Notre Notes Fall 2020 Issue

NEWSLETTER - FALL 2020

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Dedicating the Center for Women's Leadership

Featuring Student Artwork

Welcoming New Members of the Board of Directors

Recognizing our 2020 Alumni to Watch

C enter F or W omen ' s L eadership In honor of women leaders, past, present and future, we officially dedicated the Center for Women's Leadership on the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment which granted some women the right to vote. Principal Mary Beth Riley was joined by board members, students and campaign committee chairs (photo below). "Today we dedicate this center to all women who have paved the way and to the promise of the positive impact of the Notre Dame students," said Mary Beth.

ASB President Maddi Wong '21

"This building is extra special because it gives students more space to become a part of something bigger than themselves," shared Maddi Wong '20, ASB school president. "Standing in front of this building, I can only dream of all the powerful, impactful women that will flourish in the new innovation labs, flexible classrooms, and prayer and meditation spaces. Future leaders, activists, engineers, athletes, maybe even the first female President of the United States."

Recognizing Notre Dame's long history of women's education and leadership, Cindy Chavez, president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors also thanked the many alumni and donors who supported the construction of the Center for Women's Leadership. "What we value is what we invest in and this building says we are investing in the future, we are investing in women and we are investing in hope."

President of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors Cindy Chavez

You can view a video of the dedication ceremony as well as congratulatory videos from important women leaders on our website at www.ndsj.org/cwl-dedication.

Principal’s Message It is the most unusual time. I have arrived to a nearly empty campus every day since early August. As I settle in my office and fire up my computer, I move from Zoom meeting to Zoom meeting and see teachers, students, and parents on a regular basis crowded into little squares on the screen. Although we could never have imagined this, there is a vibrant ND community on the virtual campus, connecting in so many ways. We have made many changes and pivots in the past six months to adapt to the pandemic environment and have contingency plans for just about everything. As we launched into this 20-21 school year, we committed to learning from this unusual time, to discovering new skills and progressing smarter and stronger.

Center for Women's Leadership dedication Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Dedicating the Center for Women’s Leadership on August 18th, the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment that afforded women the right to vote, felt so right. This school has stood strong for women for the past 169 years, and our new building will provide resources for today’s students to discover passions and build strength for their life’s journeys. We expect them to become leaders for the future.

The dedication morning was an exciting moment but it was also a somber one. We realized, more keenly than ever, in this time of unrest following the murder of George Floyd, that black women were not included in the right to vote, that, in our history and current world, black lives have too often not mattered. We cannot fully celebrate this historic landmark for women’s rights knowing so many women were left behind for decades. In June, we made a commitment to understand more deeply how systemic racism affects and influences Notre Dame and the world around us. We began to shape initiatives around race, equity and inclusion practices. As a Notre Dame school, we are called to do this work.

Every year, we focus on one of the seven Hallmarks of a Notre Dame Learning Community to guide us. This year, we chose Hallmark three: We educate for and act on behalf of peace and justice in the world. As a Catholic school in this century, we must do this well.

The challenges of this year are good ones. If we engage fully in them, from board members to faculty, staff and students, Notre Dame will thrive.

Ora et Labora,

Mary Beth Riley, Principal

Seven Hallmarks of a Notre Dame Learning Community 1. We proclaim by our lives even more than by our words that God is good.

2. We honor the dignity and sacredness of each person.

3. We educate for and act on behalf of justice and peace in the world.

4. We commit ourselves to community service.

5. We embrace the gift of diversity.

6. We create community among those with whom we work and with those we serve.

7. We develop holistic learning communities which educate for life.

B uilding C ommunity W ith

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Community and belonging are integral to the Notre Dame experience. For the incoming Class of 2024, the usual bonding experiences and introductions to the ND sisterhood weren't possible but that didn't stop the more than 50 student ambassadors that work with the admissions team. Determined to make sure their newest sisters felt included and welcome, they offered 23 virtual social opportunities that ran the gamut from a Netflix discussion group to baking to trivia. There were also opportunities to join virtual campfires, a book club or a cultural club. Some were so popular they were offered as a series!

One group used their virtual time to create handmade cards for delivery to the Meals on Wheels program. "This past summer, I led a card-making social with some incoming freshmen, in which the cards were made to brighten a senior citizen's day," shared Luce Marcelle Cada '23. "I had this idea with the hope that we would be able to make seniors feel loved and stay positive in these tough times, and the freshmen, a sophomore friend and I made a total of 80 cards. Those cards were distributed in brown bags that included meals for the seniors."

