SAIS NY Alumni Newsletter Draft v1.3.doc
SAIS NY ALUMNI NEWS
January 2011
Volume 1, Issue 1
NY News Launch
The SAIS NY Alumni Club is thrilled to announce the launch of “NY News” – a bi-annual newsletter for SAIS Alumni in the greater New York City area.
NY News is intended to keep alumni connected, informed and inspired. We also hope the newsletter becomes a tool to spread the word about SAIS to students, friends, family and professional networks.
We hope this publication will not only keep you up-to-date on the latest SAIS NY Alumni Club activities but also serve as a forum for discussing international events as they impact our alumni and their professional careers. To this point, each publication aims to highlight a SAIS New Yorker in the News. New York City is a vast professional landscape of UN diplomats, consultants, Wall Street bankers, non-profit impact investors, academics, international journalists, IT wizards, authors, lawyers and entrepreneurs. Whether you join us for social events or are more inclined to send us foreign policy commentary or career insights, we welcome your participation in the SAIS NY Alumni Club and NY News.
Wishing you all an internationally vibrant 2011!
The SAIS NY Alumni Club
SAIS NY Alumni Club – History and Objectives
The SAIS New York Alumni Club (SNYAC) first started to coalesce in 2008 through the efforts of a group of alumni including Jim Upton B’91, ’92, Dylan Pereira ’02, David Steel ’01 and Arthur Rubin ’92, with the active support of Margaret Frondorf '00, the head of the SAIS Alumni Relations Office, and the encouragement of the SAIS Advisory Council. Since that time, the club has successfully sponsored more than twenty events, including talks by SAIS professors such as Francis Fukyama, Michael Mandelbaum, Elliot Cohen, Riordan Roett and John McLaughlin, as well as by SAIS Dean Jessica Einhorn. SNYAC has also partnered with the alumni clubs of other international relations schools for programs, notably a joint event with the NY Alumni club of the Fletcher School on Pakistan, featuring the Pakistani Ambassador to the UN and the former US Ambassador to Pakistan.
In addition to speaking events by notable SAIS professors, the club has been working to expand the range of programming provided to NY area alumni, including annual happy hours to bring together current SAIS students working in New York for the summer with alumni; career development/networking events with panels featuring SAIS alumni and executive recruiters; and social events such as wine tastings and our upcoming Carnaval party.
The SNYAC has also provided opportunities for alumni to get involved in promoting the school to potential applicants at career fairs, and in helping to convince admitted students to choose SAIS for graduate school.
The goals of the SNYAC are quite simply to create a spirit of community among SAIS alumni in the greater New York area; to foster a more active relationship and dialogue between NY alumni and the administration, faculty and student body at SAIS; and to provide topical and timely programming related to international affairs of interest to SAIS alumni. We work actively with the alumni organizations of the Bologna and Nanjing Centers to develop programming of interest to graduates of these programs. In order to better achieve these goals, over the last two years the club has worked to put a more formal organizational structure into place, and is in the process of formalizing a set of by-laws to ensure the continuity of the Club into the future.
Membership in the SYNAC is open to all SAIS alumni (including those who attended the Bologna and Nanjing campuses) in the greater New York area. We encourage alumni who are interested in becoming more involved in the SNYAC going forward to get in touch with us – as we expand our range of programming we are always in search of new volunteers with ideas about how to improve the organization!
