Educational BeneFitz Northwestern football coach and SESP alumnus Pat Fitzgerald on leadership - School of Education and Social Policy

 
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Educational BeneFitz Northwestern football coach and SESP alumnus Pat Fitzgerald on leadership - School of Education and Social Policy
SPRING 2019

Educational
BeneFitz
Northwestern football coach
and SESP alumnus Pat Fitzgerald
on leadership
Educational BeneFitz Northwestern football coach and SESP alumnus Pat Fitzgerald on leadership - School of Education and Social Policy
S E S P SPRING 2019 VOL 19, NO 2                                                M E SSAG E F RO M T H E D E A N

Dean
David Figlio

Senior Associate Dean
Coleen T. Coleman (MS91)

Associate Dean
Kavita Kapadia Matsko (MS97), Teacher Education                                                                                          DE AR FRIENDS,

Assistant Deans
                                                                                                                                         At SESP, we emphasize that teamwork
Jeanne M. Hughes, Research                                                                                                               and collaboration are vital to great lead-
Susan Olson, Student Affairs                                                                                                             ership in every domain. So I’m never
Amy Pratt, Community Education Partnerships                                                                                              surprised—but always delighted—that
Managing Editor                                                                                                                          many Northwestern athletes gravitate
Julie Deardorff                                                                                                                          to SESP, where they learn how to apply
Publication Design                                                                                                                       lessons from the playing field to change
Office of Global Marketing and Communications                                                                                            lives and organizations for the better.
                                                                                                                                            You don’t need a PhD to appreciate
Image Credits
Steve Drey, Yancey Hughes, Jim Prisching,                                                                                                why our learning and organizational
Leon Walls, Monika Wnuk                                                                                                                  change concentration—centered around
©2019 Northwestern University.
                                                                                                                                         people and their roles within families,
All rights reserved. 5-19/17M/RM-HC/2793                                                                                                 teams, nonprofits, corporations, and
                                                                                                                                         other organizations—would be espe-

                                                         12
SESP is published twice a year for alumni, families,
and friends of the School of Education and                                                                                               cially attractive to students who spend
Social Policy. Diverse views are presented and                                                                                           many hours a week working in teams.          Dean to coach: David Figlio (left) and Pat Fitzgerald
do not necessarily reflect the editor’s opinions or                                                                                         And our student-athletes help their
Northwestern University’s official policies.
                                                         Fitz’s Playbook                                                                 classmates better understand learning
SESP welcomes all reader input, including story                                                                                          in organizations, because the lessons        D’Wayne Bates (BS98), Gerald                            students—who came to SESP to learn
                                                         The winning combination of SESP, Coach Fitz, and Northwestern football
ideas, comments, class notes, corrections, and                                                                                           from sports successes and failures are       Conoway (BS99), and Vince Cartaya                       not only how to succeed but also how
address changes.                                                                                                                         highly transferable. All SESP students       (BS03)—just to name a few. They shared                  to lead, at Northwest­ern and in life.
sespalums@northwestern.edu
                                                                                                                                         are so connected in their learning and       what they’ve learned about 21st-century                   We’d love to hear how you’re using
@ sesp_nu
847-467-3147
                                                                                                                                         mutual sharing that once our student-­       literacies such as change management                    your leadership skills to make lives
                                                                                                                                         athletes take their skills into the world,   and team dynamics—and how to prepare                    better. Please email us at sespalums
For more stories to read and ways to connect,
                                                                                                                                         they often return to campus to share         for success wherever you land, be it in                 @northwestern.edu or use the
visit sesp.northwestern.edu.
                                                                                                                                         their experiences and wisdom with            the classroom, boardroom, or courtroom                  #SESPLove hashtag on Twitter.
                                                                                                                                         current students.                            or on the playing field.
                                                                                                                                            At a Reunion Weekend luncheon each           We work in teams. We work in fami-                   Go ’Cats!

                                                                                                         8                               year, SESP alumni volunteer to meet
                                                                                                                                         and mentor current undergraduates.
                                                                                                                                                                                      lies. We work on committees. Every­
                                                                                                                                                                                      where we go, we are destined to work
                                                                                                         How They Built It               Last fall’s participants included several    with other people. Making these inter­
                                                                                                         Five entrepreneurs who          former Wildcat athletes: Doreen Maxcy        actions as successful as possible is part               David Figlio
                                                                                                         found there’s no better place   (BS68) from North­western’s first wom-       of the essence of SESP.                                 Orrington Lunt Professor and Dean

                                                       6                                                 to start (up) than SESP
                                                                                                                                         en’s golf team; former ’Cats point guard
                                                                                                                                         Vernon Ford (BS68); and football pro-
                                                                                                                                                                                         This issue highlights some of the
                                                                                                                                                                                      people—from head football coach Pat
                                                       Embracing Identities,                                                             gram greats Stanley Davenport (BS88),        Fitzgerald (BS97) and Union College
ON THE COVER                                           Cultivating Leaders                                                                                                            president David Harris (BS91) to
Before Pat Fitzgerald became Northwestern’s            SESP Leadership Institute                                                                                                      startup founders, social justice entre­
Dan and Susan Jones Head Football Coach                                                                                                                                               preneurs, and first-generation college
                                                       students bring much more than
and Big Ten Coach of the Year, he earned
his degree from SESP. Many student-athletes            diversity to campus
choose SESP to learn and practice what it
takes to be a leader.
PHOTO BY JIM PRISCHING                                 Message from the Dean 1 | School News 2 | Alumni News 16 | Donor Roll 20
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       1
Educational BeneFitz Northwestern football coach and SESP alumnus Pat Fitzgerald on leadership - School of Education and Social Policy
S C H O O L N E WS

                                                                                    No One Is Immune to Fake News                                                                                                                                       Variable Power of
                                                                                    Even when we know we’re getting false, fictitious, or mis-                                                                                                          Positive Thinking
                                                                                    leading information, our exposure to it can have clear conse-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Searching for a silver lining in a stress-
                                                                                    quences, says David Rapp, professor of learning sciences.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        ful situation can help ease anxiety,
                                                                                       We may feel confused or doubt what we previously knew,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        particularly for people from lower socio-
                                                                                    says Rapp, whose article on the consequences of exposure
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        economic backgrounds, suggests new
                                                                                    to misinformation appears in the journal Policy Insights from
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        research by Emily Hittner, a human
                                                                                    the Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        development and social policy PhD
                                                                                       The article, coauthored by Northwestern cognitive psy-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        student and life span developmental
                                                                                    chology PhD student Nikita Salovich, builds on Rapp’s previ-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        psychobiologist.
                                                                                    ous work suggesting that even when people know better,
                                                                                    they often draw on inaccurate or misleading ideas when
                                                                                    making decisions or solving problems.
                                                                                      “People show clear effects of that information, whether it
                                                                                    comes from listening to news or reading fiction,” Rapp says.
                                                                                       The authors add that learning how to critically evaluate
                                                                                    misleading statements can improve understanding. So can
                                                                                    recognizing that we’re not immune to fake news.

