| Summer is often a quiet time, but not for our alumni volunteers and participants! Enjoy reading what’s been going on during 2023 Spring & Summer at 1stGenYale…and what’s coming soon in September!     Being the First, But Not the Last Alumni Conference April 29, 2023 1stGenYale hosted 150+ Yalies with 4 keynotes, 70 panelists in 16 career & life skills panels, and students! Thank you to those who joined us and supported our conference! You made a difference. Relive the Highlights: Article: https://alumni.yale.edu/news/1stgenyale-looking-back-move-forward Documentary film: 1stGenYale 2023 Being the First, But Not the Last   Recent Grad Kiko Wong ’22 Welcomes Yale College FGLI Graduates! May 19, 2023 Thank you, Kiko Kyle Wong ’22, for being our 1stGenYale ambassador at the 2023 Yale FGLI Graduation Reception. Kiko shared, “I have found the 1stGenYale community to be a fantastic support system after Yale in the same way that the Community Initiative nurtured me the moment I stepped foot on Yale’s campus.” Thank you to fellow 1stGenYalie Derek Webster ’99, Senior Associate Director for Creative Careers, Office of Career Strategy, who also participated in the event.  Inaugural Yale Book Award! June 26, 2023 Yale Alumni Educators and 1stGenYale co-sponsored the Yale Book Award at Columbia Secondary School in New York. This award includes a hand-selected book to which is affixed a Yale bookplate. Grace Kim ’22 and Lise Chapman ’81 MBApresented Roxana Harris, a rising senior, A Little History of Philosophy by Nigel Warburton to further her interests in philosophy, contributions to contrariwise, and writings for the school newspaper. This year’s award recipient was chosen in consultation with Columbia Secondary School’s staff and faculty for their outstanding personal character and intellectual promise. Thank you, Grace, for creating this book award with more schools to come !    1stGenYale Hosts Table at the 2023 Yale College Reunions!Thank you, Sam Samdani ’84 (May 27) and Jay Wong ’17 (June 3) (standing at the back table), for hosting our first Welcome to 1stGenYale for the YAA SIGs Yale College Reunions for Classes 3’s & 8’s at The Underground. You both are wonderful ambassadors! We’re so glad President Salovey stopped by to say “Hello!”     Alumni Perspectives: Navigating Yale & Beyond First-Year Scholars at Yale (FSY) July 15, 2023 On a mid-summer Saturday, 45 Yale Alumni joined the 92 FSY Class of 2027 to share their experiences and answer questions. We loved seeing familiar faces connect with the incoming class! Read this wonderful story by Michele Pinder Moorman ’90 which captures the heart & soul of our FSY program.     Meet a Few of Our 2023 Summer Bulldogs! This summer, 92 Yale College and Graduate & Professional Schools students completed exciting internships through 1stGenYale Summer Bulldogs. These interns, most of whom are on financial aid and many are first generation, had paid or award-funded internships in 61 nonprofits, arts, government, public service, and for-profit organizations. Since 2020, 1stGenYale Summer Bulldogs has placed 240 Yale students in internships with most funded by Yale through the Office of Career Strategy’s Summer Experience Award and fellowships from the Office of Fellowships & Funding. See our photo album from the 2023 summer. If you are interested in becoming a Summer Bulldogs intern or host next summer, contact us at [email protected].    Summer Hangouts Jersey City “Common Room” Hangout June 25, 2023 We loved seeing 1stGenYalies reconnect with friends! Thank you, Yuet Chu ’87 and Maritza Guzmán ’87, for hosting this wonderful event! Connecticut Summer Hangout July 23, 2023 Thank you, Jay Wong ’17 and Kelly McWilliams ’85, for connecting 1stGenYalies in the area! Yale Club of Boston Annual Barbecue July 30, 2023 Thank you, Annie Freedman ’78 MPH & MHA and Michael Cusick ’76,for hosting the 1stGenYale portion of the program. Stay tuned for a 1stGenYale Boston group!      Inaugural Yale College Students’ Summer New York Send-Off Party August 13, 2023 Thank you to 15 alumni who joined us at our Send-Off Party to celebrate 50 students of the Class of 2027 with several parents and siblings from all five NY boroughs, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. A big thank you to Juan Carlos Johnny Salinas ’03 MFA who coordinated the arrangements. This inaugural annual event was co-hosted by 1stGenYale and Yale Latino Alumni Network with more planned for the future.  