������Ƶ’s Office of Alumni Engagement, in collaboration with the Student Professional Development Center and the Global Education Center, offered an exciting inaugural professional development workshop for undergraduate students participating in the summer ������Ƶ in New York City program to set this theme in motion.

On Wednesday, July 13, 25 students and 15 alumni identified and invited by Rachaele Henderson ’14, assistant director of Alumni Professional Development and Engagement, gathered for a night of networking at WorkHouse NYC. During this two-hour event, students were invited to reflect on their time in the ������Ƶ in New York City program through a deepening workshop led by Danielle Golinski, associate director of Career Services.

At the start of the program, Golinski provided each student with time to channel their pitch and refreshed students on various networking skills. After this initial workshop, they were allowed to meet with alumni in various industries and backgrounds to put their skills to the test.

Alumni were able to connect with students through meaningful conversation throughout the night on various topics including career changes, living in the city, internship experience and more. With the help of Brooke Buffington, director of the SPDC, alumni were equipped with tools to help students practice their networking and interview skills in a series of breakout sessions.

The first breakout session consisted of time for students to sit down with alumni and practice their interviewing skills one-on-one. Alumni were able to provide students with tangible feedback in the moment to help as they advance in their professional development. The second breakout session opened the floor for networking practice. Students took to the room to show off the skills they had learned with alumni there to guide them and champion them.����

Gabrielle Cifelli ’20 stated, “Although ������Ƶ was only four years on campus, it continues to be a part of my life through these types of events. I’m so grateful to have the opportunities to stay connected not just with the students and alumni but also the faculty who made such an impact on my life and helped me get to where I am today.”

The evening closed with closing reflections for the students and acknowledgements to our alumni. Light refreshments greeted the group as it led to open-ended networking.

In feedback provided by the students, one said, “This workshop helped me build my confidence and going forward I feel more comfortable making connections.” Overall, both students and alumni shared that they had a positive experience and found value in the experience. Each office looks forward to the continued partnership to advance this Boldly ������Ƶ theme.

Over 60 alumni gathered to listen from a panel of four ������Ƶ alumni – ��Samantha Feher ’18,��Tyler Oberle ’18,��Margaret Padillo ’11 and��Suraj Minisandram ’18 – share their personal stories and advice on navigating a career change.

Attendees participated by coming to the first-ever Brooklyn alumni event, as well as by tuning via the��.��

During this event, alumni connected through a meaningful conversation about career changes, including how to switch pace from full-time employment to independent consultancy. The featured panelists represented various professional experiences including theater, marketing, media and tech.

The panel was hosted and moderated by Kanree Wright, ������Ƶ NYC Alumni Professional Development chair.

In addition to the panel, alumni also received a business card holder and the chance to win special giveaways to help their professional careers including ������Ƶ alumni Cate LeSourd’s new book “Coming of Age: Our Journey into Adulthood,” two 30-minute sessions with career coach Janel Abrahami, and one-on-one support from the Student Professional Development Center with Ross Wade, senior associate director of career services in the School of Communications.

The Panelists

Samantha Feher ’18 is a brand strategist and social media consultant based in New York. After graduating from ������Ƶ, she began her career in editorial at Cosmopolitan magazine, later working in-house at Cynthia Rowley to help scale the business’s digital presence and operations. Now she freelances for various tech, fashion, lifestyle and editorial brands to reach new audiences and realize growth potential.

Tyler Oberle ’18 has a background in theater and film. Freelancing as a videographer for four years before moving to New York, he produced immersive theater and worked in Broadway management until the pandemic shook things up. Now in the advertising world, Oberle continues to enjoy crafting unique experiences and working to live rather than living to work.

Margaret Padillo ’11 graduated with a bachelor’s degree in strategic communications and a double minor in business and Spanish. After graduating, Padillo started her professional career in marketing but knew something was missing. She explored everything from the medical field, architecture and zoology in search of her next career step until she stumbled across user experience design. Padillo has been in the UX field since 2016 and now works as an interaction designer at Google, helping users discover and adapt new ways to use Google Assistant in their daily lives.