SNYAC Officers
Co-Chairs:
Arthur Rubin’92 (arthur.rubin@aya.yale.edu) and Elizabeth Madigan Jost B’97,’98 (madigan@ms.com)
Treasurer: Mariola Chrostowska B’02, ’03 (Mariola.Chrostowska@us.pwc.com)
VPs, Programming: Karen Seiger B’89, ’90 (karenseiger@mac.com) and Susannah Gold B’94,’95 (susannah@goldcommunications.com)
VP, Membership Relations: Kathy Blake B’94, ’95 (kathleenpblake@yahoo.com)
VP, Operations/COO: Nancy Tran ’08
(nntran@gmail.com)
VP,Career Development: Diana Reilly ’98
(diana_reilly@hotmail.com)
VP, Admissions Support: David Perkal B’94, ’95
(davidperkal@yahoo.com)
Ex-Officio Member: Dylan Pereira ’02
(dylan_pereira@yahoo.com)
Newsletter Editors:
Kate Maloney '02
(katherine.maloney@gmail.com)
Mariola Chrostowska B'02, '03
(Mariola.Chrostowska@us.pwc.com)
SAIS NY 2010 Highlights
Dean Einhorn Event (March 11, 2010) - The SNYAC hosted a conversation with Dean Jessica Einhorn ’70 on "Toxic Porridge - Mending the Financial System" at PricewaterhouseCoopers. The event had a large turnout of over 40 alumni and friends. Professor Pasquino Meets With Alumni (April 21, 2010) - The SNYAC and the SAIS Amici di Bologna and Scholars in North America Foundation Bologna Center came together to host a discussion with Professor Gianfranco Pasquino B’66, ’67 about “The Future of the European Union: A View from Italy." Career Development (June 17, 2010) - The SNYAC hosted its annual career event at PricewaterhouseCoopers. A panel - including Eden Abrahams S'96 and Ron Lambert - along with other career councilors and New York based recruiters - shared information and tips about career opportunities. Book Signing with Professor Michael Mandlebaum (Sept 23, 2010) - The SNYAC hosted a book lecture with Professor Michael Mandelbaum, director of the American Foreign Policy Program, to celebrate the launch of his new book, "The Frugal Superpower: America’s Global Leadership in a Cash-Strapped Era" at Credit Suisse. Book Talk with Professor Riordan Roett (Nov 9, 2010) - Ever a magnet for New York alumni, Professor Riordan Roett, director of the Western Hemisphere Program, introduced his new book"The New Brazil"to a packed audience hosted by McKinsey & Company on November 9, 2010. The New Braziltells the story of that nation's evolution from a remote Portuguese colony into a regional leader, a respected spokesman for the developing world, and an increasingly important partner for the United States and the European Union. Professor Roett continues to inspire and inform NY alumni through his exceptional scholarship, teaching and outreach. We look forward to welcoming him back later in 2011. SAIS NY Holiday Celebration – (December 7, 2010) - On a blustery cold December evening, a group of animated SAIS NY alumni met at Monkey Bar in mid-town for holiday drinks. The attendees included a group of past-present- and future students –all packed into the bar to enjoy sliders, wine and festive chat. Overall it was a terrific evening to kick off the holiday season!
L– R: Anne Glick ’02; Brant Silvers ’03; Jeremy Horowitz ’03
L – R: Sherin Gobran ’86; Fred Fucci ’87
L – R: Prof. Michael Mandelbaum; Arthur Rubin ’92; Barbara Glassman ‘92.
 L – R: Nicole Altneu B’93, ’94; Zhendai Yang N’99; Jeremy Zimman N’88.
L – R Kathy Blake B’94, ’95; Ajay Kaisth B’89; Dylan Pereira ’02; Karen Seiger B’89, ’90.
SAIS NY Alumni Club Kicks Off 2011 in StyleMARK YOUR CALENDAR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2011 TO ATTEND
THE SAIS NEW YORK ALUMNI CARNAVAL EVENT What better way to launch the SAIS NY Alumni social event of the year than with a Brazilian Carnaval. Join fellow graduates at Emporium Brasil on Wednesday, March 2, 2011 from 7:30-11:30 pm. Bring your friends, family and colleagues to network and enjoy the night's festivities, which will include live Brazilian entertainment, delicious food and great cocktails by Authentically Brasilian Cabana Cachaça. BUY YOUR TICKETS TODAY on SAIS website: https://jhweb.dev.jhu.edu/eforms/form.do?formId=13143 Tickets are $65 person and the price includes food, open bar and entertainment. At Emporium Brasil, volunteers will organize an “at-the-door” fundraiser to support relief efforts for the victims of the recent flooding in Rio de Janeiro. We would like to thank American Airlines, Cabana Cachaça, Deloitte and Sambazon for their generous support. We encourage you to invite other SAIS Alumni and friends to make this a festive event!      
