April 2024
Cooke Alums at Scholars Weekend 2023.
Compass Feature: Maile Harris
2018 College Scholar, Yale University
Maile became a Cooke Scholar in 2018, and studied Applied Physics as a College Scholar at Yale University. After graduating she went on to work at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, where she is part of their Human-Machine Engineering Group. In the below video, Maile shares about her scientific rotations and how she discovered her passion for optimizing work flows.
You can connect with Maile on Cooke Connect here.
Compass Feature: Lauren Key
Watch our latest interview with Lauren Key, a 2014 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. With a background in brand marketing and digital media, Lauren is currently in her dream job as the Brand Manager at Guinness US. In this Cooke Alum conversation, Lauren shares about her journey into the world of marketing, and the importance of making connections and developing flexibility as a skill.
You can connect with Lauren on LinkedIn here.
Ziz Simoens
2005 Young Scholar, 2010 College Scholar, 2014 Graduate Scholar, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance
Ziz, who works as a Senior Game Designer at Rare Ltd, recently participated on a panel discussion titled “Demystifying Women in Gaming.” The panel featured four women who shared their insights on preconceptions about working in Games.
Ziz shared, “I'm a Senior Game Designer at Rare which is a First-Party Xbox studio and I am working on Everwild. The panel was part of Microsoft's International Women's Day showing the different career options to other women within the company as well as students from a nearby highschool. The goal of the panel was to talk about different myths about working in the games industry. A highlight for me was hearing the career journeys of the other panelists and realizing that my unconventional journey is not that unusual.”
You can connect with Ziz on LinkedIn here.
Jasmine Yoon
2003 Graduate Scholar, University of Virginia
Earlier this year, Jasmine Yoon was recommended to fill a vacancy at the U.S. District Court for Virginia’s Western District by Virginia U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. On March 20th, the U.S. Senate confirmed Jasmine Yoon, making her Virginia’s first Asian American federal judge. Jasmine will take the bench in July.
“The first time I met Jasmine, it was clear that she was a born lawyer,” said Leslie Kendrick, the incoming Dean for the University of Virginia’s School of Law. “She is a person of great character who approaches everything she does with full enthusiasm, thoroughness and care.”
“Her commitment to public service has been something that has been clear to those who know her from the very beginning. Because she’ll be sitting in the Western District of Virginia, which is where Charlottesville is located, she’s going to be an asset not just to the federal justice system, but also to the local community and the local bar,” Kendrick said.
You can read the full press release here.
Jonathan Finnerty
2015 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar, 2017 Graduate Scholar, University of Tennessee
Last month, Jonathan became a tenure track faculty member within the Department of History and Social Sciences at Middlesex College as a Philosophy Instructor.
He shared, “Middlesex College was where my academic ambitions started; it is where I learned to shed my student carapace and mature into the scholar that I am today. While I am no proponent of luck, I do count myself incredibly lucky to now be a faculty member at Middlesex, serving the community that I came from. Philosophy, as many of you know, served as the means to my intellectual pursuits and I now get to share my craft and passion with my students on a full-time basis. Further, I look most forward to being able to bolster the presence of the Foundation in college programming across the network of community colleges between NYC and NJ. As a new faculty member, I can't wait to take my experiences as a scholar and philosopher to inspire and lead a new generation of community college students (and hopefully future Cooke scholars)!”
You can connect with Jonathan on LinkedIn here.
Mandolyn Ludlum
2013 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar, 2018 Graduate Scholar, University of Oxford
The Mayor of Oakland recently appointed Mandolyn to serve on the Cultural Affairs Commission for the City of Oakland. This commission is an advisory body to the Mayor, City Council, and City Administrator on matters affecting cultural development in Oakland.
