Happy 2016 to all our ’96 classmates far and wide! As we head into our “official” 20th year as alums, it’s quite apropos that a few among us are venturing into new chapters of their professional lives in favor of exciting new opportunities.

After more than a decade running educational programs for Princeton University’s office of alumni affairs—including amazing trips with faculty all around the world—Leslie Jennings Rowley recently took a leap to become the inaugural administrator in Princeton’s newly formed Kahneman-Treisman Center for Behavioral Science and Public Policy. During the last few years in her “free time” she has been pursuing a Ph.D. in psychology, not knowing what she’d do with it but realizing that she needed to grow in new ways. The new gig should allow her to use her newfound academic interests, along with her economics degree and M.B.A., for the kind of real external impact she’s been missing. It will also give her more time to spend with her husband Clancy (Princeton ’95), son Worth (8) and daughter Cecilia (6).

Also entering a new phase of his career is our own Zachary Stein. “After 11 years I left Whole Foods to begin a new adventure with Blue Apron.” Blue Apron delivers original recipes and high-quality ingredients to home chefs that allow them to prepare high-end meals that are fresh, low-in-calories and easy to make. Zach will be leading the purchasing team that covers half of the company’s operations and will be moving, along with wife Margaret Chang and family, from southern Florida to the northern New Jersey suburbs early next year. Very exciting and look forward to great things from the new company!

Aassia (Haroon) Haq is making some impressive changes of her own. After spending the last 10 years in startup and growth company space, first as CEO of a future of work startup, then chief management officer at MBO Partners, she is starting her own company from the ground up. “I left the MBO position earlier this year to start Guidrr Inc.—an on-demand platform that’s an Etsy for travel experiences (www.guidrr.com). Our app just launched and was immediately picked up as a tech product to watch by Product Hunt and we’ve been featured this month on KillerStartups.com.” On the personal front, she has been based in the Dallas area these past 10 years with her husband, Faisal, and kids Zoya (11) and Adam (6). She also said she’s active with the local Dartmouth club and would love to connect with other ’96s in the area or in the startup community generally.

Best of luck to all in your new ventures (and adventures!) moving forward! I hope you will inspire others among us thinking about making a change at this point in their professional lives to take a big leap in the new year ahead! And, as always, drop a note my way when you do! In the meanwhile, a happy, healthy, prosperous 2016 to us all!

—Garrett Gil de Rubio, 1062 Middlebrooke Drive, Canton, GA 30115; ggdr@alum.dartmouth.org