Alumnae Profiles

Justine Almada ’01 is the Executive Director and co-founder of The Anal Cancer Foundation and NOMAN Campaign. Alongside her brother and sister, Justine founded the organizations after their loving and incredible mother died from anal cancer in 2010. Anal cancer is part of a larger group of cancers caused by the skin virus, HPV, which causes 5% of all cancer globally yet is preventable with immunization and screening. Justine has steered the Foundation’s programs to raise awareness, advocate for prevention, accelerate treatments and support patients. She is a national speaker at scientific conferences, patient forums and legislative bodies, stressing our ability to eradicate these cancers in our lifetime. Justine’s work has earned her multiple recognitions and awards, including the Biden Cancer Initiative’s inaugural Exemplary Leadership (LEAP) Award for her transformative impact on the lives of cancer patients. Her background is in public policy, having served as Chief of Staff to a New York City Council Member. In this capacity, Justine led legislative, budget, and community initiatives. She is a lifelong New Yorker, a graduate of Wesleyan University and a Milken Scholar.

*Published in the 2025 Alumnae Bulletin

Reflecting on your time at Chapin, what has the School come to mean to you now? What memories or experiences do you think of often or have influenced your life in some way?

My years at Chapin were a gift. Even now the warmth of the teachers and administrators stays with me. I took from my time there many things. Among them, a love of learning and literature, high expectations for myself and others, and a commitment to integrity and truth. At Chapin, the teachers and administrators believed in me. I knew that they were rooting for my success, even (or especially) as they pushed me. When I asked a teacher or administrator for support, they said yes. Years after graduating, Chapin still offers me that same warmth and sense of connection. 

Can you talk about how your trust in yourself to follow your interests and strengths has guided your career?

I believe that problems are solvable, but we must actively participate in their resolution. Before starting my organization, I worked for a New York City elected official, and in my work, I would see issues move towards solutions. When I shifted my focus from improving city life to saving lives, I knew that I had the skills to be effective in this new field and drew on the same playbook to shape my decision-making and direction. Attention to detail, rooting complex issues in individual stories, my belief that change is possible even when slow, confidence that others want to come to a solution, coalition-building, integrity in my own beliefs and the truth — I continue to carry these core values and skills, many of which were bolstered at Chapin, with me throughout my career.  

What was your motivation to build and launch your non-profit? What was that process like?

My brother, sister, and I started the Anal Cancer Foundation after losing our brilliant, joyful and amazing mother to anal cancer in 2010. We served as her caregivers throughout her fight; she was only 53 when she died. 

We could not forget about how alone we felt or how few treatment options were available to her. Our answer was to start the Anal Cancer Foundation and NOMAN Campaign organizations with inter-related missions: to end anal cancer and improve the lives of those affected by it. We raise awareness, fund groundbreaking research, advocate for prevention and empower and support patients. 

The NOMAN Campaign takes this mission to the global scale. We discovered during my mom’s journey that the virus that caused her cancer, the human papillomavirus, or HPV, causes at least six cancers, the most well-known of which is cervical cancer. In all, we learned that HPV causes 5% of the world’s cancers in men and women and is preventable with a vaccine. The NOMAN Campaign leads global advocacy efforts to ensure equal access to the HPV vaccine for males and females. 

What did you find most challenging and most rewarding?

When our mom was diagnosed, there was little support for us outside of her medical team — no resources, organizations, novel treatments or research. We found one link online that had the words anal cancer. Institutions were terrified to talk about HPV, which limited research and patient support. 

We were told that starting an organization to address these gaps was a “nice idea," but too difficult. Yet, for us, this was an incredibly solvable problem. Human ingenuity had already given us a cancer-preventing vaccine. We knew the patient and caregiver experience could be better.  

The wonderful news is that the landscape has changed. Anal cancer and HPV are now recognized by cancer institutions and agencies. Countries have campaigns that target ending HPV and its cancers. We have made significant progress on advancing a screening protocol for anal cancer. Immunotherapy is now part of the treatment paradigm for advanced cancer. When I look at the progress we’ve made, it supports my belief that we can end these cancers in my lifetime. 

In the course of your work with the Foundation, what are some accomplishments you feel most proud of?

When we started the organization, we had incredible optimism that we could fundamentally change this experience for families and make strides towards ending the disease — and we have! We helped fund the first ever immunotherapy for anal cancer, the first anal cancer medical society, the first anal cancer patient treatment guide, the first anal cancer patient scientific conference, the first peer-to-peer support program exclusively for anal cancer patients and their caregivers. We successfully fought for boys to have equal access as girls to the cancer-preventing HPV vaccine. This has occurred in the U.S. and U.K. and we are currently working towards that goal in Europe. While there is so much more to do, the experience is different for a person diagnosed today than it was for my mom. We have achieved these changes with the support of many, and I am grateful to all the patients, families, scientists, advocates, friends and supporters who made it possible.

