Board of Trustees

CHAIR

Seth Alvord joined the Connecticut College Board of Trustees in 2016 and assumed the position as Chair of the Board on July 1, 2024.

Alvord is the Founder and Managing Partner of Balance Point Capital Partners, a private equity investment company. Balance Point invests debt and equity in middle-market companies, helping these companies find the right capital structure to support their objectives, while putting a premium on flexibility, partnership, and patience. Alvord has over 20 years of experience in advising and financing companies to achieve growth and profitability. Prior to founding Balance Point Capital, he held various positions in the investment banking industry, including the Investment Banking Division of Morgan Stanley.

Alvord is a member of the Newman’s Own Foundation board, where he chairs the Finance Committee. He previously served as a Trustee and vice chair of the Board of the Northfield Mount Hermon School. There he served on the Investment Committee and as Chair of the Financial Policy Committee. He has spoken to members of the Connecticut College Peggotty Investment Club about careers in the investment field and participated in club panel discussions on capital markets.

At Connecticut College, Alvord majored in political science and was a member of the men's rowing team. In 1998, he earned an M.B.A. from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University, where he was awarded the A. Donald Kelso Award, which is given to individuals who have contributed significantly to the advancement of the school.

VICE CHAIR

Jessica Archibald joined the Connecticut College Board of Trustees in 2021.

Archibald is a General Partner and member of the Investment Committee at Top Tier Capital Partners in San Francisco. She is co-lead of the Funds team and participates extensively in the capital formation efforts of the firm. Archibald joined Top Tier's predecessor firm, Paul Capital, in 2005. Prior to joining Top Tier, she was part of the investment team at Care Capital LLC, a venture capital firm specializing in biotechnology. Before that, she spent five years at Salomon Smith Barney.

Archibald graduated in 1995 with a major in math and economics. She took a business school semester abroad at the University of St. Gallen in 2001 and earned her M.B.A. in finance from NYU's Stern School of Business in 2002. She was a member of the varsity crew team and was inducted into the College's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006. She continued to row competitively after graduation through the New York Athletic Club, where she was a nine-time national champion, and she competed in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic trials. Currently, Archibald rows with the Sarasota Rowing Club in domestic and international competitions.

VICE CHAIR

John Linehan was elected to the Connecticut College Board of Trustees in 2018.

Linehan is the chief investment officer of Equity and portfolio manager for the Equity Income and the U.S. Select Value Equity Strategies, as well as co-portfolio manager for the U.S. Large-Cap Value Strategy. He is a member of the firm's Global Equity Steering, Asset Allocation, and Global Trading Committees. John is a vice president of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. and T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. Linehan has 37 years of investment experience, 28 with T. Rowe Price. Prior to joining T. Rowe Price, he was an executive in the oil trading and consulting industry. 

He currently serves as a board member for the Odyssey School and the Baltimore Equitable Society. Previously, he has served on a number of boards, including Friends School of Baltimore, Gilman School, Baltimore Equitable Scholarship Trust, the South Baltimore Homeless Shelter, and St. Mary's Seminary and University.

Linehan earned a B.A. in economics from Amherst College and an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was the Henry Ford II Scholar, an Arjay Miller Scholar, and the winner of the Alexander A. Robichek Award in finance. He has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. 

Maria Boyce joined the Connecticut College Board of Trustees in 2020.

Boyce is a retired partner of Hogan Lovells LLP, where she prosecuted and defended complex commercial and intellectual property cases in courts throughout the United States. Prior to joining Hogan Lovells, Boyce was a partner at Baker Botts LLP, where she served as the first female office managing partner of a major Houston law firm and served three terms on the firm's Executive Committee. 

Boyce is passionate about issues surrounding health equity, particularly in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Episcopal Health Foundation, a member of the Board of Visitors and a patient advocate representative for MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Chair of the Board of Directors of The Rose. She previously served as a Trustee of St. John’s School, a K-12 independent school in Houston.

