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JANUARY 2020 FREE
Giving back
Second act career
Bark in action
New CEO of Dodge Foundation grew into role as philanthropist
Amy Chu left her corporate job to write comic books
By MiCHele AlPeRin For Tanuja Dehne, giving back to her community has been a defining theme in her life — from Girl Scout projects and prison tutoring, to pro bono work representing people suffering from disabilities and terminal illnesses, and finally to being a representative on nonprofit boards. Dehne, who recently became the fourth president and CEO of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, reflects on what she has gained from a lifetime of giving back. “I learned that I received so much more than I ever gave. I learned to have empathy and be an empathic listener, to cultivate compassion and kindness, and the importance of our shared humanity.” In her new role at the foundation, established in 1974, Dehne, a West Windsor resident, will be part of an organization that in itself focuses on giving back, through its mission of “supporting arts, education, environment, informed communities, and poetry to connect communities and influence social change to achieve an equitable New Jersey.” The foundation, Dehne says, “is empowering communities See DEHNE, Page 14
By MADeleine MACCAR
West Windsor Police Officer Douglas Montgomer y with his K9 companion, Officer Mackey, loads up donations from the community to deliver to local animal shelters as part of the department’s annual Operation Bark Drop on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019. For more photos, turn to Page 15. (Photo by Suzette J. Lucas.)
Rising through the ranks Former North golf standout has dreams of making the PGA Tour By Justin Feil Ryan Siegler wants to join the PGA Tour. More importantly, he believes in his ability to live out his dream and become just the second West Windsor-area product to make the PGA.
It’s not a lifelong dream, but rather one that has been building for less than a decade. The goal took a big step toward reality when the 2012 High School North graduate qualified for the 2020 Korn Ferry Tour, the step below and the most direct path to the PGA Tour. “It goes back to improving,” Siegler said. “For the last seven or eight years, I’ve gotten better and better. I’ve been around those types of guys. I feel like my game is good enough that I
can play with anybody. If I can do it at the right time, I can achieve what I want to achieve.” Siegler graduated from Towson University in 2016 and played as an amateur that year before turning pro in 2017. He played 14 events in 2018 and nine events in 2019 on the China Tour, and his status and performances allowed him to bypass the pre-qualifying stage of the Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament, also known as See SIEGLER, Page 12
For as often as Amy Chu has moved—among other places, she’s called Boston, Iowa and Hong Kong home before settling into West Windsor in 2003—it’s probably not surprising that she tried on numerous professional hats before her true calling finally found her. Chu fancied a future in astrophysics during her undergrad years at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, laughingly recalling how that dream was thwarted by the realization that she’s “basically the worst at physics.” She studied architecture in college but never saw herself as an architect. She considered journalism and advertising. Then her MBA from Harvard Business School led to a life as a management consultant; while she enjoyed it, it just never grabbed her by the heart. Chu’s fans already know where she’s spent the past few years of her new life; those unfamiliar with her second-act career can see her passion play out in the pages of the Poison Ivy, Deadpool, Red Sonja, and Wonder Woman (just to name a few) comics that she’s been See CHU, Page 10
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