How does it feel to receive recognition for all of the work you’ve done in the last 12+ years through accolades like the LEAP Award? In what other ways do you see your work make an impact?

The former Surgeon General Vivek Murphy has spoken extensively about how human connection is as essential for survival as food and water, especially when facing a medical condition. In the beginning of our organization, anal cancer and HPV were so stigmatized, people would not publicly share their stories. Asking people to move outside of their own experience and connect through sharing one’s story can be a radical act. One way that we honor my mom’s legacy is by providing opportunities for patients and caregivers to connect with each other and to lift up the experience of anal cancer publicly. We have an ongoing public catalog of experiences, and we offer one-to-one peer matching for anal cancer patients and their caregivers. It is an honor when someone entrusts me with their story, whether they want it to remain private or shared widely. It is my hope that every time my organization is elevated, more people see that having anal cancer and HPV are part of the human condition. For everyone personally affected, we want them to know they are not alone. Every person fighting this disease is worthy of being seen, and we are fighting for them.

You recently visited Chapin and spoke with current Class 7 students about your work. Do you frequently take part in events like these? What does a typical day or week look like for you?

I speak with groups frequently and it was such a special experience to come back to Chapin. It was an honor to be with these impressive young women! They were thoughtful, inquisitive, joyful, and open. I loved the curiosity and confidence in their questions. 

I speak often at scientific conferences and have had the opportunity to speak at congressional and White House events. A typical week for me may include helping patients and caregivers access care, brainstorming with fellow advocates on policy, meeting with my team to envision how to grow our capacity to advance our mission, liaising with the scientists we work with and the day-to-day tasks that come with managing an organization. 

What advice would you give to current Chapin students or alums who may be interested in pursuing a career in advocacy, public policy or a related field? How might you consider yourself a role model for young people?

Chapin is a safe space for risk-taking, so do it now! The leadership roles I took on at Chapin in SOS and other clubs honed my skills for leading in bigger spaces later. 

Use the Chapin Alumnae network. I’ve used it to hire interns and speak with interested students. I am always available to speak to anyone who wants to start a nonprofit or is interested in public policy.

In your careers, find intelligent and capable people you believe in and find a way to work for them. The wonderful thing about public policy is that it’s easy to find mission-driven colleagues. I am a product of the people who have invested in me, and it is wonderful to pay that forward by guiding and celebrating my younger colleagues in their careers. 

In what ways do you feel that your time at Chapin prepared you for life and your career?

I entered Chapin in Upper School and remain deeply grateful for the education I received there. Chapin provided structure, intellectual rigor and room to grow. I learned to build and dissect arguments, contextualize history and write (a lot!). I also built deep mentor relationships and practiced self-advocacy and leadership. 

Chapin deepened my curiosity and sharpened my ability to think deeply and critically. I pull from Ms. Hirsch’s AP Bio class when I attend scientific conferences and translate complex medical information into accessible language for the populations I serve. On stage, Ms. Klotz would tell us “Dare to fail gloriously,” a motto I embraced years later when launching my organization. From Ms. Bloom’s passion for the geopolitical legacy of Otto Von Bismark to Senora De Toledo’s warm embrace of taking risks in language, my teachers' subjects were alive to them and, therefore, alive to me.

Outside of the amazing advocacy that you do with your Foundation, what do you do to decompress, relax or just for fun?

I love spending time with my family. As a New Yorker, I am a devotee of a good walk, especially with a friend. Baking desserts is a favorite activity, as well as meditation. And, of course, a meal with my close friends from Chapin is always wonderful.

Tara Kheradpir currently serves as the Lead of the Strategic Intelligence & Analysis Team within the Trust & Safety branch at Google, where she has worked for the last four years. Prior to this, she worked on Capitol Hill for a United States Senator and as a product sales analyst at Barclays Wealth and Investment Management. In 2017, she created Iranians of America, a social media campaign dedicated to sharing the human stories and contributions of Iranian American immigrants in this country. Tara earned a dual B.A. in Government and Middle Eastern Studies from Cornell University and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

*Published in the 2025 Alumnae Bulletin

While Tara Kheradpir ’10 has always enjoyed the jobs she’s held and the work she’s done, she believes Google’s Trust and Safety branch is where she truly thrives.

