Alumni Newsletter, Winter 2013

THE STEPPINGSTONE FOUNDATION

alumni news

WINTER 2013

Dear Alumni, As many of you know, Steppingstone hosts an annual Gala in November each year. It’s a fun event, and a significant fundraiser for Steppingstone, bringing in nearly 20 percent of the annual budget. We are thrilled to announce that, for the first time ever, this year’s event raised more than $1 Million to support Steppingstone Scholars.

This was above and beyond our goal or expectation, but it wasn’t the only reason the event was one of the best Galas ever.

It was a success because so many of YOU were there.

Reggie Farina ’94 (pictured right) was the Gala’s keynote speaker. Other Alumni attending the event included: Board of Directors members Mariel Novas ’00 and Donavan Brown ’95; Board of Ambassador member Joanne Jacquet ’98; Alumni Council co-chairs Timothy O’Connell ’96 and Rochelle Williams-Belizaire ’94; Belmont Hill teacher Emeka Ekwelum ’02, and Roxbury Latin School teacher Darian Reid-Sturgis ’99.

During his speech, Reggie wowed the room with his personal story. While recounting his memories of The Steppingstone Academy, Reggie said: “No matter how many times we, as Scholars or Alumni, come to a turning point in our academic, professional, or personal lives, The Steppingstone Foundation is there, offering encouragement, direction, and saying: ‘Go! Believe in yourself, and be great.’ ” And you have! In the pages that follow, you will see just a few examples of the incredible things your fellow Alumni are up to.

As always, we’re proud of everything you’ve accomplished, and grateful for all that you give back to Steppingstone.

Have a very happy New Year!

Mr. D

notes Class of 1991 Natasha Velickovic ’91 was named one of Boston Business Journal’s “40 Under 40,” a title that honors business and civic leaders who represent the next wave of talent in Boston’s economy.

Tegan Leonard ’91 coached Boston Latin School’s first girls lacrosse team.

Class of 1992

beginning of her residency.

She will be working at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

Congratulations, Denver!

A big thanks goes out to Reggie Farina ’94, who gave an incredible speech at this year’s Gala. Reggie is currently pursuing his MBA at MIT.

Reggie Farina with Scholars who were honored at the Gala

Class of 1995

Crystal Furlonge ’92 filmed the pilot for a show that will follow J.P. Jacquet ’95 has taken on her journey around the world as three important roles at the a photographer.

Berkeley Carroll School in Brooklyn, New York. He is the Things are busy for Alisha Upper School Dean of Students Crutchfield ’92! In addition and the 12th Grade Class Dean, to running her own company, as well as a humanities teacher.

StyleWise, as a freelance fashion stylist, she is also the Fashion Antonius Wiriadjaja ’95 has Director at the Miss Universe been making a remarkable Organization, Creative Director recovery since suffering a for Angela Simmons’ commerce gunshot wound in July. He has site, and Founder and Producer documented the events on his of the digital series Closets blog at antoni.us.

Unlocked, a visual guide to closets of celebrities, designers, Class of 1996 and individuals with inspiring personal style.

Takiyah Gray ’96 returned to the United States after teaching English in Thailand Class of 1994 and Vietnam for two years. She Denver Brown ’94 received is now living in Chicago and her “long white coat” from working in sales at LinkedIn, Howard University Medical where she joined her brother, School, marking the official Vaughn Gray ’98!

Class of 1997 Congratulations to Rocío Palomo ’97, who graduated from Northwestern University School of Law! As the Director of Diversity at Nashoba Brooks School, D’Lynn Jacobs ’97 is currently working to forge a formal relationship between Steppingstone and Nashoba Brooks.

Congrats to Luana Bessa ’97, who graduated with a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. She is currently starting a postdoctoral fellowship at the Bedford Veterans Affairs Medical Center, working with the Safing Center, which promotes healthy relationships.

Offiong Bassey ’97 released her first album this year! Her CD debuted at #2 on the CMJ New World Music Chart, and features 12 original songs that fuse African soul and jazz. Offiong’s musical career was recently profiled in The Boston Globe.