With a major in government and a minor in history, Boyce graduated cum laude from Connecticut College and went on to obtain her J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law. While at Conn, Boyce served as the housefellow of Windham House her senior year, as a member of the Judiciary Board during her junior year, and as president of Harkness House her sophomore year. She also attended the London School of Economics for one semester.

YOUNG ALUMNI TRUSTEE

Casey was elected as a Young Alumni Trustee in 2026. Casey graduated from Connecticut College with a major in Neuroscience. He is currently pursuing a Master's in Business Administration from the D’Amore McKim School of Business at Northeastern University. He plans on building a career in the business of healthcare.

While at Connecticut College, Casey was a two-time captain of the Men’s basketball team and represented the NESCAC as one of 43 student members of the NCAA Division III student athletic advisory committee. He was affiliated with One Love, Team IMPACT, and the Special Olympics. RJ also participated in a student independent language study program at Conn as the founder of the Portuguese club and was a Senior Admission Fellow.

Upon his graduation, Casey received the Andrew H. Chait Award to honor a member of the College community who has shown outstanding service and commitment to the Connecticut College Department of Athletics

YOUNG ALUMNI TRUSTEE

Castellanos Palacios joined the board as a Young Alumni Trustee in 2025 after graduating from Connecticut College with a double major in Government and Sociology, a minor in Chinese, and a certificate in Community Action and Public Policy from the Holleran Center. She currently serves as a Program Coordinator at Latino Service Providers in Santa Rosa, CA, where she supports the Youth Promotor Program. Through her work, she helps facilitate youth leadership development, mental health education, and community engagement initiatives that equip young people with the skills and resources to promote wellness, reduce stigma surrounding mental health, and serve as advocates for their peers and communities. 

Castellanos Palacios was a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow and a member of Alpha Kappa Delta, the International Sociology Honor Society. For her outstanding contributions to both scholarship and service, she was awarded the Harriet Buescher Lawrence Prize and the Tracee Reiser Community Partnerships Award. 

She served in the Student Government Association (SGA) for three years, first as Vice President in her sophomore year, then as President during both her junior and senior years, advocating on behalf of the students. As a Student Fellow at the Holleran Center, she connected students with community-based learning opportunities and nonprofit partnerships throughout New London, CT. In addition, she served as an Enrich Student Coordinator and Mentor, working with local middle school students through mentorship, support, and youth development programming. 

Nat Damon began serving on the Connecticut College Board of Trustees in 2021.

Damon is the founding Executive Director of Reach Academics, an organization that works closely with K-12 schools in the US and UK to strengthen relationships among students, teachers, staff, parents, and administrators to ensure all members thrive. He also hosts the “Reach.Teach.Talk” podcast. In 2021, Nat founded Reach Academy for Young Men, a 501(c)3 summer institute for boys in grades 7-12 in the LA area focused on learning, leadership, and positive growth, and a soon-to-be middle school opening in the fall of 2027. Previously, Damon was the Middle School Director at The Archer School for Girls in Los Angeles and the assistant head of School/Upper School director for seven years at The John Thomas Dye School in Bel Air, CA. Before that tenure, he was the founding academic dean/dean of students at Sierra Canyon in Chatsworth, CA. As an English teacher in grades 6 through 11, Damon worked at The Park School (Brookline, MA), Derby Academy (Hingham, MA), and Harvard-Westlake School (Bel Air, CA). He has published two books: "True Colors in My Ordinary World" and "Time to Teach: Time to Reach" and its corresponding workbook.

Damon is a member of the Board of Governors at Soho Parish Primary School in London and was recently elected to the board of the Relation-Centered Educators Network. He has served as a board member of the Episcopal School of Los Angeles, Beacon School for Boys, and Valley Charter Schools in North Hills, CA, with three years as Board Chair. Outside of education, Damon is on the vestry of All Saints Episcopal Church/Beverly Hills. He is passionate about the outdoors, the arts, and transforming LA into a cultural, educational, and civic beacon. 

