Paula Mattison (MBA ’15)
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Calculating Change By Robyn Norwood Paula Mattison (MBA ’15) joined the Peace Corps because of her love of travel and her desire to help others in sustainable ways. But helping members of her Peruvian community write business plans without the tools of technology felt like trying to make soup without a pot. “The unfortunate thing is that many of them do not have basic calculators to do math,” she wrote in a series of emails to Thomas Turk, Ph.D., professor of management and interim dean of Chapman University’s Argyros School of Business and Economics. Then Mattison took a chance. “It might be a lot to ask,” she wrote to Turk, “but I figured what’s the harm in asking, right?” Turk responded the same day: “Just let me know how many calculators you need, what type and where to send them.” So 100 calculators made their way from Chapman to Contumazá, Peru, where Mattison was completing two years of service. “The people in these workshops came by foot, if needed, sometimes walking two to three hours just to attend,” she wrote. But Mattison’s experience is not only about what she taught. It is also about what she learned. “Two-thirds of our work is to foster an exchange of cultures between the United States and our host country,” Mattison wrote. “I have gained so much more from being here than my community has. They aren’t kidding when they say, ‘It’s the toughest job you’ll ever love.’”
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Amy Parrish ’14 received the Aides à la Formation-Recherche (AFR) grant from Luxembourg National Research to conduct her Ph.D. project in the field of microbiome research. Amy is a second-year doctoral candidate at the Luxembourg Institute of Health’s Department of Infection and Immunity. Rashika Patel ’13 works for Visit Anaheim as a sports event specialist. In her role, she is charged with attracting major athletic events and conferences to the City of Anaheim and travels the world promoting Anaheim as a destination. Alix Portillo ’15 was appointed alumni representative on the Board of Directors for The Wooden Floor, a nonprofit in Orange County that focuses on youth development and empowerment through dance and access to higher education.
Chad Rabago ’15 was awarded a Microgrant for Student Professionalization from the Arts Administration Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. The grant will allow Chad to attend the Service Unites Conference, where he’ll learn how to better engage volunteers and how arts organizations can create positive change through service. Ryan Robinson ’12 moved to Denver in 2017 and has enjoyed connecting with fellow alumni in the area, including at Chappy Hour. Hebron Simckes-Joffe (MFA ’10) won the 2017 Best New Writer Award at Action on Film Fest. His screenplay “Emily” was pre-selected for an award of merit at the 2018 Los Angeles Cinema Fest. Hebron started writing again in 2016 after
a long hiatus. “From the Dead,” which he co-directed, co-produced and cast, features James Duval (“Independence Day”), Ben Morrison (“Punk’d”), and Pepe Serna (“Scarface”). Elizabeth Torres ’16 became a practitioner of the Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), a method of multidisciplinary healing for foster-care and adopted children who have been abused and neglected. Madison Wade ’16 landed a position with ABC10 in Sacramento as a news broadcast anchor. Nicky Wilks ’10 (MBA ’13) founded Journeymen Institute, a nonprofit that helps to build compassion and resilience in young men through naturebased programs, ongoing mentorship and community engagement.