21 minute read
Martlets on the Move
Lisa Cavazuti ’08 always knew a career in investigative journalism wouldn’t be easy to come by or to navigate. However, she recently reached some of the highest levels of recognition in the field when an investigation she pitched, and helped research and produce for NBC News received Emmy and Murrow awards as well as other prestigious honors.
The story, “‘Zone Rouge’: An army of children toils in African mines,” was the first news report to focus on the extent of child labor involved in Madagascar’s mica industry. It first aired Nov. 18, 2019, on the “Today Show” and “Nightly News with Lester Holt” with an accompanying digital article by Lisa, Christine Romo, Cynthia McFadden and Rich Schapiro. Journalistic recognition of the story has continued since then.
Lisa joined NBC in New York in 2017 and is an associate producer for the network’s national investigative unit following prior work as an associate producer at CBS News and as a production assistant for Shepard Smith at Fox News. A graduate of Georgetown University, where she earned a B.A. in American studies, she also completed internships during that time at “60 Minutes” and “The Charlie Rose Show.”
Work on the mica investigation started nearly a year before the story aired with research on international supply chains, which are opaque, often corrupt and notoriously hard to penetrate. Through their research, Lisa’s team came to find that child labor was common in the extraction and processing of mica. Despite being the lead exporter of the type of mica used in electronics, there had not yet been comprehensive reporting on the scale or conditions in Madagascar’s mica industry. Working with the Dutch child protection group Terre des Hommes, Lisa and three members of the NBC investigative team spent nine days in summer 2019 in Madagascar where they drove about 400 miles throughout the south of the island and witnessed young children working alongside family members in dangerous unregulated mica mines as well as at processing centers. The workers, including children, are paid a pittance and descend into pits as deep as 50 feet to dig for and bring to the surface shards of mica. “‘We don’t have a choice,’ is something we heard a lot,” said Lisa. “Nothing prepared us for what we saw at the mines.”
In addition to several mining sites, the NBC crew showed up at a coastal mica export company and interviewed a representative. Upon returning to New York, Lisa and her team continued research about the companies that ship mica and visited India in fall 2019, where there has been some progress in improving conditions for families and children in its historic mica mining industry.
Mica is commonly used in industries including the beauty and electronics sector, as well as an ingredient in many paints.
Lisa, while working for CBS, with Bob Schieffer at a 2016 presidential debate.
The overwhelming majority of mica from Madagascar is shipped to China, where it is used in component parts primarily as an insulating element, and eventually ends up in products across the world used by American consumers.
NBC shared images of the child labor they witnessed with two U.S. senators who sponsored legislative regulations related to banning products made by child labor. “The goal is to compel companies to reexamine their partnerships and their supply chains and to pay people a living wage,” said Lisa.
And in an uncommon move, last September, the U.S. Department of Labor recognized mica mined in Madagascar as a good produced by child labor and intends to fund a $4.5 million grant to focus on the issue. The NBC report was cited as part of the agency’s decision, which advocates say will add further pressure to root out child labor from mica’s supply chain.
In addition to an Emmy Award for hard news feature story in a newscast and a Murrow Award for hard news, the story has garnered Deadline Awards, a SABEW Award (Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing), an Overseas Press Club Citation, a Headliner Award, a Gerald Loeb Award and a National Association of Black Journalists Salute to Excellence Award.
“These awards are a nice punctuation that people care, are paying attention and are interested in this type of journalistic work,” said Lisa.
Some of Lisa’s other recent assignments at NBC have related to the 2020 election and the pandemic. “We have the flexibility to take on longer-form projects in addition to doing more day-today supportive research,” she explained. “We are responsible for producing investigative pieces for ‘Nightly News with Lester Holt’ and the ‘Today Show.’ I basically pitch, develop ideas, do the related research, write TV scripts, produce interviews and then generally write corresponding digital articles. It has been a range of topics, and most of 2019 was taken up by the Madagascar project.” She has also worked for NBC’s “Dateline” where she did investigative stories, such as an hourlong piece about the fraternity hazing crisis.