                                                                                                                                                       ‘New Math’ Strategies for ‘Old Math’ Mindsets
                                                                                                                                                       A study of teachers coauthored by James Spillane offers valuable how-tos for getting employ-
                                                                                                                                                       ees on board with reforms.
                                                                                                                                                          Spillane, the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Professor in Learning and Organizational Change,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Hittner says that the findings, pub-
                                                                                                                                                       and his collaborators wondered how school leaders were able to get elementary school
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        lished in the journal Emotion, “highlight
                                                                                                                                                       teachers to adopt a curriculum that differed from what the teachers had learned. One aim of
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        the important role a person’s situation
                                                                                                                                                       the study was to determine whether the teachers’ interactions with peers influenced their
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        or environment plays in shaping how
                                                                                                                                                       beliefs about math instruction.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        they deal with their emotions—and how
                                                                                                                                                          The study found that it took multiple strategies—changing the organizational structure,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        that matters for their health.”
                                                                                                                                                       adopting curriculum that was different enough to nudge teachers to talk to one another, and
STEM FOR PRE-K                                                                                                                                         offering professional development opportunities—to lead a majority of teachers to change
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Reappraisal, a strategy of cognitive
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        behavioral therapy, involves finding
                                                                                                                                                       their beliefs over time about how to teach math.
During October’s statewide STEM Summit at Northwestern, teach-                                                                                                                                                                                          something positive in a negative situa-
                                                                                                                                                          The results hold important lessons for other organizations looking to change their members’
ers tried out playful ways to build STEM learning into early childhood                                                                                                                                                                                  tion. Someone who worries about
                                                                                                                                                       behavior, says Spillane, who also has a courtesy appointment in Northwestern’s Kellogg
education. The ninth annual event was copresented by SESP’s Office                                                                                                                                                                                      loneliness after a breakup, for example,
                                                                                                                                                       School of Management.
of Community Education Partnerships.                                                                                                                                                                                                                    might seek new passions or rekindle an
                                                                                                                                                         “Organizations need to take a holistic approach and think about how various components
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        old friendship.
                                                                                                                                                       of their infrastructure shape interactions among employees,” Spillane says. “Peers can be
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Hittner and her team, including SESP
                                                                                                                                                       a powerful source for improvement, but leaders have to support, engage, and channel this.”
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        faculty member Claudia Haase and PhD
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        student Katie Rim, analyzed data from
Turning Ideas Into Action                                                                                                                                                                                                                               two different sources: a lab-based
Graduate students Liz Jackson and Hernando         climate change, peace and human rights, pov-          Parker, a social policy major and global                                                                                                       study of 112 married spouses and a
Sevilla-Garcia and undergraduate Christina         erty alleviation, or public health. Overall, 25    health studies minor, is working with Weinberg                                                                                                    nine-year national survey of more than
Parker connected with other changemakers           Northwestern students joined about 1,500           College undergraduates to create a community
                                                                                                                                                          SESP Names New Dean for Teacher Education                                                     2,000 people.
at October’s 11th annual meeting of the Clinton    others from 397 schools and 112 countries at       garden program to combat Chicago-area food                                                                                                           Both studies showed that people who
Global Initiative Univer­sity, a three-day sum-    the event, held at the University of Chicago.      insecurity.                                                                 Kavita Kapadia Matsko (MS97), whose research focuses on               make less money benefit more from
mit designed to engage the next generation            Jackson and Sevilla-Garcia, both pursuing         “CGI U reinvigorated our commitment to                                    developing and supporting teachers in urban schools, is SESP’s        reappraising situations than those with
of leaders from college campuses around            their master’s degrees in higher education         tackling disparities in educational access,”                                new associate dean for teacher education, succeeding Miriam           higher incomes, possibly because
the world.                                         administration and policy, are building a study    Jackson says. “We came away with resources                                  Sherin. Matsko was previously director of strategic innovation        low-income earners have less control
   Hosted by Bill and Chelsea Clinton, CGI U       abroad program to boost international oppor-       and connections that will help us put our com-                              and research at National Louis University.                            over their environment. In both experi-
requires participants to develop initiatives       tunities for students at Chicago institutions      mitment into action.”                                                                                                                             ments, cognitive reframing began to
addressing education, the environment and          with high Hispanic enrollment.                                                                                                                                                                       lose its effectiveness when a person’s
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        annual income rose above $35,000.

2                                                  SESP                                              S P R I N G 2 019                                                                                                                                                                           3
Educational BeneFitz Northwestern football coach and SESP alumnus Pat Fitzgerald on leadership - School of Education and Social Policy
S C H O O L N E WS

                                                                                                 IN BRIEF                                      The Threshold
                                                                                                 Learning sciences faculty members             How an unlocked door changed Larry Hedges’s life
                                                                                                 Megan Bang (PhD09) and Shirin Vossoughi
                                                                                                 received the Alumnae of Northwestern
                                                                                                                                               Eleven-year-old Larry Hedges was waiting          “I’m passionate about
                                                                                                 University’s Curriculum Development
                                                                     Cynthia Coburn              Award to create a hybrid social justice
                                                                                                                                               for his mother to finish her shift as a dish-   education precisely
                                                                                                 course for Northwestern undergraduates        washer in a college cafeteria when he wan-      because it was life-
                                                                                                 and Evanston Township High School             dered through the open door of a nearby         changing for me,” says
                                                                                                 students.                                     chemistry lab.                                  Hedges, “I want every-
                                                                                                                                                  College wasn’t something for poor fami-      body else to have that
                                                                                                 Social policy professor and Institute for
                                                                                                                                               lies like theirs, Hedges’s mom had told         chance.”
                                                                                                 Policy Research (IPR) associate Cynthia
                                                                                                                                               him. But after repeat visits to the lab—and        A bright, curious
                                                                                                 Coburn was appointed to the National
                                                                                                 Academies’ Standing Commit­tee on             conversations with a friendly graduate          student, Hedges won
                                                                     Sheridan Fuller             Advancing Science Communica­tion              student—Hedges began to envision a              a prestigious Regents
                                                                                                 Research and Practice.                        future he never thought possible.               Scholarship to the Uni-
                                                                                                                                                  A first-generation college graduate          versity of Cali­fornia,
                                                                                                 Human development and social policy           whose father never finished high school,        San Diego, where he stud-
                                                                                                 faculty member and IPR fellow Mesmin
                                                                                                                                               today Hedges is Northwestern’s Board of         ied math and physics. As
                                                                                                 Destin was recognized by the American
                                                                                                                                               Trustees Professor of Statistics and            an undergraduate, he
                                                                                                 Psycho­logical Associa­tion for his early-
                                                                                                 career work on how socio­economic status      Education and Social Policy, Psychology,
                                                                     Sybil Madison               affects human behavior.                       and Medical Social Science and an Insti-
                                                                                                                                               tute for Policy Research faculty fellow—        “You can teach any child almost anything that
                                                                                                 PhD student Sheridan Fuller was named a       and one of the world’s most influential
                                                                                                 2018 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
                                                                                                                                               applied statisticians. He is working to
                                                                                                                                                                                               the best students are able to do. We know it’s
CTD Bolsters STEM Education
                                                                                                 Health Policy Research Scholar.
                                                                                                                                               give others the same educational oppor-         possible to achieve excellence for all.”
                                                                                                 Research associate Sybil Madison joined       tunities he received.
in Jewish Day Schools                                                                            the Civic Leadership Academy, a program          His life’s work was celebrated at a
The Center for Talent Development is collaborating with                                          for promising leaders in nonprofit organi-    December ceremony in Hong Kong, where           tutored and mentored under­represented           The author of 10 books, he was nomi-
                                                                     Paula Olszewski-Kubilius    zations and local government agencies in                                                      students, staying on for three years after     nated by President Barack Obama to the
Chicago-area Jewish day schools to strengthen STEM educa-                                                                                      Hedges was awarded the $3.9 million
tion programming and teaching, an effort supported by a grant                                    Chicago and Cook County.                      Yidan Prize for Education Research—the          graduating in 1973 to build programs that      National Board for Education Sciences,
from the Crown Family Philanthropies.                                                                                                          largest prize of its kind—for pioneering the    made college more accessible.                  which he now chairs.
   The funding will help CTD review the offerings for high-ability                               Center for Talent Development director
                                                                                                                                               use of meta-analysis. He is using the prize        Hedges understood that education was a        His latest and perhaps most daunting
students, make program recommendations, offer professional                                       Paula Olszewski-Kubilius coauthored the
                                                                                                 books Talent Development as a Framework       to help launch the Center on Statistics for     powerful way to address inequalities on a      challenge involves figuring out how to
development to teachers, and facilitate in-school programming
                                                                                                 for Gifted Education: Implications for Best   Evidence-Based Policy and Practice at           large scale. While earning his doctorate in    organize the education system so that all
for students at four partner day schools. A pilot after-school
                                                                                                 Practices and Applications in Schools         Northwestern, which will develop new            statistics, he envisioned new ways of apply-   children excel.
program at Hillel Torah North Suburban Day School is expand-
                                                                     Uri Wilensky                and The Handbook of High Performance:                                                         ing advanced math to real-world issues          “You can teach any child almost anything
ing this spring.                                                                                                                               methods for generating and synthesizing
                                                                                                 Developing Human Potential into Domain-                                                       such as school funding, class size, and the    that the best students are able to do,” says
   The grant will also help offset costs for Jewish day school                                                                                 evidence across trial studies and translat-
                                                                                                 Specific Talent.
students taking Sunday CTD enrichment courses on the                                                                                           ing it into education policy and practice.      lifelong effects of good teachers.             Hedges. “We know it’s possible to achieve
Evanston campus.
                                                                                                 Uri Wilensky was named the Lorraine                              …                               Disarray in the field of education          excellence for all. We just don’t know how
   The collaboration grew from a successful pilot program                                                                                                                                      research in the 1970s spurred Hedges to        to make it happen yet.”
                                                                                                 Morton Professor of Learning Sciences         Hedges’s commitment to evidence-­based
spearheaded by J-STEM, a nonprofit that provides supplemen-
                                                                                                 and Computer Science.                         education policy as a tool for social good      come up with rigorous methods for synthe-
tal STEM curriculum for Jewish elementary, middle, and high
                                                                                                                                               stems from a central question guiding           sizing research findings across studies—a      BY JULIE DE ARDORFF
school students. In 2015, J-STEM founders Michael and                                            Marcelo Worsley, assistant professor of
Jennifer Zukerman approached CTD with the idea of creating                                                                                     his career: what if he used his talents in      subfield of statistics called meta-analysis.
                                                                     Marcelo Worsley             learning sciences and computer science,
a Sunday enrichment program to accommodate Sabbath-                                                                                            math to help solve gritty, everyday societal       His work eventually resulted in most of
                                                                                                 received Northwestern’s Daniel Linzer
observant Jewish day school students.                                                                                                          problems rather than those conjured up          the meta-­analytic methods now in wide-
                                                                                                 Award for Faculty Excellence in Diversity
  “While supporting the needs of high-ability students,” says                                    and Equity for his efforts to bring STEM      in academia?                                    spread use, informing evidence-based edu-
CTD associate director Rhoda Rosen, “the Crown funding                                           education to all, regardless of physical                                                      cation policy across the United States and
will also help us strengthen programming and teaching for                                        ability.                                                                                      throughout the world.
all students.”