Like most new college graduates, Tara had “no idea” what career path she wanted to take. She began her career working in sales and trading, which she deemed as a “stark wake-up call.”

“I ended up really liking it — I thought I was suited for the trading floor — but I didn’t love the substance of what I was doing.” This realization propelled Tara to find a new job, one that landed her in Washington, D.C. While there, she began dabbling in politics, finding a part-time job on a Presidential campaign and, later, working full-time with a United States Senator. “The rest is history,” she said, smiling.

Working with the Senator’s intelligence committee staffer and observing the intersection of defense and technology policy lit a spark in Tara. She was also in D.C. during the Cambridge Analytica hearings, which she found fascinating. The hearings, centered around digital data privacy, were part of an investigation into a data breach involving Facebook and the consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica.

“This pushed me to go back to school,” Tara explained. She began by making a two-column list, writing out what she liked and didn’t like about each job she’d held thus far. Her findings? “I liked the pace of finance, the substance in government and the freedom of how I worked in tech.”

Straight out of business school, Tara landed at Google, where she rarely has a “typical day.” The Trust & Safety umbrella, under which her team falls, is charged with protecting users and maintaining  their trust in Google products and services.

Describing some of her work as “conducting traffic,” Tara remains aware of everything that her team of six analysts (and 50 contractors all over the world) are covering and helps to connect the dots to departments across Google. She analyzes emerging threats and risk trends online, and in the real world, that could potentially impact Google’s products and users — of which, there are billions.

While the work changes day-to-day, Tara explained that at its core, “our job is to identify, evaluate and inform specific people about the risks that are relevant to them.”

As an example, Tara’s team runs Google’s internal geopolitical risk monitor. A team of analysts across the globe monitor events, elections, protests and other occurrences. “Typically, when things happen in the world, it tends to affect Google products,” she said.

Once a risk is identified, Tara and her team provides specific product teams with an account of the issues they’ve seen on the platform in a similar situation and what they project going forward based on recent trends. “We share this information in both qualitative prose and in machine readable data,” she noted, “So they can pipe the data into their automated detection safety systems to ensure their products are insulated from any of those issues.” In addition, Tara’s team tackles cybersecurity concerns, identifying new tricks and tactics employed by scammers to defraud users with the goal of stopping them before anything happens.

“The tech industry is moving at a pace I have never seen before,” Tara stated, referring to the rapid increase in Artificial Intelligence (AI). “This can be exciting because I’m always learning something new…we’re at the cutting edge of technology, [but] it can [also] be extremely complex and challenging.”

Tara’s team, for example, must constantly consider how to “safely develop, train, test and launch these new models and deploy them across existing products” at such a fast rate.

“The AI landscape will bring innumerable benefits, but I also spend time dabbling in the dark side of what could happen,” Tara noted. “However, there are a lot of people at companies like Google who are working very hard to ensure these models are as safe as possible when launched.”

Describing her ethos as “durable but flexible,” Tara aims to have a team structure and processes in place that are “durable enough to not drive us crazy, but flexible enough to be responsive to the needs of the organization in a time when so much change is happening so quickly.” She quipped, “I don’t like to be bored and I never am at Google!”

Tara shared the two things that made her tenacious: “joining a new school in Middle School and being raised by Irani women.” Tara, who entered Chapin in Class 5, gives the School great credit for contributing to her skill sets and making her the person she is today.

“The number of resources and the caliber of the teachers,” she said, are unmatched. “I’m pretty sure Chapin was harder than college.”

“I’m the best writer everywhere I go,” she continued, noting that the same goes for her fellow alums. Chapin’s specialty is its “academic rigor and the way Chapin teaches you to ask questions, organize yourself and think first principles.”

While she reflects fondly on the School’s big events — Field Day and the Thanksgiving Assembly came to mind — the small moments in between are what resonate for Tara. “The quality time with my friends without a care in the world, the times I made my teachers proud or when I discovered a real love of learning because of something a teacher taught me. That’s what sticks out.”

Tara encouraged younger alums and current students not to let being intimidated stop you from trying something new or scary. “Every step you take is one step closer to your goal,” she said. “Look for your North Stars. Take what serves you, focus on who you are and don’t compare yourself. Everyone’s on their own journey.”

“If you’re a curious person and like to learn,” she said, “There is no better place on Earth than Chapin. It really is a special place.”

