Alumnae Leadership Council

Juanita Nash-Dahlen ’72
Tuscon, AZ

In 1972, Juanita graduated from Scripps College with a degree in English literature. When she started at Scripps in 1968, Juanita was one of only five African Americans to attend the College. After completing her degree, she moved to Germany, where she taught English and social studies for 10 years. She returned to the United States in 1983 and started working in marketing before going to graduate school to earn a Masters of Science degree in human resource management. She started her career in human resources in 1995, working at Canon. She worked there for over 20 years before retiring from her role as the corporate director of employee relations for a subsidiary of 5,000 employees.

Juanita has been very involved in Camp Scripps, serving on the Creative Caucus multiple times and as Camp tri-chair twice. In 2016, Juanita joined the ad hoc committee on alumnae engagement and participation. Thereafter, Juanita was elected to serve as Alumnae Association president. She oversees the recently restructured Alumnae Leadership Council, the governing body of the alumnae community. She continues to be an avid Camper and regularly makes homemade soap for Scripps student care packages and alumnae thank you gifts. She recently relocated from Bloomfield, New Jersey, to Tuscon, Arizona!

Liz Lee ’02
Seattle, WA

Liz Lee graduated from Scripps College in 2002 with a degree in politics and economics. After Scripps, Liz worked in the Office of Congressman Mike Honda in Washington, D.C. and Silicon Valley, advising on various legislative issues including tech and civil rights. Liz then pursued her JD at UC Hastings College of the Law and joined the law firm of Perkins Coie. Liz started her practice focusing in the areas of corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, and securities, advising clients ranging from start-up to large public companies. Today, Liz is senior corporate counsel at T-Mobile, supporting its customer care business. Her practice areas range from consumer protection laws, regulatory compliance, crisis communications, social media and privacy to intellectual property. Prior to T-Mobile, Liz served in various in-house roles, including as associate general counsel to a start-up tech company and director of legal affairs to a Nasdaq-listed domain name company.

Outside of work, Liz also provides pro bono counsel to non-profit organizations through Communities Rise, mentors and supervises law students at UW School of Law’s entrepreneurial clinic, and guest lectures law and graduate students on corporate governance and finance. Liz is a board member of and co-chairs the mentorship committee and the social committee for the Asian Bar Association of Washington. Liz has served on the boards of SafeFutures Youth Center, and the Pratt Fine Arts Center. Whether through the Asian Bar Association, at work, or in the greater legal community, Liz actively mentors young and aspiring lawyers with a special affinity for mentoring other women and women of color.

For the past several years, Liz has served on and currently chairs the Honors, Awards and Recognition Committee of the Alumnae Leadership Council. Not only has this given her a first-hand view of the achievements of Scripps alumnae, but it has also strengthened her desire to reconnect and contribute to Scripps’ thriving community. As a student, Liz was active with the Asian American Student Union, as well as College Council. Liz recalls working on many diversity initiatives with her Scripps and 5C peers, both with the goal of improving Scripps for all students, and to apply her academic studies in tangible ways that change and advance communities. As the first to attend college in her family, Liz credits Scripps with providing her with the tools to be a leader and mentor in her communities. In addition, Scripps alumnae and students continue to inspire her to live confidently, courageously, and hopefully.

Ana Martinez ’06, chair
Los Angeles, CA

Committee
Betzy Barron ’03
Fabiola Ceballos-Durham ’02
Jharina Pascual ’04
Lyanne Dominguez ’13
Maddy Ruvolo ’14
Rachel Poutasse ’11
Shane Zackery ’14

The alumnae/student diversity committee coordinates diversity efforts with the Alumnae Leadership Council, the greater alumnae community, and the current study body through liaisons with student clubs/organization in order to increase the bond between students of diverse backgrounds and alumnae with similar backgrounds and to create opportunities for personal development through those bonds, as well as focuses on issues of institutional diversity and inclusion.

Elizabeth Lopez ’09, chair
Los Angeles, CA

Committee
Maggie Collins ’70
Nicole Guillen ’09
Vanessa Hayden Aguirre ’04
Emma Lowry ’09
Melissa Rojas Rivera ’08
Alexis Vaughn ’10

The alumnae/student connections committee fosters meaningful connections between current students and alumnae and enhances the awareness among students of their lifelong connection to Scripps College.

Alicen Lewis ’15, chair
Berkeley, CA

Committee
Kirsten Bontrager ’02
Izzy Crouch ’19
Anjali Gupta ’15
Beth Schreiber-Byers ’98

The communications committee supports the work of the College’s communications function to provide timely and effective communications to alumnae and supports the promotion of the ALC and its work to the wider alumnae community.

Yvette Herrera ’85, chair
Los Angeles, CA

Committee
Kirsten Bontrager ’02
Juliana Canas Baena ’16
Kari Koskinen ’77
Elizabeth Lopez ’09
Melinda White ’91
Clarissa Ann Ylagan ’19

The honors, awards, recognition committee selects the recipients of the annual alumnae awards including, distinguished alumna of the year, outstanding recent alumna, and volunteer of the year. The committee also selects the annual alumnae association senior award winner honored at Seniors Awards Convocation. 

Kendra Armer ’93, chair
San Carlos, CA

Committee
Barbara Bruner ’76
Sneha Deo ’17
Juanita Nash-Dahlen ’72
Jess Butler ’09, ex officio

The leadership development committee is responsible for nominating candidates for election to the Alumnae Leadership Council who serve on the Scripps College Board of Trustees, including alumna trustees and ALC president-elect.

Ruthie Jones ’87, chair
Los Angeles, CA

Committee
Caroline Miceli ’03
Heidi Oxford ’72
Clarissa Ann Ylagan ’19

The engagement & outreach committee supports the work of the Office of Alumnae Engagement by broadening and deepening engagement opportunities beyond the Scripps College campus, particularly through regional and virtual engagement. The committee is also focused on the development of an online platform aimed at building community and connections among alums and with students, families, and faculty/staff. 

Maddie Ripley ’14, chair
New York City, NY

Cabinet
Alex April ’15
Dani Clark ’09
Kareesha de Visser ’09
Anna Ghadar ’17
Minjoo Kim ’16
Jahnavi Kothari ’19
Szeyin Lee ’15

The young alum cabinet acts as key advisory voice to the ALC and Office of Alumnae Engagement in representing the broader young alum population. They partner with the office to determine programming and communications that resonate with our more recent graduates. 

Safia Hassan ’21, SAS president