Greetings Ford School alumni,
The Ford School Alumni Board met in September in a hybrid format for our fall meeting. Several alumni gathered on the third floor of Weill Hall alongside Ford School staff, while the rest of the board joined via Zoom. While we miss all being together, it was a great meeting full of updates from faculty, staff, current students as well as robust discussions amongst board members on efforts that can advance school and alumni initiatives.
We had a chance to learn more about the Center for Racial Justice from Associate Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes. The Center is doing amazing work and looking for ways to engage alumni who are working in various policy spaces advancing racial equity. We heard about the return to Weill Hall from Dean Barr in addition to several exciting new faculty hires. This includes Morela Hernandez, who is heading up the leadership initiative, which is funded through generous gifts from the Towsley Foundation. Several current students joined us to share about their internship experiences this summer and what it feels like to be second-year MPP students in their first years in person at Weill Hall. We also had a chance to “take a break” with the Ford School embedded CAPS counselor, Kristen Carney, who is supporting the health and wellbeing of students.
The Alumni Board is grateful to outgoing board members, Sam Geller, Latesha Love-Grayer, Farah Mandich, Steve Reich, Ingrid Tighe, and Rachel White who have been active stewards of the school and champions of our students. As part of our working board, they have helped organize events like Worldwide Ford School Spirit Day, offer office hours and mock interviews to current students, work with the development team to engage alumni in supporting current students, and provide input on various Ford School initiatives.
Go Blue!
Naomi Goldberg, MPP ‘08
Alumni Board chair