Alumni Speaker Series

Dr. Rachel Bartholomew '92
MEG Talk scheduled for Monday, February 5th. More info to come.
Jennifer Ruoti
Jennifer has 20 years of leadership experience in technology and software development and delivery, with a focus on project and program management. In addition to leading teams, the focus of her career has been establishing Project Management Offices (PMOs) at companies small and large to deliver customer projects on-time and on-budget. She has a passion for creating best practices and enjoys teaching and mentoring project managers and delivery teams. In her current position at Oracle, Jennifer has responsibility globally for the Oracle Retail Consulting PMO and Partner Alliances.

Jennifer is a graduate of Phillips-Osborne and Hawken Schools. She graduated cum laude from Smith College with a B.A. in Sociology and is Project Management Professional (PMP)® certified. Jennifer is also the proud parent of 3 current AOA students - Robby (3rd grade), Ava (1st grade) and Alessandra (1st grade).

Building Resilience: Why Failure is Essential on the Path to Success
In today's fast-paced social-media focused lifestyle, failure, setbacks and struggles are often perceived as a bad thing. In reality, failure is a critical building block to gaining confidence, developing perseverance, and building resilience. During this discussion, we will talk about what resilience is and why failure and setbacks are important to building resilience. We will also explore strategies to become more resilient.
Doug Meil '83
Doug Meil is a 1980 graduate of The Phillips-Osborne School.

Doug Meil is the Assistant Director of UrbanAI (Analytics & Innovation) for the City of Cleveland. He founded the Cleveland Big Data Meetup in 2010 and still acts as the co-organizer. Doug has written 26 posts for the Association for Computing Machinery, and was an Apache HBase committer in the early days of the Hadoop/open source big data ecosystem. Doug is a career software engineer and was also the founding engineer of Explorys, a medical informatics startup that was later acquired by IBM Watson Health.
Carmen Coleman '93
Carmen Coleman is a proud graduate of the Andrews Osborne Academy (AOA), class of 1993. As a student, she held several leadership roles including senior class president, student council vice president and captain of the field hockey and lacrosse teams.

Carmen Coleman currently works at Intel Corporation as a Technical Program Manager in the Analytics and Technology Automation (ATA) organization in Chandler, Arizona. In this role, she leads cross-organizational multi-discipline technical teams that are directly tied to the development, implementation, and upgrade of technology and products for internal customers using GitHub.

Prior to this role, Carmen was responsible for supervising the activities of her production teams in a research and development manufacturing facility. This involved setting priorities for the team as well as ensuring material movement aligned to delivery schedules set by multiple customers. Carmen has received Six
Sigma - Green Belt certification for numerous projects related to Factory optimization and prioritization.

She has held the role of system analysts and deployed new material kitting control systems and sites to better communicate and equip factory for efficiency and execution. She has also held a variety of other positions including Manufacturing Operations Manager, Manufacturing Engineer and Industrial Engineer in which she implemented a media inventory management system, established a video training collaboration program and project managed within a hiring champion role.

Outside of work, Carmen is a transformational life coach and enjoys helping others uncover their passions, strengths and dreams. She currently serves on the AOA School Board. She also enjoys traveling, singing, sports, playing board games and spending time with family and friends. As of fall 2023, Carmen traveled to 6 out of 7 world continents. Her personal life motto is to “become the change you want to see in the world.”

Click this link to view Carmen's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFiltmbgb84
Pam Bryant '90
The prevalence of social media in today's society and how, by being mindful of three key words - Pride, Determination, and Resilience - we can still create connection and engagement with each other through personal interactions.
February 6, 2023

Pamela Bryant graduated from Andrews School class of 1990. After attending Stephens College and traveling abroad Pamela began a career in Corporate Management. Pamela Bryant joined The General in 2015 as an Ohio Sales Supervisors and has received numerous awards related to her work and contributions to the team. When not at The General, Pamela is the Sergeant at Arms and Director of the Social Experience Committee for a Women's Empowerment Organization, “Stiletto Boss Women's Group". From her involvement in this group, she recently co-authored a book with 6 additional ladies, “From Survivor To Stilettos". She serves on the board of the community outreach team at Southeast SDA Church. While on the Outreach board she became involved in N.A.P.S (National Association for the Prevention of Starvation) a nonprofit volunteer organization comprised of SDA college students and graduates.

