Diana Martinez ’11 shares some of her favorite Bay Area hikes with other local alums 

Dear fellow alums,

In July we hosted Summer Hikes Show & Tell, a live online event where Diana Martinez ’11 and Stephanie Corrales ’16 shared some of their favorite Bay Area hiking, backpacking, and adventuring spots. We’re hoping to meet on one of those very trails sometime later this summer—our first in-person event in more than 16 months! Stay tuned for more information about this fun outdoor gathering, now that the Alum Association has approved hosting in-person events. 

If you would like to host an in-person event in your area, we are happy to connect you to alums in your vicinity. Over the last year, we have hosted 42 virtual events. While we are delighted to meet in person, we also see value in continuing our events live online. Our club spans a vast geographic region and virtual events allow us to connect for more topical and interest-focused connections.

Speaking of our geographic area, new Club President Marija Vulfs ’08, former Co-Vice President Elena Eimert ’15, along with the MHC Club of the Peninsula’s President, Trudy Levy ’69, have petitioned the Alum Association and College for the past year regarding negotiating our boundary lines. In conjunction with Danielle Lund, Associate Director of Digital Engagement at the College, we have come up with the proposed update. The map on the top shows the current boundary lines. The green area is the Club of Northern California’s current territory. The darker blue is the Club of the Peninsula’s, and the light blue encompasses the Southern California Club. The map on the bottom shows the proposed boundary shift. 

The current territory has isolated certain East Bay and Central Valley members from the in-person events most commonly held closest to them by assigning them as members of the NorCal Club rather than as members of the Peninsula Club. By extending the boundary lines of the Peninsula Club east to the Nevada state line, we hope to be more inclusive of the 56 alums in that geographic area. The boundary shift would also re-classify 12 alums from the Peninsula Club area into the Northern California territory who currently live in Half Moon Bay and Daly City. 

The Alum Association informed us that individuals within the proposed reclassified boundary area can choose to belong to both clubs. The NorCal Club has a long history of working in conjunction with the Club of the Peninsula to cross-promote events and collaborate hosting efforts. We hope that by redrawing the boundary lines, both Clubs can be as inclusive of members as possible. If you find yourself in a location whose boundary has been redrawn, please reach out and let us know if you would like to continue to be included in the Club of Northern California as well as the Club of the Peninsula. 

The NorCal club is also rolling out a brand new mentoring program in September. Spearheaded by the Board’s co-Vice President, Jean Han ’87, this group will meet monthly to share personal and professional struggles and triumphs, discuss aspects of what we are pursuing and why, and engage in honest dialogue. The first meeting will be online but we hope to alternate between in-person and virtual meetings. Each gathering will feature a central question designed to spark meaningful, engaging, and intentional conversation. The question for our first meeting will be, “Is it worth it?” If you are interested in being part of this group as a mentor, are looking for mentorship, or simply want to join to learn, share, and create community, please reach out or join us at the first meeting on September 21st.  

Lifetime Members

We want to extend a warm welcome to Ivy Fine ’90 and Amy Ashcroft ’99, our first Lifetime members of the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Thank you both for your generous donations, and your continued support of the NorCal Club! If any other alums would like to become Lifetime Members, we’d love to have you. Additionally, if your company offers corporate matching or incentives for volunteering or being a part of a non-profit organization, we are happy to work with them to find ways to financially support our Club. If you want to pay membership dues for the 2021-2022 year, please do so here: MHC Club of Northern CA Membership Dues. If you prefer to pay by check, please email us. 

Common Read 

The NorCal Club will be joining the College for the 2021 Common Read. The College has chosen The New York Times bestseller The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race, a collection of essays and poems edited by National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward. 

The Common Read is part of Orientation programming and the College will be hosting a virtual discussion about the book on September 9th and the NorCal Book Club will gather via Zoom on September 15th. Grab a copy from a Black-owned bookstore, a favorite neighborhood independent bookseller, or the local public library, and meet us online for discussion and community.   

