News Detail

Spring 2024 Alumnae News

7/30/2024

Check out updates from DSHA alumnae featured in the spring semester 2024 issue of The Word Magazine.

1 | Kathryn Muench Fisher, DSHA ’11, a certification specialist for A.O. Smith’s North American Water Treatment, received the Water Quality Association Next Gen Award for her commitment to the betterment of the water treatment industry. Fisher is responsible for all certification and regulatory requirements of A.O. Smith’s products.

2 | Rowely, an online marketplace to buy and sell pre-owned wedding essentials, was founded by Sarah Brennan, DSHA ’10. The company goal is to make the wedding shopping experience more affordable, sustainable, and positive for future brides. The site features gently worn gowns, engagement party dresses, accessories, bridal jewelry, and more. Learn more at shoprowely.com.

3 | Kiley Robbins, DSHA ’20, won her first Big Ten individual title for the University of Wisconsin in the 60m with a time of 7.22 sec, the third fastest time in Big Ten history. She also set the a UW record in the 100m with a time of 11.13. Robbins recently competed in the Olympic Trials this June in the 100m.

4 | Margaret Donley Webb, DSHA ’91, published a book, A Hero’s Journey in Parenting—Parenting the Child You Didn’t Expect While You Were Expecting. The book features tools, questions, and strategies she has learned as a teacher and through her own life experiences parenting her 20-year-old autistic son. She is the lead parent coach for Tilt Parenting’s Differently Wired Club and offers 1:1 coaching practice for couples and parents.

5 | Jadin O’Brien, DSHA ’20, secured her second consecutive NCAA Indoor Pentathlon Championship on March 8 for the University of Notre Dame. O’Brien recently competed in the Olympic Trials this June in the heptathlon.

6 | Florist Vicki Zunker Kunz, DSHA ’83, was featured in the Milwaukee Art Museum’s annual Art in Bloom exhibit. From April 18-21, florists created a unique arrangement in response to a museum artwork of their selection. Kunz was paired with a sculpture piece by Alexander Calder.

7 | Paula Lovo, DSHA ’17, is a Milwaukee-based multidisciplinary artist. She focuses on creating accessible art and music spaces by helping lead low-cost, all-ages, multilingual film programming to engage through the arts. In January, she was featured as an artist-in-residence at Gallery Night MKE.

8 | Mia Hartounian, DSHA ’22, first auditioned for American Idol at age 16. She was told she was “not ready” and was sent home. Hartounian used the rejection as motivation to better her craft. She learned piano, wrote her own songs, and attended Belmont University as a music business and marketing major. In 2024, Hartounian went back to American Idol, and earned a golden ticket to Hollywood. While there she was offered a digital marketing internship with Sony.

9 | Ann Bonness Angel, DS ’70, wrote an essay entitled “Lenard D. Moore on the Music of Poetry,” for Moore’s upcoming book Conversations with Lenard D. Moore. (Moore is the first African American President to the American Haiku Society and Honorary Curator of the American Haiku Archives.) Angel will instruct a workshop for The Writing Barn in Austin this fall, and teaches advanced creative writing at Mount Mary University.

10 | Dana Harkness Minning, DSHA ’05, serves on the Board of Directors with Prevent Blindness Wisconsin. The NPO strives for Wisconsin residents to have healthy vision at every stage of life. Prevent Blindness has worked to educate Dashers since 2022 on different eye diseases while training them to vision screen kindergarten and pre-school children.

11 | For Milo, an NPO founded by Sarah Oliveri Kunkel, DSHA ’09, and her husband Kevin, focuses on raising awareness and support for families affected by congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). They lost their son, Milo, at 18 days old. They started For Milo and committed themselves to raising awareness about CDH, infant loss, and supporting families by creating open dialogues and connection. Learn more at donate4mbk.com.

12 | Pictured left to right, Cari Brennan, DSHA ’14 (Assistant Service Project Manager at JM Brennan, Inc.); Maria Valentyn, DSHA ’12 (VP of Entertainment for the Beloit Sky Carps); and Yamilett Lopez, DSHA ’13 (Associate Attorney at Godfrey & Kahn, S.C), each visited DSHA’s Character Driven Leadership class this spring. Each alumna discussed her educational and career journey, leadership skills for success, and offered career guidance and advice.

Dr. Suzanne M. Swiderski, DSHA ‘83, recently retired from her position as an Associate Professor in the Department of Literatures and Languages at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. After 35 years in higher education, Swiderski has begun working as a researcher in the field of artificial intelligence, and trains larger language models.

HA, DS, and DSHA Alumnae! We want to know what’s happening in your (or fellow alumna’s) life: a degree earned, a new job or promotion, a book written, an honor received, or volunteer work. Let us know about get-togethers, memories and other adventures! Please share with Alumnae Director Danielle Jerominski Rabe, DSHA ’08, at RabeD@dsha.info or 414.616.2808.

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