4                                                   SESP                                    S P R I N G 2 019                                                                                                                                                                            5
Educational BeneFitz Northwestern football coach and SESP alumnus Pat Fitzgerald on leadership - School of Education and Social Policy
One of Destin’s core research findings
                                                                                                                                            suggests that helping lower-income and
                                                                                                                                            first-generation students express their iden-
                                                                                                                                            tities and sense of purpose boosts academic

                      Embracing Identities,
                                                                                                                                            achievement, career motivation, and resil-
                                                                                                                                            ience, even in the face of tremendous chal-
                                                                                                                                            lenge and adversity.
                                                                                                                                              “SLI activities explore who the students

                      Cultivating Leaders
                                                                                                                                            are, what matters to them, why they are
                                                                                                                                            here, and what they want to contribute to         from reading it in her predominantly white
                                                                                                                                            the community,” Destin says. “These are the       high school, where she often felt pressure
                                                                                                                                            students who may have been undervalued            to represent her entire community.

I
                                                                                                                                            in the past but have the potential to help the       Mayorga, who co-led a discussion of
                       Intense summer program builds bonds and confidence                                                                   University grow.”                                 Coates’s work, says reading the book
                                                                                                                                                  SLI reading assignments are care-           helped him find his own writing voice.
                                                                                                                                                   fully selected to expose students to      “Shirin also talked about her own experi-
                                                                                                                                                       different perspectives and spark       ences, which opened us up to talking about
                                                                                                                                                          insights about how the texts        ours,” he adds. “That led to really good
                                                                                                                                                             relate to their own lives.       discussions.”
                 n summer’s final weeks,      New relationships, new realizations            strong social life, maintains a 4.0 GPA, and
                                                                                                                                                              Writing assignments blend          Those talks continued in the daily
                 when Lake Michigan           SESP faculty members Shirin Vossoughi          gets eight hours of sleep a night,” Buresch
                                                                                                                                                              research with autobiogra-       Leaders Lab, led by Destin, where conver-
                 is at its warmest and        and Mesmin Destin developed and piloted        says. “It takes some time to understand
                                                                                                                                                            phy so students reflect on        sations ranged from what leadership looks
                 Deering Meadow is lush       SLI in 2017 to support incoming students,      that each of us is as deserving to be here
                                                                                                                                                               how culture influences         like in practice to ways of building commu-
                 and green, 20 incoming       especially those who come from lower-          as the next person. SLI definitely helps
                                                                                                                                                                 thinking and learning.       nity and overcoming challenges.
                 Northwestern students        income backgrounds or are the first in         students realize they are much smarter
                                                                                                                                                                           After Vossoughi      “We spent time thinking about what
                 are holed up in a campus     their families to attend college. Over 17      than they once thought they were.”
                                                                                                                                                                         assigned Between     leadership meant for us and what each
                 residence hall, feverishly   days, new first-year students, as well as
                                                                                                                                                                            the World         of us contributes to the collective group,”
                 preparing for the next       rising sophomore and transfer students,        Putting research in action
                                                                                                                                                                              and Me by       Suarez says. “I realized that even though
                 morning.                     explore identity and equality in education,    By all accounts, SLI is intense. With
                                                                                                                                                                              Ta-Nehisi       I’m pretty quiet and don’t often speak out,
   Energy drinks fuel the finishing of        hone their writing skills, and develop an      full days of classwork and discus-
                                                                                                                                                                            Coates, a         I can still be a leader and make a difference
essays, research papers, and reading          academic and social support system.            sion, along with daily reading
                                                                                                                                                                      young black woman       in my own way.”
assignments; the clicking of keyboards           SLI also stresses building community        and writing assignments,
                                                                                                                                                                      in the program             Mayorga, too, tapped into newfound
is constant. The academic year has yet        and relationships to combat alienation,        late nights are com-
                                                                                                                                                                      wrote an essay on       leadership skills. Feeling more confident
to begin, and already these students are      a strategy that Destin’s research sug-         mon. Saturday trips to
                                                                                                                                                                      how reading the         on campus, he is part of a task force on
all in.                                       gests is a key ingredient for academic suc-    Chicago landmarks, an
                                                                                                                                                                      book in SLI differed    diversity and equity and cofacilitated a
   The transition to college can be a         cess. Some students, such as SESP juniors      improv workshop, and
                                                                                                                                                                                              SESP town hall. “I’m leading events,
daunting and lonely experience. But these     Christopher Mayorga and Veronica Suarez,       a ropes course help stu-
                                                                                                                                                                                              reaching out to people, and being more
participants in the SESP Leadership           participated in SLI as rising sophomores       dents blow off steam and build
                                                                                                                                                                                              vocal in meetings,” he says. “I’m really
Institute (SLI) will begin the school year    and returned as counselors. Last fall,         camaraderie.
                                                                                                                                                                                              out here doing things and making an
with a for-credit course under their belt,    SESP senior Samantha Buresch worked as            For Vossoughi, assistant
                                                                                                                                                                                              impact. I attribute a large part of that
newly formed friendships, and a better        a resident assistant, helping her younger      professor of learning sciences,
                                                                                                                                                                                              to SLI.”
grasp of how their diverse backgrounds        colleagues on everything from ­meeting         and Destin, associate profes-
and cultures are assets in a university       10 p.m. deadlines to finding campus            sor of human development
setting.                                      resources.                                     and social policy and psychol-                                                                  BY CL ARE MILLIKEN
                                                “Sometimes it seems like everyone at         ogy, the SLI curriculum offers
                                              North­western graduated at the top of          an opportunity to apply their
                                              their class, is involved in a million clubs,   groundbreaking work in edu-
                                              is double majoring with a minor, has a         cation equity.