Dr. Betty Noel-Pierre ’99 is the new Head of School at Castilleja school in Palo Alto, California, where she brings her experience and passion for girls’ educational excellence. Previously Dr. Noel-Pierre served as the Head of Upper School at the Brearley School and held leadership roles at Saint Ann’s School and the Browning School and taught at Johns Hopkins’ Center for Talented Youth. A proud Chapin alumna, Betty has been a dedicated volunteer, serving as Chapin’s Young Alumnae Trustee from 2014-2017 and returning to the Board as a Trustee in 2024. She has four children, including two daughters who attended Chapin; Juli ’28 and Gladys ’23. Dr. Noel-Pierre holds a B.A. in Biology from Brooklyn College and earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Stony Brook University. While attending Stony Brook University, Dr. Noel-Pierre was given a Distinguished Service Award for her contributions to their graduate teaching program. Over the course of her career in school leadership, she explored her passion for teaching and science by running a variety of science courses with a particular enthusiasm for biotechnology. Her career reflects a deep commitment to girls’ education, shaped by her own K-12 experience at Chapin. 

*Published in the 2025 Alumnae Bulletin

Even as a young student at Chapin, Betty, now Dr. Noel-Pierre, loved science. She recounts a Lower School science class where they dissected a fish and remembers her excitement and fascination at the chance to see something so close, saying, “I was looking over [the fish] and thinking ‘this is so cool!’ I was in it.” This enthusiasm never waned for Betty as she notes, “In high school, by the time I got to ninth grade science, I remember we were talking about diseases and I thought, ‘this is incredible, why aren’t we sick all the time?’ It just put a spark [in me].”

From there she followed her passion to college, thinking at first that path meant medicine. “I thought that I was going to go off to college and do the pre-med route, [but] I realized that it's not treating people that I’m interested in — it’s the research. It’s the asking of questions and looking for answers that interests me.” Instead, Betty pursued a Ph.D. program to follow her passion for research. “I picked a path that would allow me to do very little teaching, I just wanted to be at the bench [researching].” It came as a surprise when, in her one semester of teaching pre-nursing students, she fell in love with the one part of her academic path she had tried to minimize. “I remember saying, oh my gosh, what am I going to do, I might love teaching more than research.” 

Dr. Noel-Pierre did finish her Ph.D., but never again strayed away from her love of teaching, finding ways to continue developing her teaching expertise alongside her research. She did this so well that it garnered her a Distinguished Teaching Award from Stony Brook College for her contributions to the Ph.D. program. After completing her degree, she knew she wanted to be in the classroom with young students. 

As her teaching career progressed, Dr. Noel-Pierre found herself following her curiosity down another path, just as she had with her academic journey. She began asking questions about how schools made decisions and why. It was at Browning where the opportunity arose to turn that curiosity into her next career move. “When I moved to Browning, I was given space to really participate in a lot of different ways as a faculty leader. I was on their diversity and equity committee and eventually became their first leader in the equity space. I got to focus on the quality of student life and on broader questions the school was grappling with. That really propelled me [to say] ‘ok, I love this, I love the big strategic thinking, I love the in the weeds thinking, now what area of school admin would be the right fit for me?’” 

Not only did this ability to follow her curiosity lead Dr. Noel-Pierre to her next position, but it took her career in a whole new direction — professionally and now, physically. Her newest position, as Head of School at Castilleja school in Palo Alto, California, is taking her out of the city she has called home for the majority of her life. While she is sad to say farewell to New York, she’s excited for this next step and the challenges it presents. For Dr. Noel-Pierre, challenges and their questions are part of what makes her job intriguing and dynamic. At Castilleja, she looks forward to exploring how to keep education up to speed with constant real-world changes and, of course, she is excited to be a part of their flourishing STEM program. 

When not inspiring young minds, Betty likes to spend time with her family and friends, exercising (weight lifting is a favorite!), getting her nails done, creating intentional moments of silence and squeezing in the occasional night of karaoke. Self care is important to Betty and something she tries to incorporate into the lives of her students. Dr. Noel-Pierre knows that her students rarely need someone to push them to work harder — they do that themselves. “When I think about the majority of the students I work with, they are driven. They don’t need me to say, ‘do more.’ So I think about stretching them the other way and saying, how much sleep did you get? Did you take a break? What did that look like? What are you reading for fun? What are you watching on Netflix? Asking them about balance.” She says, “I want them to be ambitious, and I want them to be able to follow their dreams the same way I followed mine, but I also want them to give themselves grace, so I try to model that balance for them.” 

Betty credits Chapin as “a space to ask questions [knowing] that’s what you're supposed to do,” and is thankful for that foundation as it has served her well in her life after graduation. For Chapin alums considering similar career paths Betty’s message is simple: “Do it!” For Betty, this path has allowed her to continue sharing her love and knowledge of science while expanding on opportunities to guide young people to their fullest potential. She encourages anyone to follow where their natural skills and curiosity take them and to always to ask questions. She is incredibly excited to bring this energy with her and create an environment like that in her new role at Castilleja. 