Get in Touch

As we continue planning for our next fiscal year, please share with us what types of events, programs, and resources may best support you at this time or any which you may wish to offer. Email us or fill out this form to get started. 

We’d love to showcase members of our alum community on social media. If you’re interested in sharing your story, let us know here.

We’re also still welcoming any recommendations of alums who have founded, work for, or volunteer at local Northern California organizations doing anti-racist work or fundraising and will include them in upcoming newsletters. Please send any recommendations to the Board at mountholyoke@gmail.com.

Our very best wishes,

– The Board   

Ten of our thirteen 2021-2022 Board members at the Annual Meeting  

Dear fellow alums,

Thank you to those of you who attended the Club’s Annual Meeting on June 12. We had a lively dialogue, caught up with many alums we knew and met a few we didn’t, went over Club business, confirmed our new slate of Board members, and toasted this past year and looked ahead to the next with strawberries and champagne. After some deliberation at the Annual Meeting, the Board will meet to discuss next steps for the Club’s proposed revised Bylaws and Mission Statement. Please feel free to take a look at the documents and pass along any feedback on either. 

We welcomed three new members: Katie Wynen ’05 and Jean Han ’87 who will fill the co-Vice President roles, Olivia Lucas ’18, who will take on the co-Recent Alum Chair position, and welcomed back Jessica Fajardo ’12 as co-External Relationships Liaison. The rest of the board either shuffled around (say hello to Marija Vulfs ’08, our new Club President!) or stayed in their roles for the next fiscal year. We said goodbye to Emily Wen ’16 and Elena Eimert ’15, who are leaving the Bay Area to pursue graduate school and be nearer to family, respectively. We’ll miss their presence on the Board, and wish them all the best in the future! Check out bios of the 2021-2022 Board members here.   

Pay Your Dues 

Many thanks to our dues-paying members and those who became Lifetime Members during the 2020-2021 fiscal year. If you want to pay membership dues for the 2021-2022 year or become a Lifetime Member, please do so here: MHC Club of Northern CA Membership Dues. If you prefer to pay by check, please email us. 

Lifetime Members

Speaking of Lifetime Members, we gained two more last month: one who would prefer to remain anonymous (you know who you are—thank you!) and Leslie Wellbaum ’64. After graduation, Leslie got an MAT from Yale, taught French at all levels from junior high through university for 20 years, then went to law school and spent the next 20+ years as a judicial staff attorney at the California Court of Appeal, retiring in 2008. She is a transplanted New Yorker with one son, three stepdaughters, six step-grands, and a step-great-grandson, named after her late husband, who was her MHC Speech professor! What a story, Leslie. Thanks to you both for generously supporting our Club!

Common Read 

The NorCal Club will be joining the College for the 2021 Common Read. The College has chosen The New York Times bestseller The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race, a collection of essays and poems about race edited by National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward. The Common Read is part of Orientation programming and the College will be hosting a virtual discussion about the book on September 9 and the NorCal Book Club will gather via Zoom sometime after that (exact date TBD). Grab a copy from a Black-owned bookstore, a favorite neighborhood independent bookseller, or the local public library, and meet us on Zoom for discussion and community.   

Get in Touch

As we continue planning for our next fiscal year, please share with us what types of events, programs, and resources may best support you at this time or any which you may wish to offer. Email us or fill out this form to get started. 

We’d love to showcase members of our alum community on social media. If you’re interested in sharing your story, let us know here.

We’re also still welcoming any recommendations of alums who have founded, work for, or volunteer at local Northern California organizations doing anti-racist work or fundraising and will include them in upcoming newsletters. Please send any recommendations to the Board at mountholyoke@gmail.com.