Student Artwork Graces Campus Banners Notre Dame’s diverse community is filled with different talents, skills and passions. The artistic talent of two of these students, Krissy Ratnaparkhi '21 and Maya Bond '22, is currently prominently showcased on our downtown campus.

New banners were recently installed on JB Hall and Donnelly Hall along 2nd Street. They celebrate the incredible talents of our many student artists.

Krissy's piece, entitled Adrift, was created in watercolor. Maya created Transparency with prismacolor pencils.

Above: Adrift by Krissy Ratnaparkhi '21 Left: Transparency by Maya Bond '22

Notre Dame Board of Directors Welcomes New Members Christopher Arriola (Marina ’23) is the Supervising Deputy District Attorney in charge of the Community Prosecution Unit at the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office in San Jose, CA. Christopher is also the diversity and inclusion chair for the District Attorney’s Office.

He has been a Deputy DA in San Jose for 22 years and previously worked at the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office after graduating from Stanford University with a degree in history and then UC Berkeley Law School. He is a board member of the St. Thomas More Society and helps organize their annual Red Mass for lawyers.

Jay Hanson is an advisor and board member for a number of private companies and nonprofit organizations. Most recently, Jay was vice president and chief operating officer of eBay Americas where he led most aspects of eBay’s business in this region. Among other board and advisory work, Jay serves on the board of the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose.

Jay earned a bachelor's degree in international relations from Michigan State University and a master's in pacific international affairs from the School of Global Policy and Strategy at UC San Diego.

Dremeco Seifert serves as a partner in the Audit & Assurance practice of Deloitte, where he leads financial statement and internal control audits, initial public offering processes and accounting advisory projects for publicly traded and private technology and life sciences companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Dremeco has international experience including a three-year assignment with Deloitte Tokyo supporting audits and cross border transactions. In his community, Dremeco seeks to enable partnerships between the corporate, civic and nonfor-profit communities and to provide mentorship to young adults.

Melinda Thompson '88 is an experienced legal executive with extensive domestic and international experience in the technology sector. Melinda joined Palo Alto Networks in 2011 as the second attorney at this pre-IPO company, and is now the company’s Deputy General Counsel. In addition to community work with organizations such as Second Harvest Food Bank and Grey Bears of Santa Cruz, she is partnering with organizations outside of Palo Alto Networks focusing on educating the next generation of cybersecurity experts, specifically young girls, beginning as early as kindergarten.

Notre Dame Board of Directors Christopher Arriola ● Linda McMullen '66 Bearie ● Demerris Brooks-Immel '87 ● Pat Caldwell, Past Chair ● Mark Fernandes, Chair Elect/Secretary ● Steve Foster ● Howard Graham ● Greg Hanson ● Jenny Hsia '99 ● Amit Kumar ● Laura Murphy ● Sister Rosalie Pizzo '52, SNDdeN ● Lorne Rundquist ● Dremeco Seifert ● Barbara Simmons ● Rose Pierro '63 Simmons ● Erik Soule ● Nicola Tan '03 ● Melinda Postle '88 Thompson ● Jim Woods ● Katie Heagerty '87 Zazueta, Chair

Notre Dame High School’s Board of Directors is comprised of 21 individuals and includes professionals from the financial and legal industries, high tech executives, engineers and nonprofit management professionals.

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In conjunction with our Women of Impact event, which recognizes an alumna and a woman in the community, we are pleased to recognize ten alumni who are also making an impact in their communities.

Ariana Abedifard ’15 Currently a UC Berkeley Law student, Ariana seeks justice for many issues such as food discrimination and environmental racism. She is pursuing a career in public interest and environmental law, specifically focusing on environmental justice. She is currently part of the UC Berkeley Environmental Law Clinic, making a difference by addressing the legal needs of underserved communities and working to advance environmental justice. She recently interned at a non-profit working on the impacts of agricultural pesticides on humans and the environment and completed work as a law clerk at the Center for Food Safety. She is a student advocate at the Berkeley Law Food Justice Project and a member of both the Ecology Law Quarterly and the Berkeley Journal of Middle Eastern & Islamic Law.