Damon graduated in 1993 with a major in American studies and psychology and earned his M.A. in English literature from Middlebury College in 2000. While at Conn, Damon served as a housefellow, a community service volunteer, was a member of CoCo Beaux, and was on the men’s rowing team.

Eckel was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2026.

Eckel is the senior fellow and the director of leadership programs at the Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy at the UPenn Graduate School of Education. He has spent 20 years in nonprofit leadership related to higher education and the last 12 years as an academic working on governance and management of higher education. His work is both domestic and international in locations such as Kazakhstan, Canada, UK, India, and the UAE. He has also developed an online master's degree program in global higher education management.

Eckel is a Trustee Emeritus from the University of LaVerne, where he chaired the Governance, Enrollment, and Academic and Student Affairs Committees. He writes frequently for Inside Higher Education on issues of governance, leadership, strategy, and change.

Eckel earned his BA in Journalism from Michigan State University in 1989; an MA in College Personnel from the University of Maryland in 1991, and his Ph.D. in Educational Policy, Planning and Administration from the University of Maryland in 1998.

Marisa Fariña was elected to the Board in 2022. She previously served as a Young Alumni Trustee from 1993 - 1996. 

Fariña is Vice President of Live Events for the New York Times, where she oversees the live journalism platform, including Andrew Ross Sorkin's DealBook Summit. Prior to joining the New York Times in January 2025, Fariña was the Managing Director of Washington Post Live, the news outlet's live events division, and was the CRO and VP of Strategic Partnerships at Tina Brown Live Media, where she spearheaded business strategy and partnerships for Women in the World summits and salons presented domestically and internationally. She also spent 18 years at Time Out North America, including serving as executive vice president/group publisher. While there, she was named a recipient of Folio Magazine's 30 Under 30 award. She is the co-founder of TEDxEast, a program designed to allow communities, organizations, and individuals to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level.

Fariña is Chair of the Brooklyn Book Festival Board.

Fariña majored in political science at Connecticut College and received the Elizabeth Fielding Memorial Award, which recognizes an outstanding woman in each class. She was a member of the Student Government Association and served on the Senior Pledge Committee. She is currently president of the Class of 1993 and previously was a reunion committee member, class gift chair, and alumni admission representative. 

Sydney Lamb was elected by the Class of 2021 as their nominee for Young Alumni Trustee and was re-elected to the Board in 2025.  

After graduating, Lamb worked as a producer for the Harlem Cultural Festival, a full-day music festival at the Apollo Theater in New York City. Subsequently, Lamb moved to Washington, D.C., where she has worked for multiple members of the Connecticut delegation across both chambers of the United States Congress. She currently works as a legislative staffer for Senator Richard Blumenthal, where she focuses primarily on education, health, nutrition, and product safety policy efforts for the office. 

Lamb majored in American studies, minored in sociology, and achieved dean’s honors or high honors every semester. She received the Vera Snow Graduate Fellowship, the Class of 2003 Prize in American Studies, and the Robert Hampton Award, which is awarded to two seniors who have contributed the most to the College and community. Sydney also studied abroad in the fall of 2019 at University College London, where she studied American history and the history of antiquity. 

Her leadership experience includes serving as a representative on the Honor Council for all four academic years, including as the Council’s chair, where she presided over weekly meetings. In this role, she ensured that the Council reached fair, equitable, and appropriate decisions on honor code and student handbook violations. Sydney worked in the Office of Admission for most of her College years and served as a Senior Admissions Fellow, conducting evaluative interviews with prospective students. Throughout her four years at Conn, she was also a member of the Track & Field team as a thrower, sang with the ConnArtists co-ed a capella group, and was creative director for the Connecticut College Empowerment Initiative. 

Erica Lovett was appointed to the Board in 2024.

Lovett is Vice-President - Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, North America at Cartier, a global luxury Maison. In this role, she has led the strategic creation of Cartier’s DEI function in North America, developing a framework in which DEI is embedded into every area of business. Prior to joining Cartier, she served as the Director of Inclusion & Diversity at Condé Nast, a global media company.

