Club and Network News

The Kellogg Alumni Club of Los Angeles is pleased that five members of the current board will be continuing to serve another year: Tomo Lekovic ’19, Satish Varma ’10, Carol Henry ’00, Erika Haendel Weiss ’02 and Pamela Ng ’00 as president.

The club is looking for additional volunteers, so anyone interested in getting more involved or who has suggestions for future events should contact a board member. The club has adopted a virtual event model and hosted networking happy hours, neighborhood dinners, a panel discussion on the payment revolution in a post-pandemic era with Colton Dillion BS ’11 MS ’12 alongside other business school alumni and a conversation on Social Media Strategy for Crisis Management featuring Gordon Ho ’91 (former CMO of Princess Cruises) and Professor Tim Calkins. KACLA will continue to plan virtual events, but it looks forward to hosting them in person when guidelines permit.

Winter 2020 began with KEWN’s 4th Annual Women Entrepreneurs Panel, “Risk in Entrepreneurship,” moderated by Professor Linda Darragh and co-sponsored by BMO. KEWN celebrated International Women’s Day in March with an interview of Wendy Lewis, McDonald’s chief global diversity officer, by Professor Ellen Taaffe ‘97.

The women on boards panel originally scheduled for April in partnership with JLL was postponed and will be offered online in the fall. Co-presidents Dee Slaughter ‘92 and Marilyn Cleeff ’92 announced their retirement effective June 2020. KEWN expresses its gratitude to both and especially to Dee for her leadership since 2003 as one of KEWN’s founders. The board will remain the same with Linda Salchenberger ’80 ’85 PhD assuming the role of president. The coronavirus pandemic ended KEWN’s face-to-face sessions for the year, and KEWN turned its attention to the many challenges faced by Kellogg alumnae in this new environment.

KEWN also expressed its support for justice and equity for all and will make this a priority for 2020. In May, KEWN held a series of online focus groups to hear from its membership about what they needed and wanted in the current environment. Topics of interest included authentic conversations, assistance with career transitions, what it means to be successful, women and boards and how to create a network. Most of all, women expressed a desire to strengthen connections with other Kellogg alumnae. All professional and networking events will take place virtually for the foreseeable future, allowing KEWN to reach out to Kellogg women worldwide. 

The Kellogg Alumni Club Chicago West kicked off its summer event with the first Zoom training session of the “Design Your Life” workshop by Matthew Temple ‘93 of KCC. KACCW hosts a quarterly Breakfast Club and changed the format to an online Zoom meeting, which has been successful, though it cannot provide the face-to-face networking opportunities that will resume once in-person meetings can safely take place.

The coronavirus has had disproportionate impact across industries and careers. On May 20 via Zoom, two executive talent experts from different industry segments shared their knowledge and insight into how this impacts senior executive recruitment and answered questions of KACCW Breakfast Club Kellogg Alumni. Frank Morogiello and Lawrence Allen have both built executive search practices on multi-decade executive careers. Frank focused on the aviation, transportation and hospitality practices, while Lawrence focused on consumer products. A Fifth Third Bank chief investment strategist, Jeff Korzenik, gave a follow up on the economy on June 24. In July, Kellogg Professor Moran Cerf discussed his work as a neuroscientist. Cook County attorney general Kim Foxx had a fireside chat with Professor Nicholas Pearce ’10 ’12 PhD to discuss her spiritual journey.

The Kellogg Alumni Club of Japan hosted its first online TG on April 24 and enjoyed the surprise visit of Dean Cornelli and Dean Mazzeo from the Hub in Evanston. More than 40 members joined from all over Japan and even over the ocean which has made this new style of get together a very positive experience.

The Kellogg Alumni Club of Wisconsin kicked off 2020 with a January event co-sponsored with the Milwaukee Rotary Club. Thanks to Mary McCormick ’80, the Club’s executive director. Dr. James Hedrick PhD ’19 discussed HARP, the disruptive 3D printing technology invented within Northwestern’s chemistry research labs and currently being commercialized in a three-year-old startup company, Azul 3D. He is CEO of Azul 3D.

In February, Cherise Ordlock ’06, senior vice president, digital and omnichannel, for Kohl's Corporation, presented her insights about retail success in an increasingly digitally connected world. She shared how successful retailers like Kohl’s adapt on an ongoing basis to changing consumer demands.

In March, a joint event with the Harvard Business School Club of Wisconsin was held at the Lubar Entrepreneurship Center, a new facility at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee Campus. The Center is a powerful resource for students, faculty and staff exploring entrepreneurial paths and innovation. David Lubar, whose family underwrote the entire initiative, was the key presenter.

In May, David Villa ’79, executive director and chief investment officer of the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, offered perspectives on the current investment environment and Implications for both institutional and individual investors. This presentation was virtual event in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Milwaukee.