Lisa says she has always been a curious person and grew up watching the news. She cites two experiences as a Westminster student that were early seeds for her career. “Nancy Spencer’s History of the Outsider class my senior year was very formative for me,” she said “I have always been drawn to learning about and telling stories about history and world events through compelling characters.” Lisa also points to the summer of 2007 when she and classmate Dorothy Brown ’08 traveled to South Africa to learn about the country’s HIV/AIDS epidemic and helped those directly affected by it. “It was my first time out of the country, and it really opened up the world to me,” recalled Lisa. “I saw how important it is to see how other people live and what they persevere through.”
Lisa’s college internships for “The Charlie Rose Show” and for ”60 Minutes” were what cemented her desire to work in journalism. “I didn’t know what was to come in the media world in the years to follow, but it was clear to me that if I could find a way to get to the top of the mountain in the field, what a way it would be to spend life traveling and learning.”
Lisa feels fortunate to be where she is in her career, saying, “It is a privilege to do this kind of work for an audience of this scale.”
Viewing Everyone in the Classroom as a Teacher
Everyone is a teacher in Amal Cummings’ ’01 classroom at the Urban are infinite possibilities. My parents always stressed education and Assembly Gateway School for Technology in New York City. Since made sacrifices. They made sure I always attended private school and the spring of 2020, she has been teaching algebra and geometry gave me experiences that set me up for success. This was magnified at via Zoom to ninth and 10th grade students, many from underserved Westminster.” neighborhoods, from all five boroughs of New York City. While at Westminster, Amal was a member of the Dance
“We are all students, and we are all teachers,” said Amal. “The Ensemble, Bells, Chorale, Chamber Choir, the Art Club, the Spirit Club students need to have a stake.” She breaks her students into groups and the Multicultural Student Union. She also volunteered with the and assigns each group member a specific task — from sharing the Simsbury A Better Chance program and participated in the musical screen, to operating the help button to filling in late arrivals. “It’s “Anything Goes.” teaching them how to collaborate,” she said. Her parents were frequent visitors to campus, and their support
Reflecting on her own school experiences, Amal says she was not was key to her success. “My mother knew that social and emotional always a stellar math student, but the challenges she faced made her a care was important,” explained Amal. “While I was living on their halls, better teacher. At Skidmore, where she earned a B.A. in mathematics, my mother called Mr. Newman and Mr. Daly all of the time. They made she often found it challenging to get clarity from instruction during sure I felt supported. It was difficult for Black students at Westminster, lectures. “The work wasn’t broken apart,” she explained. “When and I think that’s why my parents showed up so much — for all of I teach, I always show my students four different ways to find a us. My mom would pick up other students and bring them home for solution.” breaks. Some parents never made it to campus until graduation. It was
Amal did not join the teaching profession immediately a community for me because my mom fostered that experience.” after college. She was first an assistant buyer with Lord & Taylor. Amal points to the importance of her Westminster geometry and Simultaneously, she was volunteering with young people at her church, AP Statistics courses with faculty member Peter Ulrich. “He took the who were encouraging her to become a teacher. “When my boss time to help me and showed me math in the context of looking at at Lord & Taylor went to Ireland for two weeks, and I was to assume data,” she said. She also continues to appreciate her interactions with additional responsibility, it was supposed to be a happy time, but it was faculty member Martha Woodroofe, who died in 2016. “A few of us the catalyst to make a change,” said Amal. asked her to teach an African American studies course, which she did,
Amal applied to the New York City Teaching Fellows program, and it was awesome. I saw her in 2012 while chaperoning a student which recruits and trains talented career changers to teach high-need retreat in upstate New York, and I thanked her for being an awesome subjects. In 2008, she started teaching in Brooklyn, and in 2010, she teacher and making such an impact.” earned an M.A. in mathematics education from The City College of New York. By 2014, she had become a master teacher with Math for America, an organization that identifies the best teachers in New York City and builds professional communities for teachers to collaborate and learn from one another. In addition to her teaching responsibilities at Urban Assembly Gateway School for Technology, she mentors other teachers, runs workshops and helps share best practices. “I am part of a leadership team that keeps talented math and science teachers in the classroom,” she said.
