Samantha P. Yi

Senior Woman's Award for Volunteer Service Recipient, 2015

For immediate release

April 22, 2015
From: Judy Moore/University Relations
For more information, contact Janet Bilandic, president, or Michele Bresler, chair of public relations, The Alumnae of Northwestern University at [email protected].

Samantha P. Yi Receives Alumnae Senior Woman’s Service Award
Evanston, Ill. --- Samantha P. Yi is the recipient of the 2015 Senior Woman’s Service Award given by The Alumnae of Northwestern University. The award, established by The Alumnae in 2002, honors a senior woman for volunteer service during her undergraduate years at Northwestern University.
Samantha, from Brooklyn, New York, is a senior, majoring in Social Policy in the School of Education and Social Policy (SESP), with a grade point average of 3.6. Her focus has been to improve the lives of underprivileged children through mentoring programs involving Northwestern students. Her major volunteer service has been with Supplies for Dreams, Inc., a Chicago-based nonprofit organization dedicated to changing the way Chicago Public School students learn and experience life, where she serves as unpaid Executive Director. While inspiring other Northwestern students to join her, she has volunteered at the organization 20 hours a week for four years after she began mentoring a 6th grader in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood.
As a volunteer at Supplies for Dreams during her sophomore year, Samantha became the Supplies for Dreams Northwestern Outreach Chair, hosting events for children featuring Northwestern students such as the Purple Crayon Players and the dance group Fusion. She also enlisted Northwestern athletes to come to a “Wildcat Workout” event to educate young students about the benefits of exercise.
In addition, Samantha developed a curriculum for mentoring, working with SESP professors and other experts in the field to develop a series of surveys based on a charter school character report card. In his words about Samantha, the co-founder and director of Supplies for Dreams, Hiro Kawashimi, said: “Her volunteering and leadership produced remarkable results. She led a team of 40 part-time staff and supported more than 3,600 CPS students, raised $100,000 from countless corporations and foundations, and pivoted program strategies to improve outcomes … she is an asset to our team, to the students our organization serves, and to the Northwestern University community.”
Samantha also volunteered at the Chicago Office of Heartland Alliance, an organization that serves refugees and immigrants, where she was the College Prep Coordinator. During 2013-14, Samantha helped students at Evanston’s Dewey Elementary School in their Books & Breakfast program.
Samantha will receive the Senior Woman’s Service Award of $2,500 at The Alumnae of Northwestern University’s Annual Board Meeting, which will be held in May 2015. She will also be recognized at Honors Day and commencement. This summer she will be interning for Terry Mazany, CEO of the Chicago Community Trust.

The Alumnae of Northwestern University is an all-volunteer organization of women that raises funds for a wide range of projects to benefit Northwestern while sharing the university’s academic resources with the community through its Continuing Education program. Founded in 1916, The Alumnae has given more than $7.5 million to the university in the form of grants, fellowships, scholarships, an endowed professorship, funding for special university projects, and summer internships. For more information, visit The Alumnae website at www.nualumnae.org.

Bridget Popovic

Senior Woman's Award for Volunteer Service Recipient, 2016

For immediate release
May 1, 2016

For more information:
Janet Bilandic, President
Michele Bresler, chair, Public Relations
The Alumnae of Northwestern University
847/869-1010; [email protected]

Bridget Popovic Receives Alumnae Senior Woman’s Service Award

Evanston, Ill. --- Bridget Popovic is the recipient of the 2016 Senior Woman’s Service Award given by The Alumnae of Northwestern University, The award, established by The Alumnae in 2002, honors a senior woman for volunteer service during her undergraduate years at Northwestern University.

Bridget, from Fairview Park, Ohio, is a senior, with two majors, Mechanical Engineering and Manufacturing and Design (McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science (McC)). She will receive her Master’s degree from McCormick in 2017.

Bridget became interested in the American Cancer Society following her father’s death from the disease when she was 17 years old; her mother is currently in remission from cancer.

When she came to Northwestern, she joined the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life and began to make a difference in the fight against cancer. She became President of Relay For Life, which meant leading a large philanthropic student group on campus and being part of an even larger national organization. She worked with hundreds of students and community members on campus, and across the Midwest and around the country. She was responsible for strengthening on-campus fundraising and off-campus sponsorship efforts with new initiatives that led to raising $100,000 each year, for a total of $400,000 in her four years at Northwestern.