Offiong Bassey

We were excited to see Shankar Samlal ’97 at his first Reunion.

Shankar has been working at eClincialWorks, a medical records software company, for the past six years.

Vladimir Presnyak ’97 is currently in the fourth year of his Ph.D. at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

Class of 1998

Class of 2000 Currently living in Philadelphia, Lizmarie Camacho ’00 worked at Steppingstone Scholars Inc. over the summer as the Prima Lingua instructor.

Deanna Cox ’00 recently started a new job as an admissions counselor at her alma mater, Union College.

Rochelle Ballin ’98 is busy working as Assistant Director of Annual Giving at her alma mater, Thayer Academy.

Congratulations to Ngozi Anidi ’98, who graduated from Columbia University School of Law and is working as an associate in Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP’s Litigation Department.

Ife Oyedele ’98 moved to Los Angeles, where she is working at Green Dot Public Schools as an administrator in residence, training to be an assistant principal next year.

Darian Ghorbi ’98 graduated from American University Law School. Congratulations, Darian!

Tran Vu ’00 graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of Arts, and showcased some of her work for us at Reunion. Congratulations, Tran!

David Huynh ’00 is attending dental school at Tufts University.

Congratulations to Carol Woods ’00, who completed her M.S. in epidemiology at Tulane University and is currently researching prostate cancer at the Louisiana Cancer Research Center.

Sophia Tsakmaklis ’00 is working for HubSpot as a marketing strategist.

Deanna Cox

Fedna Jacquet ’00 recently started her MFA at New York University’s Tisch School.

Laniesha Gray ’00 spent the summer teaching reading and Lisa Lavia ’00 graduated study skills at The Steppingstone from Middlebury College Academy. with a degree in biology and is currently attending a postbaccalaureate program in science at the Harvard Extension School. Congratulations, Lisa!

Class of 2001 Laniesha Gray with her class

Efe Osifo ’01 is a Teach for America corps member working

Do you have a story or picture to share with us?

Contact Alison Levy at alevy@tsf.org or 617.423.6300 x226 to let Steppingstone know what you’ve been up to. We love hearing from you!

for the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School in Boston. In his role, Efe has had the chance to teach a Steppingstone Scholar!

Moriah Smith ’02 was awarded a Fulbright fellowship, and will be teaching English in Brazil next year.

Maria Cristina Lalonde ’01 just left Chicago, and is now working as an English teacher in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Class of 2003

Danielle Le Hals ’97 just welcomed a new baby to the family. Her brother, Alumnus Shawn Le ’01, is thrilled to be a new uncle.

Candace Taylor ’03 will spend next year conducting research in Nicaragua as a Fulbright Scholar.

Weddings, Engagements, and Births Maria Cristina Lalonde

Khue Nguyen ’01 has been working as a support services associate at Steppingstone since September. We’re thrilled that she’s back supporting younger Scholars!

Shawn Le ’01 received a promotion to senior analyst at Arnold Worldwide.

Congratulations, Shawn!

Class of 2002 Anthony Mathieu ’02 taught College Success Academy Scholars this summer and is now a faculty member at his alma mater, Boston Latin Academy, where he teaches seventh grade ELA and humanities.

Tegan Leonard ’91 and her husband, Stephen, welcomed their daughter, Phoebe, to the family this fall.

Amy, Shawn, and Danielle with the new baby.

After nine years together, Dalinda Ifill ’99 and Junior Pressat got engaged on July 10 in Central Park. They plan to marry in 2015.

Timothy Healey ’92 and his wife welcomed their second child, Samuel, to the family.

He joins their four-year-old daughter, Isabelle.

Caroline Cole Colicchio ’95 and her husband welcomed their daughter, Catherine Rose, in September.

Donavan Brown ’95 and his wife, Lauren, welcomed their daughter, Kira, in April.

J.P. Jacquet ’95 married Dr. Mary Breda Morrissey in New York on June 15.