Mandolyn shared her gratitude and excitement over the appointment, “Being appointed to the Cultural Affairs Commission is one of those things I never had on my bingo card, but I am deeply humbled by it. As someone who has engaged in research around policymaking, equity, and arts education, along with being involved with arts advocacy on local, state, and national levels, this feels like a role that exists for me to thrive. This is an opportunity where arts, culture, policy, equity, democracy, and community all intersect and where, through being of service, I will have opportunities over the next few years to learn more about city budgets, grants, advising local policymakers, and while also helping to uplift the diverse and beautiful cultures through our spectacular city of Oakland. Service is a fantastic way to learn and grow no matter what stage of our careers or life journeys we are in, and that service is part of what makes our Jack Kent Cooke Community so powerful and magnificent.”
Mandolyn was our keynote speaker during Scholars Weekend 2023. If you would like to further be inspired by her words and work, you can watch a recording of her video here.
The Latest Alumni Blog Features
Our April Catchin’ Up with a Cookie blog post features Cooke Alum Josue Luna, a 2018 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar and 2024 Graduate Scholar. In this blog, he shares about several of his academic opportunities, including a fellowship in Germany in the field of 3D Nanometrology. You can read more about him here.
For some Cooke Scholars, the usual challenges of taking college courses need to be balanced with competing priorities of raising a family or working a full-time job. Managing so many time-intensive demands was not easy for Cooke Graduate Scholar Corey Lamb or Cooke Alum Edna (Simbi) Beuchi, but both found that their work and families deeply motivated them to persevere. Read the blog here.
Upcoming Events
How I Screwed Up (And Learned From My Mistakes)
How often do you hear about mistakes made? When was the last time you heard someone share how they screwed up professionally or academically? Join Cooke Alums Sonia Bustos Barocio, Jonathan Finnerty, and Brittany Galego Fischer on Sunday, April 21 at 12:00 p.m. ET for an honest and open conversation around professional and academic mistakes they’ve made in their lives, and how they learned and grew from them. Register here for the panel.
Public Speaking 3-Part Series
Are you interested in cultivating your public speaking skills? Register for our Public Speaking Skill-Building Workshop! This virtual, three-part series, led by Cooke Alums, is intended to be completed in order. Register for the workshops below to learn tips to improve public-speaking skills, and practice what you learned in small groups.
Check out Compass for a recording of Public Speaking Workshop Part 1, which was held on February 21 and led by Cooke Alum Bérénice Sylverain.
Register here for Public Speaking Workshop Part 2 held on April 18 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET and led by Cooke Alum Kevin Bernal-Rivera.
Register here for Public Speaking Workshop Part 3 held on June 20 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET and led by Cooke Alum Ousmane Kabré.
Thank you for completing the Alumni Survey!
We wanted to thank everyone who filled out the 2024 Biennial Alumni Survey. We’re grateful for the opportunity to stay connected with you. We will be drawing the gift card winners later this month, and you will be contacted if your name was selected.
If you missed filling out the Alumni Survey, you can send an update here.
Share your work/research with the Cooke community!
Do you have research you’re passionate about? Do you want to share your work with the Cooke community? We are looking for Alums who are interested in hosting virtual sessions about their work for fellow Cooke Scholars and Alums. We love showcasing our Alums’ work with the community, and we know Scholars enjoy learning more about different career fields and passion projects.
If you’re interested in hosting one of these sessions, please send a message to alumni@jkcf.org.
Alums - Help our Scholars secure Summer Internships
Alums, here are 3 ways you can help connect Scholars with employers for summer internships.
Advertise internship opportunities from your network in the Cooke Scholar and Alum LinkedIn group.
Recommend or sponsor Scholar applicants for your employer’s internship program.
Hire a Scholar intern.
The Cooke Summer Internship Stipend provides $6,000 stipends for Scholars to intern full-time at nonprofit or government organizations. Please reach out to Dean of Career Services, Jennifer Krasilovsky (jkrasilovsky@jkcf.org) with any questions or leads. Let’s use the power of our Cooke Alum community to boost Scholars’ career advancement!
We want to hear from you!
Have you recently changed jobs? Did you have your research published this year? Is your family growing? We would love to hear your personal, professional, and academic updates! Feel free to submit your news below or email Alumni Engagement Manager Gabby Nicholas.
Throwback Photo: Scholars Weekend Banquet