NOURISHMENT FOR A COMMUNITY IN NEED

Heather Rounds ’16 B.A. (MES/CCE) co­owns Roots Cafe in Brooklyn, N.Y., with her sister and brother­in­law, fellow Syracuse University alumni Patricia ’07 and Gareth ’06 Manwaring. When the pandemic swept through, they turned Roots into a food pantry and soup kitchen for those in need. During COVID’s peak in the spring of 2020, the trio helped serve up to 200 free meals each week. “Heather was such an integral part of the mission,” her sister says. “She ran the cafe and provided free soup and sandwiches to people unable to pay for food, managed the food pantry and helped to train volunteers, coordinated deliveries and delivered food to families in need. She spent time talking on the phone with a few of the people we brought deliveries to that were just alone and scared and needed someone to talk to.” Heather is shown above with her niece and nephew, Winona and Harrison.

Stacy Reinstein ’99 B.A. (IR/PSt) is a freelance strategic consultant for communications and policy. She previously worked as a senior policy analyst for Arizona’s State Supreme Court.

Raymond Went ’99 B.A. (PSt) is an attorney at Nehmad Perillo and Goldstein, P.C. Went previously served as president of the Atlantic County Bar Association from 2019-20.

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Benjamin Clark ’00 M.P.A. is co-executive director for the Institute for Policy Research and Engagement at the University of Oregon. The institute partners with nonprofit organizations to engage with the public.

Mark Cohen ’00 B.A. (Soc) works on special projects for the U.S. Department of State, where he previously served as medical director.

Nuria Esparch ’00 M.P.A. is a Peruvian lawyer who has been serving as the country’s Defense Minister since November 2020.

Chris Constantin ’01 M.P.A. is the city manager of Dimas, Calif. He previously served as assistant city manager for the city of Chico, Calif.

Peter Fusco ’01 B.A. (Geog) is assistant principal at Lakeshore Elementary School (Iredell-Statesville Schools) in North Carolina.

Katherine Vasquez ’01 M.P.A. is director of planning and advisory services for solid waste at RRT Design & Construction in Melville, N.Y.

Jennifer Callaway ’02 J.D./M.P.A. is town manager for Truckee, Calif. She previously served as the finance director and acting Public Works director and public information officer for the city of Morro Bay (Calif.).

David Gaulin ’02 B.A. (Hist/ PSc)/’07 M.S.Sc. is senior director of cyber operations at BluVector, a Comcast company. He is also a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

Tracey Gray ’02 M.P.A. is vice president of communications and external affairs at Raytheon Intelligence and Space. She was previously vice president of communications and public affairs at Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems.

David Levinthal ’02 B.A. (PPhil) is senior Washington correspondent for Business Insider. He previously served as editor-at-large at the Center for Public Integrity.

Anupama Rajaraman ’02 M.P.A. is mission director in Guatemala for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). She previously served as a deputy coordinator for the USAID Transformation.

Jonathan Schwabish ’02 M.A. (Econ)/’03 Ph.D. (Econ) authored Better Data Visualizations: A Guide for Scholars, Researchers, and Wonks (Columbia University Press), a modern guide for data visualization. He is also the founder of PolicyViz, a consulting firm that helps improve workflow.

Caroline Cohran­McClain ’03

M.P.A. has been named vice president of government affairs and policy at the National Rural Health Association.

Lisa Hoeschele ’03 M.A. (PA) serves on the Stakeholder Steering Committee that guides the process to merge the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) and the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports into a single state agency, the Office of Addiction and Mental Health Services.

Andrew Schwab ’03 B.A. (Hist/ PSt) is director of policy, federal affairs and partnerships at United States of Care, a nonprofit working to better American’s access to healthcare services.

Jeremy Ames ’04 M.P.A. is director of the division of communications in the Office of Regulatory Affairs at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. He previously served as chief of communication services staff at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Paul Arras ’04 B.A. (Hist)/’11 M.A. (Hist)/’16 Ph.D. (Hist) authored Seinfeld: A Cultural History (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers). The book is part of a series called The Cultural History of Television and discusses the history of the cast, NBC and the creators.

Rachel Brashier ’04 B.A. (PSt) is deputy chief of staff for Los Angeles City councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson (District 8) overseeing legislative affairs, strategy, communications and intergovernmental relations. Brashier previously served as policy director for the city of Los Angeles.

Kate Farrar ’04 M.P.A. is State Representative, 20th District, in Conn. She previously served as executive director for Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund in Hartford, Conn.

Gregory Laurence ’04 M.A.I.R. was promoted to professor of management at the School of Management at the University of Michigan-Flint. He was also promoted to director of graduate studies for the Center of Japanese Studies at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Kazumasa Mise ’04 B.S. (Econ) is chief executive officer and member of the board of directors at Rakuten Trade.

Jane Nicholson ’04 B.A. (Geog/ IR)/’13 M.P.A. was selected to be part of Next City Vanguard’s cohort for 2020. Next City is a journalistic nonprofit; the Vanguard program specializes in crafting innovative responses to global development challenges at the community level.

Timothy Rudd ’04 B.A. (PSc)/’07 M.P.A. was appointed by Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh as director to lead the city’s Office of Management and Budget. There, Rudd will serve a vital role in planning for the city budget and its six-year capital improvement plan.

Daniel Ralley ’04 J.D./M.P.A. is first assistant city manager and director of community development for Hilliard, Ohio. He previously served as assistant city manager for the city of Upper Arlington, Ohio.

Adriano Udani ’04 M.P.A. is an associate professor of political science at the University of Missouri, St. Louis and director of the Public Policy Administration Program. He also serves as a research advisor for the Community Innovation and Actions Center, the university’s applied and community-partnership based research center.

Austin Vance ’05 B.A. (Hist) was named chief operating officer to Amcham Finland’s board of directors, a transatlantic business focused on ensuring Finland has a thriving economy.

Robert Vickers ’05 M.A.I.R. is the new associate vice president for leadership communications at the University of Rochester in New York.

Jason Yaley ’05 B.A. (PSc/IR)/’06 M.P.A. is interim chief management officer at Advanced Concepts and Technologies International, LLC in Arlington, Va. He previously served as advisor for INDAIS in San Francisco, Calif. and has held a variety of leadership positions in national security and the aerospace industry.

Emily Sundman ’06 B.A. (Hist) joined Texas Tech School of Veterinary Medicine in Amarillo as an assistant professor of veterinary medicine. Sundman, a doctor of veterinary medicine graduate from Cornell, previously served as associate director of clinical development for KindredBio in Weatherford, Texas.