Katie Fong ’06 Named 2020 Young Alumni Award Recipient
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WellsNotes Fall/Winter Wells College Alumnae and Alumni Newsletter 2020 Wells College Association of Alumnae and Alumni KATIE FONG ’06 NAMED 2020 YOUNG ALUMNI AWARD RECIPIENT The Wells College Association of Alumnae and Alumni (WCA) is proud to announce that Kathryn “Katie” Fong ’06 is the recipient of the 2020 Young Alumni Award. The award recognizes Katie’s extraordinary professional and personal achievements, civic engagement and legacy of service to her alma mater. Katie’s leadership in these areas was already evident during her time as a student, when she served as a class officer and student organization leader, and also made fundraising phone calls on behalf of the Advancement office. Her enthusiasm for Sister Wells has continued in the years since graduation. She served on the board of the Friends and Recent Graduates Organization (FARGO) for young alums, and was always a supportive and friendly advocate for countless alumnae and alumni. She has also long been a constant presence at Wells events in both New York City and Aurora as well as the annual Reunion weekends, and served as a panel facilitator in the College’s second annual Women’s Leadership Conference back in February. After earning her bachelor’s degree from Wells — majoring in women’s studies with a minor in history — Katie spent the first 13 years of her career as an executive search consultant and has worked with senior finance, operations, supply chain and merchandising executives in some of the world’s most well-known retail, fashion and consumer brands. In 2016, Katie decided to refocus her career on guiding organizations toward healthier, more equitable culture and practices, and so began pursuing her graduate degree while working full time. Last year, she transitioned fully to a career in organization development consulting. Katie currently specializes in coaching emerging leaders and advising leaders and teams on how to integrate the values of equity, diversity and inclusion into their strategic priorities. She completed her master’s degree in organizational change management from the New School in May of this year. Katie was awarded her program’s prize for best graduate thesis for her paper entitled, “Renewing the Interrogatory Imperative: Hope and Persistence from 20 Years of Interrogating Whiteness in Organization Development.” Five years ago, Katie was selected by her peers to serve on the Board of Trustees; her second term as an alumna trustee will end June 30. With her deep perspective on the College’s complicated history and her professional expertise in mentorship, change management and diversity and inclusion issues, she has emerged as a leading voice on the board. This year, she was also a central figure in the Bell Tower Committee, the ad hoc group of concerned trustees, alums, faculty and staff who helped lead the response to the financial challenges the College has been facing, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. She was chair of the Auxiliary Academic Programs and Student Life Enrichment Subcommittee, and also a member of the Ancillary Revenue Subcommittee. The Bell Tower group collected and analyzed numerous ideas submitted by the greater Wells community, and its report served as a springboard toward a more comprehensive strategic planning prioritization effort that is currently underway. Katie has since served as a member of the Strategic Steering Committee for that process and has dedicated tremendous time and effort to this IN THIS ISSUE work throughout the summer and fall of 2020. PAGE 2 | WCA REUNION VP’S MESSAGE Katie writes, “Wells shaped who I am in profound and fundamental ways, and it has been the greatest privilege of my life to give back to the College through PAGE 3 | WCA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE service as a trustee. My term on the board has frequently felt like a second Wells PAGES 4-7 | NEWS FROM CAMPUS education. Much like my time as an undergrad, this experience has broadened my worldview, stretched me intellectually, solidified my values, and introduced PAGES 8-40 | CLASS NOTES me to some of the most remarkable people I could have imagined. More than PAGES 41-43 | NEWS FROM CAMPUS CONT. ever, I appreciate that Wells is about relationships; I owe a debt of gratitude to the continued on page 42 Wells College Association Board HELLO, WELLS FAMILY! President Hello to all of you! Amy Cerand McNaughton ’86 [email protected] I hope this issue of WellsNotes finds you in good spirits! I have to Nominating Vice President acknowledge that it sure has been a year, am I right? We miss seeing Sue Eskedahl ’79 