2022–2023 Volunteers and Engagement

Stories Behind the Impact

Building a Stronger Community

This year, Milton Academy’s Office of Development and Alumni Relations breathed new life into our volunteer and engagement program. In the fall, we kicked off our adult affinity space program, expanded ways for alumni to support their Reunion, and hit the road for our annual alumni and parent receptions across eight cities. All together, we hosted 31 in-person events, 12 virtual events, and one hybrid event.

In this video, Watson Leffel ’12 shares how she helps foster alumni connections and supports today’s students as a volunteer and donor. For more about how you can support Milton as a volunteer, click here for our volunteer form.

Planting the Seed of Parent Engagement

From the time her daughter was in elementary school, Sarnia Etienne-Dupie P ’25 has taken an active role as a volunteer. “I think it’s important for teachers to not only know who a student is, but whose they are as well,” says Sarnia. As the family explored options for their daughter’s high school experience, what stood out to Sarnia was Milton’s Upper School parent engagement opportunities. Right away, she immersed herself in the Parent’s Association (PA), chairing the faculty and staff appreciation luncheon. In the coming year, she will serve as president of the PA.

Sarnia’s goal as president is to foster stronger relationships between families and faculty. She shares, “I have always been hands-on, and I think about the parents of boarding students who do not have that opportunity. I hope we have more opportunities beyond parent-teacher conferences to learn about each other and to really foster a sense of community.” Sarnia hopes that her work not only nurtures her own child’s experience, but that of students to come. “I look at my daughter’s experience almost as if it is a plant. The child and the teachers plant the seed, but it is the job of the parents to help the tree grow so that the next generation can have better opportunities and continue that growth.”

“When we look at schools for our children, we want to see strong faculty, beautiful athletics fields, a clean cafeteria, or a great theatre program. That only happens when parents, current and former, give back and nurture what we have.”

—Sarnia Etienne-Dupie P ’25

Creating Joyful Connections

When Paloma Cotton-Herman ’02 learned that Milton Academy would soon expand affinity programming to the adults in our community, she jumped at the opportunity to help facilitate Milton’s LGBTQIA+ Parents, Guardians, and Alumni Affinity Space. After spending some time on the West Coast, Paloma moved back to Massachusetts and was eager to reconnect with Milton. “Every time I get to engage with former and current Milton community members, I learn a lot and experience joyful connections,” she shares.

The term “affinity space” refers to a gathering of individuals who share a similar background or identity. Affinity spaces typically center on a specific identity such as race, gender, religion, family structure, nationality, ability, socioeconomic class, or heritage. They are designed as community and capacity-building spaces that support healthy and diverse communities. “I appreciate that Milton provides a variety of ways in which people can connect, even decades after graduating. We all have a number of spaces and communities that uplift us, and helping to facilitate one of these spaces hopefully provides another place to reflect and to improve the experience of current students and faculty,” says Paloma.

“I am hopeful that Milton offering a range of affinity groups for both alumni and current community members will contribute to the feeling of belonging at Milton.”

—Paloma Cotton-Herman ’02

A Call to Service

Each year, alumni, parents, and friends of Milton are called upon to speak in classes and at events, assemblies, and virtual webinars. They represent changemakers, leaders, or experts in their fields, helping to keep our community connected and engaged in the life of the school and its people. Students are given the opportunity to get a glimpse of the many possibilities and accomplishments a person can make in their life by using the foundations they gained during their time at Milton Academy. Every November, Milton celebrates Veterans Day with a special assembly featuring a speaker. We were honored to have Army Major Pete Colombo ’04 return to Centre Street as the 2022–2023 speaker.

Pete elaborated on his journey to becoming a leader from playing football at Milton to his Fulbright scholarship and his nine years as a military intelligence officer in the United States Army. He emphasized the importance of giving back to students and encouraged them to do so in any way, saying, “There are many different forms of service, and it’s crucial that you, as future leaders, give back in any way you can, as often as possible.”

A Special Thank You to Our Volunteers

Donating Time and Talent

The commitment of Milton alumni, parents, and friends keeps our community strong and growing. Listed below are alumni, parent, and Board of Trustee volunteers for 2023. Thank you for going above and beyond for Milton Academy!