Our very best wishes,

– The Board  

Dear fellow alums,

As we near the end of the fiscal year for the Club, we have been reflecting over the last twelve months. On April 9, 2020, having no idea how long the pandemic quarantine might last, but still wanting to connect with other alums, we hosted our very first virtual M&Cs event. Since then, we have offered almost 40 (yes, 40!) live online events via Zoom. From cookalongs to “Get Out the Vote” postcard writing campaigns to alums of color dinners, we have loved catching up virtually. We celebrated Mountain Day online, enjoying ice cream and sharing our favorite MHC memories. We launched a Book Club where we read and discuss books by BIPOC authors. We started Uncommon Alums, Uncommon Paths, an ongoing series where incredible local alums share their personal and professional journeys. And we did all this via Zoom. 

While we can’t wait to see you all in person, at the College’s request, we’ll need to continue to provide only virtual events until the fall, at which time we will have more information and direction from the Alum Association. In the meantime, we’ll continue to plan exciting opportunities to gather virtually. We hope you’ll meet us online at an upcoming event.

Annual Meeting

Speaking of events, have you registered for this year’s Annual Meeting? Come be (virtually) in community with other NorCal Club members, meet and vote on the 2021-2022 Board of Directors, vote on newly updated Club Bylaws, and toast the upcoming year with MHC’s senior tradition: champagne and strawberries. 

Pay Your Dues! 

Thanks to our dues-paying members and especially to those of you who became Lifetime Members this past year, the Club is in better financial shape than ever before. We are thrilled to be growing our endowment and looking forward to spending it supporting local alum and BIPOC businesses once we can gather in person again. If you haven’t paid your annual, tax-deductible membership dues for the 2020-2021 year, you can do so until June 30. You can pay your dues or become a Lifetime Member here: MHC Club of Northern CA Membership Dues. If you would prefer to pay by check, please email us. 

Get in Touch

As we continue planning for our next fiscal year, please share with us what types of events (virtual, or in-person when we get the all-clear from the College), programs, and resources may best support you at this time or any which you may wish to offer. Email us or fill out this form to get started.

We’d love to showcase members of our alum community on social media. If you’re interested in sharing your story, let us know here.

We’re also still welcoming any recommendations of alums who have founded, work for, or volunteer at local Northern California organizations doing anti-racist work or fundraising and will include them in upcoming newsletters. Please send any recommendations to the Board at mountholyoke@gmail.com.

Our very best wishes,

– The Board   

Dear fellow alums,

We are hoping this newsletter finds you embracing spring in Northern California. As more and more of us get fully vaccinated, it’s a joy to begin to see (and hug!) friends and family members, to think about travel, and to once again enjoy much of what now feels luxurious after more than a year of pandemic life.  

Another bright spot: despite its many difficulties, this year’s applicant pool was the largest in the College’s history. We are pleased to share that at least five accepted students from our Northern California region have indicated they are planning to enroll in the fall. Congrats to all—and keep your eyes peeled for our annual Fog to Foliage event at the end of the summer where we celebrate and send off our NorCal students for their very first semester at MHC.

Join the Board

It’s your last chance to join our board for the 2021-2022 year! We’re still looking for a few positions to round out our fantastic board. We welcome alums from our entire Northern California region, not just the Bay Area. Our Board meetings are via Zoom even in non-pandemic times, so location truly doesn’t matter. We would love to have representation from throughout our incredibly large region! 

The next term begins July 1, 2021. Please peruse the board descriptions and if any open positions spark your interest, reach out to us by email or fill out this Statement of Interest. We’re always looking for fresh perspectives and look forward to hearing from you.  

Corporate Matching

A huge thank you to NorCal Club member (and current Club Treasurer!) Pauline Au ’87 for securing her second External Leadership Community Care Grant from her employee, Wells Fargo. Pauline discovered that her company awards grants to employees who volunteer with and/or serve on the Board of Directors of a 501(c)3 organization and was able to make two $500 donations to our Club. Bravo, Pauline! If your company participates in corporate matching incentives or offers grants for volunteer work or community involvement, we’d love to be able to be a part of it. Let’s connect!        

