[Jgfamembers] JGFA Newsletter - July 2007

[Sean Fox]

Welcome to the John Gardner Fellowship Association (JGFA) Newsletter!
We are excited to provide you with a forum for keeping up to speed on
the activities and people of JGFA.   

 

This newsletter has three parts:

 

*        Activities and Events Update:  This section provides an update
of JGFA's recent activities and upcoming events.  The organizers of the
recent service events provide an update of their successful efforts.
Also, a reminder that the first JGFA Roundtable that will take place on
July 31 at 2:00 pm PT/5:00 pm ET and will feature JGFA member Subodh
Chandra.  Please use the following call-in number:  Call-in number:
866-692-3158; Participant Passcode:  9018803.

 

 

*        People in the Spotlight:  This section celebrates the people of
JGFA.  This newsletter highlights the newly chosen 2007-08 John Gardner
Fellows from UC Berkeley and Stanford.  Check out their backgrounds and
stories - you will be impressed and inspired!

 

*        JGFA Speaks Out:  This section is filled with submissions from
the JGFA membership.  TWENTY THREE members contributed to the
newsletter!  These items are included without any editing and are aimed
to give each of you a forum for sharing both personal and professional
updates with other JGFA members.

 

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this newsletter.  I look forward
to connecting with many of you on the first JGFA Roundtable on July 31.

 

Regards,

Sean Fox

JGF '91-92

 

Activities and Events Update

 

JGFA members in two regions - the Bay Area and the Greater DC Metro area
- came together in June for service projects.  Here are summaries of the
events from the organizers, Joanna Levitt (Bay Area) and Brian Bergmark
(DC Metro Area).  Thanks to Joanna and Brian for taking the lead on
these service projects.

 

Bay Area Event

 

Bay Area Gardner Fellows gathered for a reunion and day of volunteer
work together on June 23rd, with Peoples' Grocery of West Oakland.
Peoples' Grocery is a local non-profit that promotes community health
and food sovereignty through urban agriculture initiatives and farmers
markets in underserved neighborhoods of Oakland.
(www.peoplesgrocery.org)  They also recently opened a plot at Sunol Farm
just outside of Oakland.  Bay Area Gardner fellows joined staff and
volunteers from Peoples' Grocery for a day of planting, mulching and
weeding at Sunol Farm.  Four fellows participated--Priscilla Olivas,
Linda Yeung, Sandy Tesch, and Joanna Levitt.  (Many others wanted to
participate, but it's a busy time of year, especially for families!)
All four fellows brought family and friends, and we ended up with an
outstanding group of 14 people of all ages!  Peoples' Grocery gave us a
warm welcome and shared about their nationally-known work, and each of
the fellows shared about where they did their fellowship and what they
are up to currently.  Friends and family introduced themselves as well.
There was great energy among the group, and it was a beautiful day of
getting dirt under our nails, (and playing in the mud for participants
under 6), reconnecting and meeting new people, all the while surrounded
by golden hills and blue sky.  A great event, and special thanks to the
participants and Peoples Grocery for making it happen. 

 

DC Metro Event 

 

The Washington DC area Gardner community supported the American Cancer
Society's Relay for Life in Fairfax, VA on Saturday, June 23rd. Relay
for Life, which was founded in the mid-1980's, is a tremendously
successful public service campaign that raised over $375 million in 2006
to support cancer research, prevention, and awareness. Four current and
former fellows participated - Felipe Perez '06, Regan Johnson '06, Brian
Bergmark '06 and Chanthip Phongkhamsavath '02. The Gardner party helped
the Relay organizers prepare for the all night event by greeting and
directing Relay participants, making and placing signs, preparing
informational materials, et cetera. The Gardner support in the final
hours before the event opened was much appreciated, and the perfect
weather topped it all off. 

We followed the service event with lunch at nearby Silver Diner. Four
milkshakes and one lively discussion later, we carpooled back to the
District fat and fulfilled.

 

JGFA Roundtable

 

We are thrilled to announce that we will hold the first JGFA Roundtable
on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at 5 pm ET/2:00 pm PT.  MARK YOUR CALENDAR
TODAY!