6                                             SESP                                           S P R I N G 2 019                                                                                                                            7
Educational BeneFitz Northwestern football coach and SESP alumnus Pat Fitzgerald on leadership - School of Education and Social Policy
At Northwestern, entrepreneurship is
                                 about more than launching a product;
                                 it’s about a process. Classes like
                                 Designing for Social Change, startup
                                 resources like The Garage, and alumni
                                 connections create an atmosphere that     Matt Zients
                                                                           Cocreator of Connect & Care
                                 promotes resilience, teamwork, risk-­

     HOW
                                 taking, design thinking, and other         Matt Zients was in high school when he realized
                                 qualities innovators need.                 he wanted to help young people connect with
                                   “Entrepreneurship complements            nonprofits.
                                                                               That vision was why he chose SESP. It’s also why,
                                 other student interests, such as the

     THEY
                                                                            in the first week of school, he beat a path to The
                                 maker movement, civic engagement,          Garage, Northwestern’s startup hub, to see if his
                                 leadership in organizations, and social    project qualified for its residency program.
                                 advocacy,” says SESP dean David              “SESP’s social justice curriculum and emphasis

     BUILT
                                                                            on policy were key. I loved the ethos and the mis-
                                 Figlio. “Our approach is intentionally     sion of making the world a better place,” says
                                 flexible—with a definition that empha-     Zients, a junior who cocreated the mobile app
                                 sizes activating knowledge.”               Connect & Care, which lets users browse, learn about,
                                                                            and donate to selected charities around the world.

      IT
                                    SESP’s entrepreneurs come from a
                                                                           “I could tell the SESP community was going to be really
                                 wide variety of backgrounds, interests,    strong and unlike any I’d encountered.”
                                 and experience levels. One thing they         Zients, who grew up volunteering at an AIDS orphanage in
                                 all have in common is what first           his mother’s hometown of Cape Town, South Africa, launched

                                 attracted them to SESP: a desire to
                                                                            Connect & Care with his two younger brothers. In addition to
                                                                            helping millennials establish relationships with nonprofits
                                                                                                                                                    Kristin Sanders
       Five entrepreneurs        create positive change in the world.       they really care about, the app updates users on how their
                                                                                                                                                    Creator of People6

                                                                            money is making a tangible impact. Like most startups, the
      who found there’s no                                                  project is always evolving in response to user feedback.
                                                                                                                                                    When Kristin Sanders couldn’t find a decent paid summer
                                                                                                                                                    internship, she did what any budding entrepreneur would do:
                                                                              “You have to be critical of any initiative you’re in,” Zients says.
    better place to start (up)                                                                                     “Community development
                                                                                                                      includes understanding
                                                                                                                                                    started her own business.
                                                                                                                                                       The company, People6, is a student-led digital marketing

           than SESP                                                                                                   the stakeholders you’re
                                                                                                                       mobilizing and not bur-
                                                                                                                                                    agency that provides everything from branding and web design
                                                                                                                                                    to research. Since the company’s April 2018 launch, People6 has
                                                                                                                                                    completed more than 16 projects for clients ranging from local
                                                                                                                      dening them or creating
                                                                                                                                                    schools to corporations.
                                                                                                                      anything inconvenient.
                                                                                                                                                       Prior to the launch, Sanders was awarded a winter-quarter
                                                                                                                    This was a big takeaway
                                                                                                                                                    residency at The Garage, which supported her venture’s incuba-
                                                                                                                    from my SESP courses.”
                                                                                                                                                    tion phase. Those 10 weeks culminated in the company’s cam-
                                                                                                                        SESP classes also got
                                                                                                                                                    pus debut at Wildfire Demo Day—and a $2,000 third-place prize
                                                                                                                     him thinking about the
                                                                                                                                                    for Sanders.
                                                                                                                     power of privilege: “I knew
                                                                                                                                                       Born and raised in Southern California, Sanders came to
                                                                                                                    I wanted to use any privi-
                                                                                                                                                    North­western determined to study economics. When she real-
                                                                                                                   lege I had to do something
                                                                                                                                                    ized she didn’t love the field, she sought out SESP adviser Caitlin
                                                                                                                constructive. I’m privileged to
                                                                                                                                                    Burnett to learn more about the school’s learning and organiza-
                                                                                                             feel empowered by having
                                                                                                                                                    tional change concentration.
                                                                                                         resources to start something. I want
                                                                                                                                                      “Months later I returned, and right away Caitlin remembered
                                                                                                   to turn empathy into action.”
                                                                                                                                                    my name, which really set the tone for the kind of place SESP is,”
                                                                                                                                                    Sanders says. “I took my first LOC class and loved it. I knew I
                                                                                                                                                    was in the right place.”