Get in Touch

As we continue virtual planning for our next fiscal year, please share with us what types of events (virtual, or in-person when it is safe to do so), programs, and resources may best support you at this time or any which you may wish to offer. Email us or fill out this form to get started.

We’d love to showcase members of our alum community on social media. If you’re interested in sharing your story with our local community online, let us know here.

We’re also still welcoming any recommendations of alums who have founded, work for, or volunteer at local Northern California organizations doing anti-racist work or fundraising and will include them in upcoming newsletters. Please send any recommendations to the Board at mountholyoke@gmail.com.

Our very best wishes,

– The Board 

Dear fellow alums,

Many of you have probably already received via email our recent statement condemning the anti-Asian/American violence and hate occurring in the Bay Area and across the country, mourning the victims of the horrific shootings in Atlanta, and expressing our solidarity with the Asian/American communities in the ongoing fight against racism and white supremacy. Read the full statement here as well as find information on resources and organizations doing work in Georgia and beyond. 

Our events this month feature opportunities to be in community and celebrate BIPOC voices. Attend this month’s book club to discuss Lan Cao’s ’83 powerful memoir, Family in Six Tones; view two short films on racial and gender justice and then hear Fabiola Tafolla ’97 in conversation; and join uncommon alum Yulin (Tina J.) Ling ’92 as she shares her journey from student activist to chief strategy officer, community leader, and mentor. Check out more detailed event descriptions here and register via Zoom.  After such a devastating month—and past year overall—we’re looking forward to being together, even if it’s online.        

Join the Board

We want you! For those interested in being more involved with the Club, please consider joining our board. We welcome alums from our entire Northern California region, not just the Bay Area. Our Board meetings are via Zoom even in non-pandemic times, so location truly doesn’t matter. We would love to have representation from throughout our incredibly large region! 

The next term begins July 1, 2021. Peruse the board descriptions and let us know if any positions spark your interest by reaching out to us by email or by filling out this Statement of Interest. We’re always looking for fresh perspectives and look forward to hearing from you.  

Get in touch

As we continue virtual planning for 2021, please let us know what types of virtual events, programs, and resources may best support you at this time or any which you may wish to offer. 

• What events or programming would you like to see? 
• Have a talent you’d like to share? A group you want to start? A community you’d like to nourish? Host one of our monthly M&Cs or another virtual event! Email us or fill out this form to get started. 
• We’d love to showcase members of our alum community on social media. If you’re interested in sharing your story with our local community online, let us know here.

We’re also still welcoming any recommendations of alums who have founded, work for, or volunteer at local Northern California organizations doing anti-racist work or fundraising and will include them in upcoming newsletters. Please send any recommendations to the Board at mountholyoke@gmail.com.

Our very best wishes,

– The Board   

Upcoming events

If you’re interested in joining any of the Club’s virtual events but are unsure about using Zoom, check out this resource and reach out to the Club with any questions.  

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Virtual Programming from the Alum Association

The College is offering a range of virtual programming and opportunities to connect. Learn more on the AA Events page.

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Membership Dues

Interested in supporting the Club further? Join the Club by paying your annual, tax-deductible Membership Dues! And if you don’t want to remember to pay your dues every year, make one payment to join us as a Lifetime Member. You can pay your dues or become a Lifetime Member here: MHC Club of Northern CA Membership Dues. The Club’s fiscal year is July 1 to June 30. Please note: If you would prefer to pay by check, please email us. 

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Stay Connected 

To hear the latest about our programming in-between our monthly newsletters, we encourage you to connect with the Club on one or more forms of social media. We hope to see you at an event soon! 

• Join our Club Facebook Page & follow us Instagram
• Share resources, your virtual events, and more, directly in the Club Facebook Group
• Bookmark our Club website
• Update your contact info in the Alum Directory using these instructions
• Connect with our growing professional network on LinkedIn
• Email us if you’d like to get further involved with the Club or share feedback 
• Learn more about and consider joining the Board