Board of Trustees Members

Bradley M. Bloom P ’06 ’08, Trustee Emeritus
David B. Brewster ’90 P ’25
Douglas Crocker II ’58 +
Jason O. Dillow ’97
Dr. Shadi Farokhzad P ’23 ’25
Yeng Felipe Butler ’92 P ’25 ’33
James M. Fitzgibbons ’52 P ’87 ’90 ’93, Trustee Emeritus
John B. Fitzgibbons ’87
Franklin W. Hobbs IV ’65 P ’98, Trustee Emeritus
Eleanor Haller-Jorden ’75 P ’09
Claire D. Hughes Johnson ’90 P ’24 ’27
Peter R. Kagan ’86
Sonu Kalra P ’23 ’26 ’28
Elizabeth B. Katz ’04
William A. Knowlton P ’23
Yunli Lou ’87 P ’24
Ravi Mallela P ’22 ’24
Stuart I. Mathews P ’13 ’17 ’17
John D. McEvoy ’82 P ’19 ’20 ’25
Dr. Meika T. Neblett ’90
Osaremen F. Okolo ’13 o
Eugene F. Reilly ’79 P ’10 ’12
Hendrick Sin P ’23 ’25 ’27
Gabriel B. Sunshine P ’22 ’24
Patrick O. Y. Tsang ’90 P ’27 ’27
Luis M. Viceira P ’16 ’19
Justin M. Walsh ’99
Edward E. Wendell, Jr. ’58 P ’94 ’98 ’01 G ’35 ’36 +
Dr. Sylvia P. Westphal P ’18 ’21 ’25 ’27 ’27
Ronnell L. Wilson ’93
Helen Zhu P ’25 ⌑

Alumni and Student Volunteers

1950–1959
Jane C. Carr ’53 P ’78 ’85 +
Alexandra B. Earle ’53 +
Elizabeth C. Hills ’53 +
Hugh W. Marlow ’53 +
Reverend Michael S. Robertson ’53 P ’81 ’81 ’83 ’88 G ’13 ’17 +
Reverend John C. B. Webster ’53 +
Neilson Abeel ’58 +
Douglas Crocker II ’58 +
Sherrell Downes ’58 G ’13 ’14 ’14 +
Natalie Forbes ’58 P ’85 +
Edward E. Wendell, Jr. ’58 P ’94 ’98 ’01 G ’35 ’36 +

1960–1969
Dr. Dorothy A. Weber ’60 P ’04 *
John P. Bihldorff ’63 P ’92 ’97 G ’19 ’22 +
Judge Mary M. Davis ’63 P ’94 ’98 ’01 +
Roger D. Feldman ’63 +
John L. Grandin III ’63 +
Helen F. Ladd ’63 P ’90 ’92 G ’22 ’25 +
Katharine W. Reardon ’63 P ’95 +
Peter W. Robbins ’63 +
Olivia Tarleton ’63 +
David V. N. Taylor ’63 +
Benjamin B. Wellington ’63 +

1970-1979
Jean T. Barrett ’73 +
Samuel B. Carr, Jr. ’73 P ’09 ’13 ’14 +
Jonathan F. Goldbloom ’73 +
Marguerite B. Graham ’73 +
Jane T. Hoch ’73 +
Susan B. Inches ’73 +
Catherine C. Marshall ’73 P ’09 +
Paul G. Varney ’73 +
Christopher J. Trakas II ’77 *
Dr. William G. Adams ’78 +
Carin J. Ashjian ’78 +
Prudence M. Bovee ’78 +
Charles R. Duffy ’78 +
Matthew B. Hoffman ’78 P ’10 ’12 ’14 ’15 o +
Alison Macdonald von Klemperer ’78 +

