IC Faces of Change celebrates the many members of the IC community who are making positive changes in their communities and in the world. This slideshow highlights just a few of those people.
Benjamin
Costello ’97
I organized a benefit
concert to raise
money to help the
family of the woman
who was killed in the
Simeon’s accident.
Namarah
McCall ’15
I am the Music Director
of @omg_voicestream
and my goal is to uplift
both the members of
Voicestream and the
community of IC
through the enjoyment
and sharing of music.
Deb
Mohlenhoff ’92
I ran for office and
am now in my 2nd
four-year term on
Ithaca's City Council
and serve as the
Acting Mayor.
Jaylene Clark
Owens ’10
When I found out there
was no slam poetry
group on campus, I took
the opportunity to
start one. Spit That!
turned out to be the
perfect complement to
my education in the
Department of
Theatre Arts.
Irene Scott ’03
I support Days for Girls
International by donating and
volunteering. Days for Girls
empowers women and girls
around the globe providing
sustainable feminine hygiene
solutions and health education. I
nominated Days for Girls to
receive the Conrad N. Hilton
Humanitarian prize for 2015, the
world’s largest humanitarian
award at $1.5 million.
Noreyana
Fernando ’15
I helped start Ithaca
College’s Student
Buddy Program. The
buddy program puts
incoming international
students in touch with
current IC students.
Mary Claire
Hartford ’15
I am the president of IC
Project Generations:
A Friendly Visiting
Program, where we
work to bridge the gap
between college
students and older
adults by providing
friendly visiting services
in the Ithaca
community.
Angela
Poffenbaugh ’18
In IC Catholic
Community, we give
back from visiting
homeless shelters to
retirement homes.
Faith
Meckley ’17
I'm walking across
the USA in the
@ClimateMarch to
inspire action on
#climatechange.
Devon Glover ’12
Devon takes
classical literature,
including
Shakespeare, and
infuses it with
modern day hip
hop, blues, and jazz.
Molly Israel ’05
I help plan an annual
fundraiser to raise
money for Alzheimers
patients and their
caregivers. Our event
helped fund Project
Lifesaver, a project that
supplies locator
wristbands to
Alzheimer's patients
who tend to wander.
Colleen
O'Meara ’16
I'm on the e-board of
IC Heart4Heart. We
raise funds for
children's heart
surgeries!
Jonathan
Escoffery ’02
Escoffery’s NYC –based
program, Building Young
Minds, connects high
school students with
people in the industry
that they are learning
about. More than 150
students have completed
the program, and many
have gone on to college
and careers.
Anne McClure
Furry ’55
Anne is a founder and
former mayor of the
Village of Lansing and a
former music teacher and
coordinator of the Ithaca
City School District’s
K–12 music program.
She established the Anne
McClure Furry ’55
Endowment Fund at
IC in 2005.
Donathan
Brown
From analyzing
campaign strategies to
discussing cultural
conflict rhetoric,
communication studies
professor Brown makes
sure his students are
thinking critically about
the media messages
they receive.
Kelli B.
Grant ’04
I write articles that
help people take
control of their
finances & make
smarter money
choices.
Leila
Welton ’16
I teach violin at
Southside Community
Center every Monday
with IC professors, and
I also teach violin to
Ithacans and we go
around retirement
homes to play for the
residents. I also adopt
animals from the SPCA -
I have two cats and my
dog, Lily!
Shey
Aponte ’17
I love going to
Longview and playing
bingo! A little help
goes a long way!
Heike Marie
Domine ’11
I teach Spanish in
Newark, N.J., where I
help empower kids
of color to change
the world and use
their voices.
Andrea Wollin
’17
I play bingo at
Longview every
week. The smiling
faces assure me that
we have made
someone's day.
Sean
Harkin ’15
Since my sophomore
year, I’ve been
working alongside
IC’s music professors
to complete an
acoustical analysis of
Ford Hall, one of the
Whalen Center’s
main concert halls.
Anne Hyland
Woodard ’81
I create change by
educating people on
cancer awareness
and by raising funds
for cancer research
through the
American Cancer
Society's Relay for
Life events.
