Colgate University’s Max Shacknai Center for Outreach, Volunteerism and Education (COVE) held an alumni panel for students interested in Common Good careers on Saturday, March 7. The panel was part of Be the Change Weekend, a series of events co-sponsored by COVE, Career Services and the Office of Alumni Engagement to commemorate COVE’s 25th Anniversary.
The panel consisted of five Colgate alumni in Common Good careers. Among them were Lauren Bregman ’04, an attorney for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); Jake Kleinmahon ’07, a pediatric cardiologist; Stephanie McDonald ’04, a former national security attorney for the U.S. government; Wendy Perdomo ’96, CEO and co-founder of Coaching Women of Color; and Domenico Ruggerio ’08, executive director of the nonprofit We Are Family.
Students in attendance pre-registered for access to the day’s other events, including paired informational interviews and topic-focused break-out sessions with panelists. Before the discussion began, attendees were given name tags and the opportunity to connect with the featured alumni during an informal luncheon.
After the lunch session, Career Services’ Common Good Adviser and Assistant Director of Career Development, Whitney Harper, gave a short introduction to the panel topic. She discussed the value of the Colgate Common Good professional network and clarified what exactly defines Common Good careers.
“We define the Common Good as an effort to create positive social change and contribute to the well-being of the community and society,” Harper said. “[Common Good careers] usually address issues of public concern, and are motivated more by mission than by profit.”
The discussion moderators – COVE interns and Colgate seniors Sarah Goggin and Katie Nettles – then asked the panel to introduce themselves, their careers and how their values have shaped their path. Each alum detailed their career trajectory and shared how personal experiences, religious background or identity attuned them to the common good. Bregman, who now specializes in ocean law for NOAA, shared that her interest in the environment was formed early on, and in part because of her Jewish faith.
“I’m Jewish, and we, in Judaism, have this concept called Tikkun Olam, which means to repair the world,” Bregman said. “So from a young age, I always knew I wanted to do something to better the world.”
Ruggerio said that his own identities and membership in identity groups at Colgate strongly influenced his approach to his work. He spoke about how his experiences operating identity centers at institutions of higher education like Vassar, Oberlin and Bard Colleges taught him the importance of building organizations with an eye for broader, community-oriented purposes.
“Being a first-gen, multi-racial college student from an immigrant background informs my leadership. It’s not separate from that,” Ruggerio said. “It shapes how I think about access, how I think about building community.”
Goggin then asked the panel what they believed was the most challenging part of their job. Perdomo, who provides institutional and individual coaching for women of color, noted that her focus has broadened in response to the difficulty of effecting change on an individual basis.
“Sometimes it feels like I’m coaching a person, but she’s operating within the confines of a dysfunctional system, which makes it difficult; I feel like I’m sending her back to the lion’s den,” Perdomo said. “That led to my work with institutions.”
Kleinmahon said that the greatest challenge of pediatric heart surgery is knowing that not every patient will survive, no matter how hard he works. He added, though, that this reality drives him to approach his work with care and deep personal investment.
“I am at the hospital nights, weekends, whenever my patients need me, because no matter if a patient has a good outcome or a bad outcome, I want them to know that Doctor Jake was there for them,” Kleinmahon said.
Nettles then posed the final question, which asked panelists to consider, in light of the immense, often structural challenges of their work, how they take care of themselves and remain inspired. Many of the panelists noted the importance of exercise, family and other ways to remain grounded. Bregman also reiterated the importance of integrating work with personal passion.
“Going back to this repairing the world idea … that I can do something, and that it is my job to do something,” Bregman said. “I mean, it is my actual profession to do something, but it also feels important to me.”
The panelists also said that, in all honesty, they are not always sure how to take care of themselves, and that work often takes precedence. Perdomo said that the nature of her work and responsibilities means she cannot always come first.
“What ended up happening to me was perimenopause hit, I have a son in college and I’m caretaking for two elderly parents, one who has dementia and one who suffered a stroke, plus I’m running a business, plus I’m helping clients,” Perdomo said. “Some days, I’m really the last one.”
Some of the panelists also said that the results of their work inspire them. Perdomo said that seeing the women she coaches succeed is her motivation; McDonald said that the long game and reflecting on the change she has helped make are sources of encouragement.
“Change happens really slowly, and so when you have a [moment of success], just take some time to pause and, instead of being like ‘what’s the next thing,’ smell the roses,” McDonald said. “You have achieved something, you have effected change.”
After the planned questions, Goggin and Nettles opened the floor to student questions. One question, posed to McDonald, asked about bias in Common Good work and how to work around or with it. McDonald said that, while it might be impossible to completely eradicate bias, disagreement can yield better contributions to the common good.
“I think the teams that I’ve been on that have been most successful are the ones where we create a foundation of trust and then encourage spirited disagreement,” McDonald said. “When we have gotten the best outcomes, it’s been by creating diverse teams of people.”
Senior Sarah Sexton, who attended the panel, said that the opportunity to hear about Common Good careers from alumni and to hear them in such vulnerable terms was both useful and enjoyable.
“It was really interesting to see the diversity of common good career paths,” Sexton said. “I enjoyed hearing from the panelists about their career trajectories and experiences; they were really transparent about their successes, failures, setbacks and detours.”