1980–1989
Dr. Christine N. Sang ’80 P ’28 *
Rabbi Eliezer G. Sneiderman ’82 ∞
Dr. Mary H. Bourne ’83 o
Elizabeth S. Colt ’83 o
Peter H. Creighton ’83 +
Randall C. Dunn ’83 +
Clifton L. Levin ’83 +
Gerald E. McClanahan ’83 +
Pamela J. Parizek ’83 +
Christopher F. Robertson ’83 P ’13 ’17 +
Julie W. White ’83 +
Gwenna T. Williamson ’83 +
Marc A. Soto ’83 +
Dr. Joachim von Klitzing ’86 X
David B. Ball ’88 o
Ann L. Elliott ’88 o
Mark M. Friedman ’88 +
Adam J. Towvim ’88 +
Caitlin O. Amaral ’89 X

1990–1999
Rudolph M. Reyes, Jr. ’90 *
Jeffrey A. Kirkman ’92 P ’29 ’32 ∞
Mary S. Ladd ’92 P ’22 ’25 ’30 ^
Jenny L. Fernandez ’93 P ’25 ’27 +
Juan G. Fernandez ’93 P ’25 ’27 o +
Michael S. Fitzgibbons ’93 o
André M. Heard ’93 P ’22 ’24 +
Jill E. Mannino ’93 P ’26 ’32 +
Jessica P. McDaniel ’93 P ’24 +
Timothy P. Morningstar ’93 o
Edward P. Roberts III ’93 +
Darren J. Ross ’93 o
Angela W. Saltonstall ’93 +
Andrew D. Stern ’93 o
Julia Travers Rickert ’93 o
Theresa Conduah ’94 ∞
Heidi E. Felago ’94 X
Jennifer M. Colasacco ’95 P ’23 *
Dennis R. DeBassio ’95 P ’29 ^
Divya B. Kumar ’95 P ’25 ∞
Stephanie Y. C. Lau ’95 ⌑
Kurt R. Collins ’97 *
Samuel R. Cox ’97 *
James B. Haley ’97 X
Simon C. Chan ’98 o
Kay Z. J. Ch’ien ’98 +
Marissa M. Friedman ’98 o
Alexa J. Hart ’98 +
James R. S. Harvey ’98 o
Nicholas B. Hobbs ’98 o
Nia Jacobs ’98 X
Ethan L. Kerr ’98 ∞
Sung Gyun Kim ’98 o
Greg Marsh ’98 o +
Sydney H. McConathy ’98 o
Margaret G. Nyweide ’98 o
Simon Rasin ’98 o
Eleanor M. Reiter ’98 o
Prudence W. Tsang ’98 +
Lydon F. Vonnegut ’98 o

2000–2009
Sara E. O’Brien ’00 P ’31 ’34 ∞
Meghan K. O’Toole ’01 ∞
Paloma N. Cotton-Herman ’02 ∞
Anthony Blandino ’03 +
Andrew C. Fink ’03 +
Patrick M. Petitti ’03 P ’35 +
Elizabeth B. Skinner ’03 o +
Taylor C. White ’03 o +
Katherine M. Marr ’06 X
Tonantzin L. Carmona ’08 o
Chelsey L. Puopolo ’08 *
Robert B. Woodhouse ’08 o*
Breanna A. Dance ’09 ∞

2010–2019
Catherine O’Sullivan ’10 ~
Aaron Deutsch ’11 *
Isabelle Lelogeais ’11 ~
Rebecca Aliab Deng ’11 ~
Ashley Y. Bae ’12 X
Jonah N. Dwyer ’13 o
Edwin R. Hamlin ’13 o
Maximos N. Nikitas ’13 o
Osaremen F. Okolo ’13 o
Elizabeth Siphron ’13 o
Matthew T. Sullivan ’13 *
Abby Lebovitz ’14 ~
Mariah A. Redfern ’15 ∞
Jeong Woo Kim ’16 *
Jason J. Bussgang ’18 +
Tyler Carlton ’18 +
James P. DeLano ’18 +
Liam M. Kennedy ’18 +
Kevin A. Lu ’18 +
Yassmine N. Raoui ’18 o
Romain J. H. Speciel ’18 +
John A. Weiler ’18 +
Hunter W. Zonnenberg ’19 ~