Zack
Ford ’07
At @ThinkProgress,
advocating for LGBT
social justice
every day!
Rebecca
Schorr ’93
I organized 75 rabbis
to shave their heads
to raise
money/awareness
#36rabbis
#childhoodcancer
Maddy
Clark ’16
I'm president of
IC More Than Me, a
student organization
that focuses on
raising funds and
awareness for girls’
education in Liberia,
West Africa.
Evans ’84
I support public
education as a board
member of the
Ithaca Public
Education Initiative—
IPEI.
Chris
Kelley ’16
I am the secretary
and treasurer of
@ithacacollege Athlete
Ally, a club on campus
focused on promoting
homosexual and
transsexual equality on
varsity sports teams.
IC Women in
Communication
Parkies gather on
Wednesdays to
promote positive
change for women in
the workplace!
Jenna
Harner ’16
Being a tour guide
and getting to help
prospective students
choose the best
school in the
country!
Francesca
“Chessie” Esce ’17
I am the founder and
president of
@icpayitforward, a
group dedicated to
promoting the
importance of random
acts of kindness and
performing good
deeds, no matter how
small, around campus!
Geneva Faraci ’16
I help at the children's
room at my library
back home to help
promote literacy in my
community
Taylor
Moody ’18
I work and volunteer
at the local nursing home
during the winter break
and summer. I also work
at a kid’s camp within the
home that creates
connections between
elders and kids.
The goal is to eliminate
feelings of loneliness,
helplessness and boredom
among elders.
Jeremy
Levine ’06
Jeremy and Landon
Van Soest ’04 create
award-winning
documentaries
focusing on poverty
and inequality in the
US and around the
world.
Lewis
Kendall ’14
I volunteered with
environmental orgs
UBELONG and Jatun
Sacha in Ecuador
part of my senior
year at IC.
Abbe
Lyons ’87
Abbe is the executive
director of the Ithaca
Health Alliance, as in
addition to being a
cantor at Ithaca’s
Congregation
Tikkun v’Or.
Mary
Bubala ’91
Mary did a series of
stories on sexual
assaults at the U.S.
Naval Academy.
.
Jessica
Lawrence ’97
Jessica traveled across
the United States by
bike during the
Summer of 2013. She
raised more than
$25,000 to help
combat childhood
obesity.
Noah
Berlow ’04
Noah produced and
edited Dropping the
Knife: Kurdistan, a
documentary on female
genital mutilation that
aired in 2013 on BBC
World News and BBC
Arabic TV, and reached a
potential global
audience of 30 million
viewers.
Active Minds
We are Active Minds,
and we work to
change the
conversation about
mental health!
Alec
Mitchell ’12
Alec is the coordinator
of Rev Ithaca Startup
Works – a new
organization that helps
launch new businesses
and grow ideas in the
Ithaca area.
Alexa
I was raised by an IC
student to be a guide
dog and change a life
through Guiding Eyes
For the Blind. After
further consideration,
I decided that I would
rather save many lives
and now I'm in training
with MSA Security to
be a bomb sniffing
dog.
Susannah
Faulkner ’11
Recruited by Udi’s
Gluten Free Foods as
their university
outreach specialist
after she graduated,
Susannah moved to
London to start an
Udi's UK division.
Marianne Santoro
Loose ’89 and
John Loose ’87
Marianne and John
co-founded Lauren’s First
and Goal, a non-profit that
raises money for pediatric
cancer research and family
support and services.
Lauren’s First and Goal has
raised over $1.5 million.
Kaitlyn Clarke ’16
I'm on the e-board
for @ithacawic to
help women further
their futures in
communications!
Lauren
Goldberg ’13
Lauren founded Bomber
Bikes, a group that
promotes sustainable
transportation by
improving bicycle
infrastructure, launching
a bike-share program,
and expanding bike
culture on campus.
Dan Cohen ’76
Dan directed and
produced An Article of
Hope, which follows a
miniature Torah scroll
from the horrors of a
concentration camp
to the Columbia
space shuttle.
Debra Pollard
Perez ’86
Debra serves on the
IC Business Advisory
Council to provide
opportunities for
internships and
future job
placements for
students.