Marline Diane Boskovich ’57 Chipley Marline is dedicated to her community and those less fortunate than herself and has spent much of her life volunteering in various capacities. For 15 years she has delivered freshly prepared meals, a friendly smile, and a little conversation to homebound seniors through Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula. She goes the extra mile, learning people’s names and birthdays in order to send cards and flowers to celebrate them. Marline has helped over 1,000 seniors through her volunteer work and helped to raise funds for the organization while serving for a decade on its board of directors.

She is known for hosting regular yard sales to raise additional funds to not only provide meals to seniors but food for their pets and essential school supplies for students in the area. Marline spent 20 years as a volunteer coach, supporting young women in track and field.

Amy McEntee ’92 Amy is the Chief Medical Officer at Salud Para La Gente, a federally qualified health center (FQHC), comprised of six clinics and six schoolbased health centers providing affordable, high-quality healthcare to the vibrant community that includes many farmworkers and their families on California’s Central Coast. Dr. McEntee leads a team that reaches out to community members who need health services but might hesitate to access them because of financial constraints, living conditions, undocumented status or language barriers. She is on the Board of Trustees for Good Shepherd Catholic School and on the board of the Friends of Human Relations of Santa Clara County, an organization

that fundraises to provide scholarships for low-income students transferring as juniors to a four-year college or university.

Guadalupe Olvera Montes ’91 Hirt Guadalupe is a social justice champion and women’s issues advocate challenging the status quo and ageist thinking. After more than two decades in public relations, she co-founded Second Act Women, a national organization focused on giving women 40 and 50+ the tools, resources, and community support to level up their lives, businesses and careers. Through Second Act Women, Lupe is rallying to de-stigmatize and re-script ageism, with a particular emphasis on women in corporate America, society, and individuals. She launched BizLifCon, the nation’s first business and lifestyle conference designed by, and for, women over 40 and 50+. Her first topic was women who startup after 40 and 50+, which she presented at Denver Startup Week. She also secured an opportunity to present at SXSW 2020. She is an author and associate producer on a documentary that explored the intersection of culture, identity and belonging.

Katherine Marie Raquidan Nasol ’11 Katherine is an educator, organizer and community-centered researcher dedicated to racial, gender and economic justice. She serves her community by using research to transform policies and build community power. A Ph.D. student at UC Davis, her research focuses on race, immigration and policy. Katherine’s research stems from her grassroots organizing work with immigrant workers and their families. She is a founding member and policy director of the Bulosan Center for Filipinx Studies where she organized the center’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the movement for Black Lives Matter protests for solidarity. She is a founder and core leader of the California Filipino Policy Committee, a coalition of over twenty immigrant-serving organizations that push for progressive policies focused on issues such as anti-racist education, workers and immigrant rights and housing justice.

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Hannah Nguyen ’12 Hannah is an Ethnic Studies educator, life-long learner, and community leader dedicated to educational equity and social justice. In the heart of the Fruitvale in Oakland, Hannah has built a vibrant learning community where students come to discover their untold stories, develop their critical consciousness and determine their role in making history and transforming their communities.

In her classroom, students are challenged to confront history with courage and compassion and empowered to channel their knowledge and skills into meaningful action research projects that promote community health, equity and justice. Beyond the classroom, Hannah's work has been featured at multiple history education conferences across the country, and she is currently pioneering new ethnic studies pedagogy and curriculum in a Facing History Professional Learning Community as a grantee of the LIGHT Awards.

Andrea Flores ’92 Shelton Andrea approaches her work as a public servant with her faith at the forefront and fights for equity and justice for her community.

As acting deputy director of the recreation and neighborhood services (PRNS) division for the City of San Jose, Andrea increases accessibility of neighborhood services across all community centers. She encouraged the City of San Jose and County of Santa Clara to be leading partners in the Government Alliance for Racial Equity (GARE) and continuously pushes decision makers to ensure that racial and health equity are at the forefront of policy change. She managed the Violence Reduction Program of the Santa Clara County Public Health Department and was instrumental in the launch of the East San Jose PEACE Partnership, a united effort toward achieving healthy equity in areas that have experienced disproportionate levels of violence and trauma over generations.