8                                                                                                                                                                                                                         9
Educational BeneFitz Northwestern football coach and SESP alumnus Pat Fitzgerald on leadership - School of Education and Social Policy
Sanders appreciates the flexibility of the SESP curriculum and
says her LOC classes bolster her entrepreneurial aspirations. At
                                                                                                                                                                                                               Chuck Friedman
one point she was managing more than 30 students in various
                                                                                                                                                                                                               Corporate vice president at Microsoft
People6 projects while also keeping up with her coursework.
  “SESP gave me the courage to think differently,” she says. “And                                                                                                                                              It was 2013 when senior leaders at Microsoft asked Chuck
that’s not something you can get at other places.”                                                                                                                                                             Friedman (BS88) to head the team that would revamp the
   A first-generation college student, Sanders expects to graduate                                                                                                                                             Windows “shell”—the part of the software consumers actively
in June. She plans to continue growing People6 and to pursue a                                                                                                                                                 use. A self-described “startup-y kind of guy,” Friedman says
teaching career “to create more entrepreneurship programs for
students, especially those of color and those who may not have
                                                                                                                                           Isabel Benatar                                                      the opportunity was a “fascinating entrepreneurial moment.”
                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Rather than reworking the existing framework, Friedman
                                                                                                                                           Cocreator of Bossy Chicago                                          began researching what users actually wanted from the operating
the same opportunities as Northwestern students.”
                                                                                                                                                                                                               system. He assembled a racially, culturally, and organizationally
                                                                                                                                           Isabel Benatar (BS18) grew up in Palo Alto, the epicenter of        diverse team to speak with consumers about how they used their
                                                                                                                                           California’s Silicon Valley, with an entrepreneurial father. At     computers.
                                                                                                                                           the dinner table, she often heard about his experiences as CEO         In the end, curiosity, empathy, and diversity were key elements
                                                                                                                                           of a fast-growing startup.                                          in the successful Windows 8 redesign, Friedman says.
                                                                                                                                              Those conversations fed Benatar’s own entrepreneurial incli-       “Everyone brings their own skill,” he adds. “Mine is that I’m a
                                                                      people like you,” BrewBike’s namesake
                                                                                                                                           nations, which first led her to study learning and organizational   good listener and can work well across groups and the company.”
                                                                      cold brew has twice the caffeine of
                                                                                                                                           change at SESP and, three years into her degree, to apply to        His learner’s mindset is also big plus. “Too often, people hear ‘Why
                                                                      other coffee, promising a competitive
                                                                                                                                           The Garage’s Wildfire Pre-Accelerator Program. During that                                            did you get that wrong?’ instead of
                                                                      edge for its drinkers—and delivering a
                                                                                                                                           program, she and engineering major Samantha Letscher cre-                                                   ‘What did you learn?’ I don’t
                                                                      competitive edge for the venture.
                                                                                                                                           ated Bossy Chicago, an online directory that connects local                                                    need to be right all the time—
                                                                         An early turning point for BrewBike came
                                                                                                                                           women-run businesses to feminist consumers wanting to lever-                                                    I just need to get us to the
                                                                      when Philips took a call during English class
                                                                                                                                           age their purchasing power.                                                                                     right outcome.”
                                                                      telling him the company had made the
                                                                                                                                              In cocreating Bossy, Benatar conducted user and                                                                 After graduation,
                                                                      finals of the New Venture Challenge at the
                                                                                                                                           market research and attended entrepreneurial work-                                                            Friedman joined and became
                                                                      University of Chicago’s Booth School
                                                                                                                                           shops. She hired and managed team members and                                                                a partner at Specialized
                                                                      of Business.
                                                                                                                                           fostered relationships with business owners. In                                                             Systems in Software, a startup
                                                                        “I just walked out and started
                                                                                                                                           the pitch contest at the end of the accelerator                                                            founded by Kellogg School of
                                                                      cheering. It was just the best
                                                                                                                                           program, Bossy received funding and placed                                                               Management faculty member Troy
                                                                      moment ever,” Philips says. “We
                                                                                                                                           second out of 11 teams.                                                                              Henikoff. They built the company and
                                                                      received $45,000 in funding. Then
                                                                                                                                             “I learned how to go out and talk to people                                                 sold it to Medline Industries. Friedman
                                                                      we placed second at Northwestern’s VentureCat competition—
                                                                                                                                           and actively network—just for the connec-                                                       came to Microsoft in 1997.
                                                                      that was more validation. We got another $20,000, and with
                                                                                                                                           tion,” she says. “In classes, you’re given a                                                            He sees an entrepreneur as a creator
                                                                      that we were able to raise an $850,000 seed round and start
                                                                                                                                           prompt and instructions and so much                                                                  of something others don’t think is
                                                                      expanding to other campuses.”
                                                                                                                                           guidance. But with a startup, you’re doing                                                           possible.
                                                                         As part of a resident team at The Garage, Philips has gleaned
                                                                                                                                           it because you’re passionate about it.”                                                                “There are two mindsets—one that
Lucas Philips                                                         advice from colleagues and entrepreneurial alumni, including
                                                                      Neal Sáles-Griffin (BS09) and Claire Lew (BS11), who team-teach
                                                                                                                                              Benatar recently joined Plaid, a financial
                                                                                                                                           services startup in the Bay Area. As its recruiting
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               says, ‘We can do it!’ and the one the
Cocreator and chief growth officer of BrewBike                        the Engineering and Entrepreneurship class. Inside Annenberg                                                                                                           lawyers have, telling you all the reasons
                                                                                                                                           coordinator, she says she is drawing on the “great com-                                          it can’t be done,” Friedman says. “You
                                                                      Hall, meanwhile, the SESP administration allowed BrewBike to
                                                                                                                                           bination” of her entrepreneurial experience and her                                             actually need both. But it’s that core
Founded in 2015 by SESP’s Lucas Philips and Brammy Geduld,            open its first retail location in the lobby.
                                                                                                                                           SESP learning and organizational change major.                                                 optimism that defines entrepreneurs.”
BrewBike is Northwestern’s first student-owned and student-              Now BrewBike’s chief growth officer, Philips offers this advice
                                                                                                                                              Entrepreneurship requires “believing in yourself
run coffee venture. The company has generated more than               to other young people launching a business: “Do less. Focus on
                                                                                                                                           enough to create something completely new,” Benatar                                        B Y B O NNIE M IL L E R R U B IN
$220,000 in sales and recently expanded to the University of          fewer things and do them really well.”
                                                                                                                                           says. Cofounding Bossy exemplifies it, but so does join-
Texas at Austin.                                                                                                                                                                                                                   IL LU S T R AT E D B Y S E R G E B L O C H
                                                                                                                                           ing a tech startup rather than a big corporation. That’s
  BrewBike originally operated from a custom-built bike that
                                                                                                                                           because for Benatar, “it’s all about impact.”
Philips and his associates pedaled around campus between
classes, strategically parking it near the Rock and other high-
traffic locations. Branded as “fuel, brewed by people like you, for

10                                              SESP                                         S P R I N G 2 019                                                                                                                                                                        11
Educational BeneFitz Northwestern football coach and SESP alumnus Pat Fitzgerald on leadership - School of Education and Social Policy
Fitz’s Playbook:
                                                                                                                                                               “SESP offered me the best way
                                                                                                                                                               to prepare for my current role.
                                                                                                                                                               My job is about inspiring people—
A SESP Education                                                                                                                                                and that’s what leadership
                                                                                                                                                               is all about.”

J
       ust days after the Northwestern Wildcats celebrated                             decades later, Coach Fitz is known as a gifted motivator who
       their 2018 Holiday Bowl victory, head football coach                            stresses education—and whose players have made nine bowl
       Pat Fitzgerald has four hours of meetings scheduled                             appearances in 13 years.
with the defensive coaching staff in a single day. Back at his                            What may be news to many fans is that the School of
desk in the Walter Athletics Center, he resumes his usual pace,                        Education and Social Policy is where Fitzgerald (BS97) laid the
devoting each minute of the day to advancing Northwestern                              foundation for his future, studying how people and organiza-
football.                                                                              tions develop and thrive.
  A two-time All-American linebacker with the ’Cats in the                                With small classes fostering a team mentality and family
mid-1990s, Fitzgerald played a key role in that era’s dramatic                         atmosphere, along with a transdisciplinary curriculum empha-
turnaround of Northwestern’s football program. Back then,                              sizing leadership, SESP is particularly appealing to student-­
the student-athlete who went by “Fitz” was likened to                                  athletes who, in the Fitz mold, want to guide others and inspire
Chicago Bears great Dick Butkus—but with a style “more                                 change on and off the field. Eleven of the football team’s 21 SESP
brainy than barbarian,” as Sports Illustrated observed. Two                            students earned Academic All–Big Ten honors last fall; overall,
                                                                                       the football program earned a record and Big Ten–best 60 honors.
                                                                                         “A SESP education is perfect for those who want to be CEOs,
                                                                                       lead organizations, or run companies, because it emphasizes the
FALL ’18 STATS FOR FITZ’S WILDCATS
                                                                                       human aspect,” Fitzgerald says. “It offered me the best way to
                                                                                       prepare for my current role. My job is about inspiring people—

             60                                                                        and that’s what leadership is all about.”

                                                                                       As an undergraduate, Fitzgerald studied learning and organi-
A C A D E M I C A L L– B I G T E N H O N O R E E S ( M O S T I N T H E B I G T E N )
                                                                                       zational change (then called organizational studies), the SESP
                                                                                       concentration that centers on people and their roles in families,

             16 of 22                                                                  teams, nonprofits, corporations, and other organizations.
                                                                                         “My classes focused on how to build genuine relationships,
S TA R T E R S : A L L– B I G T E N H O N O R E E S                                    work with others, and find common ground when you don’t
                                                                                       agree,” Fitzgerald says. “They also stressed what is particularly
                                                                                       relevant in football: how to create a culture, a vision, and a set of

             80                                                                        values that everyone stands for and lives up to.”
                                                                                          Since becoming head coach, Fitzgerald has helped build and
S T U D E N T- AT H L E T E S W I T H A 3 . 0 O R H I G H E R G P A
                                                                                       grow Chicago’s Big Ten team in part by giving players a voice
                                                                                       and letting them elect a 12-member leadership council. He meets

             99%                                                                       weekly with the council to discuss everything from locker-room
                                                                                       issues to uniforms for the next game
G R A D U AT I O N S U C C E S S R AT E (# 1 I N T H E N AT I O N )                      “That core group gets a lot of trust,” says director of player
                                                                                       development Jacob Schmidt (BS11, MSHE14), who has worked
Source: Office of Academic Services and Student Development                            for and with Fitzgerald for 12 years, first as a player and now as

