50 for the Next 50 Honorees

December 2019

Thank you to all who participated in the process to name “50 for the Next 50,” an initiative to honor women who will have a lasting impact on the future of Trinity College. This honor comes as part of Women at the Summit, our ongoing commemoration of the 50th anniversary of coeducation at Trinity.

The college received more than 200 nominations. The list of honorees below is a diverse group whom the selection committee believes will help advance the college and shape its future in myriad ways. The committee recognized women for notable accomplishments, as well as for important work that sometimes is less visible, including mentorship and the building of community. Congratulations, honorees!

Yasmin Affey ’19
Trinity College Residential Learning Coordinator and Trinsition Fellow; as a student, was active with the Office of Spiritual and Religious Life as well as the Office of Multicultural Affairs; served as a Global Ambassador for the Trinity in Trinidad program and as president of the Trinity African Student Association, Muslim Students Association, and Charleston House of Interfaith Cooperation; was P.R.I.D.E. Leader for three years and involved in several other organizations

Jasmin Agosto ’10
Founder, SageSeeker Productions; community partner for the Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival; education and community outreach manager for the Hartford History Center at Hartford Public Library; member of the Hartford Resident Advisory Board for the Liberal Arts Action Lab

Fatima Al Ansar ’17
Mali’s youngest diplomat, head of mission at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and international Cooperation; founder, Tiwalte Girls Peace Network; alumna, African Leadership Academy; Scholar; 2017 Oxford Consortium on Human Rights Fellow; co-founder, Students Stand for Justice in Palestine Organization at Trinity College

Lisa Banks ’90
Best Lawyers in America’s 2017 “Lawyer of the Year” for Employment Law in Washington, D.C.; member of legal team representing Christine Blasey Ford in the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation hearing; co-author, Whistleblower Law: A Practitioner’s Guide

Joanne Berger-Sweeney
Twenty-second president of Trinity College and professor of neuroscience; accomplishments include creating the Bantam Network mentoring program for first-year students, the expansion of Trinity’s footprint to Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford, the establishment of task forces on the Prevention of Sexual Misconduct and on the Status of Women, and the collaborative development of the Summit Strategic Plan

Wildaliz Bermudez ’04  
Hartford City Council member; longtime community activist in support of educational equity, environmental justice, police accountability, and more; recipient, Connecticut Magazine 40 under 40, 2018; former board member, Connecticut Landmarks Society, the Center for Latino Progress, and the Roberto Clemente Tribute Committee; member, Trinity College Board of Fellows

Francesca Campanelli ’20
Mentor in Trinity’s Venture program; vice president, Newman Club; public relations intern, the Jackson Laboratory; sales intern, SAP; member, Psi Chi Honor Society; coordinator in 2017 of the Overnight Admissions Program and president in 2018 of the Charleston House of Interfaith Cooperation

Stefanie Chambers
Professor and Chair of Political Science and active member of the Trinity College community since 2000; scholar of urban politics, minority politics, education policy and immigrant incorporation; author of several books, including Somalis in the Twin Cities and Columbus: Immigrant Incorporation in New Destinations, which is the foundation of an upcoming documentary, “Dreaming in Somali”

Lori Clapis P’18
Coordinator, Trinity College Student Accessibility Resources; Trinity employee since 2005: former part-time Health Center Staff member; currently responsible for the administration of the Student Accessibility Resource Center; established one of the first NESCAC testing centers for students with testing accommodations; member of Student Accessibility Council: Chairperson of the Student Accessibility Faculty Advisory Council

Erica Crowley
Communications and Data Assistant for CHER, the Center for Hartford Engagement and Research at Trinity College; community organizer, macro social worker, and mentor; serves on the Permanent Commission on the Status of Hartford Women

Hanifa Darwish ’22
Kabul, Afghanistan, native who spent the summer after her first year at Trinity creating a first-of-its-kind children’s library in her hometown, refurbishing and painting the building and finding and translating children’s books into Farsi and Pashto; currently working to improve women’s health and reduce social stigmas about menstruation through the Pad Project, which seeks to make available washable sanitary pads for girls and women in impoverished areas of Kabul 

Kathryn Dissinger M’13
Assistant Professor of Physical Education and Head Women’s Lacrosse Coach; as assistant coach from 2012 through 2014 and head coach since 2015, helped lead Trinity’s unprecedented run of six-straight appearances in the NCAA Division III Final Four, from 2012 to 2017; Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) National Assistant Coach of the Year, 2012; IWLCA Division III Berkshire Region Coach of the Year, 2016; Venture Planning Committee member