Amal has made it her mission to support her students after they graduate by helping them stay enrolled in postsecondary programs. She founded the nonprofit Urban Assembly Gateway Alumni Association for Gateway graduates. “These kids are usually the first in their family to go away to school,” she said. “We want to keep them there, so fundraising is big for me.” She explained how a small financial issue, such as the cost of a needed device or a housing or loan problem, can interfere with a student’s ability to continue school.
Amal says she approaches her work in education through a Westminster lens. “I had the experience of what a dynamic school could be,” she said. “I know there Amal Cummings ’01
Extraordinarily Privileged to Do This Work
An undergraduate internship with the research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Jewish campus organization Hillel at economic justice work with LIFT and Tufts University led to an important uAspire, as well as social justice causes of realization for Jeremy Cramer ’96, the Anti-Defamation League, the United who has made a career of advancing States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the causes of some of the country’s The Better Angels Society, which educates most recognizable philanthropic the American citizenry about its history organizations: There are many more through documentary film. “They are an important things than money, but exceptional family doing so much good they all cost money. with their money across the country,” said
“On the first day of my Jeremy. “I am proud to be an extension of internship with Hillel, my boss gave their family values. As an advisor, I have a me a list of people to call to ask for unique ability to effectuate change across donations,” recalled Jeremy. “I made the country and the world.” my first few calls and had incredibly Jeremy, who came to Westminster meaningful conversations with alumni as a Fourth Former, played soccer and about how they were impacted by tennis, and was team captain of squash. Hillel. I learned that fundraising was Jeremy Cramer ’96 with his wife, Jennifer, and their He was also a member of Black and Gold, about listening and so much more. It children, Jonah and Eli, and puppy, Benny. treasurer of John Hay Vestry, president was about connecting alumni stories of the Chamber Choir and Chorale, to present-day programming and the impact donors could have on and served as features editor and associate editor-in-chief of The current students. I knew then that I wanted a career that could make Westminster News. social change in a meaningful way.” “I remember the John Hay Society so fondly,” said Jeremy. “I was
Jeremy graduated from Tufts with a B.A. in child development able to partner with classmates and friends to do good work from the and in 2002 was named director of alumni affairs and assistant Hill. It was where my leadership doctrine was formed: Leadership is campaign director of Fay School, where he had studied before setting an example for others to follow.” attending Westminster. “Working at Fay School was wonderful,” said Jeremy credits former faculty member Michael Cervas’ English Jeremy. “I am most proud of the funds I raised for scholarships for class with fortifying his writing skills. “He taught me about inference, underrepresented students.” reading carefully, how to read between the lines, and how to analyze
Following his tenure at Fay School, he worked for United literature and poetry and write about it.” Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley and later joined He also credits former faculty member Ann Gilman with City Year, one of the largest AmeriCorps programs in the country, advancing his understanding of music during an independent study where he served as vice president of major gifts. He also enrolled in he took with her as a Sixth Former. “I had the flexibility to meet Northeastern University where he earned an M.S. in organizational with her in the chapel several times a week to study music and vocal leadership and nonprofit management. theory,” said Jeremy. “I learned more during those months than any
In 2019, after more than two decades leading fundraising efforts other arts experience. That one-on-one time was very special.” for many prominent educational and charitable organizations, Jeremy Jeremy has stayed close with the Gilman family over the years, founded Boston-based Exponential Philanthropy, a philanthropic and it continues to this day. During a prepandemic trip to New York advisory and consulting firm. As CEO of Exponential Philanthropy, City, he and his 13-year-old son Jonah, who is a professional actor, Jeremy supports leading social enterprises and serves as philanthropic attended a performance of “Phantom of the Opera,” for which advisor to Jonathan Lavine, co-managing partner at Bain Capital, and Suzanne Gilman ’80 performed as principal violinist. “Suzanne gave his wife, Jeannie Lavine. Jonah a tour, and he got to meet the show’s costume designer,” said
Jeremy had become acquainted with the Lavines when he was Jeremy. “It was wonderful for me to meet another branch of the working for City Year, and Jonathan was chair of the organization’s Gilman family tree.” board of trustees. Jeremy subsequently became chief development Jeremy and his wife, Jennifer, an executive with SAP, are also officer of the nonprofit Facing History and Ourselves, which is parents to 10-year-old competitive hockey player Eli. They live in supported by the Lavines and provides educators with resources to Needham, Mass. address racism, antisemitism and prejudice at pivotal moments in Looking back at his longtime involvement in philanthropy, Jeremy history. concluded, “I find myself at the high point of my career and feel
Through Exponential Philanthropy, Jeremy manages the Lavine’s extraordinarily privileged to do this work.” support of a wide range of philanthropic causes, including innovative
David Martinez ’05 is leading racial equity and social justice curriculum development for Portland Public Schools in Portland, Oregon. “I’ve been rebuilding a department that didn’t have a lead,” said David. “Teachers were using curriculum materials that were outdated and out of compliance, many with inaccurate sources and skewed perspectives.”
