Club & Network News

The Kellogg Alumni Club of Boston (KACB) was busy this spring hosting Professor Carter Cast, three industry dinners, a women's roundtable event and an end-of-season board meetup, all in the month of May! Wayfair hosted Professor Cast as he shared with almost 40 alumni his deep research into the topic of why some people make it big professionally and why others fail. The Industry Dinner Series focused on early-stage growth, financial services and healthcare industries, and all three dinners sold out quickly. Similarly, the Women's Roundtable brought 40 alumnae together to hear from Wendy Woods '96, senior partner and managing director at BCG, and reacHire CEO Addie Swartz '87. The board was energized by the engagement of the alumni at these events and looks forward to developing more programming like this in the future.

The Boston club momentum will continue next year under the direction of newly elected co-presidents Jessica Morris PT '11 and Valerie Godhwani PT '99. In addition, the club has a new programming chair, Kevin Callahan FT '87, and 10 strong returning board members. The KACB thanks Elizabeth Bernardi 2Y '14, the past president, and Bilal Hussain 1Y '15, the past programming chair, for their dedicated service.

To close out the year, the club welcomed interns along with new Kellogg graduates to the Boston area in July for a happy hour event. It's been a great year of solid programming and board engagement for the Kellogg Alumni Club of Boston.

The Kellogg Alumni Club of New York (KACNY) offered a variety of thought leadership and social events to the New York area alumni community in the first half of 2018. Several club events that brought together hundreds of faculty, alumni and industry experts are highlighted below.

Our winter programming kicked off with the Super Bowl 52: Pregame Advertising Review with Professor Tim Calkins. This third annual event was highly interactive and enjoyable. Participants were provided a sneak peek at what advertisers had produced for the big game.

To welcome 2018, a celebratory New York New Year was held in the Chelsea neighborhood, with 75+ participants. The evening was full of good cheer and lively conversation.

An Evening with Kellogg Professor Carter Cast was co-hosted with the Kellogg Financial Network (pictured below). Professor Cast reviewed his recent book and offered insights into the rituals of business life and his research regarding career derailment. The event was well attended, with 100+ alumni participating, and received very positive feedback.

The diverse panel of international leaders at the Doing Business in China: A Look at Cultural Differences event offered insights into understanding cultural differences to build trust with clients and business partners and foster success. It was an engaging, timely and informative evening, with 50+ participants.

The Kellogg Alumni Club of New York + Tech Day NY was held at Pier 94. The expo showcased more than 500 startups and mature companies and drew more than 20k visitors from the region's tech community. KACNY ran a block of booths, which included three current Kellogg student- and alumni-founded companies. The booths were highly visible and attracted many entrepreneurs and prospective students.

Nearly 100 Kellogg alumnae gathered at Black Rock to celebrate the Kellogg Women's Summit in New York. Co-hosted with the Kellogg Finance Network, KACNY offered an evening of candid conversation from top executive women. Panelists included Danielle Bozarth '03, Caroline Chulick '04, Bea Luna Vida '11 and Rachel Schnoll '99. The panel and participants shared advice on issues women grapple with, such as overcoming the likeability versus competence dilemma and getting recognition for their contributions. Participants left inspired and invigorated.

The Kellogg Alumni Club of Los Angeles (KACLA) is pleased to welcome four new members to its board of directors: Jeff Tzeng '16 and Erika Haendel Weiss '02 as vice president of programs; Carol Henry '00 as treasurer; and Kimberly Mulier '17 as vice president of marketing and communications. Rolando Manzo '16 switched roles and leads our partnership efforts, and Denise Ellison '17 now works closely with Jeff and Erika on programs.

Thank you to Gail O'Hara from the Alumni Relations department and Kellogg Alumni Council (KAC) members for their advice and support over the past several months.

The board is excited to work with the KACLA community to bring you insightful and valuable events! Anyone interested in getting more involved or who has suggestions for future events should contact the club's president, Pamela Ng '00.

The Kellogg Alumni Club of San Francisco and Silicon Valley put together a tremendous series of entertaining and engaging programs, networking activities and thought-provoking career development events during the past year, including:

Maximizing Your Business and Career Opportunities with the IoT; Lawn & Pool Party for Northwestern Alumni at Filoli Estate; Ignite Your Personal Influence - Use Your Force for Good!; Healthcare Panel and JPM Healthcare Conference Happy Hour; 1:1 Alumni Career Coaching with Matthew Temple; An Evening with Kellogg Professor Carter Cast (pictured above); Creativity and Idea Generation Workshop; Entrepreneurship Series #1: Fearless Leaders with Pritzker School of Law; Council of 100: Bay Area Spring Gathering & Networking; Entrepreneurship Series #2: Future of Finance; Poker & Social Evening at Private Vintage Car Club with alumni from other premier business schools; Global Women's Summit — hosted by Evanston; Coaching for Performance Workshop.

These events reflect the diversity and depth among the Kellogg alumni in the San Francisco Bay Area. With more than 3,800 alumni in the region, we've been fortunate to have support and engagement from our community, but we are always looking for more ideas and involvement from our fellow alumni. Please feel free to reach out to us, come to an event and really leverage all the benefits the Kellogg Alumni Network has to offer!

