Active Engagement
The Trinity Alumnae Leadership Council Celebrates an Active First Year

by Leigh MacDonald

The Trinity Alumnae Leadership Council was founded in June 2010 on the heels of Trinity’s 40th anniversary of coeducation. The council has more than 25 members and is led by Trustees Emily Latour Bogle ’79, Nina McNeely Diefenbach ’80, and Cornie Parsons Thornburgh ’80. The council’s primary goal is to promote active engagement of Trinity alumnae and to foster productive networking for current women students.

More than 120 students attended the council’s first networking event on October 15, 2010, with alumnae from a wide range of professions visiting campus to share perspectives and advice on building a career. This event was also cosponsored by the Ivy Society and Kappa Kappa Gamma, two sororities on campus. Keynote speaker and Board of Fellows member Christine Elia ’96, founder and CEO of Closet Couture, described her career path, including 14 jobs since graduating from Trinity. Allyn Magrino ’89, president and cofounder of the Susan Magrino Agency, talked with students about her experiences in public relations. Students heard Board of Fellows member Jane Swift ’87, Hon.’02, describe serving as Massachusetts’ first female governor (2001-2003) and her current role as a senior vice president at ConnectEDU, an education software services company.

In January, Linda Wells ’80, editor-in-chief of Allure magazine, spoke to Trinity women students and young alumnae at the River Club in New York City. This networking event was hosted by Kathryn George Tyree ’86, partner, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. This spring, the council held an on-campus networking event on April 14, with keynote speaker Charter Trustee Sophie Bell Ayres ’77, P’12,’12, executive vice president of Bullen Insurance. This event was co-sponsored by three Trinity sports teams: women’s ice hockey, women’s swimming and diving, and women’s tennis. Also participating in the roundtable networking portion was Jan Jones, wife of Trinity President James F. Jones, Jr. The council also sponsored its first faculty lecture in New York on April 7. Kifah Hannah, assistant professor of language and culture studies, gave a talk entitled “Let me Speak: The Story of Arab Women Writers.”

To get involved with the Trinity Alumnae Leadership Council, contact Katy DeConti ’98, director of alumni relations, by phone at (860) 297-2366 or by e-mail at katherine.deconti@trincoll.edu.