As the academic program associate for K-5 language arts and social sciences, David manages curriculum changes that center around equity, civic engagement and action, while also providing guidance and instruction to teachers on how to deliver the curriculum authentically.
Originally from the Bronx, N.Y., David settled in San Francisco after graduating in 2009 from Occidental College with a B.A. in American studies. “Occidental was a small school with a high equity and social justice emphasis, and a community like Westminster,” he said.
David was not planning a career in education. “My mother worked in public education, and when I graduated from college during an economic hardship, I ended up applying to and enrolling in a teacher preparation program,” he explained. While earning his K-12 multiple subject teaching credential at San Francisco State University, he served as an associate teacher at an independent K-8 school for girls. He later joined the staff of Mount Tamalpais School as a Spanish teacher and served on the school’s equity committee.
While studying at the University of San Francisco for a Master of Arts in education, he accepted a position as a digital media specialist for the former Marin Preparatory School, now Spanish Infusión School. After completing his degree with an emphasis on digital technologies for teaching and learning, he was promoted to director of instructional technology and library services.
In 2016, David and his partner, Jason Strickland, relocated to Portland when Jason received a job offer with global advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy. “I wanted to return to a role that supported equity and social justice,” said David. “When I saw the Portland Schools opening for a multicultural curriculum coordinator, I could not pass up the opportunity.” Since joining Portland Public Schools four years ago, he has served as multicultural curriculum coordinator, as a student success program manager for ethnic studies, and as the K-5 social studies and language arts academics program associate, before assuming his current district-level responsibilities.
Because David’s current administrative appointment was filled on an emergency basis, he will return to school this year to obtain his administrative license, which will allow him to continue his work at the district level. He has also served as president of the Oregon Council for Social Studies, through which he advocates to change and influence state and national laws.
David came to Westminster after participating in Prep for Prep 9, a program that identifies promising students of color and prepares them for success at independent schools throughout the Northeast. He says that even though the idea of boarding school was completely new to his family, they supported his choice. “I knew I wanted a small school and a dress code,” he recalled.
As a Westminster student, David was a senior prefect, vice president of the John Hay Society, and a member of the Multicultural Student Union, Dramat, Serving Our Neighbors, Black and Gold, and The Westminster News. He was also a swimmer, played soccer, and served as manager of volleyball, track and field, and softball. He was awarded the Fourth Form Bowl and is particularly proud to be the recipient of the Paul Winship ’35 Alumni Book Prize, which is given to a Sixth Former who has made “an unusual commitment in both breadth and depth to the school’s programs and activities.”
“I loved my social studies classes at Westminster,” said David. “I could really dive into them.” Among the courses he says most impacted him was The History of Others, a Sixth Form elective taught by Jennifer Elliot. “It was a profound class for me,” he said. Since graduation, David has served as a class agent, on reunion committees and attended San Francisco alumni events. “We were in the beginning stages of planning for our 15th reunion last year, when it had to be canceled due to the pandemic,” he said. “We were excited to join in remotely in March with this year’s reunion classes and see as many faces as possible digitally before a physical gathering can be determined!”
David Martinez ’05, center, with two Oregon State Social Studies Board members at the 2020 National Council for Social Studies conference in Austin, Texas, serving as a house delegate and Oregon council president.