peoples’ smiles on campus and having you here in Aurora. I hope that you [email protected] have plenty of love and support in your life especially this year, and I want Reunion Vice President to send my condolences if you have lost a loved one to this virus. Keep Christin Schaaf ’99 [email protected] making decisions to stay as safe as possible and know that we are thinking of you and your families during this strange and difficult time. It has been Fall Weekend Vice President Kristine Selander Gordon ’80 heartwarming to see our community come together through fundraising, [email protected] volunteering, engaging, and interacting with students who are so grateful WCA Trustees to be back home in Aurora. I have talked with students who have truly good attitudes and are trying Katie Fong ’06 to make the most out of a bizarre and tough time. I have loved connecting with you all in these last [email protected] months since March particularly, as we think differently and creatively to connect. Thank you for Joanne Kelley ’83 continuing to engage and support our beloved Wells. I work at Wells because of the special connections [email protected] our alums bring to this wonderful place and it fills me with joy to see you virtually and in person. Heather Kowalski ’90 I hope you save the date and plan to attend Reunion in June (3rd-6th) where we will party like it’s [email protected] 2020 AND 2021 (the band is already booked!). I’m especially excited to be celebrating my 15-year National Annual Giving Chair Reunion on double duty with ’05 and my class, ’06. I hope you take time to follow us on social media Eliza Heppner ’06 [email protected] and attend our virtual events. We are continuing to have virtual Learning by the Lake sessions on the first Wednesday of each month, and be on the lookout for alum events and career panels supporting our Award Committee Chair students in their professional development. Have you filled out our WCA & Advancement Surveys? (if Megan Donovan ’88 [email protected] not, please visit www.alumni.wells.edu/updateyourinfo). Please update us on your contact information, and let’s continue to find creative ways to stay connected & engage with one another and our students. Members-at-Large Crary Reynolds Brooks ’87 One of the most popular requests from students is to connect with alums and hear your stories of your [email protected] time at Wells, and your career path since graduating. Rachael Ristau ’15 Be well, and reach out to chat with me any time! I love to hear from you. [email protected] Member-at-Large—FARGO Your Wells sister, Brad Murray ’15 [email protected] Admissions Liaison Rachel Porter ’06 Talyse Hampton ’09 Alumnae/i Engagement Officer [email protected] Member-at-Large—Strategic Liaison Deb Callahan ’85 [email protected] Interim Alumnae and REUNION 2021 Alumni Engagement Director Well, this year didn’t go the way anyone thought it would. I hope that Pamela J. Sheradin ’86 [email protected] you are all staying safe. Cancelling Reunion this year was a difficult but right and wise decision. Reunion 2021 is in the works. Save the date for Alumnae and Alumni Engagement Officer June 3-6, 2021!! Everyone is welcome to attend. We will be celebrating Rachel Porter ’06 the ’1s and ’6s, and also a belated celebration of the ’0s and ’5s. [email protected] 2020 has taught us all the importance of always having a Plan B (or C, and D…). The intent is to have an in-person event on campus in Aurora. We don’t know what the situation will look like over the next few months. An in-person event may not be realistic. For that reason, we will WellsNotes have a GO/NO-GO decision made in March 2021. If we are unable to December 2020, Volume XIII, Issue II have the in-person Reunion we are used to, we will move to the digital world and do our best to have WellsNotes is published by Wells College. It is circulated free of charge to College a program there. I want to thank all of the Reunion Chairs in advance for their patience and agility. alumnae and alumni. My hope is that I will see you all in Aurora. Given everything in 2020, I will be open to a lot of real Editors Kelly Brown hugs! If we do need to move to a virtual event, my hope is that more of you will be able to participate. Christopher Pollock Virtual events increase accessibility. Being virtual may encourage some of you ’2s, ’3s, ’4s, ’7s, ’8s and Pamela J. Sheradin ’86 ’9s to log into some of the offerings that you might have missed by not coming back to Aurora. Who Design knows, including a virtual offering might be something that we include in future in-person Reunions!? Jacobs Press Class Notes Editor In short, Reunion planning has begun and the ideas are flowing! The dates are June 3-6, 2021.