Delia Sherman ’69 is an award-winning author and editor. After 12 years at Chapin, she earned her B.A. from Vassar College, M.A. from Brown University and Ph.D. in Renaissance Studies from Brown University. Delia began her career teaching Freshman Composition and Fantasy as Literature at Boston University and has since worked as a reviewer, writer and teacher. She is a current faculty member of the Graduate Program in Children’s Literature at Hollins University and leads workshops all over the world. She lives with her wife, Ellen, in New York City.

*Published in the 2025 Alumnae Bulletin

You’re currently working on a historical novel set in Paris. Can you tell me a bit about it? 

The Absinthe Drinker is set during the Année Terrible of 1870-1871, during which Paris lived through Franco-Prussian War, a seven-month siege, and the Commune. My elevator-pitch is Dickens meets Zola, but with more women. Historical characters appear, but not as major ones. I am a lot less interested in the people who make history than the people that history happens to.

What is your writing process like?

My writing process is messy and probably as dated as my subject matter. I write mostly by hand, then type it up, print it out and edit that — I’m not a complete Luddite. I don’t make an outline until I’m part-way through the first draft and need to figure out what comes next, but I like having a skeleton story to build my narrative around. I usually use a fairy tale or a historical moment to riff off of, like a jazz musician. I rewrite a lot. Each chapter goes through 6-7 drafts, and the whole book gets several more. I have a critique group and — for this book, especially — a handful of beta readers to help check my French, my military history and my cultural assumptions.

When I think I don’t have time to write (because life), I make a point of sitting down each day with paper and pen, setting a timer for 40 minutes, and writing until it goes off. I can edit, I can draft, I can write about how I don’t know what’s going on in the scene and try to describe what I need it to do, and try a couple of ways of rewriting it. I can write anything I want as long as my hand is moving and words are appearing on the page. If I get on a roll — and have extra time — I can keep going, but I don’t have to. It’s been an incredibly useful discipline for me.

Would you say Fantasy is your favorite genre? What drew you to that particular genre?

The books I loved best when I was growing up were fantasies: The Borrowers, Alice in Wonderland, Wind in the Willows, Stuart Little, and, when I got older, The Five Children and It, by E. Nesbit. But I liked historical novels just as much: Heidi, Hans Brinker, Little Women, The Swiss Family Robinson. I also loved mythology and fairy tales — not just the ones that Disney made movies of, but the older, more diverse ones to be found in the fairy books of many colors, edited by Andrew Lang. Thinking about it now, I would say that what I loved was stories about places and people who lived lives very different from mine, stories that opened my eyes to the beauty, wonder and danger of the world outside of my family and my home. And I still do.

What do you find most rewarding about being a writer? Most challenging?

My joy in writing lies not so much in telling a story as it is in falling in love with a place and making up characters to have adventures in it. I’ve set stories and novels in all the places that I have found a real connection to: rural England, Paris and northern France, Maine, Louisiana, rural Texas, and, of course, New York. I love discovering the characters who live there and making them and their stories feel as real to a reader as they are to me.

Writing is hard work and one of the hardest things about it is keeping at it when the sentences don’t sound right, the dialogue is stilted, the characters are wooden, the exposition sounds like a bad history book, and I can’t figure out where any of it is going or just what I want to say. It’s hard to sit down and figure out what’s wrong with it and how to fix it. But if I don’t, it won’t get written, and I want it to be written, so I write. In short, persistence counts.

Prior to becoming a writer, you worked as a lecturer, reviewer and consulting editor. How and when did you decide to write full-time? 

I don’t really write full-time. I have friends who make their living writing, who write 5-8 hours a day, sometimes seven days a week, and can turn out a book or more a year. Some of them also run workshops, lecture, do school and bookstore events and raise families. At one point, I lived that life (except for the book a year thing — I’ve always been a slow writer), and it was fun, if hectic. But I slowed down when it got to be too much. I still go to conventions and teach workshops and write my 40 minutes a day.

You currently teach in the Children’s Literature Graduate Program at Hollins University and at other workshops. Can you tell me about your experience teaching writing?

I taught Freshman Composition at Boston University in the 70s and 80s, where I learned how to talk about the craft of writing an essay and how to look at a text as something being built rather than as a finished artifact. Volunteering to conduct writing workshops at Science Fiction conventions taught me how to talk about fiction, tropes, characterization and dialogue, which I liked a lot more than talking about essays. Later, I was hired to teach at speculative fiction summer writing programs like Clarion (at UCSan Diego) and Odyssey (in New Hampshire).