Lovett has been recognized by the National Diversity Council as one of the Top 50 Leaders in Entertainment, The Root 100’s Most Influential African Americans, Marie Claire Magazine’s Fashion Changemakers, and Essence Magazine’s Power 40 List of Influential Business Leaders.

She sits on the Board of Cartier Philanthropy and the Associate Board of Oliver Scholars. She is passionate about environmental conservation and is an avid supporter of the U.S. National Parks.  

Lovett holds a Bachelor of Arts in History. As a student, she served as the Alumni Liaison for Umoja, a student worker for reunion weekend, and a tour guide for the Office of Admission.  In her junior year, she was selected by the Board of Trustees to be a student representative on the Presidential Search Committee. She was also a member of the senior giving committee.

Sarah Mudho began serving on the Connecticut College Board of Trustees in 2021.

Mudho is Principal Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Vatic Labs. Prior to joining Vatic Labs, Mudho was most recently General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Revelar Capital (f/k/a Wellspring Capital Management Group LLC), a $3B AUM middle-market private equity firm in New York that invests in healthcare services, business services, and specialty manufacturing. Previously, she was counsel in the M&A Group at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, where from 2005 to 2015, she worked and advised on leveraged buy-outs, strategic acquisitions, joint ventures, recapitalizations, and other transactions.

Mudho graduated cum laude in 1998 with a degree in International Relations and received her J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2001. While at the College, she played on the varsity Women's Basketball team for three seasons and participated in Umoja all four years. 

Devon Preston joined the Connecticut College Board of Trustees in 2021.

Preston’s professional career has primarily focused on environmental policy and sustainable development. She has held positions as an environmental program officer with the Rhode Island Foundation, executive director of the Washington County Regional Planning Council, environmental compliance officer and sustainability manager with the Presidio Trust, and with the National Audubon Society.

Since 2014, Preston has worked in various capacities with Land Together, an organization that facilitates nature-based rehabilitation and reentry support for people living in and leaving prison, and currently serves as vice-chair of the board. She served as an advocate for children in foster care from 2015-2025, and now serves on the board of the Marin Foster Care Association. 

Preston earned her B.A. from Connecticut College in 1993 with a major in Environmental Studies and a minor in English. While at Conn, Preston worked in the College Communications office, served as an Admission tour guide, and was a 4-year volunteer at the York Correctional Institution for Women. She received an M.S. in Environmental Policy from the University of Michigan School of the Environment in 1999. Devon’s sister, April Danz, also attended Connecticut College and graduated in 1996. 

Previn joined the Board of Trustees in 2026.

Previn serves as a senior vice president and chief information officer at Cisco, a multinational technology conglomerate best known for its networking hardware, software, and telecommunications. He is an executive sponsor for Cisco’s work with various U.S. government agencies. Prior to joining Cisco, Previn served as global chief information officer at IBM, where he led a global team of more than 12,000 IT professionals to provide a secure, global IT at scale for IBM employees worldwide.

Previn is on the board of Celsius Energy Drinks and Open Text, and is a board advisor for BP. Previously, he served as an advisor for the CIA and an executive sponsor for IBM with the NSA, DoD, and DISA.

Previn graduated in 2000 with a double major in German and government.

Leslie Rosen became a member of the Connecticut College Board of Trustees in 2020.

Rosen is a principal at Rosen Harbottle Commercial Real Estate, where she contributes significantly to business strategy and operations, provides complex transaction management, manages landlord/tenant disputes, and performs reviews of legal documents. Prior to joining Rosen Harbottle in 2015, she practiced transactional commercial real estate law in New York at Paul Hastings LLP and Kasowitz, Benson, Torres LLP.

