50 for the Next 50
As part of Women at the Summit, the college launched an initiative to honor 50 women who will have a lasting impact on the next 50 years of Trinity College.
More than 200 nominations received! Thank you!
In the fall of 2019, all members of the Trinity community were invited to nominate women (students, faculty, staff, alumnae, parents, friends of the college, or local community members) with a connection to Trinity. The “50 for the Next 50” initiative was intended as an opportunity to engage the broad Trinity community in celebrating both women of demonstrated achievement and those of promise.
A committee comprising faculty, students, staff, and alumni received all nominations and has selected the honorees. The 50 women selected for this one-time honor will be celebrated during in the spring of 2020, the culminating semester of Women at the Summit.
Selection Committee
Sarah Raskin, Chair
Charles A. Dana Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience; active member of the Trinity community since 1994; Board Certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology; Fellow, American Psychological Association and National Academy of Neuropsychology; recipient, Arthur A. Hughes award for achievement in teaching, Trinity College Trustee Award for Faculty Excellence; locally, serves on boards of Brain Injury Alliance of Connecticut, Connecticut Against Gun Violence, and Gifts of Music, and on the Human Right Commission in West Hartford
Sue Aber P ’13
Vice President, Information Services and Chief Information Officer; joined Trinity College in 2010 as director of information technology services and chief information officer; founder and co-chair of Venture, the pre-orientation women’s leadership conference for incoming first-year students founded in 2013
Nikia Bryant
Director, Student Activities, Involvement, and Leadership (S.A.I.L.); joined Trinity College in 2014 as Coordinator for Parent Giving, then worked as Assistant Director of Donor Relations; directs the New Student Orientation program; advisor for the Student Government Association, Trinity College Black Women’s Organization, Imani, Caribbean Student Organization, and Trinity’s African Students Organization
Crisanne M. Colgan M’74
Adjunct Professor, University of Saint Joseph; 41-year career in public and non-public schools included roles as high school teacher, assistant principal, senior director of instruction for Avon, Connecticut, public schools, and principal of Roaring Brook School in Avon for 19 years; member, Trinity College Board of Fellows, Founders Council of the Women’s Leadership Council, and Executive Committee of the Trinity Club of Hartford; recipient of the Kathleen O’Connor Boelhouwer Alumnae Initiative Award in 2019
Shakira Ramos Crespo ’02
Associate Director of Customer Experience, Pratt & Whitney; honors include the Promesa Youth Award in 2002, UTC Volunteer of the Year in 2006, and the 2007 Professional Role Model Award from the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers; former president and current treasurer, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Connecticut Professional Chapter; board member, CT Academy of Education in Mathematics, Science & Technology, Inc., and ASPIRA of Connecticut; former member of Trinity College Board of Trustees and Miss Porter’s School Alumnae Board
Alison Draper
Director, Center for Interdisciplinary Science at Trinity College, since 2003; directs the Interdisciplinary Science Program (ISP) and the Health Fellows Program and teaches courses in toxicology and nutrition; recipient of the Trustee Award for Staff Excellence in 2015; directs HMTCA summer science academy and Tech Savvy conference for middle school girls; serves as faculty advisor for multiple student clubs and as member of numerous college committees, as well as informal academic advisor to many students
Christine Elia ’96
Member, Trinity College Board of Trustees since 2013, co-chairing the board’s Information Services and Facilities subcommittee; member, Founders Council of the Women’s Leadership Council; former member, Board of Fellows and the Alumnae Leadership Council; runs consulting firm, Elia, where she works with a diverse roster of clients, including a large Chinese beauty company and an Israeli hedge fund; formerly head of product and creative director for Snap+Style Business; advises startups in a range of spaces
Francesca Borges Gordon ’82
Longtime active volunteer for Trinity and the Greater Hartford community, including as an officer of Trinity’s Black Alumni Organization and current President of the Trinity Club of Hartford, and through involvement with several nonprofits in the area, including the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, Renbrook School, Miss Porter’s School, and the YMCA Minority Achievers Advisory Committee; Senior Development Officer, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving following a development career for a number of hospitals
Lisa Kassow
Director, Trinity College Hillel since 2001; former director of arts, culture, and education for the Greater Hartford Jewish Community Center in West Hartford; founder and former director, Hartford Jewish Film Festival; recipient in 2017 of an Exemplar of Excellence Award from Hillel International; recipient in 2008 of the Jewish Vision Award of the Charter Oak Cultural Center
Trish Mairs Klestadt ’80, P’09, P’11
Founding member and chair, Women’s Leadership Council, since its inception in 2010; former chair, Parent Directors of Trinity College with her husband, Peter; former Board of Fellows member; member, Women at the Summit Steering Committee; recipient, Trinity Alumni Medal for Excellence, 2010; attorney retired from private practice
Laura Lockwood
Director, Women & Gender Resource Action Center (WGRAC) since 1998; recipient, Trustee Award for Staff Excellence, 2016; as a certified facilitator, participated in Trinity’s Conversations on Race in the early 2000s; has taught sociology at the University of Hartford and Capital Community College and served as a consultant for the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness; has served as executive director of community-based organizations in New Haven and New Britain
Hannah Lynch ’22
Student ambassador for the Center for Student Success and Career Development; undergraduate research fellow at the Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life; Trinity College Chapel sacristan and member of the Chapel Council e-board; member of the Trinity Homelessness Project frequent volunteer at Cinestudio, as well as with JELLO
Samantha McCarthy ’21
President of Alpha Chi Omega, a sorority whose national philanthropy is domestic violence awareness; SGA Junior Senator; participant in the Community Action Gateway and Community Learning Research Fellows, where she works with NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut; First-Year Mentor; Teaching Assistant; student coordinator of the Green Dot program and WGRAC participant; Class of 1963 Scholar; Sophomore Bantam of the Year, 2018-19
Karen Shu
Assistant Athletic Director for Strategy and Engagement; former varsity sports assistant at Dartmouth College, working with the Dartmouth Peak Performance program for integrating services and resources to help student-athletes achieve excellence; former Division I varsity rower, Boston College, and the recipient of numerous academic honors from the Atlantic Coast Conference during her college career, as well as the Athletic Director’s Award for Academic Achievement
Gail Woldu
Professor of Music; member of the Trinity College community since 1987; scholarly work centers on two divergent fields: French music and culture at the turn of the 20th century and gangsta rap, with research interests including the music of black American women and the politics of French music from 1880 to 1930; American Council on Education Fellow, 2005-06; recipient, Trinity College Arthur H. Hughes Award for Teaching Achievement, 2004