SAIS NY Midtown East Lunches
Lunch can be “bilateral”. However, triggered by a “bilateral” chat at Professor Pasquino’s lecture in the Italian Cultural Institute on 21 April 2010, an idea came up: why not “multilateralize” the lunch? Debuted at the Indian and Latin fusion restaurant Vermillion in June 2010, a number of SAIS NY “midtown east siders” from the UN, KPMG, PwC, Arnold & Porter, Institute of International Education started their lunch gatherings. Encouraged by the success of the initial gatherings at Perfect Pint (Irish cuisine, 3 Aug) and Phoenix Garden (Chinese, 8 Sep), the “midtown east siders” gradually expanded the invitation to a wider circle of SAISers in NYC for the gatherings at Naples 45 (Italian, 19 Oct) and Fonda del Sol (Latin and Spanish fusion, 19 Nov). Lunch can be business and boring. But SAIS “Midtown East Lunches” proved to be fun and appealing. It provides an easy way for SAIS alumni to catch up during the lunch time of working days, to share career stories, professional information and thoughts for life. The cuisine varies, the SAIS group diversifies, yet the SAISers in NYC are together!
Looking Ahead - 2011 Events
The SNYAC looks forward to an exciting 2011 filled with lectures, networking events, career panels, informal lunches and other gatherings. We will kick off the spring season with a Carnaval Event at Emporio Brasil on March 2. On April 7th, Dr. David Jhirad, the HRH Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Professor of Environmental Policy and Director of the Energy Resources and Environment Program at SAIS will meet with SAIS NY Alumni to discuss "Smart Energy Globalization". His work is also featured in this year's SAISPHERE. Place is still to be determined - stay tuned!
In the Fall we will welcome another professor to discuss current affairs, foreign policy or another hot topic of the season. More info to come soon.
As in the past, we are also planning a career event which will support SAISers in NY with exploring new careers or taking their current ones to the next level. And of course, we will continue to organize other networking and social events with alumni, current and prospective SAIS student s throughout the year.
SAIS NY Alumni Profile: an Interview with Flory Wilson (’03)
The professional links between NY and Washington DC are strong. SAIS alumni continue to move fluidly between the public and private sectors of both cities. One such alumna, Flory Wilson, arrived in New York City last summer to help launch B-Lab, a cutting edge impact investment non-profit whose mission is to create a new sector of the economy that harnesses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. Flory is the VP of International Standards.
What was your academic focus at SAIS?
I was a western hemisphere concentrator, and focused the bulk of my non-LAC coursework on economics (completing coursework in financial, quantitative and development economics).
What did you do after SAIS?
I spent five years post-SAIS is in the Office of Investment Policy (OIP)at OPIC.OIP ensures that OPIC portfolio companies comply with international environment and labor conditions, and tracks the positive economic development impactof each investment at a company and community level, as well as at a macroeconomic level for the host country.At OPIC, I helped to develop and implement various impact assessment models for application across its $12 billion portfolio investments.I also didmonitoring and evaluationof the active portfolio, and was able to visit more than 50 OPIC-supported projects in 26 countries.From an off-shore gas rig in Cote d'Ivoire to a chicken farm in the Kurdish region of Iraq, there was never a dull moment -- the international travelwas a highlight of the job!
What attracted you to social impact investment space?
Impact investing is broadly defined as investing with the intent to create positive social impact beyond a positive financial return.The private sector is the driving force in promoting sustainable economic development, andI saw first-hand at OPIC thatthe business sector has the ability to pull families out of poverty and transform communities.In order to create an ecosystem for business to thrive, you need to connect capital providers with those entrepreneurs who can take full advantage of investment dollars and create positive impact.To date, while an increasing number of investors have been allocating funds to impact investing, there has been a dearth of standardization regardingwhat constitutes a positive social or environmental impact, and this may inhibit long-term growth within the sector.With the global impact investing rating system (GIIRS), we're creating a tool that allows companiesand funds to assess their social and environmental performance, and that allows investors to identify high impact businessesand funds that are aligned with their mission and objectives.We hope that by creating these linkages, we can facilitate increased capital flows to social entrepreneurs around the globe resulting in sustained economic prosperity.