The JGFA Roundtable has been developed to allow members of the
association to hear first-hand about some of their colleagues'
incredible experiences.  We will conduct these Roundtables through
conference call initially.  The format will be informal and simple:  the
speaker will present for 20-35 minutes and then the floor will open up
for questions and discussion.  We expect the calls to run around an hour
in total.

The first speaker will be Subodh Chandra, who was a candidate for
Attorney General in Ohio in 2006.  He currently practices law in
Cleveland and has been counsel on at least three federal
voter-protection cases.  The most watched of those cases successfully
challenged a law that would have permitted poll workers to demand that
naturalized citizens produce their certificates of naturalization at the
polls.  

Subodh's presentation is titled:  Funny tales from the campaign trail
and struggles over voter protection in Ohio, the center of America's
political storm 

For those of you not familiar with Subodh, rest assured that the
presentation will be energetic, entertaining and enlightening.  

The call-in number for the Roundtable is:

 

Call-in number:  866-692-3158

Participant Passcode:  9018803  

 

Please join us to kick off what we hope will be the first event in a
JGFA tradition!

 

People in the Spotlight

 

We are excited to highlight the 2007-08 Gardner Fellows in this
newsletter.  Take a few minutes to read a short description of their
stories and plans for the fellowship.  They are an inspiring group!

 

UC- Berkeley

 

Jennifer Browning, Development Studies and French.  Jennifer is
committed to improving international health programs, and especially
those that target the HIV/AIDS pandemic.  In this pursuit, Jennifer
spent several months on the ground in Malawi, Africa performing medical
tests on patients and educating local populations about the spread of
the deadly virus.  As a Gardner Fellow, Jennifer hopes to continue this
line of work with Partners in Health or the United Nations Development
Program.  Email:  jbb at berkeley.edu

Kyle Maurer, Political Science.  Kyle is an accomplished musician (SF
Symphony Orchestra) who wants to improve arts education programs in
America's public school system.  At Berkeley, Kyle has played an active
role in the arts community, both as a musician and as an advocate for
the arts.  A future Stanford law student, Kyle hopes to spend his
Gardner Fellowship working with Senator Kennedy and the Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on arts education policies
contained in the upcoming reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind
Act.  Email:  kmaurer at berkeley.edu <mailto:kmaurer at berkeley.edu> 

 

Miriam Solis, Ethnic Studies and Geography.  Miriam is deeply involved
in Chicano/Latino affairs.  As a McNair scholar, Miriam's research
focused on the relationship between geography and economic inequality.
As a Gardner Fellow, Miriam hopes to build upon her past experiences in
urban planning to create new and enhanced democratic spaces, especially
in disadvantaged areas, so that more individuals can play an active role
in American society.  Email:  mvsolis at gmail.com

 

Stanford University

 

Colin Burke, Public Policy, with a minor in Spanish. He is interested in
international and domestic public health policy. For his honors thesis,
he is researching barriers to completion of treatment for inmates in the
Santa Clara County jail system receiving medication for latent
tuberculosis infection. A winner of the Stanford Alumni Association's
Pierce Award, Burke also founded Morning Outreach, a group devoted to
inspiring student participation in a variety of public service issues.
In addition, he has worked as a strategy researcher for FACE AIDS, a
campaign to mobilize and inspire students to fight AIDS in Africa.
cburke07 at gmail.com


Elisabeth Centeno, International Relations and Art History. She has
worked as a research assistant and interpreter at Stanford Law School's
Immigrant Rights Clinic, and as a legal extern at the Children's Rights
Project, Public Counsel, in Los Angeles. She also has served as public
interest chair for Derechos, Stanford's Latino pre-law society. Centeno
said these experiences, along with her academic training and service
work promoting social justice, fueled her interest in international
human rights law, domestic civil rights issues and in improving legal
access within underrepresented groups and low-income communities.
elisabeth.centeno at stanford.edu

 

