Meet Our Alumnae

“Hewitt equipped me with the skills to be a confident and empathetic leader who understands the importance of creating pathways for more equitable and resilient communities. My favorite Hewitt memory was taking Dr. Sabol's Caribbean Literature course. This was my first experience engaging with Jamaican authors and traditions in an academic space, and it felt rewarding to participate in complex conversations about my own culture and history in community with my peers and my teacher.”

A graduate of Boston College, Jadeen received an Advanced Certificate of Public Health from CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and will soon complete her master’s degree in health science at Johns Hopkins University. As a manager at Results for America, she collaborates with local governments and communities to implement evidence-based policy solutions for critical issues such as the right to counsel for tenants facing eviction and guaranteed income pilots. Prior to her current position, Jadeen helped empower healthy, thriving, and engaged communities through positions at the Henry Street Settlement and Bloomberg Philanthropies. 

“My journey to becoming a nurse began at Hewitt, where I completed a two-year internship at a cosmedical spa founded by a fellow alumna. During that time, I developed a deeper appreciation for health and wellness as well as a strong desire to work directly with people. Inspired by this experience, I explored various opportunities in the medical field and ultimately chose nursing, as it allows me to make a meaningful, lasting impact on my patients’ lives.”

Julia graduated from NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing, where she pursued a combined major in global public health and nursing. During nursing school, she worked as a nurse extern and patient care assistant at Hospital for Special Surgery. Today, she is a senior staff nurse at NYU Langone Health on the Solid Organ Transplant and Hepatobiliary Surgery unit. Julia shares, “Through this work, I have developed a deeper understanding of empathy and continually seek to expand my knowledge and skills to provide the best care possible.”

“At Hewitt, I was a big fish in a small pond. The teachers were dynamic and demanding, and prepared me to write well, think well, and be independent. Writing a 100 page literary paper for our English teacher, Mrs. Delman, prepared me to craft a similarly lengthy honors thesis at university and gave me the confidence and literary foundation to be a novelist!”

A graduate of Brown University, Elizabeth Birkelund is the author of three novels: The Runaway Wife; The Dressmaker; and most recently, A Northern Light in Provence, which was published by Random House in May 2024. Prior to her career as a novelist, Elizabeth wrote a personal finance column for Cosmopolitan magazine and was a freelance writer for magazines including Glamour, Self, Victoria, Working Woman, and Institutional Investor. She received a fellowship from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and has served on the boards of the National Humanities Center and the Center for Fiction. 

“Hewitt taught me that my voice and my experiences matter, and that I have agency and capacity to make a positive difference in the world. So much of my self-assuredness, and my knowledge that I can do anything I set my mind to, grew out of my time at Hewitt. It is also where I first developed my passion for using the arts to uplift my community - an experience I hold very dear as I have made a career out of using my communications and design skills to uplift and serve the LGBTQ+ community.”

Zoe is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research. In addition to their work as the program and communications coordinator at Penn’s LGBT Center, Zoe runs a social media brand dedicated to sharing LGBTQ+ and mental health education in accessible, easy-to-understand formats. Throughout this work, Zoe provides open and affirming spaces for people to learn more about the LGBTQ+ community, be better allies, explore their own identities, and connect with and receive support from kind and validating people. 

“Hewitt opened my eyes to a world I would have never learned about had I gone to my local junior high school. At Hewitt, I had access to a computer lab, a photography lab, and teachers who thrived on seeing me learn and succeed. I know that that access changed the course of my life and led me to dream bigger and soar higher, and I will always be grateful for the opportunities and experiences I had at Hewitt.”

After graduating from Spelman College, Janelle went on to earn her J.D. from Howard University School of Law, where she was a Merit Scholar and the recipient of the L. Douglas Wilder Academic Achievement Award. As a training attorney with the Georgia Public Defender Council, Janelle coached hundreds of public defenders to improve the quality of counsel available to those who cannot afford it on their own. In her work at Georgia Wills and Trust, she specializes in educating communities of color on the power of estate planning to preserve land ownership and to offer efficient transfers of wealth to the next generation. Janelle lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband, two daughters, and son.

“I always refer to Hewitt as the perfect launch pad for my career. I think it could have been very easy to hear a ninth grader talking about how she wants to be a commercial theater producer and win Tony Awards and chalk it up to pipe dreams, but Hewitt nurtured those dreams and helped give me the tools that I needed to get there. My teachers provided me with support and guidance to fuel my ambitions, and I feel really lucky that Hewitt was, and continues to be, such a big part of my journey.”

A graduate of Cornell University, Julia is a Tony Award-winning theater producer dedicated to developing new works by and about traditionally underrepresented people through song and storytelling. She received a Tony nomination for her Broadway producing debut as a co-producer on Sea Wall/A Life and won a Tony Award as co-producer of Broadway's revival of Parade. She is currently a producer at Level Forward, where she is developing The Queen's Gambit as a musical and working on numerous other projects. Prior to her current role, she was the associate producer at Seaview Productions, where she worked on the Broadway production of Tony-nominated Slave Play.

"At Hewitt, I was taught to take up space in a room and think critically about the world around me and my contributions to it. In order to make a real impact in my professional field, I strive to be an empathetic, authentic leader who ensures that members of my team feel seen, heard, and supported. Building and developing products that actually serve the needs of others oftentimes starts with ensuring every member of your team believes their opinions and capabilities are equally valued. As a woman working in this space, I encourage other women to lead courageously and boldly by modeling that behavior myself."

Shanniece received her degree in international business and marketing from Georgetown University. Her career began in project management at Moody’s Investors Service, and she now brings her expertise about the intersection of finance and technology to Capital One, where she works as delivery lead manager. Shanniece has shared her knowledge and experience with the Hewitt community as a guest speaker for the Black Student Union and a member of our Life After Hewitt: Careers in Technology panel. The Class of 2023 selected Shanniece as their Commencement speaker. 

“Working in public service, my profession and my community are deeply intertwined. I love seeing the impact that my job has on everyday New Yorkers.” 

Adrien holds a B.A. in political science and government from Wheaton College Massachusetts. She is the New York City press secretary for Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Her previous roles include vice president of media relations at the New York City Economic Development Corporation and New York press secretary for former Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. She is an active member of Hewitt’s alumnae community, providing internships for Hewitt students and volunteering as a guest speaker for our Life After Hewitt: Alumnae in Government and Nonprofits panel. Adrien is also a board member of the East Sixties Neighborhood Association, co-founder of the Couture Council Young Patrons at the Museum at FIT, Frick Young Fellow at the Frick Museum, and a member of Temple Emanu-El’s Philanthropic Fund.