12                                                               SESP                                          S P R I N G 2 019                                                                   13
Educational BeneFitz Northwestern football coach and SESP alumnus Pat Fitzgerald on leadership - School of Education and Social Policy
A L U M N I N E WS

                                                                                                                                             SPIRITS
a staff member. “Their job is to be the connection between players              UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE MAKES
and coaches. They have a ton of ownership, and it’s paid off.”                  ANYTHING POSSIBLE—JUST ASK

                                                                                                                                             IN HER
Preparing student-athletes for life after football is no less                   A COUPLE OF ’CATS
important to Coach Fitz than inspiring them to excel on the field.
                                                                                 D’Wayne Bates (BS98) was one of several former

                                                                                                                                             SUITCASE
SESP sophomore Jeremy Larkin knows this from experience: after
                                                                                 athletes among the record turnout of SESP alumni
receiving a diagnosis of cervical stenosis, he was forced to retire
                                                                                 at the school’s Reunion Weekend luncheon last fall.
from the game in 2018. Heeding Fitzgerald’s advice, he stayed with
                                                                                 A former wide receiver with the Chicago Bears and
his football family as a mentor on staff.
                                                                                 Minnesota Vikings, Bates earned a graduate degree           Q&A with ’08 alumna Amanda Kralj
                                                                                 after retiring from football and is passionate about
                                                                                 lifelong learning and working with youth. Since 2015
                                                                                 he has been assistant principal for athletics at
                                                                                 Glenbard East High School in Lombard, Illinois.             Whenever Amanda Kralj has the chance
                                                                                   “I’m always telling the kids, ‘There’s victory in loss.   to hit the road, she does. And no matter
                                                                                 Go back and study what went wrong,’” Bates says.            where this intrepid globetrotter lands,
                                                                                “Twenty years after learning it at Northwestern, I still     she makes a point of sharing a drink
                                                                                 utilize that in life.”                                      with locals to better see the world
                                                                                    Also attending the lunch was Gerald Conoway              through their eyes.
                                                                                 (BS99), a teammate of Pat Fitzgerald during the
                                                                                                                                             This simple, universal act—and her
                                                                                 Wildcats’ 1995 Rose and 1996 Citrus Bowl seasons.
                                                                                                                                             love-at-first-sip experience with craft
                                                                                    Conoway was drawn to psychology and teaching
                                                                                                                                             gin while in Johannesburg, South
                                                                                 and majored in human development and psychological
                                                                                 services, the SESP concentration that explores how          Africa—formed the basis of her new
                                                                                 people are influenced by family, group, and organiza-       company, Suitcase Spirits, which she
                                                                                 tional dynamics.                                            recently launched from her home in                Where did the company name come from?              How does having a master’s degree help?
                                                                                    That knowledge translated to the football field and      Hong Kong.                                        Whenever I came back to my home base, I’d          There’s one MSLOC tool I come back to over
As @NUFBFamily tweeted, “One door closed . . . another one opened” for                                                                                                                         have a suitcase full of spirits from around the    and over: the Burke-Litwin Change Model. It’s
Jeremy Larkin (center), who joined the Northwestern coaching staff last fall.
                                                                                 later to the workforce, says Conoway, who landed a          SESP talked with Kralj, a Milwaukee               world to share with friends, along with my         always on the wall of my office wherever I am
                                                                                 position in labor relations at General Motors immedi-       native with a master’s degree in learn­-          experiences and learnings. I always thought        in the world. It seems like it’s been haunting
                                                                                 ately after graduation. Now he is a GM human resources      ing and organizational change (MSLOC)             of them as my “suitcase spirits.” Each gave        me and a few of my classmates over the years!
   “I’m focusing on leadership and teamwork skills that you learn                manager, dealing with benefits, hiring, firing, and other                                                     me the sense of a city—the people, the food,       I do love it. It’s great for visualizing different
                                                                                                                                             from Northwestern, about blending
 at SESP as well as those shown by Coach Fitz,” Larkin says. “He                 issues for some 4,300 employees.                                                                              the drinks. I want my spirits to capture those     aspects of an organization and their influence
                                                                                                                                             her personal passions with her profes-
 helped me throughout the process. It was a true testament to what                  “SESP emphasizes building relationships, under-                                                            unforgettable flavors and feelings. They’re        on one another.
                                                                                                                                             sional dreams.
 he says during recruiting: you’re important as a person, not just               standing people from different walks of life, learning                                                        love letters to the great cities they represent.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Any “suitcase advice” to share?
 as a football player.”                                                          to talk with them, and getting your point across,”          What do you love most about traveling?            Is the first Suitcase Spirit out now?              Explore as much as possible—in life and in
    That’s also why Northwestern football runs an individual men-                Conoway says. “You learn flexible ways of thinking          Connecting with people and learning their         Yes—it’s HKG Gin, which showcases the love         your career. Listen, and see what others are
 toring program, which pairs every sophomore on the team with a                  and you work in groups, which teaches you how to            stories! Whether I’m discussing cooking in        and excitement I always feel in Hong Kong.         doing. When you keep your eyes and ears open,
 former player. The two stay together for at least three years, but in                                                                       Barcelona with a group of grandmothers over                                                          you sometimes find what you didn’t realize you
                                                                                 collaborate.”                                                                                                 What’s hardest about starting a company?
                                                                                                                                             vermouth or learning about French pride at a                                                         were looking for.
 many cases the relationships are much longer. Now in its 11th year,                SESP sophomore Jonathan Sun spent most of the                                                              Knowing when to bring people in. I love to
                                                                                                                                             craft brewery just outside Paris, I’m learning
 the program includes 25 players and nearly 100 football alumni.                 luncheon in conversation with Bates and Conoway.                                                              learn and will dive in deep on any topic—
                                                                                                                                             about the people, community, and history
   “It’s a way for our alums to truly have an impact,” says Schmidt,             That night he wrote three takeaways in his journal:         from those who know it best. It’s the common
                                                                                                                                                                                               which is why I loved the MSLOC capstone
 who participated in the program as a player, stays in touch with                Trust the process. Working in education makes other                                                           experience. But that’s both great and terrible.
                                                                                                                                             thread through all my travels.
 mentor Marc Hujik, and now runs the program.                                                                                                                                                  I have to be hyperaware of the best use of my
                                                                                 things possible. And his favorite: don’t regret your
                                                                                                                                             How did you become a craft gin maker?             time and the need to rely on others’ expertise
    SESP is a unique school, but “I’d call it the School of Education            past—it has created the person you are today.               I was toying with a business idea in the craft    to get things done.
 and Leadership Devel­opment,” Fitzgerald says, flashing a smile.                                                                            beer industry and visiting craft brewers around
“Who doesn’t want to develop as a leader?”                                      To join other SESP alumni and students at the 2019                                                              What do you see as your strongest suit?
                                                                                                                                             Johannesburg. Then I took a master distilling
                                                                                                                                                                                                I am a connector. Friends joke that I always
                                                                                Reunion Weekend luncheon, contact Shelena Johnson            course and started traveling all over South
                                                                                                                                                                                               “have a guy” for whatever it is they’re looking
B Y A NN E S T E IN                                                             at shelena.johnson@northwestern.edu.                         Africa to meet distillers and learn about their
                                                                                                                                                                                                for. It comes naturally to me. I’m also a good
                                                                                                                                             products. I loved the creativity, technical
                                                                                                                                                                                                listener and pay attention to details.
                                                                                                                                             know-how, and entrepreneurial spirit.

