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1stGenYale: Looking Back to Move Forward | Yale Alumni News | Lise Chapman ’81 MBA, Barb Protacio ’81, and Michael Watson ’81 | May 3, 2023
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Who we are
We celebrate being among first in our families, and/or from underserved backgrounds, to graduate from college or graduate school.
❑ We represent all ages, genders,
and life experiences. We come together from diverse cultural, ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds as members of the Yale family.
❑ We network with a broad cross section of Yale alumni with BAs, Masters, and PhD degrees from all Yale Schools and work in numerous career fields and life professions.
❑ Learn more: 2022 1stGenYale Resource Card and 2021 Annual Report: tinyurl.com.
Join us
❑ Share your story with fellow alumni & students.
❑ Be inspired by leading alumni keynotes.
❑ Participate in alumni career and life skills panels.
❑ Network with current students across all schools.
❑ Spend special time with each other. Help us plan our future!
Thanks to over 85 alumni who completed the 23 Conference Participation Form!
Schedule
❑ Friday Night, April 28, 2023
Get-together for early attendees
❑ Saturday, April 29, 2023
10am Registration/11am start with the program dinner ending at 9pm, followed by an after-party!
Click here for the program.
❑ Sunday Morning, April 30, 2023 9:30am - 11:30am, Breakfast and a feedback/strategic planning session
Keynotes
Peter Salovey
’86 PhD
Peter Salovey is the twenty-third president of Yale University and the Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology. He holds secondary faculty appointments in the School of Management, the School of Public Health, the Institution for Social and Policy Studies, and the Sociology Department. He became president of the university in July 2013.
President Salovey has led the development of new programs and facilities across the schools and departments of Yale, consistent with the vision and strategy he articulated earlier in his presidency. Advancements include restructuring and expanding the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Science, launching the Jackson School of Global Affairs, transitioning Yale School of Public Health into a self-supporting independent school from the Yale School of Medicine, and opening two new residential colleges, increasing Yale College enrollment by 15 percent. He is advancing innovative teaching on campus; amplifying Yale’s partnerships in Africa, Asia, and other parts of the world; and enhancing multidisciplinary collaboration and entrepreneurial opportunity for faculty and students. President Salovey is committed to improving access to a Yale education for students worldwide regardless of their financial background.
Prior to becoming president, President Salovey served as the provost of Yale University from 2008 to 2013. As provost, he facilitated strategic planning and initiatives such as enhancing career development and mentoring opportunities for all Yale faculty members; promoting faculty diversity; creating the Office of Academic Integrity; establishing the University-wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct; developing the West Campus; and overseeing the university’s budget during the global financial crisis. Other leadership roles at Yale have included serving as chair of the Department of Psychology, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and dean of Yale College.
After receiving an A.B. (psychology) and A.M. (sociology) from Stanford University in 1980 with departmental honors and university distinction, President Salovey earned three degrees at Yale in psychology: M.S. (1983), M.Phil. (1984), and Ph.D. (1986). Since joining the Yale faculty in 1986, he has studied the connections among emotion, health communication, and health behavior, with a special focus on emotional intelligence. He played key roles in multiple Yale programs including the Health, Emotion, and Behavior Laboratory, which President Salovey founded; the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS; and the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program.
President Salovey has authored or edited over a dozen books translated into eleven languages and published hundreds of journal articles and essays. With John D. Mayer, he developed a broad framework called “emotional intelligence,” the theory that just as people have a wide range of intellectual abilities, they also have a wide range of measurable emotional skills that profoundly affect their thinking and action.
In addition to teaching and mentoring scores of graduate students, President Salovey has won both the William Clyde DeVane Medal for Distinguished Scholarship and Teaching in Yale College and the Lex Hixon ’63 Prize for Teaching Excellence in the Social Sciences. He has received honorary degrees from the University of Pretoria (2009), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (2014), National Tsing Hua University (2014), Harvard University (2015), McGill University (2018), University of Haifa (2018), and Vytautas Magnus University (2019). In 2013, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine.
President Salovey and his wife, Marta Elisa Moret, have lived in New Haven since they arrived as graduate students more than thirty years ago. Ms. Moret, a 1984 graduate of the Yale School of Public Health, is the president of Urban Policy Strategies, LLC, which provides program evaluation and technical assistance to community-based health organizations. Ms. Moret is also active with the Association of Yale Alumni and has served on its board of governors. She previously held positions in the Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy, the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, and the Hispanic Health Council. Ms. Moret was the deputy commissioner for the Connecticut Department of Social Services from 1991 to 1994. She currently serves on the boards of the New Alliance Foundation and StoryCorps, and she chairs the board of the Campaign School at Yale. Ms. Moret was named to the Winslow Centennial Honor Roll for Excellence and Service of the Yale School of Public Health in 2015, received the Alexis de Tocqueville Herbert H. Pearce Award from the United Way of Greater New Haven in 2019, and was awarded the Junior Achievement of Southwest New England’s Spirit of Hope Award winner in 2020.
Indra Nooyi ’80 MPPM
Indra Nooyi is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo (2006-2019); a Fortune 50 company with operations in more than 180 countries.
In this role, Ms. Nooyi was the chief architect of Performance with Purpose, PepsiCo’s pledge to do what’s right for the business by being responsive to the needs of the world around it. As part of Performance with Purpose, PepsiCo was focused on delivering sustained growth by expanding its portfolio to include more nutritious products, limiting its environmental footprint, and empowering its associates and people in the communities it serves. During her tenure, PepsiCo grew net revenue more than 80%, and PepsiCo’s total shareholder return was 162% beating the S&P over the same period.
Prior to becoming CEO, Ms. Nooyi served as PepsiCo’s president and chief financial officer and was a member of the company’s board of directors. She was responsible for corporate functions, including finance, strategy, business process optimization, corporate platforms and innovation, procurement, investor relations and information technology. Between 1994 and 2000, Ms. Nooyi directed corporate strategy and development for the company.
Before joining PepsiCo in 1994, Ms. Nooyi spent four years as Senior Vice President of Strategy, Planning and Strategic Marketing for Asea Brown Boveri, a Zurich-based company. She was part of the top management team responsible for the company’s U.S. business as well as its worldwide industrial businesses, representing about $10 billion of ABB’s $30 billion in global sales.
Between 1986 and 1990, Ms. Nooyi worked for Motorola, where she was Vice President and Director of Corporate Strategy and Planning, having joined the company as the business development executive responsible for its automotive and industrial electronics group. Prior to Motorola, she spent six years directing international corporate strategy projects at The Boston Consulting Group. Her clients ranged from textiles and consumer goods companies to retailers and specialty chemicals producers. Ms. Nooyi began her career in India, where she held product manager positions at Johnson & Johnson and Mettur Beardsell, Ltd., a textile firm.
Ms. Nooyi served as a member of the PepsiCo Board of Directors from 2001 to February 2019. Ms. Nooyi is now a member of the board of Amazon, where she chairs the audit committee. She sits on the supervisory board of Philips and is a member of the nominating and corporate governance committee. She also serves on the International Advisory Council of Temasek; is an independent director of the International Cricket Council; and a trustee at the National Gallery of Art. She is on the Dean’s Advisory Council at MIT’s School of Engineering and serves on the boards of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Partnership for Public Service. She is also an advisor to several early-stage companies.