Marlene Struss ’68 Marlene has developed a distinct style of painting and participated in the elevation of abstract art and fundraising through art with her work in the Abstract Art Collective, 10 West Gallery, and Santa Barbara Studio Artists and is now focusing on expanding her artistic reach to an international audience. A member of the Abstract Art Collective since 2012, Marlene donates her artwork to the annual ArtSEE fundraiser, proceeds of which go to SEE (Surgical Eye Expeditions) International which provides cataract surgery and eye care to those who may not have access, serving approximately 1,400 members each year. She also promotes stewardship of the environment through her art.

Elizabeth Tran ’16 Elizabeth graduated from Brown University with a bachelor’s degree in public policy, with a distinction in engaged scholarship. Through the national Bonner Community Fellowship, Elizabeth taught civics and political advocacy to high school students, including English Language Learners, and worked to pass legislation expanding civics education in Rhode Island. She previously worked in political communications for U.S. Senator Kamala Harris and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. While with the International Rescue Committee, she provided immigration services directly to recent immigrants and refugees, while also acting as a Vietnamese interpreter. Elizabeth continues to fight on behalf of American consumers with her role in the Department of Justice Antitrust Division in Washington, D.C.

Megan Wygant ’99 As Executive Director of CLARA Studios, Megan works tirelessly toward a future where children have access to a robust arts education. CLARA Studios, located in midtown Sacramento, is home to eight cultural organizations who, in exchange for reduced rent, partner with CLARA to bring free arts programs to over 5,000 public school students each year, with a goal to double that number this year. Megan uses her passion for the arts to make arts programs accessible to all children, especially those with very low access. Through CLARA’s Teaching Artist Training Program, artists design skills and tools that allow them to manage classroom behavior, transform crowded classrooms into creative spaces, and partner with teachers to incorporate art forms into their curricula.

Register Online Today!

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CLASS NOTES Ellie Bazurto '15 (1) graduated

from Syracuse University with a degree in industrial and interaction design. She was a former president and founding member of Women in Design Syracuse. Earlier this year, she conducted thesis research in Sweden and Denmark on transportation systems and their impact on social isolation. Her thesis work received the Arthur Pulos Award for her attention

to ethics in design.

She is now pursuing a master's degree with a focus on social impact design to support positive community connectedness.

Lauren Fahey '13 (2) passed her check-

ride and was awarded her pilot's license over the summer.

Sejal Hathi '09 (3) started a Podcast,

Civic Rx (www.civic-rx. org), a conversationstyle show featuring key leaders, activists, entrepreneurs and

other intellectuals whose work and ideas are shaping how we might rebuild a healthier and more just society postCOVID-19.

Monica Burneikis '96 Howard (4) has launched a solo law firm, Burneikis Law, after gaining nearly 15 years of experience. Her new firm specializes in personal injury.

Inem (Emma) Richardson '16 (5) was selected

for the prestigious Fulbright program.

The Fulbright Student Program is the U.S. government’s flagship international exchange program offering opportunities for students and young professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and primary

and secondary school teaching worldwide.

As a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow and a participant in Barnard’s Emerging Filmmaker Mentorship Program, Inem traveled to Burkina Faso to conduct research on the history of the revolution and to film interviews with local organizers who are leading the struggle against French neo-colonialism and other forms of foreign intervention.

The Fulbright will allow her to document the history of the Burkinabé revolution from a popular/grassroots perspective, which will ultimately lead to a people’s history of this historical moment, with an emphasis on women in the struggle. In the future, she hopes to continue connecting

with organizers around the world and to pursue a Ph.D. in African history to document similar crucial but underresearched moments in history.

Cindy Moraes '91 Shaw (6)

started a new position as director of communications with the Diocese of San Jose after serving 16 years as the regional chief communications and marking officer for the American Red Cross. Her new position supports the Office of the Bishop, serves as the diocesan spokesperson, and directly oversees the office of communications, including The Valley Catholic, media relations, marketing, digital and printed materials, website, and social media accounts.

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Commit to giving a set amount each month for four years to provide a Notre Dame Catholic education for one young woman.

We have several opportunities at different giving levels. Visit our website to learn about Sister Circles, the Village Scholarship, ThirtyOne Women and ImpactND, or contact Shannon Chastaine in our development office for more information at schastaine@ndsj.org or (408) 294-1113 ext. 2123. www.ndsj.org/tuition-assistance

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NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION 596 S. 2nd Street San Jose, CA 95112 Address service requested

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