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Alumni and Friends: La Follette Notes: Spring 2008
Alumni News
1980s
Marisel Ayabarreno-Hernandez, 1981, is a partner at the law firm of Jacobs Burns Orlove Stanton & Hernandez in Chicago. The firm concentrates on union-side labor law and the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act. In February 2008, Hernandez was appointed commissioner of the Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago. The board administers all elections for the city of Chicago.
Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, Clerk and 2006 alum Jamie Aulik, right, inspects nomination paperwork, which allows a candidate’s name to appear on the ballot, for a county board candidate. Outside of work, Aulik helped organize and was elected president of the first chapter of the Veterans of Modern Warfare in Wisconsin. The organization aids veterans who have served since August 2, 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait and touched off the Gulf War. “VMW provides information about benefits, assistance in obtaining those benefits, camaraderie with other veterans and legislative advocacy on issues important to the newest generation of veterans,” says Aulik, who was in the middle of administering his first election as county clerk. He served in Baghdad in 2003-2004, has been a member of the Army Reserve for 11 years and holds the rank of staff sergeant.
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Victoria Lenz Joyal, 1984, has established a strategic research, marketing and sales development firm specializing in credit unions, drawing on her more than 20 years in not-for-profit financial services at Thrivent Financial and Credit Union National Association. She helps her clients understand and integrate marketplace trends and opportunities into their strategic marketing plans. Upon graduation from the La Follette Institute, Joyal spent a year working for Professor Dennis Dresang as a research analyst with Wisconsin’s Task Force on Comparable Worth. “That’s where I became well-versed in the politics of presenting data and analysis!” she reports.
1990s
After more than eight years as a successful attorney litigating on behalf of and against private and public entities great and small in Boston and, later, San Francisco, Jason Gerlach, 1994, now has two of his own ventures to keep him busy — in addition to his children, Daniel, age 3, and Sydney, 6. He is president and chief operating officer of an artisan chocolate company, Allie’s Edibles, that he and his wife, Alison, founded. He also is a Realtor in the San Diego, California, area. “I look back fondly on my time in Madison at La Follette and wish all alumni, faculty and staff the best,” he says.
Workshop brings 2 alumni together
Two La Follette School grads met at a workshop for leaders in the civil access to justice community in early October.
1997 alum Matthew Weber organized the gathering in
Traverse City, Michigan, as part of his job as manager of program assessment for The Resource for Great Programs Inc. 2007 alum Kevin Murphy blew into town after honeymooning in Mexico. He is grants coordinator for the Louisiana Bar Foundation.
“We joked about whether they’d even recognize him when he returned to work in New Orleans,” Weber says. “It was fun to see a fellow La Follette grad outside Wisconsin.”
Theresa Mintle, 1991, became the chief of staff to the chairman of the Chicago Transit Board last summer after serving several years as the Chicago Transit Authority’s general manager of government and community relations. “Since winning in January the long-fought battle to secure additional mass transit funding, I now get to focus on many new challenges and experiences, including a new appointment to the CTA Pension Trust,” she reports. “I thoroughly enjoy coming to work
every day.” She served on the La Follette School’s advisory Board of Visitors from 2002 to 2007.
2000s
Rebecca Webster, 2003, has been appointed commissioner on the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, an entity within the U.S. Department
of the Interior that promotes the economic development of American Indians and Alaska Natives of federally recognized tribes through the expansion of the Indian arts and crafts
market. An enrolled member of the Oneida tribe of Wisconsin, Webster serves the tribe
as a staff attorney. She provides legal advice
on real estate, probate, planning, land use,
zoning and environmental concerns. When
she is not practicing law, she creates Iroquois raised beadwork, which has won several awards. She has dedicated herself to preserving Oneida culture, arts and crafts by teaching others to
create traditional corn husk dolls, moccasins, outfits, fans and silver jewelry.
After 2.5 years at the White House (in the Office of Management & Budget and the Communications Office), Alex Conant, 2003, is now the press secretary for the Republican National Committee.
After spending a few years in Philadelphia, Ceri Jenkins, 2004, is pleased to be “working again with the great folks at La Follette via my
new position as the coordinator of the UW Evidence-Based Health Policy Project. The project is
a collaboration between the UW Population Health Institute, La Follette and the Wisconsin Legislative Council. We connect policymakers with timely, non-partisan, evidence-based research.” She adds that her 2-year old son, Liam, keeps her quite busy.
Dan and Rachel (Weber) Frisk, both class of 2001, are proud to announce the arrival of their son, Joseph Daniel, on June 17, 2007. The Frisk family resides in Annandale, Virginia, with Dan working for the Congressional Budget Office and Rachel working for the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Hilary Murrish, 2002, married Ian Benedict in November 2007 in Denver, Colorado. The couple live happily in the Washington, D.C., area.
Amy Brennan, 2000, is a lobbyist with Glauberman & Pollak, a firm specializing in non-profit advocacy in Chicago and Springfield, Illinois. She spent two years as legislative director with the Illinois Department of Human Services. Prior to heading up the legislative office at DHS, she served as a legislative staffer with Illinois Speaker of the House Michael J. Madigan and managed legislative campaigns with the Illinois Democratic Party.
Julia Styles Hastie, 2005, married John Hastie on September 29, 2007, at the Pres House in Madison, Wisconsin. In October, she started a job at North Park University in Chicago planning service trips for undergraduate students to international locations.