Between 2019-2022, Ms. Nooyi served as the Class of 1951 Chair for the Study of Leadership at West Point where she worked with the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership to fulfill the mission of character at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. She was also co-chair of The Reopen Connecticut Advisory Group, developing recommendations and guidelines for reactivating the state's economy post-pandemic.
Ms. Nooyi is the author of the book My Life in Full: Work, Family and Our Future, a memoir that offers insight and a call-to-action on how our society can blend work and family — and advance women — in the 21st century. My Life in Full is a New York Times bestseller and available in multiple languages.
Ms. Nooyi is the recipient of 15 honorary degrees. In 2007, the Government of India awarded her the Padma Bhushan, the country’s 3rd highest civilian honor. In that same year, she was named an “Outstanding American by choice” by the Department of Homeland Security/US Citizenship and Immigration Services. In 2019, her portrait was inducted into the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, and in 2022 she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts of Sciences, the New York Academy of Science and the American Philosophical Society. She is a revered role model for women and immigrants and celebrated for her empowering messages on inclusivity.
She holds a B.S. from Madras Christian College, an M.B.A. from the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta, and a Master of Public and Private Management from Yale University. Ms. Nooyi is married and has two daughters.
Gina Boswell ’89 MBA
Gina Boswell serves as chief executive officer of Bath & Body Works Inc., having joined the business and its board of directors in December 2022.
Prior to joining Bath & Body Works, Gina was a senior executive with Unilever where she led multi-billion-dollar businesses in North America and the UK, first in personal care and then across the portfolio including beauty, home care, and food and beverage.
Gina joined Unilever through the acquisition of Alberto Culver, where she served as president, global brands, overseeing marketing, R&D, consumer insights and packaging for numerous hair and skin care brands including TRESemmé. Earlier in her career, Gina served as chief operating officer of Avon North America and held senior positions at Ford Motor Company and Estee Lauder Companies.
Gina has served on the boards of ManpowerGroup, Wolverine Worldwide, ACCO Brands and Applebee’s; and in recognition of her board service, received the 2017 Directors to Watch award from Directors & Boards, and the 2018 Most Influential Corporate Directors award from Women Inc. She is also a former president of the Yale University Council and a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute.
Gina has been recognized as a “Woman to Watch” by Advertising Age, “Marketer of the Year” and “50 Most Influential People in Beauty” by Women’s Wear Daily, and “Top 50 2015 Brand Innovator” and “Achiever of the Year” by Cosmetic Executive Women. In 2022, Gina was awarded the Yale Medal, the highest alumni award honoring outstanding individual service to the university.
Gilbert A. Garcia ’85 BA, CFA
Mr. Garcia received a B.A. in Economics from Yale University. After graduating in 1985, he joined Salomon Brothers in New York City where he became a Vice President specializing in mortgage-backed securities. In 1990, he moved to Houston to join former Mayor Henry Cisneros in building Cisneros Asset Management Company, ultimately becoming its President. In 2002, he joined Garcia Hamilton & Associates, and is the Firm’s Managing Partner. Under his leadership, the Firm has grown from $200 million in fixed income assets under management to over $18.3 billion (as of January 31, 2023). As an ongoing CNBC contributor, Mr. Garcia regularly shares his insights into the bond market with consumers and investors.
Mr. Garcia is a member of the Treasury Advisory Committee on Racial Equity, a newly created FACA Committee convening under the U.S. Department of the Treasury to identify, monitor, and review aspects of the domestic economy that have directly and indirectly resulted in unfavorable conditions for Black, Latino, Asian Americans, and other persons of color. He served on two other FACA Committees with the SEC: the Fixed Income Market Structure Advisory Board and the Asset Management Advisory Committee, where he led the Diversity and Inclusion subcommittee. Mr. Garcia is the longest serving board member with Chairman Henry Kravis on the Board of Directors of SEO, a non-profit providing summer internships on Wall Street for minority undergraduates, and he was awarded SEO’s Alumni Leadership Award in 2015 alongside other honorees, including the former mayor of New York City, Michael R. Bloomberg, and Co-Founder & Co-CEO of The Carlyle Group, David M. Rubenstein.
Mr. Garcia and GH&A have received numerous industry recognitions. The Firm recently received Pensions & Investments’ Best Places to Work in Money Management for the sixth year (2022, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016), and Emerging Manager Monthly has awarded the Firm Fixed Income Manager of the Year in 2019, 2018, and 2010. In 2022, Houston Business Journal recognized the Firm as an Outstanding Diverse Organization within their Diversity in Business Awards. Mr. Garcia was also recognized as a Diversity Champion in 2022 and 2021 for his promotion of diversity and inclusion in the Houston community. In 2020, Mr. Garcia received NASP’s Maynard Holbrook Jackson, Jr. Award, which was established to honor the financial services professional who best exemplifies entrepreneurial achievement, community service, and high moral standards. In 2019, he was awarded Houston’s Most Admired CEOs, and the Firm was ranked among Houston’s Best Places to Work in 2018. Other past awards include the 2018 US Fixed Income Manager of the Year presented by Fundmap, Institutional Investor’s Intermediate-Term Fixed Income Manager of the Year in 2016 and 2015, and Institutional Investor’s 2014 Fixed Income Investment Grade Manager of the Year. In 2018, Mr. Garcia was co-chair for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. The same year, he was awarded “Male Entrepreneur of the Year 2018” by the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Garcia was recognized by American Jewish Committee Houston (AJC Houston) with the Human Relations Award in 2016.
In 2022, Mr. Garcia was the Co-Grand Marshall of the 44th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. parade in Houston, Texas. From 2010 - 2016, Mr. Garcia served as Chairman of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County where he implemented the “Garcia Rule,” which requires at least one diverse investment manager be included in every asset class search. Under his leadership, METRO received transparency awards and earned the 2015 APTA Award for Outstanding Public Transportation System Achievement. Mr. Garcia recently served as a member of the Board of Trustees for Dallas Police & Fire Pension System. He was previously a member of the Board of Directors of the Yale Club of Houston as well as of the Board of Trustees of the Houston Municipal Employees Pension System, and he served as Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Houston Downtown Management District for 13 years. In addition, he is a Class X graduate of Leadership Houston. Mr. Garcia is married with four children.
Panelists
Abhishek Agarwal, ’21 MBA
New York, NY
LinkedIn
Abhishek Agarwal is a Sr. Product Manager (Tech) at Amazon Web Services (AWS) where he is leading the new product development for SageMaker, a platform for building, training and deploying Machine learning models. Before Yale, he worked in a range of roles at Unilever. Abhi grew up in rural India where he experienced the impact of inadequate infrastructure, limited access to affordable quality care and low-quality healthcare and education services. He is committed and passionate about bringing significant, positive impact by bridging the technological access gap to under-served populations.