Erin Michael ’05
Erin co-created Team
Kennedy Krieger, a
charity team in the
Baltimore Running
Festival that
encourages patients to
get involved in fitness.
Michael
Segal ’86
Michael and his
company, Advisors
Asset Management,
hold yearly fundraisers
in Charlotte, N.C., for
the Saint Baldrick’s
Foundation.
Annette Ford
Bahun ’87
Annette is a flutist
in the American
Legion Band of the
Tonawandas Post
264. The all-volunteer
band performs up to
30 concerts annually.
Jonathan
Newell ’88
Jonathan is the
founder of the Hudson
River Music Hall, a not-for-
profit performance
space, arts education
center, and art gallery
in Hudson Falls, New
York, where he is now
executive director.
Kristina King ’15
I run a student
nonprofit consulting
firm that helps
jumpstart nonprofits in
the Ithaca community!
Luke Keller
Luke Keller maintains
research programs in
imaging and
spectroscopic
instrumentation and
in the astrophysics of
star formation and
planetary system
formation.
Brian DeMaris ’02
Brian is the director of
opera and musical
theatre at IC and is also
the music director and
co-founder of the Mill
City Summer Opera
(MCSO) in
Minneapolis.
Rachel
Huley ’17
I like to tell everyone
on campus how
beautiful they are
every day.
Barbara
Newborn ’73
Barbara uses yoga
therapy to help people
overcome serious
injuries and disabilities
like she did.
Jeff Ball ’03
In addition to leading
the Brooklyn Wind
Symphony, Jeff is the
director of bands at
the Grand St. Campus
High School in
Brooklyn.
Doug Levine ’98
In addition the
running Ithaca’s Sate
Theatre, Doug is an
active member of
the Ithaca Rotary
club and co-chairs
the annual "Share
the Warmth
Campaign.”
Christopher
Toone ’13
Christopher and a few
classmates in the
Semester at Sea program
formed the Senase
Project, a nonprofit org
that aims to empower
townspeople in an
African village and
address problems of
malaria, water quality,
and access to
medical care.
Leonisa
Ardizzone ’90
Leonisa is the founder
and president of
Storefront Science, a
center in New York City
that provides
supplemental science
education to students
attending city schools.
Lev Saltonstall ’10
Lev and his dad, Pete
Saltonstall, donated half
a ton of compost from
their winery, King Ferry
Winery, to a Bronx
elementary school’s
garden program.
Will
Rubenstein ’94
Will and his wife, Sandy
’95, own and operate
Camp Wingate*Kirkland
on 40 acres in Yarmouth
Port, M.A. They built a
home there and have
gone about the business
of creating memorable
experiences for 180
youngsters each summer.
Skott Freedman
Jones
My research focuses on
language science,
including variables that
impact our speech
perception and
production. Some of my
lab projects include word
learning, phonological
similarity, and autism
awareness.
Maria Butragio
I manage the Campus
Center for IC Campus
Center and Event
Services to ensure that
all IC students have a
place to meet, hang out,
and attend awesome
events!
Kyra
Mancine ’89
Kyra volunteers as a
board member for Girls
on the Run of Greater
Rochester, NY.
Chloe Lewis ’16
I am the outreach
coordinator of IC Athlete
Ally. Athlete Ally is one of
IC’s many LGBTQ+
outreach groups focused
on promoting
acceptance, inclusion,
tolerance, and above
all, equality, for
LGBTQ+ athletes on
varsity sports teams.
Teeny
Lamothe ’07
Teeny works to make
the world a better
place by making
delicious pies.
Vanessa
Calaban ’11
Since graduating in
2011, I have helped my
community by
becoming an advocate
for reproductive rights
in Massachusetts and
across the country.
Reproductive rights are
women's rights, and
women's rights are
human rights!
Dan Leibel ’14
Dan is the founder of
IC Student Volunteers
for Special Olympics,
and has coached
several athletes with
disabilities.
Eric
Leibensberger ’05
Eric’s work on the
environment has shown
that pollution over the
eastern United States
has delayed the warming
that we would expect to
see from increasing
greenhouse gases.