The Hollins faculty position was something I lucked into. The program is low-residency, leading to an M.A. or MFA. I had met the program director at the International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts, and she had mentioned that she’d love to have someone to teach Fantasy at Hollins. I expressed interest, and, in 2005, she said that there was a place for a Fantasy course, to be run every other year. I jumped at it, of course, and now have taught it six times. What I love most about it — apart from my students, who are smart, motivated, hard-working, and generally astonishing — is that talking about craft, examining works in progress, brainstorming possible plots and discussing things like how to make a training montage interesting and how to kill off a character, is as useful for me as it is for the students.

Your books have won the Andre Norton Award and Mythopeic Award. What other career accomplishments make you most proud? 

Reading books by writers who have been my students and seeing them win awards for books they may have started in my class.

For how long were you at Chapin? What memories or experiences at Chapin stand out to you? 

I was at Chapin for 12 years. What I remember is Prayers and revising my weekly essays by addressing each of the questions Miss Whiteside or Miss Phelps wrote in the margins. I also remember helping catalogue the library and putting books where they belonged for Miss Linmer, who taught me the Dewey Decimal system.

In what ways do you feel Chapin prepared you for the adult world?

I learned how to read carefully and to write clear sentences. I learned that the easy way is not always the best way. I learned that I couldn’t be good at everything, even if I tried, and that that didn’t mean I was stupid or that I should just give up. The best thing that I learned — and this was in 1969, remember — was that my being a girl had nothing to do with how intelligent, sharp or strong I was. Chapin made me a feminist before I had ever heard the word.

What other aspects of your life played a role in who you are today and what you’ve achieved?

Reading and traveling have been the strongest influences. As a severely asthmatic child, I spent an inordinate amount of time in the hospital or home in bed, reading everything I could get my hands on, age-appropriate or not, including a lot of history and biography that were my mother’s favorites. Since my father worked for Pan American airlines, we could fly for free, so from the time I was 10, I spent most of my summers abroad. I still travel a lot, both in the U.S. and beyond. In 2017, my wife, the writer Ellen Kushner, and I spent 18 months bouncing from Singapore, to Australia, to Finland, ending up in Paris, where we spent a year while I did research for my novel.

What advice would you give to current Chapin students or young alums who hope to pursue writing? 

Write what you love. If you’re just chasing a trend, it’s likely that the trend will be over by the time you’ve finished writing it. Right now, you need to know that even publishers don’t know how publishing works. It’s hard to get an agent. It’s hard to sell a book. And once it’s published, it’s hard to get it read. Write it anyway. Thanks to the internet, there is now more than one way to build an audience.

Writing can also be lonely. Even if you’re not a joiner, try to find a community of writers for support, encouragement and reality checking. Writing “dates,” when you get together with friends and work over coffee/tea/soda/pastry, are wonderfully energizing.

Above all, don’t give up. If you don’t write a terrible first draft, you can’t fix it. If an agent says no, complain to your friends and keep looking. While you’re waiting for your book to sell, start the next one. And if it doesn’t, look into self-publishing. There are popular authors out there who have never been traditionally published.

How do you like to relax and decompress?

I knit and listen to audio books. I bake bread. I take long walks in Riverside Park and think about plots. I cook dinner for good friends. I read.

Alison Ward Goldsmith, MD, ’02 is Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Grady Memorial Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Emory University School of Medicine. She received her B.A. from Johns Hopkins University, majoring in Anthropology and French Literature, and her medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Ward completed an integrated general surgery/cardiothoracic surgery residency and a cardiothoracic surgery research fellowship at NYU before moving to Atlanta, Georgia.  

*Published in the 2025 Alumnae Bulletin

The Chapin School is synonymous with academic excellence. For Dr. Alison Ward Goldsmith that foundation is strong and central to her story, but she also credits the School as a place where she developed her sense of self and found her calling. Alison discovered her love of science here and recalls the teachers who took note of her enthusiasm and aptitude for the discipline and made sure to encourage and challenge her in and out of the classroom. Alison thrived on the field, as well, learning the value of dedication, practice and collaboration on the field hockey team. It was also because of Chapin that Alison had the opportunity to shadow a cardiac surgeon, which solidified her love of medicine and her desire to become a doctor. She sees Chapin as having fostered not only her love of learning, but as a space that developed her as a whole person.