Cammie Lee, International Relations while working toward a Master's
degree in Sociology. She co-founded and co-directed Stanford Beyond
Bars, an organization that won both the Dean of Students Outstanding
Achievement Award and the MTV-Youth Venture public service innovation
grant. Lee was a 2006 Sand Hill Fellow in Philanthropy at the Asia
Foundation in San Francisco and received Stanford's James W. Lyons Award
for Service. Having delved into the public, private and nonprofit
sectors, Lee is interested in harnessing resources and best practices
from all three to become a more effective public servant in areas
related to U.S.-Asia foreign policy and human
rights.cammie.lee at stanford.edu

 

JGFA Speaks Out

 

Annie Bird -- This summer I'm looking forward to being a teaching
assistant for a Berkeley course on International Organizations in
Switzerland and working with a humanitarian organization in the
Caribbean. If anyone is interested in donating medical supplies for this
trip, let me know. In the fall, I'll start my LLM in International Human
Rights Law at the University of Essex as a Marshall Scholar in the UK. I
am trying to decide between a PhD in Politics at LSE or Oxford starting
the second year of the scholarship. If anyone has advice on this
decision, I'm all ears! You can reach me at bird_annie at yahoo.com
<mailto:bird_annie at yahoo.com> .

 

Theresa Bridgeman - I'm racing the clock to finish drafting my doctorate
evaluating the extent to which the Inspection Panel (my Gardner
placement!) has fostered accountability of the World Bank to people its
financing affects and to member governments.  I'm enjoying one last
season of long days in Oxford, England and looking forward to moving to
New York in August to start law school at NYU on a public interest
scholarship.  

 

Stephen Chan -- I can't believe that I've stayed in Boston since my
Gardner year at the Boston Foundation, 2004-2005...and it looks like
I'll be here for the forseeable time.  I just finished my first year at
Harvard Business School and will be happily starting class at the
Kennedy School in the fall to complete joint MBA-MPA degrees in 2009
through a Zuckerman Fellowship.  In addition, I've become much more
civically active in Boston.  In 2005, I was volunteer/finance director
for Sam Yoon's successful run to become Boston's first Asian City
Councilor.  In 2005, I also helped launch Boston's first Asian Giving
Circle, Saffron Circle ( www.saffroncircle.org
<http://www.saffroncircle.org> ).  I'm looking forward to a frenzied
fall season as my boyfriend, Tim Schofield, is running for a Boston City
Council seat with the primary and general elections in September and
November 2007.  Funny how the small decisions like where to spend your
Fellowship year can blossom into happy, yet unexpected, life twists and
turns.  Looking forward to reconnecting with the larger Gardner family
whenever the next retreat is!

 

Subodh Chandra -- After several years in public service as a federal
prosecutor, city attorney for Cleveland, and candidate of Ohio attorney
general, Subodh Chandra has started his own law firm, the Chandra Law
Firm, LLC.  The firm focuses on internal investigations, white-collar
criminal defense, and general litigation.  Subodh is also active in the
Obama for President campaign.

 

Ellen Dektar -- Well--my news is that I had a daughter --Phoebe Caroline
Aldrich on December 15, 2006.  She joins her big brother Benjamin who is
now 3.5.  I'm still working on child care and economic development
policy in Oakland.

 

Davina Drabkin -- I continue to work for the Case Writing Office at the
Stanford GSB in a part-time capacity.  While I work on numerous
projects, I am most excited about developing our videocases and video
supplements, now available at
http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/multimedia.html
<http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/multimedia.html> .  The Social
Entreneurship videocases would likely be of interest to Gardner fellows
past and present.  Outside of work, I have been very involved in the
schools of my children.  I was thrilled to be a part of Burlingame
School District's 5 year strategic planning process, spearheading the
push to offer foreign language in elementary school and working with
teachers to better structure the day.  This past year I have become even
more inspired by environmental awareness and have been able to add some
new simple steps to my repertoire:  using 100% compostable disposable
ware, discovering that San Mateo County will likely begin offering curb
side compost collection of food scraps in a few years, and setting up a
worm composting system in my backyard.  It's been a great year of growth
as my children get older and as a family, we are able to share our
passions and interests.  The kids think worm composting is pretty neat!