After graduating from ������Ƶ in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in media analytics and a minor in Asian Studies, Suraj Minisandram ’18 made his way to Chicago and spent two years working as a media planner at Starcom. After moving back home for a year during COVID, he moved to New York to begin his current role working in marketing and sales for TIME.

For more information on upcoming events, community engagement and career resources, connect with the . The latest job postings will be posted to the page by alumni within the network.��

Details on a January 2022 event will be released in the coming weeks.

On Aug. 7, the NYC Chapter of ������Ƶ Alumni hosted its first in-person event at Yankees Stadium in conjunction with the ������Ƶ Alumni in the Ballpark Series. The event was attended by ������Ƶ Alumni of all ages and graduating classes, with over 60 alums at the game.

The Office of Alumni Engagement would like to send a special thanks to Alex Jakaitis and Kristina Lee, co-event chairs on the ������Ƶ Alumni NYC Chapter Board, who put in countless hours to make this event possible.

We also thank all of those who attended in-person and are excited for more events to come in the future! If you are looking to get involved and would like more information on attending ������Ƶ Alumni in NYC events, please reach out to chapter president, Andrew Bronsteen, for more information at alumni@elon.edu.

As summer kicks into high gear, things are heating up for our��regional alumni chapters and ������Ƶ in the Ballpark is back.��Take your family out to the ball game and mingle with other alumni!�� Select cities and regional alumni chapters��will be hosting a baseball outing in your city. Check out the list below to see how you can snag your tickets just in time to join alumni, friends and family at the game.

• 
  July 30
  Burlington Sock Puppets
• 
  Aug. 5
  Greensboro Grasshoppers
• 
  Aug. 6
  Durham Bulls
• 
  Aug. 7
  New York Yankees
• 
  Aug. 27
  Atlanta Braves
• 
  September 19
  Boston Red Sox

We’re laser-focused on keeping our alumni and their guests safe by following social distancing guidelines. Certain areas may have reduced capacity, so register sooner than later��to make sure you can join us at the game.

We hope to see you there.

On Saturday, July��24,��35��chapter��presidents gathered��from��across the country with staff from the Office of Alumni Engagement to��celebrate��the��success of the past year, and to begin��discussing��strategies for planning regional events for this��coming��year with the hopes that many will be in person.����

During the retreat, chapter presidents expressed their excitement for��being back in some of their favorite venues and being able to��socialize��in��person. Overall the regional chapters are optimistic about the year ahead and cannot wait to reconnect with fellow alumni in��person.

After spending time with��Brian Feeley,��assistant vice president for annual giving and alumni engagement,��discussing the strategy as we move into a busy fall, chapter leaders��were��given a moment to reflect on the opportunity of this year and��to��think through how to support newly relocated alumni in their areas.

“Great universities have��great alumni��bodies,” Feeley��said,��reiterating the words of��President Emeritus Leo M. Lambert as he charged alumni to lead into this year with a��vivacious��approach and to get creative.��“One common aspect of��great alumni��bodies is they all have leadership from within, dedicated volunteers like yourself.”

As the chapter presidents transition from��virtual programming to in-person��events, Welcome��to the City will be their first focus as��alumni��chapter volunteers��lean��into the��year ahead. The Welcome��to the City regional��event series��will be the first��opportunity��to��welcome alumni from ������Ƶ’s Class of 2020��and Class of 2021��in person. This event also��celebrates,��and highlights relocated alumni who have��moved��to a new city in the past year.��Welcome to the City events aim to connect alumni in their��local areas��and��helps to��continue building��the��������Ƶ community.

The Office of Alumni Engagement would like to��sincerely thank��all the regional chapter leaders for their dedication to providing ������Ƶ alumni with the opportunity to stay connected in their��local regions.