As always, the Kellogg Alumni Club of San Francisco and Silicon Valley board would like to thank all those who have helped us with these events, including the program panelists, volunteers and attendees, as well as Russ Nelson and J.P. Salvador from Northwestern University Medill School SF Campus (yes, we have a campus here!), Gail O'Hara from NU Alumni, and Noel De La Torre, Amity Valentin and the generosity of Intuit, Inc.

For more information about our club, contact Craig Cook '12.

The highlight of KEWN's year was the opportunity for a number of our alumnae to attend the 2018 Kellogg Global Women's Summit held May 8—9, either in-person at the Global Hub in Evanston or at one of the Global Summit Extension events held around the world for those unable to attend in person. We joined hundreds of Kellogg alumnae, students, honored guests and community members who gathered to create meaningful connections and engage in thoughtful conversations about the roadblocks women face on their route to the C-Suite. Sessions were organized according to tracks that represent different stages in a woman's path to the boardroom: the launch, the mid-career and the executive track.

In February, KEWN members and guests gathered at Maria Pinto's M2057 Shop for fashion, bubbles and bites. We were able to learn about Maria's journey empowering women through fashion, shop the M2057 Spring Collection and donate business attire and accessories to Dress For Success, a worldwide organization whose mission is to empower women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and the development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. In addition, a portion of the evening's proceeds contributed to Dress For Success.

In April, KEWN members and guests spent an inspiring evening with Dorri McWhorter '09, CEO of YWCA Metropolitan Chicago. Dorri is a well-known business and civic leader and an evangelist for going beyond corporate social responsibility by embracing the mantra "doing good is everybody's business." Innovator, community leader and CPA, Dorri challenges businesses to be socially responsible and nonprofits to embrace the digital age to create a more sustainable business model. Her unique approach to leadership starts with two words: "we" and "purpose." Everyone in attendance walked away inspired to do good.

May marked KEWN's 10th Annual Wine Tasting. This year's networking event took place in the Maya Romanoff Showroom, a unique space in Chicago's Merchandise Mart. Maya Romanoff is the largest manufacturer of handcrafted wallcoverings in the United States, known for its rigorous standard for quality, beauty and innovation. Now led by Joyce Romanoff, the artisans from this woman-owned business have incorporated glass beads, gold leaf, seashells, wood and stitching into beautiful wallcoverings right in their Chicago studio. Catering of California wines and hors d'oeuvres was provided by The Artisan Cellar, a purveyor of fine wines. Special thanks to President Michael Gutwaks '17 for providing this beautiful venue.

KEWN continued to partner with the Union League Club for its Authors Luncheon series, and a number of our members had an opportunity to hear and meet, among others, Sam Zell, David Mamet and Elizabeth Smart.

KEWN welcomed six new board members this past year: namely Andrea Dieckmann '06, Margie Gauthier '00, Carol Olsen '97, Kathy Reilly '85, Linda Salchenberger '85 and Martha Watt '94. These very talented women are providing a fresh perspective to what KEWN can provide to Kellogg and its alumnae through engagement and programming.

It was an exciting spring/summer for the Kellogg Real Estate Alumni Network (KREAN). In April, the Guthrie Center and Kellogg Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative (KIEI) hosted the fifth annual Real Estate Conference and Venture Competition. The conference attracted leading real estate professionals and students from around the world and included a networking lunch and cocktail reception. Highlights included a roundtable discussion on real estate capital markets, featuring Steve Livaditis (Eastdil Secured), Pamela Boneham (Barings), Michael Lascher (Blackstone) and Dan Rosenbloom '02 (Cadre). This year's special topics discussion focused on innovative real estate technologies and included Professor Robert McDonald (Kellogg SOM), Elliott Burris (Dynasty.com) and Scott Peterson '87 (Digital Realty Corp). The event's keynote speakers were Peter Baccile, CEO of First Industrial Realty Trust, and Bruce Cohen, CEO of Wrightwood Financial. For the second time in three years, Kellogg won the competition and KREAN congratulates members of the student team; Heath Townsend, Jacob Rosenberg, LeRoy Howard, Chase Michalek, Anthony Cardona and James Bulsiewicz (all class of 2018).

On June 20, KREAN jointly hosted the 18th Annual Illinois-Kellogg Golf Outing at Harborside International Golf Center. The event was managed by Casey Wendeln '09 and Mike Higgins '11 and it plays an important role in supporting future KREAN and student activities. The scramble-style tournament was followed by an awards ceremony and networking reception. In July, KREAN co-hosted the annual Booth-Kellogg Real Estate Alumni Mixer on the rooftop terrace at Tanta Restaurant in River North. More than 75 Chicagoland Booth and Kellogg alumni attended.

The mission of the Real Estate Alumni Network is to help cultivate relationships among students, alumni and the broader real estate community, and develop students into ethical future leaders in the real estate profession. Alumni from Northwestern University, the Kellogg School and Pritzker School of Law are encouraged to attend events and find opportunities to contribute. The team is actively looking for participants to play more active roles; please reach out to northwesternrealestate@gmail.com to learn more.