Rosen is the immediate past President of the Board for Hillel at the University of Washington, a director of the Rita and Herbert Rosen Family Foundation, and a board member of the Northwest School for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children, the Isador Simon Family Foundation, and Temple De Hirsch Sinai. She was also a participant in the Wexner Heritage Program. Leslie previously co-chaired the UJA-Federation of New York Young Lawyers Division and co-chaired the UJA-Federation of New York ELP, now known as Young Leaders.

Graduating with honors in 2002, she earned a B.A. in government, followed by a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School in 2007. In 2012, Leslie was honored by Connecticut College with the Mach Arom ’89 Alumni Award for distinguished achievements in her profession and within society.

Jonathan Stavin was appointed to the Board in 2024

Stavin is the founder and managing member of Newtrack Development Group, LLC, a real estate consulting firm. Previous positions include serving as executive vice president of Philadelphia-based PMC Property Group Inc., senior vice president at CBRE, and vice president of the commercial division at Binswanger. 

He served as the vice chair of the Pennsylvania Ballet and is a former board member of the Pennsylvania Apartment Association and the Business Industry Association of Philadelphia. 

Stavin entered Conn College as a sophomore transfer student from Clark University. He majored in Government and went on to earn his law degree in 1991 from the Dickinson School of Law. While at Conn, he was active on Class Council and served as a tour guide and admissions associate. Stavin credits his time at Connecticut College with developing his love for art, art history, and political science. His education helped to guide him as an elected City Committee person and as a patron and board member of arts organizations. He has developed an extensive collection of paintings with an emphasis on emerging Philadelphia artists and graduates of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

Diane Stratton became a member of the Connecticut College Board of Trustees in 2022.

Stratton is an artist, jewelry designer, and owner of Diane Stratton Jewelry. She has been designing, creating, and making a line of jewelry for over 30 years. She is inspired by natural forms and elements, and reflections of light on water. Lightweight and comfortable to wear, her jewelry is simple and elegant. 

In her community, Stratton serves as a board member of the Michael H. Flanagan Foundation, on the board of governors for the RISD Museum in Providence, and as chair of the development committee for the Rhode Island Center for the Book. She was previously the president of the board for the Arts Alive Theater from 2011 – 2015.

Stratton majored in studio art with a focus on painting and minored in history. She was a member of the indoor and outdoor track teams and the women's field hockey team, serving as captain her senior year, and she sang with the Schwiffs. Since graduation, she has volunteered as class president, class agent, class correspondent, and with the Camel Athletics Club. She furthered her formal education by earning her M.F.A. at Rhode Island School of Design in 1998, where she was the 1997 winner of the Royal Marcher Scholarship prize. 

Rand Suffolk was elected to the Board in 2025.

Suffolk has been the director of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta since 2015, where he has championed a renewed commitment to community engagement by emphasizing collaboration, inclusivity, and access. He has been recognized by The Observer as one of the art world’s most influential people. Additionally, he is recognized as one of the top 200 industry influencers of Georgia’s creative economy, as one of Atlanta’s 25 most influential people. Prior to joining the High, Rand served as director of the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, OK, and as the director of The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, NY. 

Rand graduated from Conn in 1990 with a degree in English, and received his MA in Higher Education Administration from Columbia University in 1991 and an MA in the History of Art from Bryn Mawr College in 1995. While at the College, he played club rugby and was a student advisor and housefellow.

Tarbox was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2026.

Tarbox is an experienced public company director and former chief financial officer with extensive expertise in corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, financial strategy, and executive leadership.

Tarbox serves on the boards of public companies, educational institutions, and community organizations. She currently serves on the boards of Solo Brands, Inc. and Live Oak Acquisition Corp., where she chairs the Audit Committee for each company. During her tenure at each company, she helped lead initial public offerings and business combination transactions. Previously, she was a founding officer of KapStone Paper and Packaging Inc., serving as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. KapStone grew to become the fifth largest domestic paper and packaging company until its sale in 2018.

