Thanks to those of you who continue to write in about your leadership positions in nonprofit organizations. I’ll include those updates below.
First, I’ll report on Matt Wilson’s ongoing project of running to raise autism awareness. I first heard of his commitment when he noted that the 92nd day of the year was also his 92nd day in a row of running, using the Charity Miles app to benefit Autism Speaks. During his running streak—impressive by anyone’s standards—Matt decided to run in a 100-mile race the weekend of June 14, which he completed in 27:57:44.
“I was running it to support two friends who had signed up,” he wrote. “I had sworn I would never do a 100, but then I heard they were doing it and it was local (Weston, Massachusetts—two towns over), flat and cheap. It was supposed to be a 3/10 rated course, but the rains turned the track to mud and it went to an 8/10 with a 61-percent dropout rate. The irony is that the two friends I had come to support dropped out at miles 15 and 25. Suddenly I felt like it was my duty to carry on to the finish. Race started at 7 p.m. Friday and ended for me at 10:57 p.m. Saturday.”
After that, he had to suspend his running streak due to a tendon injury, but I hereby grant him credit for any time off when he gets back on his Vibram FiveFingers-clad feet (see updates at runluaurun.com).
Elissa (McMillen) Aten: “For the past two years I’ve been a board member of the Park City Education Foundation, which supports critical and innovative educational programs in our public schools. In May we held our fourth Running with Ed fundraiser, a 38-mile relay race that travels between all of our public schools in Park City, Utah. As fundraising chair of this event I was excited that teams raised more than $65,000! I was also very proud of our daughter Lindsey (age 9), who ran three legs of the relay, totaling six miles of running! Having spent two years with Teach For America after Dartmouth, it’s very fulfilling to be part of an organization that supports public education.”
Kevin Franck: “I’m working in the bionic field. I left bionic ears as a profession, but continue to volunteer as a board member at the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (advocating independence through listening and talking), and the Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech (providing children who are deaf and hard of hearing with the listening, learning and spoken language skills they need to succeed). I work at iWalk, a startup company bringing the world’s first bionic ankle to market, and helped to start Ear Machine, another start-up developing technology to greatly reduce the cost of hearing health.”
Mary Kate (Schroeder) Réjouis: “I’ve been an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church since 1997. I went to seminary a year after finishing at Dartmouth in the spring of 1993 (though I am a ’92). I’ve served churches in South Bend, Indiana; Basalt, Colorado; and now Boulder, Colorado, where I grew up. The church I currently serve is across the street from University of Colorado Boulder, so we reach out to students, faculty and staff in a variety of ways and we’re also a parish church. Our primary work is weekly worship and building community that flows from that gathering. My husband is from Haiti—we were married in 2009 and had twins in September of 2011—so we are gratefully busy in many different ways.”
—Kelly Shriver Kolln, 3900 Cottage Grove Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52403; (319) 533-4326; news@dartmouth92.org