14                                                   SESP                                      S P R I N G 2 019                                                                                                                                                                                  15
Educational BeneFitz Northwestern football coach and SESP alumnus Pat Fitzgerald on leadership - School of Education and Social Policy
A L U M N I N E WS

                                                                                                   inclusion. After moving to Montana to be near        April Peters-Hawkins (BS93) is associate pro-
                                                                                                   her grandchildren, Doyle continued to offer          fessor and associate chair of educational lead-
                                                                                                   Teaching and Learning in a Diverse World, an         ership and policy studies at the University of
                                                                                                   online class for early childhood educators,          Houston’s College of Education. She received a                                                           Refugee Rights in Focus
                                                                                                   until retiring last June.                            2018 service award from the University Coun­cil                                                          Lan Hoang Nguyen (BS17) wrote, directed, and
                                                                                                                                                        for Educational Administration.                                                                          produced Bị Kẹt / Limbo, a short documentary
                                                                                                   Barbara Talbott (BS73), president of the NU
                                                                                                   Club of Atlanta, retired after a 30-year career      Grace Hong Duffin (BS95) is president and CEO                                                            film that profiles the activism of Tung Thanh
                          Maryellen Spore Krammer                            Corey Winchester                                                                                                                                                                    Nguyen, a formerly incarcerated Vietnamese
                                                                                                   with IBM. She interviews high school seniors         of Kenneth Young Center, a nonprofit provider
                                                                                                   applying to Northwestern and also volunteers         of personalized behavioral health and older-                                                             community organizer who is at risk of being
                                                                                                   on several boards in Atlanta, including Big Ten      adult services in Chicago’s northwest suburbs.                                                           deported from the US. The film premiered in
                                                                                                   Alumni, Alpha Phi Alumni, and the Atlanta                                                                                                                     Los Angeles at last October’s Viet Film Fest,
                                                                                                                                                        Ryan Rockaitis (BS98) of Chicago, a Spanish                                                              the largest international Vietnamese film festi-
                                                                                                   Inter­national School. In addition to Talbott, the
                                                                                                                                                        teacher and mentoring coordinator at Deerfield                                                           val in the world. Since receiving her master’s
                                                                                                   NU Club of Atlanta’s board includes Brianna
                                                                                                                                                        (Illinois) High School, is president of the Illinois                                                     degree in Asian American studies from UCLA,
                                                                                                   Castle (BS14) and SESP advisory board mem-
                                                    Melissa McGonegle                                                                                   Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.                                                            Nguyen has been working with Vietnamese
                                                                                                   ber Edith “Edie” Bostic (BS74).
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 organizers in Southern California to host
Art Ellison                                                                  Danielle Moehrke
                                                                                                   80s                                                  00s                                                                                                      community discussions, educational events,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 and political demonstrations.
                                                                                                                                                        Melissa McGonegle (BS03) founded Stellar
                                                                                                   Drew Miles (BS86) was named vice president of
                                                                                                                                                        Collegiate, a K–5 public charter school serving
                                                                                                   global brand partnerships for Variety Content
                                                                                                                                                        primarily low-income English language learn-
                          Timothy Simonds                                                          Studio and now works out of Variety’s New York
                                                                                                                                                        ers on Milwaukee’s South Side, in 2016.
                                                                                                   City office. He has been a sales and marketing
                                                                                                   executive for several leading media brands,          Holly Palin (BS06) of Chicago celebrated the           Sara Blair Winter-Rosenberg (MS12), an            Tade Mengesha (BS14) is a healthcare consul-
                                                    Jordan Latham
                                                                                                   including Advertising Age, the New York Times,       five-year anniversary of her business venture          instructor of Spanish for Heritage Learners       tant for Navigant Consulting and a member of
                                                                                                   Oprah.com/OWN, and the Huffington Post.              CrossFit CE.                                           at Mundelein (Illinois) High School, received     the Cook County Health Foundation Associate
Barbara Talbott                                                                                                                                                                                                a coveted 2019 Golden Apple Award for             Board, which engages young professionals
                                                                                                   Kathy Tuan-MacLean (BS87, PhD96) of                  Jordan Latham (BS08) of Pearland, Texas, is            Excellence in Teaching.                           through volunteering, fundraising, networking,
                                                                                                   Baltimore is national faculty ministry director      an attorney/senior consultant at EY (Ernst &                                                             and advocacy opportunities.
                                                                                                   for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, an inter-     Young) who recently launched Soul Sweet                Laura Bidireanu (BS13) of Naples, Florida,
                                                                                                   denominational campus ministry on 700 cam-           Sensations, a home-based baking and catering           directs fundraising and events for Collier        Caitlin Burnett (MSHE15), senior academic
                          Grace Hong Duffin                                  Zoe Goodman                                                                                                                       Child Care Resources, a nonprofit that serves     adviser at SESP, was named to Northwestern’s
                                                                                                   puses across the US. Her son Ren is a first-year     business, to support fellow breast cancer
                                                                                                   SESP undergraduate studying social policy.           fighters and survivors.                                families and early-learning professionals.        Associated Student Government Faculty and
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Administra­tor Honor Roll.
                                                                                                   Rosemary Caruk (MSED88) was appointed                Andrew Tinajero (BS08) joined Waystar, a Bain          Zoe Goodman (BS13) joined LifeLabs Learning,
                                                                                                   to the Berwyn (Illinois) Public Library board        Capital portfolio company, as director of stra-        a nonprofit that brings financial coaching to     Jake Hershman (MSHE16) of Philadelphia is
                                                                                                   of trustees.                                         tegic initiatives and chief of staff to the CEO.       work-force-development nonprofits across the      assistant director of strategic analytics for
                                                                                                                                                                                                               country. The Brooklyn resident is in her second   Temple University’s Fox School of Business
                                                                                                   Maryellen Spore Krammer (BS88), a member             Emily Machado (BS09) is assistant professor            year as copresident of the NU Club of Greater     and Management.
                                                                                                   of the Northwestern Alumni Admission Council,        of language, literacy, and culture at the Univer­      New York.
Drew Miles                Ryan Rockaitis            Emily Machado            Jake Hershman         is a substitute teacher and aspiring fiction         sity of Washington’s College of Education. The                                                           Corinne Smith (MSHE16) is senior assistant
                                                                                                   author working on her first novel.                   Seattle resident studies writing pedagogies in         Eric Johnson (MSLOC13) is an executive direc-     director of admissions at Yale University,
                                                                                                                                                        linguistically and culturally diverse classrooms       tor for Open Books, a nonprofit that provides     where she coordinates its QuestBridge
60s                                                                                                90s                                                  and teaches literacy instruction courses for           books, supplies, and innovative literacy and      program, fly-in program, and rural outreach
                                                                                                                                                        preservice teachers.                                   reading assistance to Chicago students.           and recruitment initiatives.
Art Ellison (MSED66) was elected to a seat          Doreen Maxcy (BS68) retired after a 39-year    Timothy Simonds (BS91, MBA98) became CEO
                                                    career at Louisiana State University, where                                                                                                                Danielle Moehrke (BS13) directs partnerships
in the New Hampshire House after retiring
as director of adult education for the state’s      most recently she was director of public
                                                                                                   of Merrick Pet Care in 2016. Previously, he was
                                                                                                   chief marketing and engagement officer for
                                                                                                                                                        10s                                                    and program innovation for OneGoal-Chicago,
Department of Education.                            service. The active volunteer, grant writer,                                                                                                               a nonprofit that enlists and trains educators
                                                                                                   Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Manage­             Corey Winchester (BS10), a history and social
                                                    and grandparent traveled to Antarctica                                                                                                                     to teach underperforming high school students
                                                                                                   ment. His niece Elise Lamarre enrolls at SESP        studies teacher at Evanston Township High                                                                Please send all news updates and address changes
Marianne Jirgal Ariyanto (BS68) of Jakarta                                                                                                                                                                     how to apply to and persist through college.
                                                    earlier this year.                             in the fall.                                         School, received a highly prized 2019 Golden                                                             to sespalums@northwestern.edu. You can also
retired after a 45-year career teaching dance.                                                                                                                                                                 She is earning her MBA at Kellogg.
                                                                                                                                                        Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching.                                                                  reach us on Facebook (facebook.com/sespnu) and
Ariyanto originally came to Indonesia to study
Balinese dance at Bali’s College of Performing      70s                                            Mark Loretta (BS93) was named the new
                                                                                                   Chicago Cubs bench coach. He spent the last          Kelly Ross (MSLOC11), an adjunct lecturer
                                                                                                                                                                                                               Evan Watkins (BS13) is a career coach for         Twitter (@sesp_nu). For more class notes, visit
                                                                                                                                                                                                               Athletes to Careers, a recruitment company        sesp.northwestern.edu.
Arts on a Fulbright scholarship in 1977 and has     Sandra Mulert Doyle (BS73) spent the last      nine seasons with the San Diego Padres after         in the MSLOC program, coauthored the book
lived there since 1985.                                                                                                                                                                                        that connects past and present student-
                                                    20 years training and supporting teachers in   retiring as a professional baseball player in        Fearless Feedback: A Guide for Coaching Leaders
                                                                                                                                                        to See Themselves More Clearly and Galvanize           athletes to business careers.
                                                    underserved communities and focusing on        2010, most recently serving as special assis-
                                                                                                   tant to baseball operations.                         Growth.

