170. Jessica (McBee) Kerrigan, CASA Staff and Volunteer
The 92 Report
Show Notes: Jessica Kerrigan (formerly Jessica McBee) shares that she applied for an internship with the American Symphony Orchestra League but didn't get it, leading her to work with the Greater Boston Youth Symphony. She moved to Iowa City to be with her boyfriend, Wade Kerrigan, who was in law school, and worked at American College Testing. Jessica got engaged, married, and moved to Kansas City, where she worked for Andrews McNeil Publishing as a contract administrator. From Publishing to Nonprofit Work Jessica describes her transition from publishing to nonprofit work. She took some time...
info_outline
169. Ian F. McNeely, Historian of Knowledge and Dean
The 92 Report
Show Notes: Ian McNeely talks about his academic path, including a PhD in History from the University of Michigan and a position in the Society of Fellows at Harvard. He met his wife at Harvard, and they both found work at the University of Oregon where they became professors. They raised a family and lived there for 24 years. In 2024, Ian moved to UNC Chapel Hill, where he continues as a professor of history and oversees undergraduate education. The Society of Fellows When asked about the Society of Fellows, Ian explains that he thought of it as a mystique during his undergraduate...
info_outline
168. Peter Schmidt, From Math to Neuroscience
The 92 Report
Show Notes: Peter Schmidt talks about his senior year during the Iraq War, and how the news on the problem of jobless recovery led him to consider graduate school. The Journey from Student to Dean Peter studied biomechanics at Cornell, focusing on the mathematics of biological systems and modeling clinical trials in orthopedics. He was admitted into a fellowship program in New York at an orthopedic hospital where he worked on total joint replacement. His career path led him to neuroscience, where he led clinical research and worked for a nonprofit before becoming the...
info_outline
167. Lauren Messmore, From Banks to Boards
The 92 Report
Show Notes: From Hiking to River Cruises Lauren Messmore opens the conversation by sharing her experience of hiking Hadrian's Wall in England with her husband, which she describes as a highlight of her international travels. She explains that her husband, an anglophile, had the idea and that she enjoyed the travel and training for the hike, and that she had also lived in England for a few years in the ‘90s. Lauren details her training routine, including walking six to seven miles two to three times a week and using hiking sticks. They used a service called Mac Adventure for the hike,...
info_outline
166. Miguel Sancho, Executive Producer, Showrunner, & Author
The 92 Report
Show Notes: Miguel Sancho shares his background, mentioning his small-town roots in eastern Kansas and his education at Harvard and Phillips Andover Academy where he studied government and history. He discusses his initial plan to pursue a PhD and become an academic but instead moved to New York City to try his hand at music. Miguel transitioned from music to journalism, starting in 1993, and worked in various roles, including as an investigative journalist for Inside Edition, and 20/20 a prime time show on ABC News, and CBS News. Launching a Production Company Miguel talks about his...
info_outline
165. Bridget A. Lyons, Author, Adventurer, and Artist
The 92 Report
Show Notes: In this conversation, Bridget Lyons describes her experience with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), which led her to a three-month course in Alaska. She shares her initial struggle with the urban environment of Cambridge after her wilderness experience. Bridget discusses her involvement with the Harvard Outing Club and her decision to teach in Marin County, California. From Teaching to the Tetons Bridget explains her transition from teaching to working full-time with NOLS, teaching various outdoor activities. She describes her lifestyle during this period,...
info_outline
164. John Milbauer, Pianist and Conservatory Leader
The 92 Report
Show Notes: John Milbauer explains that, although he didn't graduate from Harvard, his education and career followed a unique path involving music and academia. John reflects that his focus has been a combination of music and ideas, but the structure of academia often separates the two. He mentions his role as Dean of the School of Music at DePaul University in Chicago where they are bringing the two together to provide musicians with a more holistic approach to creative development and expression. Choosing a Career Path At 17 John was accepted into both Harvard Summer School and Aspen Music...
info_outline
163. Elisabeth (Weinberg) Tavarez, From Finance to Higher Ed to Politics
The 92 Report
Show Notes: Elisabeth Tavares (Weinberg) describes her journey post-graduation, dividing it into three main chapters: private sector, higher education, and government sector. Travelling to Egypt, Israel, and Spain Elisabeth shares her initial post-graduation plans, including travel to Egypt and Israel, and her work with American teenagers abroad in Ireland and Spain. She discusses her passion for international travel and her decision to learn Spanish at Harvard, which later led to teaching Spanish. Elisabeth explains her motivation for learning Spanish, including her background in European...
info_outline
162. Liam T.A. Ford, From Journalist to Non-profit Startup Leader
The 92 Report
Show Notes: Liam T.A. Ford, also known as LTAF, shares his initial career plans after graduation. After writing for the Crimson at Harvard, he initially considered a career in academia, but pivoted to journalism. He discusses his first job at the Montgomery Advertiser, where he covered crime and interviewed notable figures including the man who headed the pulpit committee that hired Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for his pastorship in Montgomery. Liam recounts his transition to Chicago, where he became a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, covering notable events like Barack Obama's election to the...
info_outline
161. Elijah Siegler, Religious Studies Outside the Classroom
The 92 Report
Show Notes: Elijah Siegler recalls the day of graduation on June 5, 1992, and the prominent promotion of the movie Patriot Games, which seemed at the time an ominous omen, as graduates began to navigate their post-grad journey. Elijah shares his advice to his kids and students: "You don't need to have your whole life post-college figured out. You just need one cool thing lined up, and that'll lead to another cool thing." Elijah describes his first post-graduation job as the editor of the Greece and Turkey book for Let's Go travel guides, which he found out about due to a last-minute...
info_outlineAndrew Ott left college to work at a nonprofit, then moved into technology research and small internet startups before returning to nonprofits and working in social entrepreneurship in Brazil and Rwanda. Now, he runs his own nonprofit, training people from low-income backgrounds, particularly people of color and women, how to code, program websites, and launch new careers.