Clarence Agbi ’09 BS
Washington, DC
LinkedIn
Clarence Agbi originally hails from New York City and graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering from Yale College (Grace Hopper) in 2009. After Yale, he earned a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. Clarence currently works as a data scientist within the financial technology space. He is passionate about diversifying the technology landscape and building an inclusive network of STEM professionals along the way. He serves on the board of The Yale Club of D.C.
Regina Bain ’98 BA, ’01 MFA
Brooklyn, NY
LinkedIn
Regina Bain is the Executive Director of the Louis Armstrong House Museum. The Museum promotes the legacy of Louis Armstrong — America’s first Black popular music icon. This year, Ms. Bain will open the new 14,000 sq. foot Armstrong Center housing a multimedia exhibit, a 75-seat performance space, and the 60,000-piece Armstrong Archives. Previously, she served as AVP of the Posse Foundation — a national leadership and college access program where she helped to increase national graduation rates for four consecutive years. Bain is co-chair of Culture @3’s anti-racism subcommittee and recently served on the Yale Board of Governors.
Ben Bartolome ‘16 BS
Philadelphia, PA
LinkedIn
Ben was born and raised in New Orleans, the oldest of four children to Puerto-Rican and Filipino parents. He's been a fierce advocate for marginalized communities in his life, particularly Latine and First-Generation/Low-Income folks. After graduating from Yale, Ben worked in finance for 6 years, bringing those learnings to his community back home. He co-founded Walkthrough to make quality financial planning and wellness accessible to everyone who needs them. He strongly believes anyone can learn to do anything. Ben also serves as the youngest member and executive officer on the Yale Alumni Association's Board of Governors.
Marv Berenblum ’56 BA
Greenwich, CT
Marv Berenblum was blessed to be born and raised in the United States. His mother had fled Poland and his father contracted a challenging long-term illness, finding themselves in financial difficulty. Yale provided Marv with a full scholarship, and after graduation with a BA in American Studies, he obtained a teaching fellowship at the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations. After receiving a Master's degree, he followed a career in senior human resource capacities with major international companies. When he completed his primary career 20 years ago, he joined the National Executive Service Corps as President and CEO. NESC, a nonprofit, provides business advisory and consulting services to the nonprofit community.
Andrew Burgie ’87 BA
Queens, NY
LinkedIn
Andrew Burgie is an Industrial Hygienist specializing in worker health and safety training initiatives, particularly in hazardous waste operations and emergency response. He works at the NYU School of Global Public Health (NYU GPH) on a NIH National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Grant, training NY emergency responders. Andrew is also an Adjunct Professor at NYU GPH specializing in Global Environmental Health. He is also an active member of his professional society, the American Industrial Hygiene Association.
As a Yale volunteer, Andrew is a Board Member of Yale Alumni Association of New York (yaleNYC), Yale Alumni Nonprofit Alliance (YANA), and Yale Alumni Services Corps (YASC).
Lydia Burleson ’21 BA
Palo Alto, CA
LinkedIn
Lydia Burleson (she/her) is a Stanford English PhD graduate student and a Knight Hennessy Scholar. Her scholarship pushes for a more inclusive social reality by understanding and representing marginal identity through literature. Lydia graduated cum laude from Yale in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in English and a nonfiction writing concentration. At Dwight Hall, Yale’s Center for Social Justice, Lydia promoted diverse voices by launching a student magazine and creating communications channels with student and community leaders. Lydia has worked with New Haven nonprofits and the Yale Admissions Office to increase access to higher education for first-generation low-income students. She was a QuestBridge Scholar at Yale.
J. C. Calderón ’92 M.ARCH
Beacon, NY
LinkedIn
J.C. Calderón is a 1992 graduate of the Yale School of Architecture. He currently serves as a Member of the Yale Board of Governors which oversees the goals of the Yale Alumni Association. Yale’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are ones that Mr. Calderón has encouraged throughout his adult life. In 1991 as a Yale student, he organized the symposium “People of Color in Architecture” which garnered national press. In 2022, as President of his local American Institute of Architects (AIA) chapter in NY, he led a follow up symposium: “Equity & the Environment” with national leaders of the AIA.
Jonathan Camacho ’20 EMBA
New York, NY
LinkedIn
I was raised in the Bronx in a single-family home by a dad that made less than 40k a year.
Undergrad at Stonehill
One year in Spain.
First job as a doorman Manhattan.
Broke into healthcare with friend connection.
16 years later, a healthcare sales expert.
Now, a key account manger in Retina Healthcare sales.
Jun Chen ’20 MBA
New York, NY
LinkedIn
Jun Chen is a healthcare professional with experience in private equity advisory, hospital-based innovation, and entrepreneurship. Spending her early career in financial services, she pivoted to healthcare post MBA for the passion in promoting health equity. She founded the Innovation arm at Connecticut Children's Medical Center (CCMC) where she brokered the first co-development project focused on key clinical areas such as pediatric mental health. She also worked closely with faculty, clinicians and nurse practitioners in commercializing their innovations. Most recently, she brings her knowledge of the healthcare ecosystem to Chartis, where she works closely with private equity clients.
Billy Cheung ’99 BA
New York, NY
LinkedIn
Billy Cheung is currently a Managing Director at Apollo Global Management. Prior to this role, he worked in investor relations and financial planning roles at Voya Financial. He started his career in investment banking at Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley and subsequently worked in investment management as a leveraged credit analyst. Billy also holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Linda Chin ’81 BA
Cambridge, MA
LinkedIn
Linda Chin's passions for cultural and health equity stemmed from her experiences growing up in an immigrant family, and as a first-generation, low-income college and grad student at Yale and Harvard. She has held leadership roles at Cambridge Health Alliance and Tufts Medical Center, and Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence, served as the executive/producing artistic director at Wheelock Family Theatre and Reagle Music Theatre and continues to support the arts and culture/non-profit sector as a consultant, storyteller, theater reviewer, and mentor. Helping others make their dreams come true—including her three amazing children—is her greatest joy.
Yuet Chu ’87 BA
Jersey City, NJ
LinkedIn
Enjoying my 26th year in public education as a school support administrator, former school director and teacher; after a career from an investment management gig that I stumbled upon after graduating from Yale. Always grateful for the financial aid that allows me to attend Yale as a first generation immigrant from Hong Kong and working class parents who did not have the privilege of school.
Miami, FL
LinkedIn
Scott Clarke grew up primarily in Miami as the child of Jamaican immigrants. Clarke’s father didn't finish high school, but his parents and diaspora community were incredibly supportive. After Yale, Clarke worked in undergraduate admissions but wanted to find ways to support kids from similar backgrounds getting a top education. So he started Amandla in Cape Town with it in mind to create the same cradle-to-career support framework that propelled him to Yale. Without family money or a wealthy network it was an uphill climb, but Amandla has grown into a very successful organization (amandladev.org).
Cory Combs ’14 BA
Logan, OH
LinkedIn
Cory studied astrophysics and philosophy of science at Yale, which after a winding path led him — where else? — to a career in energy technology and climate policy. Along the way, he has had the good fortune to work with the Yale-China Association, obtain an MA from Johns Hopkins SAIS, and work on energy tech commercialization at the US Department of Energy. He now leads climate and industry analysis at a China-focused research firm, advising a range of government and multinational clients. Growing up, he had no idea such opportunities existed; today, he hopes to support others building their own paths.
