While Alumni Showcase, originally scheduled for today, is just one of many special events the MLWGS community is foregoing in the interest of public health, we wanted to mark the day in some way. Alumni Showcase relies on MLW/GSGIS graduates’ commitment to giving back. The event asks people to dedicate a day to sharing their stories and advice and to connecting with current students and each other. Dozens of alumni speakers have done this with great generosity over the years.

Alumni Showcase

To honor that spirit, and in light of current circumstances, we wanted to showcase some alumni who have been in the news recently for their work, their advocacy, and their expertise:

  • The New York Times talked to Gui Cavalcanti (’04) about leading an international effort on Facebook via the Open Source COVID19 Medical Supplies group to design medical equipment to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • Infectious disease biologist Jessie Abbate (’99) shared guidance for food safety during the pandemic with WBEZ Chicago and research-based advice on parenting in the time of the coronavirus with Psychology Today.
  • Savi, an online tool co-founded by Tobin Van Ostern (’06), is helping borrowers deal with their student loan repayment options in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
  • Reilly Starr (’96) talked to the Richmond Times-Dispatch about the self-advocacy required to have her care moved to VCU, a process that sparked conversations about treating patients during a pandemic.
  • Christian Goodwin (’14) wrote about social distancing for extroverts for the Harvard School of Public Health’s #StayHome campaign.
  • After their March wedding, Dr. Yuan James Rao (’06) and his wife gave up their honeymoon to develop policies to protect hospital workers and to help create 3D-printed respirators to address the PPE shortage.
  • You can sign up to receive daily encouraging texts from bestselling author Jenny Han (’98) as part of her Stay Home Challenge.

To all the teachers, parents, caretakers, medical professionals, and volunteers–to everyone helping others through this difficult time, thank you.

If you would like to make a gift to support the MLWGS Foundation, you can do so here.