College Friendships
One of the elements of Harvard that have continued to influence his life is his long-term relationship with his Harvard roommates. They regularly get together once or twice a year, getting their families together and doing fun things together. This group of friends has evolved over time, with some being good planners and others not. The tradition started in college, where they would go to one person's house on Memorial Day weekend and bring friends. After college, they spread out to different cities and eventually started renting houses when they had more income. Andrew reflects on the gift of having friends from high school and college.
Travel and Working in Tech
Andrew talks about the early days of his career. Initially, he needed some time off from college and decided to go to Spain with his roommate. This experience provided him with a new adventure, fluency in Spanish, and a change in worldview. After his father's death, Andrew considered joining the Peace Corps, but he explains how serendipity stepped into his life and helped him secure a position as webmaster at Forrester Research.
From Spain to Brazil
After Forrester, Andrew planned to go to Argentina, but changed plans due to the country's economic difficulties. He spent several months researching and interviewing people connected to Argentina, which led to a job offer at an International publishing house which was offering a salary of $8,000 or $9,000 per year. Despite his interest in the job, the pay was too low to accept, and he returned to the U.S., with a stop-over to Brazil en route. He met up with old friends who live in Sao Paulo. While there, he noticed the abundance of international brands and helipads in Sao Paulo, and decided to pursue work there where his experience working with Forrester and his knowledge as a webmaster was in high demand. Andrew recounts his experience working for startups in Brazil, where he initially worked for four years building websites. He eventually decided to return to nonprofits, starting with CDI, a Brazilian nonprofit that builds computer and citizenship schools in poor neighborhoods across Brazil. He studied nonprofit management and international relations at the Kennedy School.
Social Entrepreneurship in Rwanda
The conversation turns to his work in Rwanda where he explored the concept of social entrepreneurship, which is a startup approach with a social goal. He joined TechnoServe, an organization that was involved in the coffee project funded by the Gates Foundation. The goal was to draw together smallholder coffee farmers into collectives and sell their products to major coffee roasters like Starbucks. TechnoServe intentionally cut out middlemen, ensuring that more of the profit goes back to the farmer. This approach has a positive socio-economic effect on agricultural communities, improving their standard of living, school rates, education rates, and health. Andrew worked with a small entrepreneur to improve his coffee cooperative's business operation. He shares how they discovered fraud in the coffee cooperatives and how they dealt with it.
How CodeSquad Works
Andrew talks about CodeSquad, a nonprofit organization, which trains individuals from low-income backgrounds, focusing on people of color, women, and marginalized communities, without any computer or software background, in entry areas or full stack website development. The organization works with these individuals to find jobs in software, which can significantly impact their livelihoods. The average reported salary for a job in software is over $100,000 a year. Some participants have been homeless or couchsurfing during the program, but the program has had some amazing outcomes, including the range of jobs the participants can apply for after going through the program. The program is now entirely online. This decision-making process is more efficient and effective than traditional interviews. The program has seen a significant increase in interest, with over 1000 people interested in the program this year. Andrew shares information on cost per graduate and funding for the program.
Challenges Faced by People in the Tech Industry
Andrew discusses the challenges faced by people in the tech industry, including the need for education and the educational requirements. He mentions that the minimum requirements for a software developer job are a high school diploma or GED, authorization to work in the United States, and passing through the admissions process. Success in the industry is determined by perseverance and code switching, which can be difficult for those without corporate work experience.
Influential Harvard Professors and Courses
Andrew mentions Professor Joseph Nye, Jr., and his Historical Studies course on International Relations. He was fascinated by geopolitics and power dynamics between countries in other groups.
Links:
Timestamps:
02:24 Maintaining long-term friendships through regular get-togethers with families and friends.
05:35 Maintaining friendships over time and across distances, with personal anecdotes and experiences
12:17 Career trajectory shift from tech support to web development
15:35 Career path and experience in Brazil
21:16 Social entrepreneurship in Rwanda with a focus on coffee farmers
23:48 Coffee fraud in Rwanda, with a focus on a middleman's inflated expenses
29:45 Nonprofit training low-income individuals in software development, with successful job placement outcomes
31:40 Predicting success in a coding boot camp program
37:43 Non-profit organization CodeSquad's mission to help low-income individuals gain coding skills and find jobs in tech industry
Featured Non-profit:
The featured non-profit of this episode is The Baby Jesus Community of Petropolis, recommended by Roger Landry who reports: Hi, this is Roger Landry class of 1992, who had the privilege to be interviewed by Will in Episode 42. The featured nonprofit in this episode of the 92 report is The Baby Jesus Community of Petropolis, Brazil. Founded in 1990 by Tonio Tavares, a teacher for Special Needs teens, who, when the Brazilian government pulled its funding, ended up adopting all 45 Special Needs teens and adults and caring for them ever since. I first found out about this extraordinary organization, when I was working as a diplomat at the United Nations. And since then I've helped them get established as a US 501 C-three, contributed to their many needs, and tried to help them find others in the United States who might be able to assist in their beautiful and literally life saving work. You can learn more about their work at their website. communidade.jesusmenino.org.br for Brazil. I'll spell it that is: C OMUNIDADEJESUSME N I N O dot org.br for Brazil, or if that's too complicated, just email me at Catholic priest@columbia.edu Thanks so much for your consideration. And now here's Will Bachman with this week's episode.
To learn more about their work visit: https://comunidadejesusmenino.org.br/