Cheryl Contee ’93 BA
Sausalito, CA
LinkedIn
Cheryl Contee is CEO at The Impact Seat Foundation, where she leads early stage portfolio companies to success, provides resources for underrepresented founders, and helps build a new investment paradigm. In addition to her role at the TISF, Cheryl is the Founder and Chair of Do Big Things, a mission-based digital marketing agency. She was also the National Board Chair for Netroots Nation, the co-founder of Attentive.ly, a Senior Advisor for Astia, and a New Media Ventures board member. In 2023, Cheryl is launching the re-edition of her Amazon best-selling book, Mechanical Bull: How You Can Achieve Startup Success.
Mayur Desai ’94 MPH, ’97PhD
Cheshire, CT
LinkedIn
Mayur M. Desai (he/him/his), PhD, MPH, is a Professor of Epidemiology and the inaugural Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at the Yale School of Public Health. Professor Desai received both his MPH in health policy and his PhD in epidemiology from Yale. He then served for two years as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer at CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, before returning to New Haven to join the Yale faculty. The overarching goal of his work – across various content areas – is to improve health equity in access, quality, and outcomes of care in a broad range of populations and settings.
Ulyana Ermolova ’17 MFA
Hugo Faria ’86 BA
Great Barrington, MA
LinkedIn
Hugo is dedicated to increasing college access and post-college success for under-represented students. Hugo worked at Sponsors for Educational Opportunity as the VP responsible for their top-of-class college program, and later became SEO’s first COO. At Autentike Advisors Hugo works on projects focused on improving higher education access-success. Previously Hugo worked three decades in finance. Hugo started at Citibank and went on to leadership positions at other top-tier international banks. Hugo held a range of global and regional Managing Director roles with on the ground experience in four continents. Hugo received a BA from Yale and an MIA from Columbia.
Danielle Guillen ’13 BA
Redlands, CA
LinkedIn
Danielle Guillen is a cross-sector leader that specializes in using human centered design to build equitable governmental systems. She has designed over 18 governmental policies and programs domestically and internationally, most notably in school districts across the nation.
Danielle specializes in equity based research, evaluation, and policy design. In her previous role as the Director of Policy and Organizing for a Los Angeles Unified Board District, she gained first-hand experience in specializing in grassroots policy design with community members and advocating for their solutions to be implemented. She has also led field research projects for clients such as The World Bank and Colombian University Uniminuto where she specialized in qualitative research.
Danielle is a proud first generation college student with a Masters of Public Policy from University of Southern California. In her free time, she enjoys yoga, hikes, and visiting restaurants she sees on Tiktok.
Xiaoyan Huang ’91 BS
Xiaoyan Huang is a cardiologist and Chief of Clinical Cardiology at Providence Heart Institute. Dr. Huang has been a dedicated Yale volunteer. Under her leadership of the Yale Club of Oregon, the club received three YAA BOG Excellence Awards. She serves on the Board of the YASC and the Governing Council for YaleWomen. She is a co-creator and moderator for Yale Alumni Facebook Group with over 22,300 alumni members and received YAA BOG Leadership Award. Since 2015, Dr. Huang has served on the YAA BOG, having chaired multiple committees and is now chair of the Board of Governors.
Kimberly Jones ’00 BA
New Haven, CT
LinkedIn
Kimberly Jones is the Executive Vice President of the Council for Opportunity in Education in Washington, DC. In this role, she advocates daily for low-income, first-generation students, particularly those served by the Federal TRIO Programs. A Harry S. Truman Scholar, Jones is a graduate of Yale University and the Georgetown University Law Center. She has also earned the Certified Association Executive credential from ASAE, the American Society of Association Executives. Among her many civic and professional affiliations, she serves as a board member of Marked By COVID and a mentor for the DC Family & Youth Initiative.
Jacquelyn Kaplan ’99 BA
Hillsboro, MO
currently, Sandy Hook, CT
Jacquelyn Kaplan grew up in a trailer on a dirt road in Missouri, but always had a passion for learning. After Yale, she considered law school and was a paralegal in New Haven for four years, but after only one of those years she knew the law was not for her! Kaplan got her Masters in teaching from SCSU during the other three and have been teaching for 2 decades now.
Elmont, NY
Carepathrxllx.com
Alexander Kayne attended public high school in Elmont, New York. After law school, he became a partner at Dewey Ballantine and then the Chief Legal Officer of a publicly traded healthcare company, Omnicare Inc. Kayne then became the Chief Legal Officer of Genoa Healthcare. Kayne is currently Chief Legal Officer of CarepathRx
Igor Kirman ’93 BA
New York, NY
LinkedIn
I came to the U.S. as an immigrant from Soviet-era Ukraine in 1979, at age eight. We were penny-less, language-less and culturally clueless. When I entered school in third grade, I did not know how to spell my name. We grew up in poverty in Queens; our furniture "store" was the building's garbage dumpster. Yet, only five years after arrival, I was admitted to Stuyvesant HS (a magnet school); and four years after that, Yale college. For me, education has been the gateway to opportunity and I would love to share my experience with the next generation of first-gen students.
Lauren Koster ’12 BA
Rochester, MN
LinkedIn
After graduating in 2012 as a first-generation college student, Lauren worked in New Haven as a teacher and public education policy advocate. Graduating cum laude from Boston College Law School as a Public Service Scholar, Lauren clerked twice in the federal trial court in New Hampshire and served as a Skadden Fellow at the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts, where she represented youth in the family regulation system, with a focus on their educational success. She also has taught children's rights law at BC Law as an adjunct professor and currently is clerking on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
Karin Kricorian ’94 BA
Simi Valley, CA
LinkedIn
Karin Kricorian is a data science executive at the Walt Disney Company, leading corporate analytics consulting services across several business units. She is on the board of directors at MiOra, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing the representation of women and people of color in health sciences, and serves on several university advisory boards for their graduate and undergraduate analytics programs. She is vice chair of the Dean’s Advisory Board at the College of Business and Economics at California State University, Los Angeles. A native of upstate New York, she lives in Southern California with her husband and two children.
Peggy Kuo ’85
New York, NY
Magistrate Judge Kuo was appointed on October 9, 2015. She received a B.A. summa cum laude in history from Yale University in 1985 and a J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1988. Judge Kuo clerked for the Honorable Judith W. Rogers with the D.C. Court of Appeals. From 1989 until 1993, she served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia. From 1994 to 1998, she was a trial attorney and then Acting Deputy Chief of the Civil Rights Division Criminal Section at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she investigated and prosecuted hate crimes and allegations of police misconduct throughout the United States. For her complete bio, see www.nyed.uscourts.gov.
Javaughn Lawrence ’14 BS
Fort Lauderdale, FL
LinkedIn
Javaughn Lawrence (SY ‘14) is the founder & CEO of drip.live, a live commerce platform for collectibles which he has raised almost $30m in VC for. Prior to that he has a career working in VC, Bain and LinkedIn. He was born in Jamaica and moved to the US at 10.