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A L U M N I N E WS

                                                                                                                                                               CLASS OF ’91 ALUMNUS

                                                                                                                                                               David
Harmonizing ‘Synergies on Both Sides’ of a School Merger
                                                      Karen Cross (MSHE16) has been a respected            knowledge that are in place at UIC will help.”
                                                      teacher, scholar, and faculty leader at Chicago’s       So will Cross’s master’s degree in higher edu-

                                                                                                                                                               Harris
                                                      John Marshall Law School for nearly 25 years.        cation administration and policy, which came
                                                      But upon hearing the school would be merging         with internship experience in the compliance
                                                      with the University of Illinois at Chicago, she      and provost’s offices at Northwestern.
                                                      jumped at the chance to assume daunting                 As cochair of the merger’s academic integra-
                                                      new responsibilities.                                tion working group, she is working with UIC to
                                                         Currently John Marshall’s associate dean for      get Illinois Board of Higher Education approval
                                                      administration, Cross is playing a leading role in   for proposed degree program revisions—
                                                      the creation of Chicago’s first public law school.   including some that will incorporate legal edu-     On Taking Risks,
                                                         Synergies on both sides make the UIC–John
                                                      Marshall union a natural fit. Both schools have
                                                                                                           cation into engineering, social work, and health
                                                                                                           sciences courses. The reconfigured law school,
                                                                                                                                                               Finding Opportunity
                                                      diverse and inclusive student bodies. Their          to be called UIC John Marshall Law School, will
                                                      campuses are geographically close. Still, the        be up and running by this fall.
                                                      John Marshall faculty and staff are facing a big       “Karen’s curiosity drew her to SESP to get the
                                                      cultural shift, as the school has functioned as      big picture of the higher education landscape,
                                                      its own entity for almost 120 years.                 which includes law and ethics, history and
                                                        “Becoming part of a larger structure can limit     philosophy, and budget and finance, as well as
                                                      spontaneity and the ability to do things quickly,”   student development,” says Lois Trautvetter,
                                                      Cross says. “But with compliance being para-         director of the MSHE program. “We affection-
                                                      mount, the infrastructure and institutional          ately label her a lifelong learner.”

                                                                                                                                                               Last July I became the 19th president of          were not smarter than I was. I was also           Cornell University. Then I left academia briefly
                                                                                                                                                               Union College in Schenectady, New York.           fortunate because my family lived in a good       to serve in the Obama administration in the
Observe a Plant, Help a Scientist                                                                                                                              It’s an exciting opportunity with all the chal-   school district. I worked hard academically,      Depart­ment of Health and Human Services.
It has never been easier for nonscientists to          says Schwarz Ballard, an expert in both                                                                 lenges of leading a great institution of higher   got into Northwestern, and landed a financial     After that, I became provost and chief academic
help the pros study climate change. Simply             formal and informal science education.                                                                  education, but Union is small enough (2,200       aid package that made becoming a first-           officer at Tufts University.
find and observe a native plant, wildflower,          “Changes in the life cycle of plants affect                                                              undergraduates) that I get to know the faculty    generation college student possible.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Some people might call that a meandering
tree, or other flora in your backyard or neigh-        pollinators, birds, and small mammals that
                                                                                                                                                               and students.
borhood, and record your notes online.                 need nectar, fruits, and seeds to survive.”                                                                                                               At some level, my whole life has been             path. But creating a meaningful and reward-
   This nationwide citizen science initiative,           At the Chicago Botanic Garden, Schwarz                                                                I also partner with Schenectady,                  about trying to understand the situation          ing life is often about embracing uncertainty
                 called Budburst, generates            Ballard oversees adult and youth education                                                              a town that’s been through hard times             of the 12-year-old me and trying to make the      and being flexible. I tell Union students that
                   location-specific data              offerings, horticultural therapy programs, and                                                          and bounced back. Part of my job is to            world a better place for the 12-year-old me. In   part of their job in college is to identify the
                    on how changing seasonal           community outreach that includes Bud­burst                                                              find ways for Union to support local educa-       middle school and high school I knew I wasn’t     many paths they could take; then they can
                     temperatures are affecting        and the Windy City Harvest urban agriculture
                                                                                                                                                               tion and economic development; that’s             like the white kids, but I also wasn’t like my    eliminate some and pinpoint others. When I
                      plants, including when           program; all provide opportunities for collabo-
                                                                                                                                                               profoundly important to me because my             black cousins who grew up in the city. So early   entered Northwestern, I thought I was going
                        they bud, bloom, or            ration with researchers.
                        drop their leaves.                In one partnership, Schwarz Ballard is                                                               career has been about understanding               on, I understood that racial identity must be     to be a journalist. I switched my major to engi-
                        Jennifer Schwarz Ballard       working with SESP learning sciences profes-           “Our goal is to positively impact people’s        opportunity—who has it, who doesn’t—              something more. That set me up to grapple         neering and even dropped out for a quarter
                         (PhD05) is Budburst’s         sor Megan Bang and graduate student Mario           lives through our work,” says Schwarz               and learning how to close that gap.               with questions of inequality and to pursue a      before I found SESP.
                            coprincipal investiga-     Guerra. Guerra is analyzing data to see how the     Ballard, whose affiliation with the botanic                                                           career to try to address them.
                                                                                                                                                               Growing up, I was a black kid from Philly                                                           I’m glad I took risks. Each one helped clarify
                             tor and vice president    garden’s summer program for middle and high         garden began in the final year of her SESP
                                                                                                                                                               whose parents moved to a white suburb.            At Northwestern I found the beginnings            what I wanted to do.
                            of learning and            school students changes their perceptions of        doctoral work in learning sciences. “Citizen
                            engagement at the          STEM education. He plans to propose his own         science can engage everyday people in the           We were never wealthy, but when my dad            of what would become my family and my
                           Chicago Botanic             study to build on the data and eventually           scientific endeavor, which increases aware-         lost his job, we were financially devastated.     profession. I met my wife, Anne, in sopho-        AS TOLD TO
                          Garden, which runs           become his dissertation.                            ness of nature and the environment and              I saw inequality up close. I worked briefly       more year, and we now have three daughters.       COLLEEN MCNAMAR A
                         the program.                     Bang may pursue research that looks at           familiarity with the scientific process.”           at a country club, which helped demystify         I earned my bachelor’s degree in human
                              “Plants are often        barriers to citizen science and explores how                                                            wealth and white people for me. Without that      development and social policy and my PhD
                           the keystone species        nature-based learning affects teaching
                                                                                                                                                               exposure, I might have been intimidated, but      in sociology, focusing on race and class.
                           in an ecosystem—all         practices and children’s development of
                                                                                                                                                               I learned that people who lived in mansions       After Northwestern I joined the Univers­ity
                          life depends on them,”       pre-science skills.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 of Michigan faculty and later moved to

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