Bringing a Lifetime of Work in Infectious Diseases to the Current Pandemic
By the time public awareness of COVID-19 first emerged in the United States in the early months of 2020, epidemiologist Hilary Rosen ’91 was already in the throes of the pandemic working from her home in Los Angeles for the Disease Investigations Section of the California Department of Public Health. She had been conducting listeriosis and botulism surveillance and working on a paper about injury-related botulism when her schedule took a hard turn. “Everything took a backseat to COVID-19,” she said.
With 61 separate health jurisdictions in California, Hilary is coordinating with the clinical, epidemiology and science teams reporting to a command center in Richmond, Calif. Working remotely from her home, she ensures that COVID-19 cases are entered into the state’s reporting system, conducts quality checks and verifies deaths. “We don’t count case-patients more than once,” said Hilary. “There are hundreds of people working with data. It’s a steep learning curve.”
She recounted the earliest days of the pandemic. “I was on a call with the Centers for Disease Control in early January 2020, and there was a rare syndrome in China,” she said. “Within days, we realized it was more. By mid-February, we had our first nontravelassociated case in California.”
Weeks later, the much-publicized Grand Princess cruise ship arrived in California carrying infected passengers and crew. Hilary had previously worked on a West Nile virus outbreak in New York City and had been deployed to a California County on the Mexican border in 2009 to assist with surveillance during the H1N1 outbreak, but said this experience was different. “The Grand Princess was a nightmare,” she said. “We had the information before it went public. I had dealt with emerging pathogens before but nothing to this extent.”
Even with the demands of her COVID-related work, Hilary’s expertise is still needed in other areas. She regularly receives calls regarding suspected botulism cases and coordinates with the CDC to release antitoxin, life-saving medication.
Hilary’s own experience with potentially fatal infectious diseases was a major influence on her career. As a history major at the University of Colorado, she spent part of her junior year abroad in Kenya to study contemporary African history, politics and tribal tensions. There, she contracted malaria and cholera — diseases that remain pervasive in the region. Aided by staff at a clinic, she recovered and returned to the U.S. to complete her B.A.
For the first two and a half years out of college, Hilary worked as a ski instructor in Breckenridge, Colo. “It was fun to do for a few years, because once you have a career, you can’t go back,” she said. During that time, she prepared to attend graduate school, taking prerequisite classes to study at the Yale School of Public Health, where she earned a master’s degree in public health, with a focus on the epidemiology of microbial diseases. While attending Yale, she received a fellowship and conducted research in Thailand on leptospirosis, which can cause kidney failure. During her time at Yale and after completing her degree, she conducted research in the Vector Ecology Laboratory on a West Nile virus project in the Bronx Zoo.
In 2000, she moved to California and has worked for the California Department of Public Health for two decades. Her early work involved investigating environmental risk factors for breast cancer and childhood cancer. And after 9/11, she joined the department’s bioterrorism epidemiology section, before her current work investigating infectious diseases. She is the co-author of numerous research papers, including those about listeriosis, botulism and salmonella.
Hilary came to Westminster as a Fourth Former from Monticello, Hilary Rosen ’91 N.Y. “My hometown was the same small community where my parents were raised,” she said. “I wasn’t challenged and was ready for more. My dad didn’t have a choice in his education, but he wanted me to have a choice.” Her mother required that Hilary not study more than three hours away, so she could visit and return home in one day.
Hilary says that she was always independent and made an easy adjustment to Westminster. “Westminster was an experience that stayed with me,” she said. “Everyone had to participate in the work program, no matter who you were or how much money you had. I learned a lot about myself.”
As a student, Hilary swam and played soccer, basketball and lacrosse. She also volunteered at Holly Hill, participated in the Environmental Club, the National School Campaign Against Hunger and the Outing Club, and was an officer with SPHERE.
Hilary is married to Dr. Christopher Combs, a surgeon, and they have a son, Jack, who is 7. They live in Manhattan Beach, Calif.
The family typically travels frequently, and Hilary has returned to Westminster for several reunions. Looking ahead, she expects the current pandemic to dominate her time indefinitely, at least until the fall. “It has been worse than people think,” she said.