Do you think this is an attractive market for SAIS’ers?
Absolutely!Impact investing was a term that didn't exist two years ago.Today it has been dubbed an emerging asset class, and as such, there is tremendous opportunity in the field.Frombeing a social entrepreneur, toproviding consulting services to businesses that want to improve their social and environmental performance, to being an investor in these businesses, this field is only going to grow in the future.
SAIS International Au Courant Cuisine
Who knew that in our NY Alumni midst we had international foodies? In this first issue of NY News we are pleased to introduce Kathleen Blake and Susanna Gold – two impressive SAIS women who are pursuing their passion for international cooking and wine. They have agreed to share some of their best dishes and pairings with us.  The Experimental Gourmand is a food and recipe resource website founded in 2005 by Kathy Blake (B'94, '95) and is now her full-time venture after many years working in financial services and not-for-profit. This recipe came about when her youngest sister, while visiting New York, said, "What I really want for dinner is this risotto with blue cheese that I had when I visited you in Italy." From that, and a trip to Murray's Cheese Shop, this recipe was born. http://theexperimentalgourmand.blogspot.com/
Wine Pairings by Susannah Gold
When pairing this dish, a few wines come to mind. One is an autochthonous* variety called Ribolla Gialla which grows in the Northeastern region of Italy, Friuli Venezia Giulia. The grape also grows in Slovenia where it is known as Rebula and in Greece on Cefalonia where it is called Robola. It can come in many styles depending on the choice of the wine maker. Generally it is made in stainless steel and is medium bodied with great aromatics of acacia honey, peach and crisp apple. It has lots of minerality which helps to contrast the richer flavors of the gorgonzola. There are many great Ribolla's to try. Some of the best come from the Collio and Colli Orientali regions in Friuli and Brda in Slovenia. Famed producers include Josko Gravner, an iconic Italian wine producer. To find Ribolla Gialla in a store near you, check out www.wine-searcher.com
Susannah Gold, B'94, '95, Vigneto Communications.
* Meaning: indigenous
Risotto alla Gorgonzola
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter 1/3 c. finely minced yellow onion 1 Tbsp. finely minced garlic 1 c. Carnaroli rice 1/2 c. dry white wine 2 c. low-sodium chicken stock (warmed) 1/8 lb. Gorgonzola-Mascarpone layered torta, cut into small cubes 1/8 lb. soft Gorgonzola (called Dolce or Cremificato), cut into small cubes 1 pinch salt 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper 1 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, melt butter until foamy over low heat. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and watching carefully so that it doesn't get browned or burnt. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes more so that it is softened and the tablespoons of the warm chicken stock and incorporate it into the rice mixture. Continue to add the stock several tablespoons at a time, stirring onion is translucent. The onion and garlic are meant to melt into the finished dish so that they don't stand out against the rice. Add the rice and stir to make sure that each grain is coated with the buttery liquid. Cook for 30 seconds before adding the wine. Stir to incorporate the wine and cook until it is just about completely absorbed into the rice. Pour in about 2 completely and wait for the liquid to be completely absorbed before pouring in the next bit of stock. As the cooking continues, you will see the starch being released from the rice and the grains becoming tender and creamy. When there is about a quarter of a cup of liquid left, you might want to taste the rice to test the texture. It should be almost al dente. Finish adding in the rest of the stock and cook until it has been completely absorbed. Once all the liquid has been incorporated, you can turn off the heat. Break up the Gorgonzola-Mascarpone and stir to blend thoroughly, leaving no lumps of cheese. Next, add the creamy Gorgonzola and stir to blend completely into the rice. The heat from the rice will melt the cheeses. After they've all been mixed in together, season with salt and pepper and stir in the parsley. The recipe makes 4 first course portions (primi piatti) or 2 main course portions. Enjoy!
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