May 2024
Cooke Scholars and Alums at Cooke Connections: Northern California in April 2024.
Compass Feature: Ryan Liu
2015 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar, 2018 Graduate Scholar, Yale University
Ryan became a Cooke Scholar in 2015, and studied Political Science and Government as a Transfer Scholar at Yale University. After earning his master's degree from Oxford University, Ryan returned to Yale as a Graduate Scholar for law school. He now works as an attorney at Cooley LLP in Los Angeles, and was recently elected as a Governing Board Member for his community college alma mater, Pasadena City College. In the below video, Ryan talks about how he’s helped others through his legal work.
You can connect with Ryan on LinkedIn here.
Compass Feature: Jeffrey Garcia
Watch our latest interview with Jeffrey Garcia, who was a part of the Foundation's first Young Scholar cohort and who graduated from Stanford University. Jeff is a partner at Capital Group Companies, and is also a board member for the California Community Foundation, Teach for America, Value Schools, and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. In his interview, he shares about his journey through school as a Young Scholar, and how he has learned to balance the different buckets of his life.
You can connect with Jeffrey on LinkedIn here.
Paola Mariselli
2008 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar, 2013 Graduate Scholar, Harvard University
Paola recently joined the Design Leaders Community, a peer-to-peer design and innovation leadership community. With a background in product and engineering, Paola excels in partnering with executive and cross-functional leadership to shape vision and strategy. The community shared, “[Paola] has launched new experiences to 3+ billion people, built and scaled design teams from the ground up, and drove and pivoted complex product strategies for companies like Bumble, Meta, Groupon, and Credit Suisse.”
Paola said, “I'm excited to be a part of the Design Leaders Community. It's a great opportunity for executive design leaders to get together, share insights, and form relationships. I look forward to working together to move our industries forward.”
You can connect with Paola on LinkedIn here.
Patrick Soltis
2009 Young Scholar, 2014 College Scholar, 2020 Graduate Scholar, University of California at Berkeley
Patrick was selected as one of 20 fellows for the Observer Research Foundation America's US-India Emerging Climate Leaders Program. The program gathers a cohort of diverse, emerging climate and sustainability leaders from the United States and India to strengthen the energy and climate relationship between the two countries in 2024. This network will raise awareness of climate challenges, propose and develop joint climate solutions, and identify and elevate diverse voices.
Patrick shared, “I work in energy because it is at the roots of both our climate challenge and our potential to improve the human condition. While I know a good bit about how electricity works in the US, my impact on this inherently global energy system is limited without engaging in a similarly global team. I can already tell I'm going to learn a lot from my new colleagues, and I will do my best to help strengthen collaboration between these two great solution powerhouses!”
You can connect with Patrick on LinkedIn here.
Duyen Le
2014 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar, 2021 Graduate Scholar, Texas A&M University School of Dentistry
Duyen recently presented research at Texas A&M University School of Dentistry’s Research Scholar Day.
An aspiring dentist, Duyen shared, “The objective of my research is that CFA and Formalin are widely used to induce inflammatory pain in experimental animal study models, making this study crucial in understanding the effects of pain-inducing agents on rats' behavior. Despite the pivotal roles played by pain management in animal studies, the quantification of rats' pain behaviors and their integration into AI image detection have thus far remained uncharted territory. This research is dedicated to developing a statistical model tailored for the analysis of rats' behavioral responses before and after the administration of CFA and Formalin. It is poised to provide invaluable training data, empowering AI and machine learning methodologies to discriminate subtle motion patterns and render definitive assessments concerning the presence or absence of pain.”
You can connect with Duyen on LinkedIn here.
Dalton Price
2016 College Scholar, 2020 Graduate Scholar, University of Oxford
Dalton’s work was published twice in late April. "Approaching Venezuelan Migration from the Borderland: Dynamics and Identity in La Guajira, Colombia," was featured in the Journal of Latino/Latin American Studies (JOLLAS). While Venezuelan migration has been studied by academics, NGOs, governments, and international institutions, much less attention is given to the border region and how local dynamics are being shaped by the exodus, especially in La Guajira. In this publication, Dalton more closely examines these borderland dynamics.
The other piece, “‘This is not real anthropology’” was published in The Routledge Handbook of Anthropology and Global Health and is an analysis of an anthropologist-led intervention at the World Health Organization. In this chapter, Dalton shows how anthropological knowledge enters global health spaces and is refracted by alternative ways of thinking and acting.
Dalton said that he is, “Excited to be part of this collaboration, and hoping that our research can be used to better characterize, understand, and respond to the ongoing Venezuelan displacement crisis in the Americas!"
You can connect with Dalton on LinkedIn here.
In Memoriam: Timothy Han
We were saddened to learn of the recent passing of Cooke Scholar Alum Timothy Han. Tim was a 2018 College Scholar who studied literature at Yale, and was beloved as an active member of several organizations in their campus community. After graduating in 2023, Tim took a job at McKinsey & Co., where he was working as a business analyst.
To find out more about Timothy’s life and legacy, you can visit this GoFundMe page that was set up for his family. He will be deeply missed.
The Latest Alumni Blog Features
Our May Catchin’ Up with a Cookie blog post features Cooke Alum Hollie Joy Wagner, a 2013 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar and 2018 Graduate Scholar. You can read more about her here.
Upcoming Events
Public Speaking 3-Part Series
Are you interested in cultivating your public speaking skills? Stay tuned for our final Public Speaking Workshop Part 3, which will be held at a later date and led by Cooke Alum Ousmane Kabré.
As part of our third workshop, we invite you to participate in our Public Speaking Contest. To compete, submit a video (five minutes or less) of you sharing a story here. Think of the video submission as a "Ted Talk in Five Minutes" focused on one story (your own or another's). The deadline to submit a video is May 20th. The top three will receive a $50 gift card and will be invited to present their stories during our Public Speaking Workshop Part 3 on Thursday, June 20th.
In case you missed it, 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, and Public Speaking Workshop Part 2, which was held on April 18 and led by Cooke Alum Kevin Bernal-Rivera.
Previous Event Recordings
In case you missed it, here are recordings of events that were held recently:
How I Screwed Up (And Learned From My Mistakes)
Cooke Alums Sonia Bustos Barocio, Jonathan Finnerty, and Brittany Galego Fischer had an honest and open conversation around professional and academic mistakes they’ve made in their lives, and how they learned and grew from them. Watch the recording here.
Cooke Connections: Northern California Recap
We had a wonderful time at Cooke Connections: Northern California in April. Scholars and Alums in the Northern California area participated in a Career Pathways Chat and a mix-and-mingle community-building event. Scholars also had the opportunity to attend a lab tour or company tour! The connections and events were so energizing and we are grateful to the Scholars and Alums who were a part of our second Cooke Connections event.
Watch the highlights video above, and check out a recording of the Career Pathways Chat panel here. If you’re based in New York, stay tuned for invitations to Cooke Connections: NYC in the fall. If you need to update your contact information to ensure you receive event communication, click here.
Do you want to share your work in our “Cooke Career Snapshots” blog?
We are looking for folks who would be interested in writing a blog about their current careers for CookeAlumni.org. The purpose of these blogs is to introduce our Scholars and Alums to as many career paths as possible, from the perspective of fellow Cooke Alums who are leaders in the field. Our first blog was written by Scott Pine, a 2013 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar from UCLA, and can be viewed here.
If you’re interested in writing a blog, 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.
The Philadelphia Regional Chapter’s End-of-Year Celebration