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Alumni Leaders in STEAM
ALUMNI LEADERS IN
In this section, we honor our alumni and their accomplishments in STEAM fields. Many have talked about being inspired and transformed by their early experiences of discovery that took place in the classrooms here at Nashoba Brooks School, which fostered literacy in science, technology, engineering, and the arts. We invite our alumni to share their work, discoveries, and successes with us. Together, we go boldly into the 21st century.
SARAH FLINT ‘03: PURSUING PASSIONS FOR DESIGN AND SHOES
ALUMNA SARAH FLINT’S LOVE of design can be traced to her elementary years at Nashoba Brooks School. “I absolutely loved art and design—ever since I fell in love with my first pair of patent leather tap shoes at age 5,” she recalls.
Sarah took that passion from her childhood and, at age 25, started her own shoe design business in 2013. Today, she has earned international recognition as the go-to brand admired by celebrities and royalty alike.
Sarah’s line is grounded in a design ethos centered around “style without sacrifice,” making women feel both empowered and at ease.
“My hope for the future is to build out a new kind of customer-first luxury brand where women can still find an original, designer product of the highest quality that is actually comfortable,” she says.
She has her own strong network within her family, too. Her mother Alice Flint, trustee emeritus at Nashoba Brooks School, and her three sisters—all Nashoba Brooks alumni, including drama teacher and current parent Hannah Flint, who are all avid Sarah Flint promoters!
KIRSTEN KESTER '01: TAKING THE LEAD IN BIOTECH
AFTER GRADUATING FROM HARVARD College (as a biology major) and then finishing her MBA at Harvard Business School, Kirsten merged her work in both science and business to land in the field of immunotherapeutic cancer research.
When she speaks about her current work at Obsidian Therapeutics, a startup biotech in Boston for immunotherapy and cell therapies, she recalls her introductory biology lessons. “You learn about your white blood cells, your little army from within,” Kirsten explains.
Kirsten’s Nashoba Brooks School experience, which started in preschool, has been a strong thread throughout her life, starting with early days of discovery in science class. She recalls early experimentation, such as looking at pond samples under a microscope and, in Grade 6, creating a model of a cell in the form of a pizza with toppings.
She is a big proponent of her all-girls educational experience. “It’s this magical, trusting environment, where girls feel comfortable taking risks but that is also rigorous. We worked very hard and were a self-driven group.”
Kirsten now serves on the Board of Trustees at Nashoba Brooks, which provides the opportunity to return to campus often!
SASHA ‘08 AND TALYA ‘10 KRAMER: SISTERS LEADING IN SCIENCE
SASHA, A PH.D. CANDIDATE in Marine Science at UC Santa Barbara, conducts marine science and oceanographic research. Her work includes using optical methods to study phytoplankton ecology on the ocean’s global surface. Her love of science started in third grade at Nashoba Brooks, with hands-on learning and fun experimentation.
“At Nashoba Brooks, I was interested in marine science and oceanography. In sixth grade we had to each pick a scientist to speak with. I picked a dolphin behaviorist,” Sasha recalls.
Talya, a Ph.D. student in biology at MIT, recalls fun experiments of her own in second grade. “In class, we made stomachs using plastic bags...We learned that this is how digestion works.”
Talya’s own scientific research has her uncovering the science of decision making by studying worms on a molecular level.
Both sisters credit their time in an all-girls middle school for helping find their voices in a field still largely dominated by men. For Talya, who describes herself as a formerly “very shy and quiet” middle schooler, her experience at Nashoba Brooks helped shape the person she has become.