Bridget co-developed a cancer survivor and caregiver manual that has been distributed to campuses nationwide. She spearheaded a project in which a song will be created for use at Relay For Life events, and expanded the newly created “Virtual Survivor” program for those unable to attend American Cancer Society events. The resource she developed has been disseminated regionally and nationally.

In addition, Bridget has worked with NASA and fellow students in helping facilitate development of educational science programming for local middle school students to encourage them to learn more about rocketry, engineering and science. She is also a founding member of St. Baldrick’s at Northwestern, a student group which recently held its inaugural on-campus event that raised over $10,000 for pediatric cancer research.

“Bridget is a fine student with an extraordinary academic load. Yet she makes time to devote herself to her passion, fighting cancer and raising awareness for those in need. She is an inspiring motivator and leader, a dedicated woman who puts her free time, if she has any, into projects aimed to help others,” note Margo Brown and Julie McDowell, chairs of The Alumnae’s Senior Woman’s Service Award committee.

Bridget will receive the Senior Woman’s Service Award of $2,500 at The Alumnae of Northwestern University’s Annual Board Meeting, which will be held in May 2016. She will also be recognized at Honors Day and commencement.

The Alumnae of Northwestern University is an all-volunteer organization of women that raises funds for a wide range of projects to benefit Northwestern while sharing the university’s academic resources with the community through its Continuing Education program. Founded in 1916, The Alumnae has given more than $7.5 million to the university in the form of grants, fellowships, scholarships, an endowed professorship, funding for special university projects, and summer internships. For more information, visit The Alumnae website (www.nualumnae.org).

NR 2016 Senior Woman’s Award/mb

Jennifer Li

STEM Scholarship Recipient, 2013

Jennifer (Jenny) Li, from Setauket, N.Y., is majoring in the Integrated Science and Biology Program in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences (WCAS). She is the Associated Student Government (ASG) Science Senator, is a member of Alpha Phi Omega, a national service fraternity, and participated in Alternative Spring Break. She was chosen a Freshman Emerging Leader and also was a Peer Advisor for Wildcat Welcome Week 2013. This past year, Jennifer worked at a research lab on Northwestern University’s Chicago campus. Inspired by her lab research, which currently focuses on the genetic causes of autism and other mental disorders, she has devoted her time to a student organization called AMASE (Academy of Music and Arts for Special Education, spending time with autistic children teaching them how to play instruments and other music-related activities. She plans to become either a veterinarian or a criminal forensic scientist.

Wendy Gao

STEM Scholarship Recipient, 2013

Wendy Gao, from Mequon, Wis., is majoring in Industrial Engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science (McC). Wendy works in the McLean Lab of Neurobiology and Physiology and was invited to do unpaid research with DNA cloning. She is a member of the Northwestern Swim Club and works on Dance Marathon. Wendy’s former employer states, “Wendy is a natural leader. She has excellent communications skills and adapts to her environment successfully. She is passionate about success.” Upon graduation, Wendy plans to work in the engineering field.

Alexandra Salomon

STEM Scholarship Recipient, 2013

Alexandra (Allie) Salomon, from Calabasas, Calif., is majoring in Mechanical Engineering (McC). She is part of Northwestern University’s Ventures in Biology Education (nuVIBE) bioscientist program, and received a research grant for doing research during the summer. She has had a paper already published in Current Biology and is currently working on research with larval fish. She is a member of Alpha Phi Omega, a national service fraternity, a Senate representative of the Happiness Club (brings people together and makes them smile - creates moments that lead people to think “that just made my day”), and a member of Clean Energy, Engineering a Sustainable World. She applied her engineering background to become a Technical Director of the stop-motion student film, Chasing Stars, for which she built a stop-motion puppet armature. Upon graduation, Alexandra plans to work in the bioengineering fields designing medical equipment, prosthetics or adaptive products.

Christina Spaeth

STEM Scholarship Recipient, 2013

Christina Spaeth, from Kenosha, Wis., is majoring in Human Communication Sciences in the School of Communication (SoC), and was on the Dean’s list last year. She received the Early Research Experience Award from the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) to pursue research. She is an audiovisual (AV) assistant at Norris, as well as a Research Assistant in the Language Learning Lab, where she assists with research on language development in infants and toddlers. Christina was inspired to study language and communication – and to pursue a career in speech-language pathology – by her older sister who has a neurogenetic developmental disability. She also writes short stories and novels in her free time. Upon graduation, Christina plans to be a speech-language pathologist for rural children.