Thaddeus Ferber -- Thaddeus continues to grow the Youth Policy Action
Center - an online effort to act as a mediator between youth and
government officials, to make sure that young people (and adults who
support youth issues) have a strong and effective voice in our
democracy.  At last count, more than 30,000 subscribers were part of the
YPAC community, and more than 20,000 messages had been sent through YPAC
to elected official and the media.  Check in out (and subscriber
yourself, if you are so inclined) at www.youthpolicyactioncenter.org.

Tom Ginsburg -- I continue to write and think about comparative and
international law issues.  I am moving with my family to Chicago, where
I will spend a year at the University of Chicago Law School while my
wife Amber pursues a degree at the Art Institute of Chicago.  My oldest
daughter Zoe, who some early fellows will remember, is now 19, married
and about to attend NYU. The other two daughters, Kayla (14) and Natalia
(11) are growing up too quickly for me.

 

Ying-Ying Goh -- I'm living in LA with my husband of almost a year; we
will be celebrating our first anniversary on July 2! I am still working
at UCLA as a pediatrician and a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar,
doing research on childhood obesity. I also see patients at the Venice
Family Clinic.  I am continuing to enjoy serving on the Stanford Board
of Trustees.

 

Rachel Goldbrenner -- I will be entering my third year at NYU Law School
in the fall. Last summer, I returned to the International Criminal Court
as a consultant to the Chief Prosecutor and this summer I am working at
the law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. I'll be splitting my
summer between Cleary's New York and Paris offices, so if anyone will be
in Paris from July to mid-August please drop me a
line--rachelgoldbrenner at nyu.edu.

 

Jerry Ingersoll -- This year I mark 20 years of marriage and 20 years
with the US Forest Service -- big milestones, at least in a numerical
sense.  We're also concluding another move -- this time from the
Washington DC area to Reno, Nevada, where I'm the Deputy Forest
Supervisor for the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in Nevada and
eastern California.  This makes seven moves in those 20 years.  With
luck, we might be nearing the point where we settle down, and it's good
to be back in the West as that point approaches.

Our children are 12, 9, and 5.  Moving comes harder each time, though
they're all looking forward to Reno.

 

I did my fellowship in the Forest Service's national headquarters, and
I've never really looked back.  The Forest Service -- and federal civil
service work in general -- continues to be a good fit for me.  Always
both a policy wonk and an organization man, I like working toward public
service and land stewardship ideals from within, I enjoy the day to day
of management, and once in a while I still get to go out and experience
the national forests that I love.  Soccer coaching and cheerleading
practice now compete with forest policy for my time, but that's a good
thing too.

 

Amanda Kahn -- I am pursuing a Masters in Public Administration at NYU's
Wagner School of Public Service. This summer I am interning for the
City's Department of Homeless Services. I was also appointed to serve on
Manhattan's Community Board #2.

 

Dr. Amanda Kemp, Stanford '88 - This is a year of transitions.   I am
taking a break from academia and exploring life of the entrepreneurial
theatre artist/healer.  Check out my websites: dramandakemp.com  and
mariposalibre.com.  My mission:  contribute to a collective
consciousness that supports truth, forgiveness and peace on the
individual, group and societal levels.  I'll be moving to Pendle Hill, a
Quaker Study and Retreat Center outside of Philly, and leaving
Lancaster, PA which has been my home for the last 10 years.

 

Jenny Lah will be studying for her MPA degree at Princeton this fall.

 

Joanna Levitt -- I returned from Ecuador over a year ago now, and I'm
currently running a small non-profit out of San Francisco , founded by a
woman I worked with during my Gardner year in DC.  The organization--the
International Accountability Project--provides support to the global
network of grassroots groups working to hold international financial
institutions, such as the World Bank, accountable for violations of
environmental and human rights. We also work to defend the rights of
communities around the world threatened with displacement by
international development projects.  I am very excited about this work,
about the colleagues and friends I am blessed to collaborate with around
the world, and the opportunities I have to grow.  I plan to be in this
job for a long time! 

