January 2022 - Let's Toast: Global Commerce in the Bay Area and Our Girls!

We toasted to Sally on January 6, she turned 17- wow! Time flies, we love our dear youngest child and are so proud of all she is. Update- Sally accepted the role of Camp Alleghany Junior Counselor- woo hoo! 

Cheers to traveling for work and our Denison Global Commerce Program! I'm now home, it was rewarding to support the Global Commerce Capstone program with introductions to wonderful Denison families. Bonus was joining the trip to the Bay area and hearing about and witnessing the engagement in the San Fransisco Bay area with impressive Denisonians. I was only there over the weekend and into Monday but each and every engagement was valuable and cherished.  In the words of the faculty and staff that make it happen and I was fortunate to spend time with:

From Jane Palmer on Linked In, want to know more follow her:

That’s a wrap on our whirlwind but oh-so-meaningful Global Commerce Senior Capstone Experience in San Francisco. Thanks to a whole host of amazing alumni & friends, we learned about the importance of storytelling, curiosity, flexibility, & persistence. That humility is key…& that the generalist approach of the liberal arts gives you a broad set of thinking, communication, & collaboration skills that are crucial for the work that needs to be done in the 21st century. So much generosity & inspiration. The energy, experience, advice & encouragement shared was truly invaluable…our seniors will carry this with them as they plan their next steps beyond Denison. The most heartfelt of thanks go to our hosts & speakers: SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM & HISTORICAL SOCIETY’s Len Holmes
Alex Constantinople (she/her) ’91 Zendesk, Chris Sheldon ’96 KKR, Tobin Fisher Vantage Robotics Darren Lachtman ’04 Brat TV Leslie Trigg Outset Medical Khalig Howard'19 Clear Ventures Alex Green ’06 Apple
Malhar Joshi ’15, Apple Madison Heher’19 Grabango Samantha Haseltine’19 Abbott Erin Dempsey Lowenberg ’93 Rothy’s Brad Vaughn ’04 Vaughn Management Group John Lowenberg, Jr. ’93 BTIG Chris Tsakalakis Kiva Kath Tsakalakis Brady United George Jackoboice ’91 Monarch Holdings Jenny Jackoboice ‘93 Hannibal George ’18 Industry Ventures Meghan Vergara Veritas Consultants Long Meadow Ranch Ketcham Estate Winery team (Allie Ketcham ’96 Renee Graves & Tammy Collins) Dave & Tori Kistler The University Club of San Francisco China Live Ventures Limited LP

From Karen, again learn more by following on Linked In:

Status is online

Karen Spierling• 1stDirector of the Global Commerce Program and Professor of History at Denison University7h • Edited • 7 hours ago

Day 6--Still learning on the last day of our Global Commerce Capstone Experience trip, this time in the Russian River Valley. Thank you to the Ketcham Estate Winery crew--Allie Ketcham '96 (@allieketch), Renee Graves, and Tammy Collins--for giving us an on-location deep dive into the process of winemaking, from soil to barrel construction to fermentation to label design. Thank you for your amazing generosity with your time, energy, and knowledge, for helping us think further about the complexity (and weather-dependency) of an agriculture-based industry, and for showing us yet another highly successful model of female leadership in the world of business! And thank you to Dave and Tori Kistler for your warm and generous hospitality in hosting our final celebration lunch at the Mayacama Golf Club.

Once again, grateful for the vaccinations and protocols that made this trip possible even in Covid times. And thank you to our students who were always prepared, engaged, curious, and ready to learn: Milam Saha, Ellen Sipe, Grant Noble, Sydney Kistler, Rosie DeWitt, Davis Kleen, Brendan Kazanjian, Ethan Horgan, Mijal Buchsbaum, Jamie Mitchell, Chunxi (Stephanie) Liu, Anne Karsten, Isabelle Brocato and Jenna Gevertz.

I could not be more proud of the alumni, faculty, staff, students, families I engaged with on this trip.

Lucky me, a small bit of free time had me exploring a new for me section of San Fran the Golden Gate Park and the deYoung Museum!  There is nothing quite like wandering a museum. Travel was long but honestly fun to launch school work reading and binge watch "Why Women Murder"- Wow!  A fun shout out for China Live, we had a great dinner hosted by alums George and Jenny Jackoboice, introducing us to serial entrepreneur George Chen. I came home with beautiful candles that I had to carry in a bag.  A fun woman stopped me and we chatted about the experience. If you are in the bay area- visit https://chinalivesf.com/ And another take away is the importance of supporting these incredible Vineyards- #Denisonproud of alumna Allie Ketcham with https://www.ketchamestate.com/  they relay on their wine club members, consider joining!  I look forward to my next trip back when I can engage with more Denisonians, such a special city!

Cheers to my life on Newark-Granville Road and all that allow Family Philanthropy to happen at Denison.  

And one last toast- to Clare! Clare took me to the Seek No Further Cidery for Christmas. She presented me with a gift card for the two of us to go together. Tonight we did just that...and worked on her resume! Cheers to Clare and the next steps in her special life on Newark-Granville Road.