CLASS NOT E S development and job search support. It is a fantastic and FREE service to all Darden alumni. Want to learn more and request an appointment with any of our coaches? Check out the ACS page on the Darden site — hope you take advantage of it!” Beth Hunt and her husband have retired and moved to Vermont where they will raise their two young daughters on a farm. Dream fulfilled! Davina Myers was traveling north on a COVID-19 road trip and was able to visit Beth and her husband Todd at their new home. It was great to catch up!
ALUMNI PROFILE
LYNNETTE CROWDER (EMBA ’10)
2009 Lizzie Breyer; Neal Pavlic lizziebreyer@gmail.com pavlic@gmail.com
Learning to Lead from ‘Crucible Moments’
L
ynnette Crowder (EMBA ’10) decided early in her career to follow her curiosity and run toward challenges.
A mechanical engineering graduate of Virginia Tech, she was recruited by General Motors and offered a choice of working in the design group or operations. Most of her peers picked design, the sought-after darling of automotive engineering. Crowder chose operations. “I said, ‘Actually, I’d much rather get experience managing people, leading people,’” she recalls. “They said, ‘Really? Are you sure?’ That was the beginning of a path of taking that analytical piece of me and fusing it with how to motivate and engage people.” Crowder later moved into GM’s sales side, bringing fresh perspectives from operations. She was in sales and enrolled in Darden’s Executive MBA when, midway through the program, the global financial crisis hit and GM declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. At Darden, she found a place to pause and assess her next step. After graduating, she joined the general manager development program at MeadWestvaco to gain a high-level view of the business before choosing a specific path.
ment. They figured out benefits, answered questions. It was very transactional,” she says. “But in the last decade or so, that’s really transformed. For a lot of business leaders, there has been this realization that achieving a business strategy is so dependent on the talent and organizational capability that you have.” Within six months of starting the job, Crowder was overseeing layoffs forced by a downturn in the oil and gas sector, and then the pandemic hit. The experience proved to be one of her biggest tests yet. “I call it one of those crucible moments that can really crystallize a team. Being in a new role in the C-suite, facing the challenges of the time, was one of those,” Crowder says. “Though it’s been really tough, it’s also been really valuable.” Crowder serves on Darden’s Corporate Advisory Board. She’s eager to help open doors for students, particularly women, who lack a built-in network to advance their careers. She still pulls out her notes from Professor Paul Simko’s financial accounting class to help colleagues explain accounting impacts in a clear and simple way.
At a mentor’s urging, she moved into HR. She was leading HR for a large division in late 2019 when US Silica recruited her to be senior vice president and chief human resources officer.
“He had a way of doing that. The way that he taught accounting was so business relevant, rather than transactional or technical,” Crowder says. “I actually have my accounting notebook on my shelf right now.”
“Years ago, HR was the personnel depart-
— Sally Parker
86
THE DARDEN REPORT
Gina (Rajpal) Felton has recently moved from her role in strategy and portfolio management at ConocoPhillips back to the world of government affairs as director, federal regulatory. She is excited about this new opportunity and grateful that the remote-work culture we’ve all cultivated this past year will allow her to remain in Houston, Texas, for the time being. Gina and family fared OK during the historic freeze that hit Texas earlier this year and are thankful for the concerns of classmates near and far. She looks forward to one day sharing the beauty of the campus and Charlottesville with her husband and four children. Adair Newhall was recently promoted to partner at Greenspring Associates, a venture capital firm where he works on sourcing and due diligence efforts as well as taking a lead role in the firm’s healthcare practice and Portfolio Impact Program. He and his wife, Kathryn, and their kids live in Baltimore, Maryland.
2010 Meredith Valentine; Kyle Power; Jackie Grace valentine.meredith@gmail.com kylepower11@gmail.com jacqueline.grace@gmail.com
Emily Murray is happy to report that she is a mom! Emily welcomed a daughter, Elizabeth Helen, on 30 November 2020. She’s looking forward to continuing the proud tradition of Darden women in the family — following her grandma Lee Brown Murray (MBA ’85) and her mom. Wahoo waaaah! Ray Lamas took on a new role with AECOM as vice president, federal ventures. He is leading a new business line focused on large federal staff augmentation contracts aligned to our core engineering skill sets, as part of AECOM’s larger global growth strategy. Last year, Ray also served on his compa-