Kristy Lamb ’12 PhD
Forest Hills, NY
LinkedIn
Kristy Lamb currently serves as Assistant Dean, Preprofessional Advising, at New York University. She grew up in rural North Carolina and was the first in her family to attend college. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and a Bachelor of Arts in Multidisciplinary Studies from North Carolina State University and a PhD in Genetics from Yale. During her time at Yale, and her postdoc at Weill Cornell, she was deeply committed to mentorship and scientific workforce development; based on these interests, she transitioned to her current career in higher education advising and administration.
Liana Leung ’97 BS
New York, NY
LinkedIn
Liana Leung, MD, MPH is a board-certified internist with two decades of clinical and administrative experience caring for patients and providing medical leadership for hospital-based clinics and ambulatory care networks. She also has experience implementing clinical programs and projects, improving the quality of patient care and patient experience; and increasing operational efficiency. She enjoys staying connected to Yale by speaking and providing guidance to students.
Ariya McGrew ’95 BA
Brooklyn, NY
LinkedIn
Ariya McGrew is a Senior Attorney for a federal agency where she practices defensive employment litigation. She has practiced law for the federal government for over 17 years. In her current role, McGrew is actively involved in one of several Chief Counsel affinity groups and participate as a mentor in her cohort group. Last year, she was one of several attorneys who received national recognition for our contribution to innovation within Chief Counsel. McGrew was raised in Texas and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. She is a proud first-gen Yalie.
Bronx, NY
LinkedIn
Alondra Mejia graduated from Yale University in 2019 with a B.A. in Ethnicity, Race, and Migration. While at Yale, she led a team of volunteers for alumni reunion weekends, helped La Casa Cultural create cultural events for the Yale community, and worked with Yspaniola, a nonprofit based out of the Dominican Republic. Alondra is currently a financial aid counselor with New York University, where she is also getting her master's in Higher Education and Student Affairs. In her free time, Alondra enjoys spending time with family and friends.
Patricia Melton ’83 BA
New Haven, CT
LinkedIn
Patricia Melton is an award-winning educator who has increased college and career access for students in traditional public and charter schools. She is the President of New Haven Promise, a place-based scholarship and career development engine that funds up to full tuition at in-state public Connecticut colleges or universities for deserving high school students and then places them in paid internships and careers. She coached several small school design teams, which created nine Early College High Schools throughout Ohio and Indiana. Also, Melton served as the chief academic officer for the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation, Indiana’s third-largest school district.
Christian Milian-Santiago ’21 BA
Arecibo, PR + Waterbury, CT
LinkedIn
Christian Milian graduated from Yale College with a B.A. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and a Certificate in Education Studies. He currently works within the Office of the Secretary and Vice President for University Life (OSVPUL) as a Woodbridge Fellow. The Woodbridge Fellowship introduces recent Yale College graduates to the work and administration of Yale while providing experience for potential careers in higher education or non-profit organizations.
Christian’s family is originally from Arecibo, Puerto Rico but moved to Waterbury, CT. Christian currently runs a near-peer mentorship program for high school students in Waterbury, CT in partnership with the Waterbury Public Schools and Be(A)Part, a CT-based nonprofit organization. He hopes to continue pursuing his interests in education by pursuing a graduate degree in higher education administration/student affairs.
Adolfo Mondragón ’96 BA
Chicago, IL
Adolfo Mondragón is a first-generation, Mexican-American from the SW-side of Chicago. After Yale, he worked at ACLU before attending the U of C Law School. But without a big law job nor a seasoned mentor to guide him, he had to learn to lawyer and to run a profitable practice on his own. Thankfully, after 22 years in the profession, Adolfo has handled cases in every department and division of state court and before various administrative agencies; He is a member of the federal trial bar and has argued in both state and federal courts of appeal, including a recent win at the Illinois Supreme Court.
Bronx, NY
LinkedIn
Michele Pinder Moorman is a senior talent executive and career coach. A former corporate attorney, Michele is currently the VP of People at Resilience Lab, a start-up collective of therapists providing mental health services in the Northeast. Prior to joining Resilience Lab, Michele led HR and professional development efforts at private NYC law firms White & Case and Chaffetz Lindsey. Michele received her B.A. from Yale College and J.D. from Harvard Law School. Michele is also a trained life and leadership coach through Accomplishment Coaching. She currently resides in NYC with her husband, daughter and retired greyhound Zadie.
Shiara Ortiz-Pujols ’98 BA
Brooklyn, NY
LinkedIn
Dr. Shiara Ortiz-Pujols is the Medical Director of Obesity Medicine at MedExpress/Optum. She received her BA at Yale, her MD from the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry and MPH from the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. She continued her training as a United Health Group Clinical Obesity Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. Her expertise span surgery, preventive medicine/ population health and obesity medicine. She is board certified in Public Health & General Preventive Medicine, Obesity and Lifestyle Medicine. Shiara has a strong commitment to person-centered, equitable and culturally competent care for all.
Allie Ossa ’11 BA
Queens, NY
LinkedIn
Allie Ossa (Branford ’11, she/her) is the proud daughter of immigrants from Colombia and a Queens, NY native. As a FGLI student, she earned a BA in Psychology from Yale and subsequently an MBA in Management and Strategy from the Duke Fuqua School of Business in 2018. At Yale, she devoted her time to serving as the student head of multicultural recruitment for the admissions office, co-founder and president of PorColombia de Yale, and dancer for both Rhythmic Blue (Yale’s hip hop dance group) and Sabrosura (Yale’s Latinx dance team). Career-wise, she translated her admissions experience into Human Resources; her current role is Senior Vice President, Diversity & Inclusion at Bank of America, covering the Banking & Markets space and Latin America. She also serves on the Minority Alumni Advisory Board at Fuqua. She and her husband live in lower Manhattan.
Victor Padilla-Taylor ’15 MAM
New Haven, CT
LinkedIn
Victor Padilla-Taylor '15 MAM is a Director at the Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale. He serves on various boards including the Yale SOM Alumni Advisory Board and the Long Wharf Theatre. Previously, he worked at World Economic Forum managing key agreements for private, government, and academic stakeholders. He also held director positions with Grupo Disagro and several trading firms in Latin America. Padilla-Taylor holds an MBA from Chile, an Executive Master's in Global Leadership, and a Chemical and Industrial Engineering degree. He is a trained executive coach and was captain for the Men's National Basketball Team in Guatemala.
Lafayette, CA
LinkedIn
Allen is the Director of Insight at Ontra. Prior to joining Ontra, he co-founded FundFormer, a leading electronic subscription platform for alternative asset managers and investors, which was acquired by Ontra. Allen was inspired to develop FundFormer after practicing as a private funds attorney at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, where he raised and managed funds for many of the world’s largest and most complex GPs. Allen holds a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and a B.A. from Yale University.