Kristin Duquette ’13
Five-time American Paralympic record holder in swimming; founder of a disability empowerment college program called A Day in a Wheelchair; commissioner, Multimodal Accessibility Council for Washington, D.C.; Disability Mentor for the Clinton Global Initiative University, 2014; Confidential Assistant to the Chief of Staff in Obama Administration, 2015-2017

Margaret Elias ’17
At Trinity, served as a mentor in the Trinity Venture program, editor-in-chief of The Tripod, and writing associate in the Writing Center, and interned for the Long Walk Society; a consistently active member of the Trinity community since graduation; working as a litigation case manager at a New York law firm before heading to law school in the fall

Elizabeth Elting ’87
Member, Trinity College Board of Trustees and the Women’s Leadership Council Founders group; recipient of Trinity’s Alumni Medal for Excellence in 2007 and the Gary McQuaid Award in 2017; Founder and CEO of the Elizabeth Elting Foundation and Co-founder of TransPerfect, the world’s largest provider of language and business solutions

Eleanor Faraguna ’21
Resident Advisor; First-Year Seminar mentor; Writing Center tutor; active member of the Women & Gender Resource Action Center (WGRAC); active member of the Encouraging Respect of Sexualities (EROS) club; Dean’s Scholar and Faculty Honors recipient; participated in the Community Action Gateway as a first-year student and worked with NARAL Pro-Choice CT; currently writing a report concerning community organizing strategies for comprehensive sexual health education campaigns through the Community Learning Research Fellows program

Emily Garner
Head coach, Trinity College Women’s Basketball; last year, in her third season as head coach, led team to its best overall record since 1999-00 (19-6)

Nicole Hockley ’92
Co-Founder and Managing Director for Sandy Hook Promise, the nonprofit organization she helped found after her son, Dylan, was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012; recipient of a Trinity Alumni Achievement Award in 2017; recognized in 2016 by People Magazine as one of its “25 Women Changing the World”

Laura Holt ’00 
Associate Professor of Psychology, member of the Trinity College faculty since 2008; teaches courses in Abnormal, Community, Adolescent, and Addiction Psychology; researches prescription stimulant misuse and vaping in emerging adults; designs and evaluates preventive interventions for addictive behaviors

Caroline Howell ’18
Recipient, in 2018, of the Susan E. Martin Award, National Alumni Association Senior Achievement Award, Psychology Prize, and Women’s Empowerment Activist Award; President’s Fellow for the Anthropology Department; Trinity Venture program mentor; working as a clinical research assistant at Boston Children’s Hospital, investigating the effects of intergenerational stress on cognitive and social-emotional development in children

Amelia Huba ’22 
Intern, Center for Student Success; campus tour guide; co-coordinator of Cinestudio; co-coordinator for the January Experience of Living, Learning, and Outreach (JELLO) program; co-president, Green Campus; sustainability liaison, Student Government Association

Taniqua Huguley ’15, M’17
As a student, served as president of the Trinity College Black Women’s Organization for three consecutive years, helping to establish a Girl Scout troop in Hartford; interned for the Multicultural Recruitment Team in the Admissions Office, served as Cultural House Coordinator for the Umoja House; worked in Alumni Relations for two and a half years; currently a member of the Trinity College Alumni Association Executive Committee

Tamsin Jones
Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Trinity College; specialist in the history of Christian thought and continental philosophy of religion; recipient of the Arthur H. Hughes Award for Teaching Achievement in 2018; at Trinity since 2013; service has included membership in the Admissions and Financial Aid Committee, Faculty Conference, and the Diversity Working Group.

Burabari “Peace” Kabari ’20
Recipient of the Robert R. Bartlett Award, an All-American thrower in track and field, and an all-conference basketball star for the Bantams; set a Trinity record in the shot put with a second-place toss of 49’05.75” at the 2019 NCAA Division III Championships and won the New England Division III and the New England Open Outdoor Championship titles in the event; helped found the Trinity Athletes of Color Coalition; P.R.I.D.E. (Promoting Respect for Inclusive Diversity in Education) leader and first-generation student peer mentor

Nicole Katav ’17
At Trinity, a Posse scholar and first-generation college student; was president of Hillel and active in several organizations, including La Voz Latina, House of Peace, and Middle Eastern cultural house; helped to bridge divides and build understanding among diverse groups and individuals