Reflecting on her time at the School, Alison remembers how much she loved her time here. She and her classmates would race from their apartment buildings to see who could arrive at those double oak doors the fastest. She fondly recounts other memories like how much she loved her field hockey team and how she counted down the days each summer until practices started again. Or in Lower School, dressing up as powerful, historical female figures for Women in Herstory month. Alison credits moments like these as ones that prepared her for life after Chapin, instilling in her the personal strength and skills she would need to pursue her dreams. 

Alison feels strongly that Chapin’s overall academics were exceptional, particularly for her area of interest. She shared, “I had great mentorship from the teachers who saw I was interested in science and really supported me in excelling there.” This rang true for the whole of her time at the School for all of her interests. When asked specifically how Chapin prepared her for college and beyond, Alison emphasized  that athletics played a large role; “We had such a wonderful sports department and the coaches were great cheerleaders and supporters. The lessons that I learned from playing sports were really important. [I had] this understanding of hard work and technical excellence leading to good outcomes. I think those two things, [academics and athletics], really prepared me for when I left Chapin and went to college.” 

Alison always knew she wanted to be a doctor but it was a Chapin community member that helped her to realize that she wanted to specialize in cardiothoracic surgery. After graduating from Chapin, she spent the summer shadowing Dr. Tranbaugh, the father of two Chapin alumnae. Alison said of the experience, “He took me under his wing. He gave me a white coat to wear to meetings, and taught me how to look at various imaging in the hospital and, of course, took me to the operating room. And so, that experience, at 18-years-old, really completely solidified my career path to go into Cardiac surgery. I think the combination of [support] at Chapin and then having this mentorship program set up with Dr. Tranbaugh [through the school] was really life changing for me.” 

Interestingly, Alison studied, and received Bachelors degrees for both Anthropology and French Literature at Johns Hopkins University. Her advanced science courses at Chapin and exposure to hospital culture through her internship allowed her the flexibility to pursue other interests in college, “I knew that I wanted to go into medicine, so when I went to Johns Hopkins — pre-med was not a major — I decided not to study biology as my major, knowing that I would get plenty [of that] throughout my college and med school.” She credits this for helping her to become a more well-rounded person and strengthening skills that aren’t necessarily emphasized in a pre-med track. Her strong writing skills in particular helped her to stand out among peers when she completed research papers during her research fellowship at NYU. 

Alison is now Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Grady Memorial Hospital and enjoying her professorship at Emory College. Reflecting on her choice of specialty she said, “At 18, I made the decision to be a cardiac surgeon, knowing that that might be an extreme decision and that maybe I should look at other areas… but I just kept coming back to that field. I think it ended up being a great fit for me. It’s a largely operative practice, very technically demanding and highly rewarding. I think that all of those things meshed with what I was looking for.” Her choice aligned with her strengths and passion — in medicine and holistically; “I do think it’s very important that when young students pick a specialty, that they look at their whole selves so they can make an informed decision.”  

All this has led Alison Goldsmith to a fulfilling career. She finds it rewarding that her work has an immediate and deep impact on the lives of her patients, improving their quality of life and making it better than before the surgery. And, just like her time playing field hockey, she also loves the collaborative nature of her specialty and the teamwork that comes with such a complex medical practice. Alongside the positives, however, are the challenges. She described two areas as the most challenging, each in a vastly different way, “One, which I think Chapin prepared me for, is that only 5% of cardiac surgeons in the United States are female. That is something my colleagues and I encounter on a daily basis. I think having the foundation from Chapin that I can do anything has allowed me to navigate that and push back against any bias that there might be.” 

Alison went on to share that the other major challenge is “complications or bad outcomes.” These, she said, “can be really devastating, obviously. They impact our patients' lives and it never gets easier. We carry those complications and losses with us.” To help balance the intensity of life as a cardiac surgeon, Alison prioritizes spending time with her husband and two dogs, she runs and stays physically active. This includes taking annual surfing trips, a sport picked up as an adult and loves because it is a complete change of pace from her day-to-day life. She encourages others to try new things at any age!

Finally, Alison Goldsmith offered advice for young people interested in medicine: “Start early looking into medicine and surgery in general. Start reading about it, asking if there’s a parent of one of your friends who’s a doctor and ask them about it. From there, towards the end of your time at Chapin, college or med school, start to try and volunteer or shadow. Try to get an understanding of what life in medicine is like.” She elaborated, saying, “Mentorship is so important. It’s not easy to know what life as a doctor is like, so seeking out a mentor is really important. I was fortunate to have Dr. Tranbaugh, and, in fact, to this day I see him at our national conferences.”

Frances Manthos ’84 is the founder of Calling London, a fully volunteer charity that has been collecting and distributing coats to people in need since 2011. She received her bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and has lived in London for more than 25 years.