Yohanna Pepa ’14 BA
New York, NY
LinkedIn
I'm the child of two Filipino immigrants and went to underfunded public schools for K-12 in the East Bay. At Yale, I did Directed Studies, majored in EP&E with a business ethics concentration, and was Co-President of KASAMA: the Filipinx Club and the Yale Undergraduate Business Society. After Yale, I worked in investing for four years then social impact partnerships for a foundation for two years. I graduated from Wharton’s MBA program last year, and while there I co-founded the Wharton Graduate 1Gen Club, Wharton’s first FGLI club. Today I’m Chief of Staff of Veronica Beard, a luxury womenswear brand.
Valerie Popp ’02 BA
New York, NY
LinkedIn
Valerie Popp a proud first-generation Yalie and New Yorker who works in the nonprofit cultural sector and is passionate about advocating for and supporting first-gen students. Originally from Mastic-Shirley, NY, I graduated from Yale in 2002 and went on to earn my MA and PhD in English literature from UCLA. Since then I've moved up the nonprofit ranks as someone who envisions and develops programs that allow more people to access to the richness of the arts and humanities.
Yvette Soliz Rivers ’96 BA
Reston, VA
LinkedIn
After graduating from Yale College in 1996 with a B.A. in Sociology, Rivers intended to pursue a nonprofit career, but soon changed to a more lucrative one so that she could help her family. After earning an MBA from George Washington University, she established a successful career in IT management consulting. In the past 25 years, she has held various roles from Project/Program Manager to Director and Vice President, all the while helping clients optimize performance and mitigate the risks of large and complex information system efforts.
Dave Rudin ’85 MPhil
Brooklyn, NY
LinkedIn
As a first generation college student and the first in his family to attend graduate school, Dave Rudin has always believed that getting a good education is a very important thing — even if the thing that you study is not the thing that will help you to pay your bills in life. As someone who studied ancient history as an undergraduate at New York University and as a graduate student at Yale, Dave has lived his own life that way. Other people may not want to do so, but he believes that there is more in the world to study and appreciate beyond what might be considered to be practical.
Juan Carlos Salinas ’03 MFA
New York, NY
LinkedIn
Juan Carlos (JC) Salinas is currently the Executive Director at La Unidad Latina Foundation and Director of Education at JCAL. Salinas is the founder of Y Tu Tambien, a college access program, which unites Latino alumni from across the Ivy League to help students in need to gain acceptance into their desired colleges and provides school and career exploration workshops. He is the current Chair and founding member of the Yale Latino Alumni of the Tri-State Area, a board member of the Yale Latino Alumni Network. JC holds a MFA in Non-profit/Arts Management with an emphasis in Education from Yale University.
Sam Samdani ’84 BS
New Haven, CT
LinkedIn
Sam Samdani is an engineer by education, a management consultant by profession, and a lateral thinker by choice. He was born in Bangladesh several decades ago and is now living the American Dream in New Haven while seeking Lux et Veritas at Yale.
Hugo Santillan ’15 MBA
Brentwood, NY
LinkedIn
Hugo Santillan is a Director at MetLife Investment Management, responsibility for asset and liability management for two portfolio strategies (~$80B AUM). Previously he completed a one year fellowship in education nonprofit following five years as a media and telecom investment banker at Barclays Capital. He received a B.B.A. from Pace University and an M.B.A. from Yale School of Management. He is the first in his family to graduate college and an alumnus of the following nonprofit programs: Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, Management Leadership for Tomorrow, and the Robert Toigo Foundation.
Errol Saunders ’06 BA
New Haven, CT
LinkedIn
Errol C. Saunders, II is a fifteen-year veteran history teacher and the Executive Director of Pathfinder at Hopkins School, an education non-profit that prepares students from New Haven public and parochial schools for high school success. Errol has developed and taught innovative curricula in both English and history with emphases on thematic content orientation, cultural relevance and responsiveness, and making forceful, nuanced arguments from primary sources. Errol holds a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University, an Ed.M. in Curriculum and Teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University, and is currently an advanced doctoral student in that department.
J. B. Schramm ’86 BA
Washington, DC
LinkedIn
J.B. Schramm is Founder and Managing Partner of Grove Impact, a national partnership of experienced social entrepreneurs who help CEOs accelerate their sector-changing ideas. Formerly, he founded College Summit (now PeerForward) and New Profit’s postsecondary and workforce practice.
Janna Wagner ’95 BA
New Haven, CT
LinkedIn
Janna Wagner is the co-founder and chief learning officer of All Our Kin. She holds a B.A. in psychology from Yale University and an Ed.M. from Harvard Graduate School of Education. In addition to her work at All Our Kin, Janna co-teaches a seminar on Child Care, Society, and Public Policy at Yale. Active in the New Haven community, Janna serves as chair of the Ulysses S. Grant Foundation, a seventy-year-old academic summer program for New Haven students on Yale's campus. Janna was awarded the Yale Jefferson Award and the Peter Jennings Award for Civic Leadership given annually to a Teach For America alum whose work has led to significant progress toward educational equity and excellence.
Amber Walsh ’09 MBA
Wallingford, CT
LinkedIn
Amber Walsh graduated from McGill and joined the Peace Corps in Haiti. She continued to work in Haiti post-Peace Corps until she left to pursue an MBA. Walsh attained her MBA from Yale SOM and landed a job in Operations at Save the Children. Once the Earthquake hit Haiti, she returned with Save the Children to support the emergency response and overall strategy. Creating education opportunities for others has remained her passion, and she later left Save the Children to work for a Haiti-based scholarship and leadership program for nearly 10 years before returning to Admissions at Yale SOM in 2022.
Derek Webster ’99 BA
Madison, CT
LinkedIn
After studying film and literature at Yale, Derek spent a decade in Los Angeles as a literary manager and script consultant. He now organizes and expands the university’s creative careers resources, working with students and alumni to navigate the arts, entertainment and media related industries. When not adventuring with his wife and precious/precocious children, Derek is likely to be found exploring his next fiction: https://ivanhope.com/writing/.
Alicia Whittington ‘06 MPH
St.Louis, MO
LinkedIn
Alicia J. Whittington, PhD, MPH ‘06, is a research scientist and the assistant director of engagement and health equity research for the Football Players Health Study at Harvard University and co-lead of Family Experiences Managing Football Lives (FEM-FL), a research initiative focusing on family members of NFL players. She received a PhD in health systems management from Tulane University and completed her dissertation research on Concussion Education and Perceptions of Injury Risk among High School Football Players. Dr. Whittington received her master of public health degree in chronic disease epidemiology from Yale University, and a bachelor of arts in public health from Wellesley College.
Jay Wong ’17 BA
Baldwin, NY
LinkedIn
Jay graduated Yale in 2017 with a B.A. in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology. He received the Parker Huang Fellowship to conduct post-graduate, medical anthropology research in Japan on HIV among Japanese Men-who-have-Sex-with-Men between 2017-2018. From 2018-2019, as a magician Jay led a magic research initiative at the Yale School of Medicine to teach patients with hand injuries magic as a form of physical therapy. In 2019, Jay matriculated to the University of Michigan Medical School where he received a full-ride merit-based Dean’s Scholarship to obtain his MD/MBA, and subsequently pursue the invention of a painless needle, medical innovation, and entrepreneurship.