Beyond her corporate responsibilities, Tarbox is dedicated to education and community service. She serves on the University of Rhode Island Foundation Board of Trustees and on their Dean’s Advisory Council for the business school. In addition, she has served as the Executive-in-Residence in their business school and in 2023, was inducted into the URI College of Business Hall of Fame. At Connecticut College, Tarbox has served on the President’s Leadership Council since 2015. Tarbox was elected to the Board of the Community Services Associates of Sea Pines on Hilton Head Island in 2023 and has been a member of their finance committee since 2019.

Tarbox earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Connecticut College and an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Rhode Island.

Maarten Terry was elected to the Connecticut College Board of Trustees in 2021.

A marketing executive, Terry has more than 30 years of experience in direct marketing and brand management in diverse categories including telecommunications, books, magazines, coffee, and tobacco. Terry is President of Converge Marketing Services, a direct response media firm that delivers strategic solutions in media planning and buying, analysis, and marketing services. He previously held marketing and brand management roles at Time Inc., Philip Morris, and Kraft Foods.

Terry is a former board member of the United Way of New Canaan and a former board member and vice president of A Better Chance of New Canaan, a community-based organization focused on offering academically talented minority students a range of opportunities that may not be available in their own communities.

Terry was a sociology-based human relations major at Connecticut College. He received the Anna Lord Strauss medal during commencement in honor of his volunteer work at the Community Resource Commission Afterschool Center, his role in coordinating the relief effort on campus for victims of a major fire in New London, and his work to establish a local youth chapter of the NAACP. He was president of Unity House and of Umoja, worked at the WCNI radio station, and was a housefellow. Terry was a member of the student advisory committee to the Sociology department, commissioner of intramural athletics, and was also a member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. 

Venture is President of the Alumni Association Board of Directors and joined the Board of Trustees in 2026. 

Venture is an attorney with the Walton Law Group. She previously served as the Deputy Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) and the DHS EEO & Diversity Director. Prior to DHS, she worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for nine years, 12 years at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), began as a law clerk, then as a Trial Attorney, Administrative Judge, Acting Area Director of the San Diego Field Office, Special Assistant to the Chair, and finally, as the EEO Director for the EEOC. She also works with CASA of Prince George’s County, MD.

Venture majored in English and government and went on to earn her JD from the Washington College of Law at American University in 1990. At Conn, she was a student advisor, housefellow, a member of Umoja, and was a member of Students Organized Against Racism (SOAR). She currently serves as President of the Alumni Association Board of Directors and was the former Chair of the Connecticut College Alumni of Color (CCAC) and the Diversity Committee. Previously, she has been a reunion committee member and served as co-chair of the Celebrations X Reunion committee for the 50th anniversary of Unity House. She received the alumni Unity Award in 2026 at her 40^th reunion.

Anne Verplanck joined the Connecticut College Board of Trustees in 2024.

Dr. Verplanck is an emeritus associate professor of American Studies at Penn State University’s Harrisburg campus. She taught courses in American art and visual culture, social and cultural history, American decorative arts and material culture, and museum and heritage studies. Prior to joining the Penn State Harrisburg faculty in 2010, she worked in the museum field for 30 years. Until 2009, she was the Curator of Prints and Paintings at Winterthur Museum, where she also served as Interim Director of Museum Collections and Interim Director of the Research Fellowship Program. In addition, she taught in the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture/University of Delaware, and at George Washington and George Mason universities. She has served in curatorial and consultant positions at numerous museums and historic sites and has lectured widely. She is currently engaged in an academic book project, The Business of Art: Cultural Entrepreneurship in the Nineteenth Century, that examines the lives of mid-nineteenth-century Philadelphia artists and art entrepreneurs through an economic lens.

Verplanck is the vice-chair of the Alumni Executive Committee at St. Mark’s School in Southborough, Mass., is a board member of the American Historical Print Collector’s Society, and is a member of the Kennett Township, PA Planning Commission. Previously, she served as a board member and campaign co-chair of the Pennsylvania Historical Association, was co-chair of the Material Culture Caucus of the American Studies Association, and was a board member for the Association of Print Scholars.