*Published in the 2024 Alumnae Bulletin

What is the history of Calling London? How did you go about founding this organization? 

I founded Calling London 13 years ago in response to hearing about primary school children showing up at their school in the winter without coats because their families couldn’t afford to buy them one. With two kids of my own, I knew that many of us have a spare coat at home, so I registered as a non-profit charity in the UK, reached out to all my friends and asked them to either donate any unwanted coats they might have or collect at their place of work. That first year, we collected just over 1,000 coats, which we distributed through charitable groups who could hand the coats out to their clients.  

What do you find rewarding about operating Calling London?

It captures people’s imagination. They can see what I’m talking about when I say: If you give me your coat, by the next week somebody else will be wearing it who otherwise couldn’t afford it. This past December we collected 10,000 coats, which was a record and has meant we could reach even more people in need. I am so grateful for my volunteers who, over a weekend, give up their time to help us open the donation bags, sort and then refold the coats, then bag them up for distribution. One of the loveliest compliments I receive from my volunteers is that they know it’s nearly Christmas when it’s “coat sorting weekend.” Many of them have come every single year since the beginning, bringing their children to get involved as well. The most rewarding times are when I receive feedback from my beneficiary groups with messages, photos, cards from the recipients of the coats.

What does a typical day look like for you?  

During the Winter Coat Appeal, I am replying to endless emails from donors, from beneficiaries, organizing logistics for donations and pickups. I don’t like long email threads, so I often pick up the phone, which not only is a quicker way to get things sorted but also establishes a relationship with me. I have three lists I work from: the 40 or so schools and offices collecting coats for me, the 50 beneficiary groups requesting coats, and the volunteer sign-up list.  

Our coats go to food banks, homeless shelters, to groups working with mothers and babies, survivors of human trafficking. We also give coats to men and women who have job interviews, but no appropriate coat, through organizations like Smart Works. Recently, we also have a lot of asylum seekers in London who are desperate for warm coats. There is no money involved at any stage of this, nothing is bought, nothing is sold, and some requests are as small as 20 coats and the biggest is something like 700. I also try to post every few days to Instagram, through which we reach new donors as well as charities needing our coats.  

How do you find volunteers? 

Word of mouth, friends, friends’ families, offices, CSR [Corporate Social Responsibility] Days. It’s a UK thing, two days a year, groups will come as a team from an office. It’s different from what their day jobs are. They usually do M&A for a bank, for example, and here they are with their lint brushes folding children’s coats! We take over a church hall, wear our gloves and open all the bags to quality-check them. Our policy is we won’t give out a coat we ourselves wouldn’t wear.  

Our beneficiaries provide a list in advance — I would like 20 men’s, 13 women’s, whatever it is. Every one of our bags has five coats, super easy to count and color coded. I have two vans, one-third of the coats the volunteers will deliver; some charities will pick up. I will do the rest in my car. This allows me to meet people and ensure that everyone’s happy, and I can vouch for all the charities. It makes it more personal.  

Did your educational path lead you to your professional pursuits? 

Not at all! I studied comparative literature (with French and German) at Princeton and then moved to London. However, from my time at Chapin, I have consistently volunteered. I started in 10th grade at a soup kitchen somewhere near School, then continued at university with reading to blind students, then working with autistic children. When I moved back to London, I volunteered on a crisis hotline for 16 years. Volunteering has played an essential role in making me who I am today. 

For how long were you at Chapin? What resonates most about your years there?  

I joined Chapin in 8th grade when I moved to New York from London. I have very happy memories of my time there, and our Class of ’84 was great! Some of my closest friends are from School. Thanks to WhatsApp groups, we are in touch weekly. Mrs. Berendsen was the ideal headmistress. She was quite strict, but she remembered every student’s name as well as their parents’ names. She was incredible. We had inspiring teachers. My favorite was certainly Latin with the great Mr. Bundy.

What advice would you give to current Chapin students or young alums who may be interested in pursuing a career in social work or human services or getting involved with an organization like yours? How might you consider yourself a role model for young people?  

I would like to see all young people volunteer: whether working with young kids, beautifying a neighborhood, visiting the elderly — find something that you feel comfortable with, and do it. Every volunteer experience can show you something about yourself, and don’t underestimate the rewards of giving up your time for free to help someone else. 

How do you like to relax and decompress? 

As my classmates may remember, I am a film buff, so going to the movies and to theater continues to be important to me. I also find such joy in getting lost in a book. But top of the list is spending time with my friends and family. My son and daughter are in their 20s, and they live in London as well. We’re all here! I’m very fortunate.