Alumnae news

volunteered with New Zealand Red Cross and Amnesty International, and was a Pacific regional representative for Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth.

In early 2019, she was supposed to attend a refugee forum in Christchurch but when the shootings occurred, she instead helped out with the response, supporting the Christchurch Victims’ Organising Committee and visiting the victims in hospital.

2019 was a big year for Nancy. During a student exchange to the University of Oxford, she studied philosophy, politics and economics.

“My teachers recommended I go there to get a different perspective. I loved it. I played on their First XI cricket team and was a team lead at the Oxford student consultancy.”

In November 2019, her humanitarian work was acknowledged with a North Harbour Club AIMES Service to the Community Award and a $15,000 cash grant.

Nancy was also recently named as a Stanford University Innovation Fellow. Over the last year she has undertaken training through the Stanford.School to learn about design thinking so she can apply those learnings to leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship projects at Swarthmore.

Nancy will graduate from Swarthmore in May 2020 and has already accepted a position as an associate consultant at Bain & Company based in Sydney.

“It’s a global management consulting company and I’ll be working with different industries to solve problems. It will help me understand different sectors and regions so that I can eventually go back into the humanitarian sector with more to offer than just my passion.”

She also has plans to undertake postgraduate studies, either a master’s in public policy or an MBA.

ANOTHER WIN IN THE POOL

The Dio Old Girls’ relay team successfully defended their title (albeit with a slightly stacked team!) in the relay race against the prefects at the Senior Swimming Sports. Pictured after their victory are (standing left to right): Immy Rogers, Anne-Marie Avis, Isobel Avis and Jessica Shorter-Robinson; (seated left to right): Jenny Spillane, Eleanor Spillane and Zita Sumich.

PUT THIS ON YOUR READING LIST

Jane Riley (Wilson, 1987) celebrated the launch of her first book, The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock, in Sydney in February. Published by Lake Union, it’s the uplifting story of introverted and lonely funeral director Oliver Clock whose ordered world is thrown into chaos when his secret crush passes away. But a surprising discovery sees Oliver resolve to open himself up to love. of Jane’s Dio friends (Deirdre Coleman, Sarah Waldin, Anne-Marie Avis, Rosanne Sparling and Nicky Collins, pictured above, with Jane on the far right) who travelled to Australia for the event.

The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock is available in paperback, e-book and audiobook. Jane’s second novel, Geraldine Verne’s Red Suitcase, will be published in January 2021. She’s currently working on ideas for her third novel.

ENDURING FRIENDSHIPS

Here’s some news from Dio Old Girls Alexandra Bringans, Lauren Anelay and Laura McDonald (all class of 2015) and Rebecca McDonald (2014). Alex, Lauren and Laura graduated from the University of Otago in 2019. Laura says the trio are still best of friends and their graduation was an unforgettable weekend made extra special by their families being there for the celebration. Among them was Laura’s older sister, Rebecca, who is a 2018 Massey University graduate.

Alexandra Bringans

graduated with a Bachelor of Biomedical Science, majoring in functional human biology. She’s currently working at ASB Bank as a team leader within the Customer Verification Services team. Alex is also completing her final semester of a Master of Health Leadership and will be working with Auckland District Health Board to assess possible improvements in their palliative care and care in the last days of life.

Lauren Anelay

gained a Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences, majoring in Infection and Immunity, with first class honours. She now works as a vaccines brand manager associate at GlaxoSmithKline. Her work focuses in the area of meningococcal disease.

Laura McDonald

graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science, majoring in consumer food science and minoring in management marketing. She’s now in her second year in the Auckland PwC Management Consulting team and has worked on projects that span a wide range of businesses and industries within New Zealand.

Rebecca McDonald

graduated from Massey Wellington in 2018 with a Bachelor of Nursing. She is working as a registered nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Middlemore Hospital, Auckland. Rebecca holds a postgraduate certificate in child health and is completing a two-phase research design for her honours project. This design uses mixed methodologies to explore how the neonatal intensive care environment can be improved so that parents feel more welcome and empowered to participate in their child’s care.

Left: Alexandra, Laura and Lauren with their families, including Rebecca (far right). Top Left: Laura McDonald, Lauren Anelay and Alexandra Bringans graduating from the University of Otago in 2019.