Thank you, Alison Gardy ’88,for coordinating our most recent bi-annual webinar with the Yale Office of Fellowships & Funding. Be sure to check out 45+ webinars in our 1stGenYale YouTube Channel. As with many of our programs, our webinars are done with alumni and in partnership with Yale departments, programs, and fellow YAA Shared Interest Groups. Goodbyes & Hellos  Goodbye, But Not For Long…Lydia Serrano ’99 Lydia Serrano ’99 is taking a break from her many official roles at 1stGenYale, but she continues to help us build our community. Your enthusiasm and dedication have left your mark on all that we do! Thank you, Lydia, for your years of service since joining us at our first FSY program in 2016. Lydia’s engagement includes: participated in our inaugural 2018 alumni conference, Blazing the Trail, Being the First; initiated 1stGenYaleNYC; hosted several annual picnics in Central Park; initiated Welcome to NYC with over 70 alumni at the Yale Club of New York City (YCNYC); participated as a FSY panelist; hosted us at a Korean BBQ restaurant; helped with our 2022 1stGenYale Family Weekend Picnic at Yale; led an Art Walk in the NYC Lower East Side; and has been an active member of the 1stGenYale Board of Directors since 2020. We cannot forget Lydia’s homemade “blue Y” cupcakes — always a hit at the 1stGenYale table in the Yale-Harvard Game YAA Welcome Tent! Lydia’s creative brilliance in communications, including writing our annual reports and designing many of our graphic invitations, and her continued love for the 1stGenYale community shine brightly. Lydia is a multi-faceted communications professional whose experience spans wine & spirits sales, social justice advocacy, and strategic marketing. A lifelong learner, Lydia holds several wine certifications and a Master’s in integrated marketing from NYU. She is a founding member of Cabrini Coalition, a Harlem-based non-profit offering practical and spiritual support to immigrant families, and serves as a “Big Sister” mentor through the Bigs & Littles NYC program. Lydia is currently training for her tenth marathon and splits her time between New York City and her native Puerto Rico.  Welcome Grace Kim ’22 to Our Board!Before joining our board, Grace Kim ’22 had been an active volunteer behind the scenes in so many ways: participated at our 2022 YaleFin co-sponsored event with Gilbert A. Garcia ’85 CFA at the YCNYC; helped at our annual 2022 Career Networking Mixer; assisted in 2023 alumni conference day and breakfast; initiated the inaugural 2023 Yale Alumni Educators & 1stGenYale Book Award; participated in the 2023 Jersey City “Common Room” Hangout; created many event graphic invitations; and so much more. As a board member, Grace will continue to share her enthusiasm and creativity connecting students and alumni in meaningful ways. Grace is a teacher and entrepreneur, devoted to empowering the youth of the future. Since 2016, she has partnered with international NGOs and non-profit organizations to make strides toward ensuring inclusive, equitable, and quality educational opportunities for all people. Currently, she teaches STEM classes at Columbia Secondary School in NYC. When not teaching, she volunteers for 1stGenYale, serves on the board for Yale Alumni Educators, coaches cheerleading for ages 11- 18, and creates graphic design projects through her platform, gracefulperfect.com. In her free time, you can find her chatting over a cup of coffee, visiting art museums, or trying new food!  Welcome Linda Chin ’81 as She Heads the 1stGenYaleBoston Initiative!Expanding her active engagement, Linda Chin ’81 will be leading our 1stGenYaleBoston program. We first began working with Linda when she initiated one of our first co-sponsored events with a show and cast talk-back at In the Heights on November 11, 2017 in the Wheelock Family Theatre. She has been an active panelist in both our first and second alumni conferences in 2018 and 2023, also served as moderator in the latter on Using Your First-Gen Voice in Your Career; 2022 Summer Bulldogs Internship host; panelist in our 2022 Summer Bulldogs program – Recovering Arts Audiences in a Post-COVID World hosted by the Casement Fund at the YCNYC. Linda has been an active alum in the Yale Boston community for