The current leadership for each regional chapter includes:

• Contia’ Prince ’19 (Alamance County)
• Jamie Gorsuch ’10 (Asheville)
• Trey��Newstedt��’13 (Atlanta)
• Spencer Barnardo ’14 (Austin)
• Steff Milovic ’19 (Baltimore)
• Emily Bourke ’16 (Boston)
• Alex Kreitman ’06 (Charleston)
• Leigh Murphy ’18 (Charlotte)
• Hattie Hoskins ’16 (Chicago)
• Meredith Stutz ’16 (Cincinnati)
• Meridith Jochum ’15 (Cleveland)
• Stephen Patterson ’73 (Columbia)
• Jordan Joshua ’14 (Dallas)
• Sarah Fuller ’05 (Denver)
• Greg Zitelli ’14 (Greater Charlottesville)
• Kayla Harvey ’16 (Greenville)
• Mary Kennedy ’19 (Hartford)
• Meghan Green ’12 (Jacksonville)
• Sara��Spadacene��’14 (Los Angeles)
• Lindsey Tipps ’16 (Nashville)
• Kellen Darmody ’16 (New Jersey)
• Andrew��Bronsteen��’13 (New York City)
• Crystal Brown ’12 (Orlando)
• Katherine Day ’14 (Philadelphia)
• Carolyn��Klasnick��Brooks ’09 (Pittsburgh)
• Kyra Molinaro ’14 (Richmond)
• Will Delaney ’14 (San Diego)
• Zach Strohmeyer ’17 (San Francisco)
• Stacey Popowitz ’10 (Seattle)
• Michael��Livigne��’05 (South Florida)
• Hillary Dooley ’14 (Stamford)
• Candace Rotolo ‘91 (Tampa Bay)
• Gregg Mader��’11 (Triangle)
• Joy Ross ’03 (Washington D.C.)
• Grey Kinlaw ’02 (Wilmington)

Through its local network, the chapter was able to foster a warm new relationship with Harlem Lacrosse, a school-based nonprofit organization that changes the life trajectories of youth through daily wrap-around academic support, mentoring, leadership training, college readiness career exploration, admissions counseling and lacrosse instruction.

The board knew we could make a significant impact through this relationship, and began brainstorming, with leadership from Andrew Bronsteen, Tyler Riccio, David Koski, Alex Jakaitis, Kristina Lee and Janay Tyson.

Through collaboration with the Harlem Lacrosse leadership team, the��alumni chapter created an Amazon Wishlist that ������Ƶ alumni could use to directly purchase equipment and clothing desired by the Harlem Lacrosse players and their families. The clothing drive gained massive popularity and ended up being a tremendous success, resulting in 140 total donations, 342 total items donated, and $2,362.31 total dollars raised by ������Ƶ alumni.

This newfound partnership is a great example of how the spirit of ������Ƶ shines bright through local alumni, even in the midst of a global pandemic. Weeks after the final donation, the chapter received a heartwarming note from Richie Hurley, managing director of Programs for Harlem Lacrosse.

“To put it plainly, the clothing drive was a massive success,” Hurley wrote. “We were able to outfit students and family members from each of our 11 programs in NYC. There was a three-week span where we were receiving 5-10 packages a day to our office at WeWork Harlem. With our kids and staff not being allowed in school buildings, practicing outdoors is the only real opportunity we have to connect with our teams and continue doing the work we love. The donations you were able to solicit made it possible for our students to stay warm and safe and play the sport they love as much as possible. For that I am incredibly thankful and appreciative.”

These photos are a few of the gifts made by ������Ƶ alum being put to great use!

The NYC Alumni Chapter would like to thank everyone who donated and look forward to working together to become a source of good in the community. Long Live ������Ƶ!

Friday April 3:  7:00 am – 11:00 pm

Saturday April 4: 8:00 am – 11:00 pm

Sunday April 5: 10:00 am – 11:00 pm

Monday April 6: Regular Hours

For dining options please go to http://menus.elondining.com/

Wednesday, Jan. 28         7:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 29               7:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 30                     7:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 31               8:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 1                    9:00 a.m. – 12:00 a.m.

Tuesday, December 16: 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Wednesday, December 17: 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Thursday, December 18: 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Friday, December 19: 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Saturday, December 20, until Sunday, December 28 – CLOSED

• Friday Oct. 10: 7AM -8PM
• Saturday Oct. 11: 8AM-8PM
• Sunday Oct. 12: 10:30AM-8PM
• Monday Oct. 13: 8AM-8PM
• Tuesday Oct. 14 starts again with regular hours of operation from 7AM – 1AM.