INFINITE HO ri ZON
CAMPAIGN NEWSLETTER
Inspiring Philanthropy
An Update from Campaign Co-Chairs
Linda Gill Anderson ’77 and Wendy S. Graham ’85
Nearly four years ago, our community came together to launch the largest campaign for an independent girls’ secondary school in America. We imagined the impact of collective gifts of philanthropy from alumnae, parents, faculty, and friends. We imagined the possibilities for progress and welcomed the chance to unite our community around priorities meant to elevate, inspire, celebrate, and strengthen our school's mission.
Today, we are in awe of the many ways our school has put gifts of philanthropy into action: New endowed scholarships and opportunity funds have provided access for girls from around the globe to experience our unique and transformational education; faculty have been given opportunities to innovate within the curriculum; the Starzinger Writing Center attends to the possibilities of the written and spoken word; renovations transformed the chapel into the Klingenstein Concert Hall, and construction of a new arts building brought dance, theatre, and orchestra together under one roof in the
CAMPAIGN STEERING COMMITTEE
CO-CHAIRS
Linda Gill Anderson ’77
Wendy S. Graham ’85
HONORARY CO-CHAIRS
Susie Hunter ’68
Vicky Thompson Winterer ’61
JoAnne Als, MD ’78
Kalisse Anderson, JD ’97
Kathie Berry ’53 P’76 ’81
Julie Massry Knox ’98
Elisabeth "Lisa" Allen LeFort ’72
Alice Dodge Wallace ’38 Center for Performing Arts; experiential learning funds for students and faculty have expanded opportunities beyond the campus and helped to bring renowned speakers and alumnae guests to campus during special events, including our Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration.
Our campaign will continue through June 2026 and there are many aspirations of our strategic plan yet to fulfill: we need dedicated gifts to help preserve and enhance historic buildings on our campus; funding for new faculty housing; and support for a new Center for Resilience and Wellbeing. Gifts to our Emma Fund are also critical to the operating budget for the entire campus community.
Our Infinite Horizon campaign will continue to make a lasting impact with your help. Your support of the campaign is not just a donation—it's an investment in a generation of empowered young women ready to lead, innovate, and make a difference in our world. A gift of any size will have a long-standing impact. Join us today! •
Sally Klingenstein Martell ’85
Diane Wynne Mercer ’61
Betts Howes Murray ’73
Megan Toohey Scremin ’00
Rev. Cyndi Skripak ’78
EMPLOYEES
Ann Dejnozka
Evangeline Delgado
Meg McClellan
Luke Meyers
Jenny Rao
affordability & access
Lisa Radcliffe ’82 and David Kramlich
ENSURING ACCESS TO EMMA WILLARD SCHOOL FOR A NEW GENERATION OF AMAZING STUDENTS
Supporting student access has been the focus for Lisa Radcliffe ’82 ever since reconnecting with her alma mater nearly two decades after graduation. Along with her husband David, Lisa has created an endowed scholarship, given to student opportunity funds, and been a devoted annual supporter of the Emma Fund.
“You know, it’s strange because for so long I wasn’t really connected in a significant way,” reflects Lisa. “It had probably been 20 years when a staff member from Emma Willard's Development Office invited me to have coffee, and she discussed supporting the school. It was that simple; nobody had asked me to get involved before. I know that might sound silly, but it was so powerful to have someone sit me down and say, ‘Emma needs you.’”
Since then, Lisa has been an ardent supporter of Emma Willard in myriad ways, notably serving as a past co-chair of the Emma Fund and as a current trustee of the Board since 2014. In 2022, she was the recipient of the Service to Emma Willard Award at her 40th Reunion, which acknowledged her decades of service to the school. Lisa actively connects with other Emma alumnae living in New York City, helping to expand alumnae engagement there and among her classmates from 1982. Her professional experience in information technology has spanned the gamut of accessibility and human services, providing insight to her role as a member of the diversity, equity, and inclusion committee of the Board.
$169,141,042 as of September 30, 2024
“Being on the Board has been every bit as educational, formative, and important to me as my four years as a student at Emma Willard were,” said Lisa. “Now, I cannot stress enough how much it means to get involved, even though I didn’t set out that way myself.” While their support has helped ensure access to Emma Willard, Lisa and David have also helped many students make college and career connections through their own technology and software development networks, respectively. Lisa, who now serves as chief operating officer at Sanctuary For Families, has even partnered with Emma’s experiential learning program to offer Signature students real-world experience through her workplace.
