Classnotes

Alumnus Dylan Cruz (pictured above) was one of more than two dozen alumni who joined undergraduates during reunion weekend for lunch and “pro tips”—advice and wisdom related to careers and life after Northwestern. To receive information about next year’s lunch, email SESPsao@northwestern.edu.

60s

Marianne Ariyanto (BS68) is a retired dance teacher who taught for more than two decades at what is now the Jakarta Intercultural School.

70s

Alan Kaplan (BS73, MA/MS75) is semi- retired and provides union-related and employment law counseling, drafting, negoti­ation, and training services following his liti­gation career at the National Labor Relations Board and in private practice.

Barbara Talbott (BS73) leads the Northwestern Club of Atlanta, which hosts more than 30 annual events. She is part of North­western’s Admissions Council and reunion committee and involved with funding and administering scholarships for Northwestern, Alpha Phi sorority, and Atlanta Panhellenic. Now retired, she ran the operations for a $2 billion consulting company within IBM.

Steven Serikaku (BS74) spent 34 years work­ing in the Chicago Public Schools and now spends most of his time volunteering and advocating for universal health insurance, affordable housing, criminal legal system reform, and anti-oppression policies.

Pro tip: “Learn from your students first if you are not from the same community. Support your colleagues—they are your best support system in a tough work environment.”

80s

Antonio Burketh (BS83) is a computer consul­tant, adviser, and technology strategist who was a member of various teams that delivered sociotechnical innovations at IBM, Xerox, and Grid Systems.

Steven McGee (BS88, PhD96), one of the first learning scientists in the nation, is president of the Learning Partnership, which uses research to support STEM education.

Pro tip: “Research careers outside of univer­sity settings. It’s important to experience education from the practitioner point of view to better understand how the realities of education relate to the theories you are learning in class.”

90s

Stephen Bournés (BS93), a member of the inaugural class of 1989 Golden Apple Scholars, is deputy superintendent at Chester (Pennsyl­vania) Community Charter School.

David Mrachko (BS93) is vice president of Hanna Commercial Real Estate, where he oversees the firm’s growth in the Detroit and northwestern Ohio markets.

Jean Hoffman Mrachko (BS93) is associate director of Michigan Alternative Route to Certification and on the board of the Northwestern University Marching and Band Alumni.

Pro tip: “Find experienced mentors to guide you in your first few years—and then be a mentor to others. You will never stop learning the craft of teaching!”

Rebecca Ball (BS98), a former middle school teacher, now works with four-year-olds at Swarthmore (Pennsylvania) Friends Nursery School.

Pro tip: “Don’t expect to change the world right out of college. Look for small accom­plishments every day, and you will gain more confidence. As a teacher, you will change and grow just as much as your students do.”

D’Wayne Bates (BS98), a former professional football player and member of the Northwest­ern Athletics Hall of Fame, is an assistant prin­cipal and award- winning athletic director at Glenbard East High School in Lombard, Illinois.

Suzanne Budak (BS98) is an educational research coordinator at Chicago’s Erikson Institute.

Paul Jeruchimowitz (BS98) leads Accenture’s global operating model and organization design practice.

00s

Melissa McGonegle (BS03), who started her career with Teach for America, is senior direc­tor of talent strategy and leadership devel­opment at the KIPP Foundation, where she leads the team that runs the national Principal Pipeline program.

Pro tip: “Be a great teacher first. Those skills can and will translate into any other work you do with youth or adults.”

Jonathan TranPham (BS03) is founder and CEO of the startup Reflect, which matches people with mental health therapists.

Julie Levin (BS04) is director of curriculum and grants for Easthampton (Massachusetts) Public Schools.

Pro tip: “Looking at data is increasingly important for educators. Take courses in statistics and psychometrics.”

10s

Dylan Cruz (BS13) is director of sales oper­ations for Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling. He is a member of SESP’s Board of Advisors and the class of 2013’s tenth reunion committee. He also served on his first- and fifth-year reunion committees.

Joan DeGennaro (BS13) is operations manager at Y Combinator’s Startup School in New York City. She pivoted from working in international development to early-stage startups and venture capital.

Alyssa Lloyd (BS13) is the overdose prevention program coordinator at the Allegheny County Health Department in Pennsylvania.

Danielle Moehrke (BS13, KSM21) is director of strategy and operations at LEAP Innovations.

Camille Cooley (BS18) is a health policy profes­sional and a consultant for Manatt Health.

Katharine Cusick (BS18) is a law clerk at Blank Rome LLP.

Joy Holden (BS18) earned a degree from Harvard Law School and is now an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia.

Imani Wilson (BS18) is a licensed clinical social worker at Evanston Township High School.

20s

Alec Abramson (BS23) is an associate consul­tant for the global strategy and consulting team at PwC, where he previously interned.

Nala Bishop (BS23) is a fellow with the North­western Public Interest Program and works at Evanston Township High School.

Dayna Rapkin (BS23) is an investment banking analyst for the Raine Group in New York City.

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