Kiko Wong ’22 BS
LinkedIn
Elgin, IL
Kiko Wong is a recent graduate of Yale College with a B.S. in Applied Physics with distinction. After graduating, he began working as an associate at Yale Ventures, Yale University’s technology transfer and innovation center. With the support of Yale Ventures, Kiko joined and is a current founding member of ClimateHaven, a climate technology incubator focused on building and scaling early stage climate companies to decarbonize our planet.
Victor Zapana ’11 BA
New York, NY
LinkedIn
Victor Zapana has a BA from Yale and a JD from Harvard. Zapana is formerly a newspaper journalist and currently a federal law clerk and law-firm associate.
Huahao Zhou ’22 BA
Chongqing, China
Huahao Zhou was born in Chongqing, China. As an FGLI student, he came to the US on his own with two big suitcases. He loved his college years at Yale, enjoying both computer science classes and humanity seminars. He was the president of the TAMID entrepreneurship group at Yale and PrideCorp (an LGBTQ network). He interned at Google and Microsoft before joining Mckinsey as a business analyst.
Esther Zirbel ’93 PHD
Nantucket, MA & San Diego, CA
LinkedIn
As an immigrant and first-generation high school graduate living in poverty, Esther Zirbel earned a Bachelor of Science, three Masters’ degrees and an award-winning PhD in astrophysics from Yale. Her projects on black holes in distant galaxies flew on the Hubble Space Telescope. As a professor, she discovered a passion in teaching and learning. To leave a larger impact, she first transitioned to teacher education and then to coaching professors. She founded the nonprofit organization, Learning Ledgers with the goal to transform education. Her ambition is offer opportunities to all individuals, irrespective of their background or socio-economic class.
1stGenYale Alumni Volunteer Team
Lisa Chapman ’81 MBA
President
New York, NY
LinkedIn
Being grateful, Lise P. Chapman wants to give back and help the next generation as others have helped her along the way. Growing up in Los Angeles with a single parent, she could not have attended Stanford and later the Yale SOM for her MBA without guidance from others and financial aid. Volunteer service for Yale includes serving as Founder & President, 1stGenYale (2016-present); member, Yale Alumni Fund Board of Directors; Yale SOM '81 Class Agent; Chair, YAA Board of Governors (2016-2018); Founder, Careers, Life, and Yale (2015); and Chair, Yale Day of Service (2012-2014). Her professional careers were in commercial banking at Citibank, Mergers & Acquisitions at Merrill Lynch, and later non-profits. Since 2016, she has been an independent career and education advisor. Lise and her husband, Andrew Chapman ‘81 MBA, are the proud parents of three children, Yorkshire terrier Toto, and cat Amigo.
Michael Watson ’81 BA
Vice President
Kearny, NJ
LinkedIn
Michael Watson is the Employee Experience Advisor for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Prior roles he held include Senior Vice President, Talent and Culture for National 4-H Council; and Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Diversity for Girl Scouts of the USA. Michael also held positions at IBM Global Services, Time Warner Inc., and GE Capital. He is a GE Human Resources Management Program graduate and recipient of GE Capital Pinnacle Club and IBM's Golden Circle awards. Michael is a 1stGenYale board member. He has a BA in economics from Yale University and MS in organizational management and human resource development from Manhattanville College.
Barb Protacio ’81 BA
Vice President
McLean, VA
Barb Protacio was the first in her family to attend college. Adopted as a baby in Guatemala by U.S. parents she grew up in five countries in Latin America and in the U.S. At Yale she majored in architecture and lettered in crew. Barb became a Naval Intelligence officer, retiring after 30 years at the rank of Captain. In 2014 she switched careers through Teach For America and now serves her community as a 1st and 2nd grade teacher. For Yale, she has directed the Virginia Tidewater Alumni Schools Committee, interviews applicants, and serves on the executive committees of 1stGenYale DC and 1stGenYale.
Joanne Siu ’90 BA
Treasurer
San Francisco, CA
LinkedIn
Joanne Siu (BA Economics 1990) was born in a village near Zhongshan PRC and is an immigrant and first-generation college graduate. She attended public schools in Los Angeles and learned about Yale from a minority student recruiter who visited her school as part of Yale’s effort to recruit students from diverse communities. She also holds a Master in Public Policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and a law degree from UC Berkeley Law. She is currently the Head of Tax at BILL, a fintech company that automates financial processes for SMEs. In her career, Joanne has helped high-tech and biotech companies navigate transformative acquisitions, global and product line expansions, and tax audits. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and daughter.
Lydia Serrano ’99 BA
Graphic Designer
New York, NY
LinkedIn
Lydia Serrano is a multi-faceted communications professional whose experience spans wine & spirits sales, social justice advocacy, and strategic marketing. A lifelong learner, Lydia holds several wine certifications and a Master’s in integrated marketing from NYU. In addition to serving on the board of 1stGenYale, she is a founding member of Cabrini Coalition, a Harlem-based non-profit offering practical and spiritual support to immigrant families, and serves as a “Big Sister” mentor through the Bigs & Littles NYC program. Lydia is currently training for her tenth marathon and splits her time between NYC, Puerto Rico, and Europe.
Suzanne Solensky ’83 BA
Secretary
Stratford, CT
LinkedIn
Suzanne Solensky ‘83 is an educator, writer, and administrator with a commitment to mission-driven institutions. After working as a writer, researcher, and editor, she earned a master’s from Wesleyan. She then made a career in higher education, as an adjunct faculty member, an academic advisor and administrator, and a director of initiatives to open the benefits of higher learning to more students. As a director of Literacy Volunteers of Greater Bridgeport, she empowers adult immigrants to contribute to their communities as they increase their proficiency in English. Besides being on the executive board of 1stGenYale, she is active in YaleWomen.
Ann T. Freedman ’78 MHA & MPH, Fundraising
Chestnut Hill, MA
Ann T. Freedman is an outcomes-driven executive, consultant, and entrepreneur with extensive profit and nonprofit leadership experience. She is currently founder and principal of Transitions Consulting LLC, driving consulting engagements, philanthropic initiatives, and leadership development. Ann has held transformational leadership roles in Fortune 100 organizations, top financial services companies, best-in-class consulting firms, and nonprofit, educational, healthcare and insurance organizations.
Throughout her career, Ann has contributed to philanthropic and socially responsible organizations. She is an ardent supporter of first generation and underserved students, leadership effectiveness, public health, personal and financial wellness, and rights of voters. Ann advocates for inclusivity and equity, diversity of thought, educational equity, well-being, public health, social justice, and the ability for everyone to have a fulfilling life. These are her core values, reflected in her professional, volunteer, and personal commitments.
Grace Kim ’22 BA
Graphic Designer
New York, NY
Grace Kim ‘22 is a teacher and entrepreneur, devoted to empowering the youth of the future. Since 2016, Grace has partnered with international NGOs and non-profit organizations to make strides towards ensuring inclusive, equitable, and quality educational opportunities for all people. Currently, she is a special education teacher, teaching Algebra, Geometry, Earth Science, College Algebra, and Financial Literacy at Columbia Secondary School in NYC. When not teaching and volunteering her time for 1stGenYale, she serves on the board for Yale Alumni Educators, coaches cheerleading for ages 11-18, manages waterpark snack operations in California, and creates projects for her platform, gracefulperfect.com.