“I’ve seen the incredible results of an Emma education first hand,” shares David. “Not only in Lisa’s life but also in the lives of her friends and the students I’ve met over the years. So, to be in a position where we can help others benefit from that whole experience is such a privilege and it truly is life-changing.”
It’s the opportunity to make that difference in the lives of young people that Lisa and David highlight as their personal passion and philanthropic focus. In addition, they have worked tirelessly in support of members of the disabled community for over a decade, pursuing disability rights, employment, and other avenues of advocacy. Lisa’s advocacy work also crosses over into her professional life at Sanctuary For Families, where they support the victims and survivors of gender-based violence, human trafficking, domestic violence, and cyberbullying.
“I’m a mission-focused human, for sure, especially in support of disenfranchised communities,” explains Lisa. “In many ways, I think that a girls' school is still so relevant in our society because, despite how far we’ve come, it’s very clear to me how far we have to go in terms of women’s autonomy, women’s futures, and women’s voices.”
As with so many alumnae, Lisa credits Emma Willard School as being the first place in her life where she experienced a truly level playing field for women. With her and David’s most recent support to the school, Lisa provided Emma Willard with an endowed scholarship in the form of a bequest that will help future generations of students access the same opportunities she had.
“My hope for the future is that Emma Willard continues to give voice to girls and women, as it did for me. I believe Emma is uniquely positioned to do this and it gives me hope to know there continue to be places like this for girls and women!” •
PRIORITY TWO
Academic Excellence
Linda LeSourd Lader ’67
ENDOWING EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
In gratitude for the transforming experiences of travel in their own lives, Linda LeSourd Lader ’67 and Ambassador Philip Lader have established an endowed fund to support experiential learning through travel for students, under the auspices of Infinite Horizon: The Campaign for Emma Willard School. “Exposure to different cultures changes us,” Linda notes. “It expands our horizons and our understanding of ourselves.”
A joyful life-long learner, Linda has a deep appreciation for the life-changing impact of travel for a young person, inspiring her to establish this fund at her alma mater. “As my husband and I watched our daughters grow into discerning and thoughtful world citizens through traveling and living in other countries, we wished every American young person could have such opportunities. Phil says that his time as a Rotary Scholar at Oxford University opened his eyes and heart to the world and profoundly shaped his own life. Emma Willard students deserve similar opportunities.”
Among the many experiences that define her life in public service, Linda co-founded the nonpartisan Renaissance Weekends that seek to build bridges among innovative leaders of varying generations, professions, religious beliefs, and geography. She believes that “travel and learning from those with other perspectives can help us discover our own abilities and goals; it challenges us to dream bigger dreams, and it broadens our ideas about what we can accomplish through our own lives.” •
Above: Emma Willard School students spent a lovely day visiting with local high school students in Cali, Colombia, during their 2024 Jestermester adventure! They shared music, dancing, food, and talked about what life is like in the US and Colombia. The students are still in touch with one another today!
Advancing the arts
Above: The exterior of the Alice Dodge Wallace’38 Center for the Performing Arts, with landscaping added this fall.
Middle left: The current state of the Klingenstein Concert Hall, with final touches still in progress.
Below right: Students were excited to get a preview of the new dance studios during the filming of a video feature.
Bottom: An overhead view of the Wallace Center, with newly planted sod on the green roof.
See the back cover for details about the grand opening celebration coming in April!
PRIORITY FOUR
campus preservation
"My MoM often tells the story of how, froM the MoMent I stepped out of the car as a prospectIve student, I was coMMItted to eMMa wIllard. lookIng back, there's no doubt that the MajestIc hIstorIc caMpus IMMedIately InspIred Me to attend eMMa and ultIMately helped fuel My desIre to becoMe an archItect. I contInue to support caMpus preservatIon to IgnIte a sIMIlar love of archItecture In future generatIons."
—Emily Gasperetti ’06
PRIORITY FIVE
strengthen Our community
Anno Bent Murphy '69
EMPOWERING MINDS AND BODIES
With a baseball glove in hand, ice skates on her feet, and a field hockey stick at the ready, Anno Bent Murphy ’69 started life on the move, encouraged by her father to be active. When she came to Emma Willard School, Anno found a community where she could nurture her love of sports—including horseback riding!—and a place that would instill values for life.