 

Elan Nguyen -- Life continues to be full:  rejoined the workworld at the
beginning of the year, at Shartsis Friese in SF, moved to Saratoga, and
overall keeping up with our mischievous 18 month old, Addy!

 

Elizabeth G. Pianca ('99-'00, Stanford University) graduated from Santa
Clara University School of Law in May 2005 where she was Managing Editor
of the Santa Clara Law Review.  Since November 2005, she has worked as
an attorney at the law firm of Meyers Nave Riback Silver & Wilson in
Santa Rosa, California, where she represents public entity clients in
both transactional and litigation matters.

 

Casey Coonerty Protti (98-99') and her husband, Michel Protti, welcomed
their first child on February 19, 2007.  Their daughter, Claire Protti,
is doing well and growing fast!  Casey continues to run her family's
independent bookstore, Bookshop Santa Cruz, and is heavily involved in
her family's political life including campaigning for her father who is
serving on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisor's and her brother
who is serving as Vice Mayor on the Santa Cruz City Council. 

 

Carlos Romo (Stanford '99) graduated from The University of Texas School
of Law in May and will be clerking for Chief Justice Wallace B.
Jefferson of the Texas Supreme Court. After a one year clerkship, he
plans to stay in Austin and work for Baker Botts LLP.

 

Abdi Soltani - I continue to work at the Campaign for College
Opportunity, a broad-based coalition working to ensure access to college
as promised by the California 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education.
Recently, we have a sponsored a bill, SB 890, which commits a spot in
college and financial aid to low-income middle school students. I am
enjoying working with business and community groups, as well as with
Democratic and Republican legislators who are supportive of our goals.
One of the highlights of this experience is the premise that we will be
inclusive of everyone who is supportive of this goal - which leads to
some positive and surprising alliances. I am also often reminded of John
Gardner's refrain of "rights and responsibilities," which we have
incorporated into our proposal - explaining the rights students have to
pursue college and their responsibilities to prepare for and seek the
opportunities. On the home front, my wife Grace and I have a new
addition of a second boy to our family, Juno, who was born at the end of
November. My older son, Cyrus, will turn four this August.

Molly Tapias - I've made two huge transitions in the past 2 years: I
left academia for the private sector and had my first child. I finished
my PhD in Social-Personality Psychology at UC Berkeley, in which my
dissertation tested whether people who are stigmatized benefit from
thinking about their close others (parents, romantic partners, best
friends) just before interacting with a stranger. In February 2006, I
joined Bain & Company (management consulting) as a Consultant. Then in
August 2006, my daughter Estela Tapias was born. 

Sandy Tesch -- After completing my fellowship with the President & CEO
of Youth Service America in Washington, DC I moved back to the Bay Area
and completed a job search for a position in nonprofit
development/fundraising (an interest inspired by my fellowship).  I now
work in fundraising for the UC Berkeley Library.  I am coordinating the
Library's piece of the upcoming endowment campaign and managing the
department's finances.  I live in San Francisco with my boyfriend of 6
years, and I continue to volunteer with the American Red Cross as chair
of the National Youth Council.

Allen Thorpe -- Mr. Thorpe is a Managing Director of Hellman & Friedman
and helps lead the Firm's New York office. Mr. Thorpe's primary areas of
focus are the financial services, asset management, and healthcare
sectors. Mr Thorpe is currently a Director of Sheridan Healthcare, LPL
Holdings Inc., Gartmore Investment Management, Mondrian Investment
Partners Ltd. and Vertafore, Inc., and is active in the Firm's
investment in Artisan Partners Limited Partnership. 

Prior to joining the Firm in 1999, Mr. Thorpe was a Vice President with
Pacific Equity Partners in Sydney and a Manager at Bain & Company in
Sydney. He was previously a Consultant in Bain's San Francisco office.
He is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and lives in
Manhattan with his wife and four boys.

 

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