2020–2026
Emma E. Bradley ’20 ~
Andrew J. Willwerth ’20 ~
Emily Hong ’21 ~
Madeleine Cesaretti ’21 ~
Quinn Smith ’22 ~
Kirsten Ting ’22 ~
Riya Singh ’22 ~
Gracie V. Sagar ’23 §
Sharon Xie ’23 § §
Brian Hegarty ’23 §
Julia Price ’23 §
John Fu ’23 §
Diane Asiedu ’24 §
Oliver T. Blais ’24 §
Zoe Campbell ’24 §
Madison A. Carty ’24 §
Carsten Chow ’24 §
Jordyn A. Davis ’24 §
Blain M. Gelhaar ’24 §
Melvin Joseph ’24 §
Mai Le ’24 §
Anthony Lee ’24 §
Henry P. Leitzes ’24 §
Serhii Malevych ’24 §
Olajuwon B. Oladipo ’24 §
Lily Park ’24 §
Taya Puner ’24 §
Maya Spektorov ’24 §
Akshaya Sundraraj ’24 §
Shu-Wu Tsai ’24 §
Zimin Zhang ’24 §
Safina Abramova ’25 §
Andi A. Bley ’25 §
Mariana A. F. dos Santos ’25 §
Henry M. S. Ladd ’25 §
Grace F. O’Malley ’25 §
Sarah E. Price ’25 §
Alyssa L. Ruiz ’25 §
Annaka C. Schmults ’25 §
Oliver I. Sin ’25 §
Rebecca R. White ’25 §
GuangXian Tang ’26 §

Parent Volunteers

Dr. Pramila Agrawal P ’27 ∞
Edwine Alphonse P ’35 ’32 ∞
Judith M. Bernier P ’26 X
Casey Bonilla P ’25 ∞
Jessica Christ P ’27 ’31 ^
William D. Christ P ’27 ’31 ^
Jennifer M. Colasacco ’95 P ’23 *
Jamesley Dasse P ’35 ∞
Dennis R. DeBassio ’95 P ’29 ^
William Dorcena P ’27 ’30 ∞
Gillian Doyle P ’18 ’25 ’25 ∞
Sarnia Etienne-Dupie P ’25 ∞
Jenny L. Fernandez ’93 P ’25 ’27 +
Juan G. Fernandez ’93 P ’25 ’27 o +
Chipman Flowers P ’34 ’36 ^ ∞
Joanne Fu P ’24 ^
David Goldstone P ’25 ∞
André M. Heard ’93 P ’22 ’24 +
Sara Kim P ’32 ’36 ^
Jeffrey A. Kirkman ’92 P ’29 ’32 ∞
Divya B. Kumar ’95 P ’25 ∞
Mary S. Ladd ’92 P ’22 ’25 ’30 ^
Van Le P ’24 ^
Ms. Li Ling P ’20 ’25 ^
Jill E. Mannino ’93 P ’26 ’32 +
Jessica P. McDaniel ’93 P ’24 +
Sara E. O’Brien ’00 P ’31 ’34 ∞
Lizette Perez-Deisboeck P ’23 ∞
Patrick M. Petitti ’03 P ’35 +
Dr. Leon M. Ptaszek P ’27 ’31 ^
Emily Raviola P ’26 ^
James Rosenberg P ’23 ^
Shameila A Sabio P ’23 ∞
Dr. Christine N. Sang ’80 P ’28 *
Ginel Sanon P ’26 X
Mrs. Daniele Serafini P ’27 ’30 ’33 ’36 ^
Daniel T. Sheehan P ’18 ’25 ’25 ∞
Shahrzad Slater P ’34 ’35 ∞
Katarina Solter P ’20 ’26 ∞
Alex T. Zhang P ’25 X
Helen Zhu P ’25 ⌑

Key:

^ Parents Fund Chair
^ Parents Fund Volunteer
* Milton Fund 1798 Circle Volunteer
o Milton Fund Reunion Committee Chair
o Milton Fund Reunion Committee Member
~ Milton Fund Class Agent
X Giving Day Advocate
§ Senior Gift Committee Member
§ Milton Fund Development Ambassador
∞ Affinity Space Facilitator
+ Outreach Reunion Committee Member
⌑ Alumni and Parent Association

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