Verplanck majored in history and botany at Conn and earned her Master’s and Ph.D.in American Studies from the College of William and Mary. Since graduation, she has served as a reunion committee member and as a Class Gift Officer/Chair. In 2015, upon her 35^th Reunion, she was awarded the Alumni Tribute Award for extraordinary service to the College.

Tamah Wiegand was appointed to the Board in 2025.

Wiegand taught English and American history for 31 years at the Brearley School in New York City, an independent school for girls in K-12. She was the head of the middle school from 1983-2000 when she retired. 

Since retiring, she has served as vice president of the Gardiner Library Board of Trustees. Currently, she is the first woman to chair the SUNY New Paltz Foundation Board. She also serves as the honorary co-chair of the SUNY New Paltz capital campaign committee. 

Wiegand majored in English at Conn and has served on the President’s Leadership Council since 2021. While a student at Conn, she was president of Katharine Blunt House during her senior year.   

YOUNG ALUMNI TRUSTEE

Yon was elected by the Class of 2024 as their nominee for the Young Alumni Trustee. At Conn, she was a dance and economics double major in the Entrepreneurship, Social Innovation, Value, and Change pathway. Yon is the founder of Prep for Excellence LLC, a college readiness, retention, and performing arts company that serves K-12 students across New York City’s Department of Education, New York government programs, and organizations in various states. Her work supports students and families throughout the college application process, scholarship searches, interview preparation, learning how to maximize the college experience, and dance classes. In addition to this work, Yon is a professional dancer who has performed with notable artists and global brands.

During her time at Conn, Yon was a recognized recipient of the Connecticut College Bookshop Prize, the Martha Myers Prize, and the José Limón Award. Beyond the classroom, she participated in numerous clubs, such as the Peggotty Investment Club, where she pitched for a GlaxoSmithKline investment, leading to the club’s first holding in the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) sector; Dance Club, 2024 Finance Cohort, Women of Color Collective (W.O.C.C.), and the Black Student Union (BSU). 

Yon was a student advisor for the Office of the First Year Deans, a mentor for the New London High School Mentorship Program, a Big Sib for the Genesis Mentorship Program, and a mentee in the H.E.R.D. Mentorship Program, and is the brainchild of the Unity Gala, an event designed to foster inclusivity and cohesion within the campus community. In addition to her activities at Conn, Yon studied abroad at the Universidad Del Pacífico in Lima, Peru, where she was recognized by her peers by receiving the Outstanding Delegate Award for her exceptional contributions as a class representative. 

While a student at Conn, Yon worked at the Alumni and Parent Engagement Office, offering hands-on and technical support for school-sponsored events and programs for students, parents, and alumni, at The Hale Center for Career Development as a Pre-Business Career Fellow, and in the Office of Admissions as a Senior Admissions Fellow.

John Zeiler was elected to the Board in 2023.

Zeiler started Hudson Housing Capital, an institutional investment management firm specializing in high-quality affordable housing in 1998. Hudson’s developments have been part of neighborhood revitalizations in urban areas nationwide, including housing twined with public schools. Many of the developments are partnerships with nonprofit housing and social service organizations. Today, Hudson’s portfolio has $23 billion of assets under management.  

Zeiler is a certified high school teacher. He teaches at Comp Sci Charter School in the South Bronx. He founded the nonprofit Project Trampoline (PT) to support minority public school students in the Bronx to matriculate and graduate from college. PT provides focused academic and life skills support through college graduation. There are currently 22 Project Trampoline students enrolled at Connecticut College. 

He is a board member of the Police Athletic League (PAL) of New York, the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition, and the Urban Land Institute Affordable Housing Council. 

Zeiler graduated from Connecticut College with a BA in Urban Studies and holds an MBA from New York University, MPA from Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and a M.Ed. from Relay Graduate School of Education. John was inducted into the College’s Ad Astra Society in 2022.