decades. For more information about 1stGenYaleBoston, contact Linda at [email protected]. Linda’s passions for cultural and health equity stemmed from her experiences growing up in an immigrant family, and as a first-generation, low-income college and grad student at Yale and Harvard. She has held leadership roles at Cambridge Health Alliance and Tufts Medical Center, and Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence, served as the executive/producing artistic director at Wheelock Family Theatre and Reagle Music Theatre and continues to support the arts and culture/non-profit sector as a consultant, storyteller, theater reviewer, and mentor. Helping others make their dreams come true—including her three amazing children—is her greatest joy.  Welcome Suzanne Solensky ’83 as Our 1stGenYale Delegate to the YAA Assembly & Yale Alumni Fund Convocation for a Three-Year Term!Suzanne Solensky ’83 has been an active volunteer since 2019 at FSY and later as a panelist in 2022. She hosted our inaugural 1stGenYale Family Weekend Picnic in 2019; helped as an interview coordinator for our 2022 Summer Bulldogs program; participated in a number of webinars during COVID 2020-2022; and served as a host and panelist in Using Your First-Gen Voice in Your Career and a panelist in Navigating Your Career & Next Chapter at our 2023 conference. Suzanne joined our board in 2020; is actively updating our website; and is a member of the executive committee as secretary. Since graduating from Yale with a degree in classical civilization, Suzanne has had several careers, including as a writer, researcher, and editor specializing in science and health. For twenty-five years she worked in higher education, in admissions, academic support, advising, and especially the creation and direction of initiatives to open the benefits of higher learning to more students. After stepping away from a full-time administrative role five years ago, she has continued to teach and advise first-year students as an adjunct faculty member while consulting and volunteering with mission-driven organizations. She is now a director of Literacy Volunteers of Greater Bridgeport, which provides tutoring free of charge to empower adult English language learners, immigrants, and refugees. Besides 1stGenYale, she is active in YaleWomen and other Yale alumni groups.Coming Soon in September!  Join YaleNYC and YAA as we welcome new graduates and alumni from all Yale schools who are new to the New York metropolitan area. Connect with fellow 1stGenYale alumni and share your stories with new Yalies to town!  1stGenYaleNYC Invites You to Our Fall 2023 Happy Hour in Manhattan Alumni from all Yale schools are invited to join us! Date: Wednesday, September 27, 2023 Time: 5:30-8:00pm Location: Salmagundi Club (basement bar) – 47 5th Ave, New York, NY (Cross streets are 12th Street/5th Avenue (SE corner)) Cash bar for drinks & bar food with credit card Dress code: Smart casual Host: Rob Li ’10 RSVP: tinyurl.com/20231GYNYC Rob, thanks for initiating such a wonderful event! We hope to see NYC metropolitan Yalies there!Join Us!From time to time, we send out emails about our program. If you are not on our list, join here – https://tinyurl.com/Join1stGY. 1stGenYale is active in social media with new events, programs, and stories. To be current, join our social media below. Questions – [email protected].Support 1stGenYale To offer our programs and events, 1stGenYale as a YAA Shared Interest Group relies on 100% support from donors and sometimes our event participants. Our operating budget for our Summer Bulldogs internship program, website, software and communication programs, food, and other expenses is around $8,000 per year. Run solely by alumni volunteers as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, we appreciate your support to keep us strong! Please click the button above if you would like to make a tax-deductible gift to support our programming and operations. The 1stGenYale alumni & students community thanks you!  In case you missed it, be sure to read our 2022 Annual Report designed beautifully by Lydia Serrano ’99. Thank you Lydia for this excellent report which captured our programs for the 1stGenYale alumni & students last year.Thank you, Erin Chong ’26, for designing this September newsletter during your 2023 1stGenYale Summer Bulldogs internship. |