Class Note 2004

Hi, ’04s! A lot has changed in this country and world since the last class note. I don’t think any of us could have envisioned all the changes that the coronavirus has brought to our lives and the lives of our loved ones. But while so much remains unknown and uncertain, I have faith that we will come through this stronger and more resilient than ever. And to help usher in a little positivity, I am honored to bring you this month’s class note. I hope these updates bring a little cheer during this incredibly challenging time. So, without further ado….

Joshua P. Mayer has been promoted to partner at Shipman & Goodwin LLP in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office. He was previously an associate. Joshua practices in the area of civil litigation, insurance, and reinsurance, focusing on product liability and tort matters. Joshua obtained his J.D. from Duke University School of Law in 2010.

Joanna Giordano welcomed baby Finn in December 2019. Not only does she report that Finn has awesome hair, but also that her growing family recently said farewell to Manhattan and moved to White Plains, New York. Joanna would love to connect with any new parents who are into cloth diapers or have any breastfeeding tips or any pieces of advice to offer.

Cindy Torres has taken advantage of having her kids home from school (two sets of twins, Lucia and Arielle, age 10; and Priya and Diego, age 5) to explore the local outdoors. Every day they have visited the wall forests and conservation lands near their house. Unfortunately, Cindy’s husband, Soumendra Nanda, Adv’08, has been holed up in the house and missing all the fun! But Cindy and her family are looking forward to going back to New Hampshire to hike in the mountains when this is all over. Needless to say, the family is surviving and staying sane during this wild ride.

Sam Valverde reports that he has been working from home for the Federal Housing Finance Agency since mid-March and that his little family is safe and sound, though somewhat less little these days. He and his wife welcomed their third boy into the world in December. I understand Nikhil Antonio Valverde is their politest child yet, as he elected to preserve Sam’s wife’s birthday by being born a day later than he was due.

Taurie (Wilk) Steingart is pleased to announce that her daughter, Rooney Steingart, was born on March 9, just in time for her family’s “lockdown at home!” Baby Rooney has been bringing a ton of joy and positive focus to her family right now. And big brother Jonah and big sister Gjelina have been beyond elated to show their newest playmate the ropes around the house.

Julia Richman wrote to say that she recently changed jobs. She formerly was the City of Boulder’s chief innovation and technology officer and is now leading technology strategy for the State of Colorado as the chief strategy officer for the governor’s office of information technology. In this new role, Julia has been heavily involved with the state’s Covid-19 response and her agency was responsible for helping more than 10,000 state workers shift to remote work in the course of 10 days.

Julia Seidman is happy to report that her partner, Dave Seidman, recently took a role at Salesforce as senior director of threat detection, but only got three weeks in the office before everyone was given the work-from-home order. Still, all is going pretty smoothly. In mid-February they took what might be their last real vacation in who-knows-how-long by spending a week on Maui relaxing and getting their scuba certification.

Finally, to all the ’04s and the larger Dartmouth community, I hope this note finds you and your families in good health and good spirits.

—Johanna Thomas, 14 Logan Circle, NW, Washington, DC 20005; johannarthomas@gmail.com