Michelle Kovarik
Associate Professor of Chemistry and a member of the Trinity community since 2013; studies microfluidics and other topics at the intersections of chemistry, biology, and engineering; recipient, Arthur H. Hughes Award for Teaching Achievement, 2019, and a Cottrell Scholar Award from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, 2017; Venture program planning committee member

Elissa Raether Kovas ’93
Co-chair, Trinity Athletics fundraising campaign; serves as board member of MetroSquash, a Chicago-based urban squash program, and is an advocate for Capitol Squash, a similar program housed at Trinity; founder, Shellkare fashion line

LaTanya Langley ’97, H’17
Vice President and General Counsel of BIC, responsible for Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia; active in diversity in the legal profession and women’s empowerment initiatives globally through her company and board associations with the National Bar Association, Minority Corporate Counsel Association, and Asian Bar Association of New York; honors include the George W. Crawford Black Bar Association’s Trailblazer Award, Legal 500’s General Counsel Powerlist, National Women in Law Thought Leader Award, First Chair “Top General Counsel” Award

Trinna Larsen ’20
President, Student Government Association (SGA); member, Summit Sustainability Committee, Green Campus, TREEHouse, Composting on Crescent; founding member of TrinTalks, an event designed to promote healthy political discourse on campus, and GreenFest, an event celebrating Sustainability on campus

Brooke LePage ’19
Trinity’s Commencement Speaker in 2019; senior thesis, “Title IX in the Age of Trump: An Evaluation of Institutional Administrators’ Responses to the Proposed New Guidelines,” focused on gender inequity in higher education; served as president of Alpha Chi Omega; currently a policy associate for FutureEd, a think tank at Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy; member, Trinity College Women’s Leadership Council

Donna-Dale Marcano
Associate Professor of Philosophy; member of the Trinity community since 2005; specializes in black feminist philosophy and human rights; Faculty Director of the Individualized Degree Program since 2017; recipient of the Trailblazer Award for Education from the Hartford-based Voices of Women of Color

Samantha McCarthy ’21
President of Alpha Chi Omega, a sorority whose national philanthropy is domestic violence awareness; SGA Junior Senator; participant in the Community Action Gateway and Community Learning Research Fellows, where she works with NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut; First-Year Mentor; Teaching Assistant; student coordinator of the Green Dot program and WGRAC participant; Class of 1963 Scholar; Sophomore Bantam of the Year, 2018-19

Beth Miller  IDP ’00, M ’03
Executive Director, Creative Education Foundation; board member, Ahern Family Foundation; in Trinity’s Individualized Degree Program, won five student leadership and writing awards; her senior paper, “Prudence Crandall: Challenging Race and Gender Boundaries in Antebellum America,” was adapted into a play performed at The Open Theater Project in 2018; received honorary Ph.D. in Arts and Human Letters from Southern New Hampshire University in 2017

Colleen McGlynn Moody ’98, M ’01
Director of Government Law and Strategies at Brown Rudnick, LLP; former chief of staff for Massachusetts State Senate Majority Leader Frederick E. Berry; founded the CJ Moody Fund after her son, CJ, passed away in 2009, an organization that provides grants to children with congenital and developmental difficulties; recipient in 2019 of the Sen. Frederick Berry Early Intervention Champion Award

Karraine Moody ’01
Chief Executive Director, Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity, which has guided more than 300 families to home ownership in Greater Hartford; designed her own major in community development at Trinity, and then worked as a work-life coordinator at United Technologies and in community relations at Hamilton Sunstrand before joining Habitat in 2005 as family services director

Selina Ortiz ’19
At Trinity, was an active member of the college’s chapter of Temple of Hip Hop and the Trinity International Hip Hop Festival; computer science and legal studies major who served as undergraduate mentor and lead instructor in the Mobile Apps for Hartford Program with students from Hartford Magnet Trinity College Academy; P.R.I.D.E. leader and student worker for Multicultural Affairs

Consuelo Pedro ’15
As a student at Trinity, worked for four years in the neurocognitive laboratory and was active in the Trinity College Caribbean Students’ Association; recipient of the Andrew S. Terhune ’78 Scholarship; was among the first cohort of Trinsition Fellows at Trinity; currently pursuing a doctorate in physical therapy at New York University, where she is House Leader for the Arthur J. Nelson House of the Department of Physical Therapy

Ilda Ramos
Assistant Director, College Events and Conferences; first joined the Trinity community as a member of the custodial staff in 1995, rising to the position of superintendent before moving to the Calendar and Special Events Office