Stephanie Grilli ’80 PHD
Denver, CO
LinkedIn
A former university educator, Stephanie Grilli (PhD History of Art) is an independent art historian living in Denver. She is the past president of the Colorado Yale Association and remains on the board. Currently she is a member of the Board of Governors and the Graduate School Alumni Association, and she is a founding member of Yale Alumni Educators and serves on its leadership committee.
Dave Rudin ’85 MPhil
Brooklyn, NY
LinkedIn
As a first generation college student and the first in his family to attend graduate school, Dave Rudin has always believed that getting a good education is a very important thing — even if the thing that you study is not the thing that will help you to pay your bills in life. As someone who studied ancient history as an undergraduate at New York University and as a graduate student at Yale, Dave has lived his own life that way. Other people may not want to do so, but he believes that there is more in the world to study and appreciate beyond what might be considered to be practical.
Other Alumni Speakers
Weili Cheng ’77 BA
Kimberly M. Goff-Crews
’83 BA ’86 JD
Kimberly Goff-Crews is secretary and vice president for university life at Yale. She is responsible for the university’s work to further diversity, equity, and inclusion in service of the university's mission, and ensures the alignment of policies and procedures to maximize support for all students. She also oversees the university chaplaincy and the conduct of official university functions, including Commencement.
Ms. Goff-Crews leads Belonging at Yale. This initiative includes the university’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and fosters a learning environment and campus community in which everyone feels a sense of belonging. In this role, she works closely with the deans and other university leaders, committees, students, faculty, and staff.
Before returning to Yale, Ms. Goff-Crews was vice president for campus life and dean of students at the University of Chicago. She also served as the dean of students at Wellesley College and as chief of staff to the president and director of planning at Lesley University.
Ms. Goff-Crews is a graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School. After several years in private law practice, she became an assistant dean in Yale College and director of the Afro-American Cultural Center. Ms. Goff-Crews is a commissioner for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and a member of the board of United Educators, an insurance company that supports educational institutions, and the International Festival of Arts and Ideas. She is also a member of the 2020 NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education Annual Conference Leadership Committee and chairs the Vice Presidents of Student Affairs Initiatives.
Xiaoyan Huang ’91 BS
Xiaoyan Huang is a cardiologist and Chief of Clinical Cardiology at Providence Heart Institute. Dr. Huang has been a dedicated Yale volunteer. Under her leadership of the Yale Club of Oregon, the club received three YAA BOG Excellence Awards. She serves on the Board of the YASC and the Governing Council for YaleWomen. She is a co-creator and moderator for Yale Alumni Facebook Group with over 22,300 alumni members and received YAA BOG Leadership Award. Since 2015, Dr. Huang has served on the YAA BOG, having chaired multiple committees and is now chair of the Board of Governors.
Parking
Parking is free in all Yale lots on Saturday. While there is no parking at the SOM building, 165 Whitney Avenue, there is available parking one block up and across the street from SOM in Yale Lot 16.
Hotel Reservations & Other Accommodations
We have blocks of rooms available for participants.
Call the hotel directly or use the link to make your reservations.
Lower rates may be available if you reserve early.
The Graduate
1151 Chapel Street, New Haven
475-207-7070
ROOMS
10 rooms for April 28-30, 2023
Group rate of $269
LIMITATION
Rolling deadline.
Hotel Marcel
500 Sargent Drive, New Haven
800-774-1500
ROOMS
7 King/3 Queen for $199 until March 31, 2023
Group code: GEN1
Direct Phone 203-780-7800
All other questions: Customer Care Line at 1-800-HILTONS (1-800-445-8667). For guests outside of the U.S., dial (00-1-800-445-8667)
Marriott Courtyard
New Haven
30 Whalley Avenue, New Haven, CT
ROOMS
25 Kings at $189 rate
10 Double Queen at 199 rate
Reservation: 203-777-6221, or
❑ Room Block Reservation Link
Reference 1st Gen Conference Yale 2023
Last Day to Book: Friday, April 14, 2023
Marriott Courtyard
Orange / Milford
229 George Street, New Haven
877-499-5279
ROOMS
10 rooms:
5 King at $179 rate;
5 Queen at $184 rate;
Fri night - Sun morn, Apr 28-30, 2023
LIMITATION
30-day cutoff with code “FirstGenYale.”
New Haven Hotel
229 George Street, New Haven
877-499-5279
ROOMS
10 rooms:
5 King at $179 rate;
5 Queen at $184 rate;
Fri night - Sun morn, Apr 28-30,2023
LIMITATION
30-day cutoff with code “FirstGenYale.”
The Study at Yale
1157 Chapel Street, New Haven
203-503-3900
866-930-1157 toll free
ROOMS
25 rooms blocked $259 single & $259 double blocked until April 3, 2023 Reference 1stGenYale when speaking with our agents.
Accommodation Coordination
Those interested in sharing an AirB&B or looking for a hotel roommate may contact Stephanie Grilli '80 PhD: stephgrilli9@gmail.com. Indicate if you want to stay Friday night, Saturday night, or both. For those wanting to book a hotel, include which one/s you prefer.
Those interested in an AirB&B will be connected with each other and will then have to make their own arrangements. This service only facilitates sharing and roommates. It does not make reservations or secure accommodations.
Location
All events will be held at the:Yale School of Management, 165 Whitney Avenue, New Haven, except where indicated.
In-Person Only
This is an in-person event at Yale and will not be able to be live-streamed.
Ticket Sales
All ticket sales are final. We are not able to give refunds.
Meals
There will be a variety of selections including gluten-free, vegetarian, and dairy-free options. Lunch and dinner on Saturday and a light breakfast on Sunday are included in the conference ticket.
Increase Equity, Access, and Engagement
1stGenYale's mission is to increase equity, access, and engagement for our alumni and students. As a result, we would like to increase alumni volunteer engagement opportunities for you with Yale in addition to your involvement with us. Kindly let us know by completing the information in the ticket purchase and registration section.
Consent to Use of Photographic and Video Images
By registering for, attending, or participating in this event, I grant my permission to 1stGenYale, the Yale Alumni Association (YAA), and/or Yale University to photograph my image (and that of my minor guest, if permitted to attend) and the right to use and reproduce such images in all media, including digital and video media, for the purpose of promoting 1stGenYale, Yale University, and the YAA programs and events, and other purposes in accordance with Yale’s mission. I understand that I will have no approval rights with respect to the use of these images.
Special Consideration
We hope to have a small amount of donated funds available to support alumni who are in mission-driven, non-profit, or public service work and need financial assistance to attend the conference via bus or train service in the tri-state region. Please send your written request to 1stgenyale@1stgenyale.org no later than April 17, 2023. We ask you to acknowledge that you will give our gift back to the Yale first-gen low-income students community when you are able.