Dalinda Ifill and her fiancé

Sophia Tsakmaklis ’00 got engaged this summer and is planning a wedding in Greece for May of 2014.

Kaitlin Barry Pellerin ’96 and her husband, David, welcomed their first child, Liam James, on February 12.

Anthony Mathieu with one of his students

Vladimir Presnyak ’97 and his fiancée, Jennifer Badger, recently bought a house in Cleveland.

Sophia Tsakmaklis and her fiancé

Thank You! We’re honored to have such an engaged Alumni community. You constantly impress us with your generosity and your commitment to supporting each other and younger Scholars. Thank you!

The following Alumni have donated in 2013 (names in bold denote leadership gifts of $500 or more)*: Ivan DeJesus ’92 Timothy Healey ’92 Carlos Castillo ’94 Reggie Farina ’94 Kevin Tran ’94 Marcus Haymon ’95 Patrick Leeman ’95 Antonius Wiriadjaja ’95 Alister Dabreo Jr. ’96 Joy Kogut ’96 Timothy O’Connell ’96

Carlos Pacheco ’96 D’Lynn Jacobs ’97 Geordan Johnson ’97 Cindy Nguy ’97 Mary-Margaret Oppus ’97 Joanne Jacquet ’98 Dalinda Ifill ’99 Darian Reid-Sturgis ’99 Laniesha Gray ’00 David Huynh ’00 Khue Nguyen ’01

Jennifer Pierre ’01 Samantha Salfity ’01 Alena Horton ’02 Ying Wang ’02 Demetrius Armstrong ’03 Perry Calhoun ’03 Ashley Nelson ’03 Atiyyah Sabir ’03 Marysabel Mejia ’04

A leadership gift was also made in Dalinda Ifill’s honor.

There’s still time to make an end-of-year gift to support Steppingstone, if you haven’t already. A donation of any size matters! You know the journey that Scholars make–you’ve made it yourself–and anything you give will help us prepare and support the 1,550 Scholars we serve each year. * As of December 1, 2013

A big thanks goes out to Cindy Nguy ’97, who raised more than $200 for Steppingstone in honor of her birthday. Cindy currently attends business school at UCLA, and since moving to the West Coast, she has already met up with Alums Lucas Tamayo ’01 and Adilia James ’97!

If you live in another city and would like to connect with fellow Steppingstone Alumni in the area, please reach out to Alison Levy at alevy@tsf.org.

Lucas Tamayo ’01 and Cindy Nguy ’97

Adilia James ’97 and Cindy Nguy ’97

The following Alumni have represented Steppingstone at events throughout the year: Timothy O’Connell ’96 Reggie Farina ’94 D’Lynn Jacobs ’97 Carlos Castillo ’94 Ngozi Anidi ’98 Rochelle Williams-Belizaire ’94 Rochelle Ballin ’98 Donavan Brown ’95 Kousha Bautista-Saeyan ’98 Karlenis Castillo ’95 Joanne Jacquet ’98 Marcus Haymon ’95

A.T. Desta ’99 Darian Reid-Sturgis ’99 Lamarr Rollins ’99 Mariel Novas ’00 Emeka Ekwelum ’02 Anthony Mathieu ’02

Vaughn Gray ’98 helps score $10,000 for Scholars We are very grateful to Vaughn Gray ’98, who recommended Steppingstone for a grant through his workplace. Thanks to his proposal, Steppingstone received $10,000 from LinkedIn earlier this year!

“As a middle school student and a student teacher, Steppingstone was the catalyst for my personal transformation,” Vaughn says. “Growing with other children who aspired to become great, I developed a stronger appreciation for learning, which is at the root of my current success. This grant is my way of showing appreciation and supporting today’s Scholars.”

Please consider recommending Steppingstone to your company for philanthropic support. Many companies have special funds set aside for non-profit organizations like Steppingstone. If you have any questions, or would like us to help draft a letter to your company, please contact Alison Levy at alevy@tsf.org.

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