“Emma Willard taught me a great deal—strength of character, confidence in myself, the ability to
feel comfortable in unfamiliar surroundings,” Anno shares. These qualities carried her through multiple career transitions, grounded by her unwavering passion for wellness. After losing her father at a young age, due in part to a lack of healthy living, Anno was determined to keep herself moving. When she shifted her professional focus to embrace fitness, Anno found
herself diving deep into aerobic exercise, skiing, golf, and tennis. Becoming a personal trainer, she invested the knowledge she’d gleaned into the lives of others.
All the while, Anno was supporting Emma Willard School—chairing her class’s 25th Reunion, serving on the Alumnae Association Council, co-chairing the Annual Fund, and sitting on the Board of Trustees. It was during her board tenure that Anno first invested in the school’s wellness initiatives, making a gift to equip the weight and training room in Mott Gymnasium. She later funded music equipment for the aerobics space—an absolute necessity for an invigorating workout!
During the Infinite Horizon campaign, Anno has again shown her commitment to nurturing girls’ minds and bodies through a gift to initiatives underway in the formation of our Center for Resilience and Wellbeing. With a strategic focus on expanding mental health programming, the program will impact all facets of the student experience, informed by research on programs for girls’ wellness, resilience, and more.
“I support wellness initiatives for Emma Willard’s students because, for all the mind work they do—their workload and managing stress—I hope they have the opportunity to sit down and talk when they need to,” Anno says. “I want them to be able to marry fitness with mental health—to understand what happens to a body physiologically and mentally when they exercise. There is a connection.” That increased blood flow from movement improves both mental acuity and mood, keys to students’ sense of wellbeing.
In that intersection of mental and physical health, Anno believes there is a reward that she wants to be a part of sharing: a life of peace and clarity. “Be strong,” she encourages. “This is not a dress rehearsal.” •
Sustaining Our School
WENDY LIU ’95
Current Board Trustee and Chair of the Investment Committee member Wendy Liu ’95 doubles the impact of her giving to The Emma Fund through the annual matching contribution from her job in Worldwide Business Development at Pfizer.
“Making an unrestricted gift is definitely an intentional choice that I make,” shared Wendy.
“At the end of the day, there are many, many unglamorous things that still need to be funded, and as a trustee, you really see that clearly. So, with the benefit of my corporate match, I’ve been able to double my impact to help address those areas every year.”
Wendy has maintained a close connection with Emma Willard’s operations since 2005, when she joined the board’s investment committee. Still early in her career at the time, Wendy was seeking a way to be involved with and support the place that helped shape her educational experience.
“I came to the US as an immigrant from China at the age of seven, and Emma Willard was really the first place that I felt at home,” reflects Wendy. “Financial aid made it possible for me to attend the school, and that had such a big impact on me—so, when I became an analyst on Wall Street doing equity research, it felt like the perfect way to give back.”
During Wendy’s time on the Investment Committee and through the impact of the Infinite Horizon campaign, Emma Willard’s endowment has grown to nearly $200 million. Wendy has been involved in key financial decisions for the school that helped ensure robust aid will be available for future generations.
"Emma Willard gave me such a big step up in life; I hope my support helps the school stay at the forefront of educating and empowering girls for years to come!" •
ALICE DODGE WALLACE ’38 CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
HISTORIC GRAND OPENING CELEBRATION
APRIL 25–26,
2025
Make plans now to join us on Mount Ida for our grand opening celebration, featuring our student Spring Showcase and special guests!
Join with the Emma Willard Community to cheer on our students and alums as we celebrate excellence in the arts and across the disciplines. Gather together for conversation, reconnection, and celebration. Welcome the Wallace Family. Hear from Wallace Center architect Ann Beha. Dedicate and tour this magnificent building. Make history together!
FRIDAY: Spring Student Showcase featuring Signature project presentations and Emma Artist performances | Official dedication of The Wallace Center and its many inspiring spaces | Exciting Keynote Performance & Reception
SATURDAY: Alums in the Arts Presentations and Performances | Alumnae Visual Artists Reception | Classical Music Performance by alumni of Ensemble Connect, among the finest young professional classical musicians in the US | Raise your voice with the Alumnae Choir!
Invitation and details to be published in February 2025. infinitehorizon.org/arts-center alumnae@emmawillard.org
To make a gift, scan the QR code, contact the Office of Advancement at 866-833-1814, or visit: infinitehorizon.org/give