The Reverend Allison Read
College Chaplain and Dean of Spiritual and Religious Life; member of the Trinity community since 2008 and the second woman to serve as College Chaplain; an Episcopal priest ordained in the Diocese of New York in 2003; serves on the liturgical commission of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut; in 2019, elected vice president of the National Association of College and University Chaplains

Courtney Roach ’16
Senior Assistant Director of Admissions; as a student, majored in urban studies, worked for the Office of Multicultural Affairs, and served as secretary of SGA Budget Committee; selected by the Obama Foundation in 2019 as one of the 100 members of the Hartford Cohort of the Community Leadership Corps

Pearl Rourke ’21
Mentor for the Venture program; Teaching Assistant; Deans’ Scholar; Faculty Honors recipient; Vice President of Ignite and the Newman Club; member, Editorial Board for the First-Year Papers; senior legal intern; and an accomplished harpist

Jacquelyn Santiago ’00
Chief Executive Officer, COMPASS Youth Collaborative, which operates after-school programs, violence-prevention programs, crisis-response teams, and case management for high risk youth; was active in student government at Trinity, as well as in La Voz Latina and the Imani Black Student Union; served as a tour guide and senior interviewer for the Admissions Office

Simran Sheth ’19
Recipient of the Trustee Award for Student Excellent in 2019; named Bantam of the Year as a first-year (2016) and junior (2018); received the 2018 Ralph E. Walde Prize in Computer Science and was the President’s Fellow for Mathematics in 2019; served as president of the International House and finance chair of the Entertainment Activities Council

Tiana Starks ’21
Hartford native who completed the Community Action Gateway minor and was an early participant in the Liberal Arts Action Lab; P.R.I.D.E. leader and first-generation mentor; has worked at Trinfo Café and the Center for Student Success and Career Development; selected as a member of the Obama Foundation Community Leadership Corps in Hartford

Hamna Tariq ’20
Advocate for the education of girls in her native Pakistan who was invited by Together for Girls to speak at the UN Commission on Status of Women’s Conference in 2017; has published papers with faculty in the Center for Urban and Global Studies; writes for the Communications Office; head Resident Advisor; Presidential Fellow of International Studies Program; active in the Asian American Student Association and WGRAC; researched at the Wilson Center in Washington D.C.

Monique Tarrant ’08
Board-certified Clinical Nurse Specialist and clinical researcher with experience in oncology, geriatric medicine and public health; advocate for health care reform at the local, state, and national levels; executive board member, Greater New York City Black Nurses Association; recipient of 2019 National Black Nurses Association 40 under 40 award for nursing excellence, serves in her current role as Clinical Nurse Specialist for the Department of Radiation Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Molly Jane Thoms ’17, M’19
As a student, led the team that developed the concept for the Bantam Network; served as president of the Charleston House of Interfaith Cooperation, a mentor in the Venture program, and on the core student leadership team for Campaign for Community; and and worked at the Writing Center, in Admissions, and wrote for the Trinity Reporter; after graduating worked as program coordinator in the Office of Spiritual and Religious Life before entering law school at Boston College

Cornie Thornburgh ’80
Member of the Board of Trustees since 2004 and chair of the board since 2014; served as chair of the presidential search committee that brought Joanne Berger-Sweeney to Trinity and as co-chair of the Charter Committee for Building Community; former member, Board of Fellows;  one of the creators of and currently member of the Founders Council of the Women’s Leadership Council; recipient in 2010 of Trinity’s Eigenbrodt Cup; in 2013, she and her husband, Richard E. Thornburgh, had their names inscribed on the Wall of Honor

Vidhi Vasa ’22
Only international student at Trinity to be chosen by the Obama Foundation to serve on the Hartford cohort of the foundation’s Community Leadership Corps, 2019; Public Relations Manager, International House; mentor for fellow international students, helping first-year students transition smoothly; Head Unit Manager for Event Support for the Office of Student Activities, Involvement & Leadership (S.A.I.L.)

Hyacinth Yennie P’02, P’06
Longtime chair of the Maple Avenue Revitalization Group; co-founder of the South End Wellness Senior Center; founder of Barry Square Community Day; active in the Hartford Public High School governance team, the Boards of the South Park Inn housing shelter, and many other organizations; mother of Melissa Yennie, a teacher who is pursuing a doctorate in education, Charlecinth Yennie ’02, a family physician in Hartford, and Craig J. Yennie ’06, a founder of COMPASS Youth Collaborative, who passed away unexpectedly in 2016 after earning a PhD at Brown