Moving forward—how are you embracing the call to action that the College is undertaking throughout academic and social aspects of the Dartmouth experience?


This fall Mattel and I parted ways after 20 years. Suddenly things I took for granted were no longer there. How would I provide for my family? What the heck do resumes look like nowadays? What marketing jobs were there in L.A.?


Just as many of us did for the swim test before the freshman canoe trip, I jumped in feet-first (although 30 years later, not from the 10-meter board). I started NW Associates and I started getting work—shooting and editing a video for a kids sports company, consulting for a friend’s company in Xiamen, China. I came close to landing a job in Washington, D.C. Third round and it was down to another candidate and myself and the question my would-be boss asked me hit me. “I know you can do this job, but do you want to do it?”


And the answer was no. I didn’t want to run partnerships for a nonprofit that I wasn’t wholeheartedly in love with. I was doing it out of fear of supporting the family. So as fate would have it, the other candidate got the job. However, I was able to have dinner with Jennifer Avellino and Zach Levine, so I think I got the better part of the deal.


A few weeks later a friend called and asked if I was planning on building out NW Associates or if I was interested in talking to a cool new company—and that’s how I got my new job as vice president of marketing at Wonder Workshop, making robots that help kids learn how to code and learn problem solving. It’s a 34-person startup. Our family is moving from Redondo Beach up north to northern California (somewhere I hope within an hour of my San Mateo office) in July so we’re packing up, cleaning up and getting ready for some big changes. During all this I’m commuting up Monday through Thursday and loving it. We’re definitely moving forward.


So as I sit here with a panoramic view of the fog rolling over the hills on one side and the bay on the other, I want to stress a few things that most of my fellow ’89s are probably doing, and if not, they may make sense.


First, always be moving forward and looking for what you want to do—don’t settle for what you can do. I can’t tell you how much happier I am here at my new job than I was in the last eight years of my old job. 


Second, seek out and embrace change, even if it means leaving a 20-year job, selling your house and moving up north, like Josh Adler, who landed a fantastic job as director of individual giving at the Actors Fund in New York. And, yes, for those classmates who have moved around the world, like Susan Leong Yates, I realize that a 377-mile move seems inconsequential. Unless you’ve been at your place for a while, which leads me to the final thought.


Pretend you’re moving forward every three years. Seriously. We’ve been in our house for 15 years and the amount of stuff you accumulate with two kids is staggering. Figure out what you really need and donate and give away the rest to a local charity or church or friends. ScanDigital.com was founded by two Dartmouth grads—they will scan any media so you can enjoy and share it on something that doesn’t say Kodak on the side.


So, how are you moving forward? 


— Ned Ward , 2104 Graham Ave., #B, Redondo Beach, CA 90278; ned@nedorama.com