Category: 1990s

Gina Gibbs Foster (BSJ95)

Post author By Belinda Clarke
Post date March 5, 2021
No Comments on Gina Gibbs Foster (BSJ95)

Gina Gibbs Foster has been named Vice President of Corporate Communications for Staples, headquartered in Framingham, Mass. In this role, Gina is responsible for leading the public relations strategy for the company’s external and internal stakeholders. In addition to serving as a key adviser to the CEO and Senior Leadership Team of Staples, Gina provides oversight for all aspects of media relations, issues and crisis management, employee communications, financial communications, corporate reputation and branding. Prior to joining Staples, Gina progressed through a series of Public Affairs and Corporate Communications management roles of increasing responsibility at The Dow Chemical Company, Linde plc, and Messer Americas. She earned a Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Administration from Northwestern University in 2014.

1990s Class Notes Featured Class Notes

Melissa Grady (IMC98)

Cadillac Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Grady Monday, September 9, 2019 at the Cadillac Building in Warren, Michigan. (Photo by Steve Fecht for Cadillac)

Melissa Grady who has served as the CMO of Cadillac since 2019, was named to the third-annual Forbes CMO Next list. This honor spotlights innovative marketing leaders who are transforming or redefining their role. Grady was recognized for her collaborations with stars such as Spike Lee and Timothée Chalamet as well as her modernization of Cadillac’s digital marketing and ability to adapt during the pandemic.

Catherine Toth Fox (MSJ99)

Post author By Belinda Clarke
Post date February 18, 2021
No Comments on Catherine Toth Fox (MSJ99)

Catherine Toth Fox penned her first children’s book, “Kai Goes to the Farmers Market in Hawaiʻi” (Beachhouse Publishing) last year and is working on her second. She continues to serve as editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine, a Honolulu-based national travel brand, and editor of Hawaiʻi Farm & Food, the official magazine of the Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau. She currently lives in Honolulu with her husband, son and two dogs.

1980s 1990s Class Notes

Kathleen James (BSJ86, MSJ90)

Post author By Belinda Clarke
Post date January 22, 2020
No Comments on Kathleen James (BSJ86, MSJ90)

Kathleen James was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives in November 2018, representing the Bennington-4 district. A Democrat, she serves on the Education Committee and has been appointed to the New England Board of Higher Education and also to the NEBHE Legislative Advisory Council. She’s the co-vice-chair of the Climate Solutions Caucus and a member of the Social Equity Caucus and the Women’s Caucus. She’s a proud graduate of Emerge, a hands-on program that trains women Democrats to run for public office. She’s also the executive director of the nonprofit International Skiing History Association and editor of its bimonthly journal, Skiing History. James lives in Manchester Center with her wife, Alexandra Heintz. Her oldest daughter lives in Chicago and her younger daughter is a junior at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

1990s Class Notes

Jennifer Tanaka (BSJ90)

Jennifer Tanaka was named senior editor of digital news at Chicago Public Media WBEZ 91.5-FM. In her new role she’ll lead the digital content team “to amplify WBEZ’s position as an essential destination for outstanding journalism and news coverage in Chicago,” according to a station announcement. She formerly worked as an executive digital editor and deputy/senior editor at Chicago magazine. Since 2014, Tanaka has been director of digital communications in the alumni relations department at Northwestern University.

1990s Class Notes

Barry Pearce (BSJ91)

Barry Pearce won the grand prize in the Chicago Tribune’s 2019 Nelson Algren Literary Awards. The nationally recognized annual competition honors original short fiction. Pearce’s short story, “Chez Whatever,” was chosen from among the more than 3,000 pieces submitted to the 2019 contest. The short story passed multiple rounds, and was finally selected over five other finalists by judges Mona Simpson, Jane Smiley, and Jennifer Acker.

“Chez Whatever” is the story of a young woman who, while struggling through a snowstorm to meet her lover, has a strange encounter at a valet stand that alters the course of the evening and, in ways she won’t appreciate for many years, the trajectory of her life.

It is part of a book in progress, a collection of linked stories called “The Plan of Chicago.” Pearce lives in Chicago, where he works as a ghostwriter.

1990s Class Notes

Dan Weinrib (BSJ92)

Dan Weinrib is the incoming president of the Jefferson County City Clerks Association for the 2020 term. This past August, he received his state municipal clerks certification after completing prerequisite continuing education in just under three years. In June, he will have completed his two-year term as Temple Beth-El board president.

Weinrib pictured here with Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Bench and Dan’s son, Jack, at the 2019 Opening Day celebration in Cincinnati.

1990s Class Notes

Ann-Nora Hirami (MSJ92)

Ann-Nora Hirami teaches sociology and U.S. history at Plymouth High School and was selected to be a summer scholar by the National Endowment for the Humanities. She attended a Landmarks of American History & Culture conference, titled “From Immigrants to Citizens: Asian-Pacific Americans in the Pacific Northwest,” at the Wing Luke Museum in Seattle, Washington.

1990s Class Notes

Rod Hicks (MSJ97)

Rod Hicks spent the first half of 2019 conducting a media trust project with 36 residents in Casper, Wyoming, that included discussions about their skepticism of news reporting, presentations about issues such as news bias, and interactions with local and national journalists.

Hicks, Journalist on Call for the Society of Professional Journalists, listened to their grievances with the hope of identifying ways news organizations might address them. He also wanted to expose participants to journalists who could talk about the processes they go through to verify details they report.

Hicks summarized the project and its findings in a video and report released in September. No one changed their view of the press or their news consumption habits after going through the sessions; however, Hicks sees the exercise as a worthwhile undertaking. The project provided a more nuanced understanding of the dissatisfaction some people have with the press, he said.

“For me, one of the big takeaways is that conservatives do not see themselves reflected in mainstream news coverage,” Hicks said.

His recommendations to news outlets include getting input from the public on stories to pursue, explaining how their news operation works, and scouring stories before publication or broadcast for words or phrases that could be considered biased.

1990s Class Notes Featured Class Notes

Kris Goodfellow (BSJ92)

Kris Goodfellow is the state Democratic Party-endorsed candidate for California State Senate, District 23.

Goodfellow was a graphics editor at The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune before running the graphics department at the Associated Press. She left journalism to pursue a career in technology and is currently the chief operating officer and co-owner of Voyager Search, a software company based in Redlands, Calif. For almost two decades, Goodfellow has been active in the community, located between Los Angeles and Palm Springs, but this is her first run for office.

“I got involved in the Hillary campaign in 2015, and when Donald Trump won, it took me a minute to pick myself up off the floor,” Goodfellow said. “But when I did, I decided that I needed to do more. That led me to realize that we need better representation at every level of government — and not only in the blue districts, but the purple and red ones, too.”

Goodfellow has been endorsed not only by the California Democratic Party, but also the California Teachers Association, Planned Parenthood, California League of Conservation Voters, a variety of unions and politicians at the local, state and national level. She has outraised her competitors on both sides of the aisle, shocking the political establishment in this traditionally red district of close to 1 million people.

The California primary is on March 3rd and there are a total of five candidates — three Republicans and two Democrats running. Goodfellow must be one of the top two vote getters to advance in California’s “jungle” primary system. If she wins the election, Goodfellow would be the first woman and the first Democrat to hold this seat in what has been a historically Republican district.

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