As an alumnus, Pamela, is interested in connecting with the youth of the school and becoming involved in any way to assist with growth and development while at AOA and moving forward!
Diane Ryder '67
How Andrews School Gave Me All I Needed for Success In Life and In My Career.
October 3rd, 2022

Diane Ryder graduated from the Andrews School for Girls in 1967 with a major in art and received the school's first photography scholarship. She used the photography skills she learned at Andrews to help finance her college education at Cleveland State University, where she graduated with a degree in Elementary Education in 1970. Diane is a former elementary school teacher, photographer, driving instructor, award-winning journalist, and author of five published books.
Asha Gowda ‘92
Resiliency and Independence
October 28, 2021

Asha Gowda is an Assistant General Auditor at KeyBank with more than 20 years of experience in audit, risk management, finance, and modeling. She earned her B.A. in Accounting from Ohio Wesleyan University and an MBA from Case Western Reserve University. Ms. Gowda currently serves as the fourth Chair of the Board of Andrews Osborne Academy and the first woman to serve in this capacity since its formation in 2007.
Kate Mills ‘79
Leap of Faith, Seizing the Impossible
December 6, 2021

Kate attended Baldwin-Wallace University as a voice major in the Music Conservatory, where she was involved in numerous ensembles and musical/operatic productions. While studying at the Community Music Center in Boston at the time (Piano and Opera studies), she applied for an internship with the Music Therapy department. At this time, the AIDS epidemic was in full, devastating force. After providing an evening of healing for the caregivers of people with AIDS - typically family members who cared for their loved ones until the end - her view of music changed entirely. She abandoned my dream of being a performer and continued her studies in Social Work. She now works for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a Clinical Coordinator for the Department of Developmental Services while continuing to teach, perform and direct in music at True Music Studios in Rhode Island and Derby Academy in Massachusetts.
Ann Lorenz Garton ‘88
Human Centeredness in the 21st Century
January 21, 2022

Ann Lorenz Garton, DNP, RN, FPCC, CNE is a 1988 graduate of The Andrews School. She also walked the halls of Andrews as a faculty member of the Biology department, Interim Athletic Director, and Director of the Equestrian Center. Ann has loved the challenge of becoming a lifelong learner. She has earned degrees in Biology, Health Sciences and Nursing. Garton achieved a Masters in Nursing Administration from St. Ambrose University, and a Doctorate in Nursing Practice with a focus in global population health from Indiana Wesleyan University. Ann is certified in nursing education by the National League for Nursing, and a Planetree Fellow in Person-Centered Care.
Kelsey Tarase ‘08
Openness: The Importance of Trying New Things
March 1, 2022

Kelsey Tarase is a member of the 2008, AOA graduating class. She is a legacy of the school, with her three older sisters, mother, and grandmother having all attended The Andrews School. With a passion for equitable access to education for all, she began working as a member of the education staff of The Children's Museum of Cleveland in 2011. Upon graduation she continued her work with the museum and in 2016 joined the development team helping to design exhibits and raise $11 million dollars for the opening of a brand new museum space. In 2017, The Children's Museum of Cleveland reopened and Kelsey was named as Director of Education, leading the museum into a new child-centered programming model. Kelsey earned a B.A. in Integrated Middle Childhood Education from Hiram College in 2012. She sits on the board for the Western Reserve Chorale and is a part of Cleveland Bridge Builders class of 2022.
Yiannoula Mavroidis ‘12
Mental Health and Self-Care
April 29, 2022

Yiannoula is a licensed professional clinical mental health counselor with supervision endorsement and a board-certified telehealth provider. Yiannoula has worked in private practice specializing in counseling for Depression and Anxiety for four years. She served as President of the Ohio Association for Specialists in Group Work chapter of the Ohio Counseling Association twice, presented at the All Ohio Counseling Association Conference (AOCC) three times, and served on the proposal committee for the AOCC for several years.

Yiannoula founded her own private practice, Resilient Wellness, in 2021 after working with a high-risk population for 4 years. She leads speaking engagements in different communities throughout Ohio advocating for mental health and mentoring counselors-in-training through her supervision license.

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