister Jenny Grabelsky ’06, cousins Sarah Leitson ’11 and Andrew Gladstone ’11, and dear friend Diana Glanternik ’99.

If anyone is interested in joining the class notes team, please contact us. We are looking for a volunteer for the spring of 2015.

Hilda Ives Wiley and Avery Esdaile
wesleyan2000@gmail.com