The Second-Year Spotlight Conference
The Second-Year Spotlight brings together our best resources—our alumni paired with networking opportunities and tools to elevate your career journey. This inaugural event is designed exclusively for our second-year students and will feature panels of industry experts, co-working space, guidance on financial literacy, and culminate in an interactive etiquette dinner. Located on the Grinnell College campus. Located on the Grinnell College campus.
Class of 2029 students, save the date for the 2026 Second-Year Spotlight Conference on Friday evening and all day Saturday, November 6 & 7, 2026!
Enjoy this look back at the 2025 Second-Year Spotlight Conference, below.
Messages from Our Alums!
Registration opened on October 1, 2025 and will close November 2, 2025. Registration is limited to 75 students, with a second-year standing required.
REGISTRATION NOW CLOSED
Day 1: Friday, November 7, 2025
5:00 PM – 5:30PM: Registration & Check-In (Harris Center)
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM: Awkward-Free Networking Reception (Harris Center, refreshments provided)
7:00 PM – 8:30 PM: Dinner & Keynote – “Will I Ever Amount to Anything? Spoiler: Yes” (Harris Center, meal provided)
Day 2: Saturday, November 8, 2025
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM: Breakfast & Morning Welcome (HSSC, meal provided)
9:15 AM – 10:15 AM: Session 1: Alumni Career Panels & Ask Alumni Mentoring Circles (HSSC)
- Alumni Career Panels:
- Technology & Data: Featuring Scott DeGeest ’06, Leia Sohn ’23, and Aaron Barker ’11.
- Health: Featuring Ashleigh Bull ’17, Alex Hsieh ’14, Becky Neal ’65, Deborah Smith-Wright ’75, and Dr. Joel Maurer ’89
- Arts, Media & Communications: Featuring Sasha Aslanian ’90, Dawn Helsing Wolters ’87, Anne Stein Velma ’84
- Mentoring Circles: Science, Engineering & Sustainability – Business & Finance – Education + – Government, Law & Policy
10:15 AM – 10:30 AM: Snack Break (HSSC, snacks provided)
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM: “Financial Fluency: Skills for Thriving Beyond Grinnell” with David Kurzman ’96 (HSSC)
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM: Lunch & Campus Partner Tables (HSSC, meal provided)
1:45 PM – 2:45 PM: Session 2: Alumni Career Panels & Ask Alumni Mentoring Circles (HSSC)
- Alumni Career Panels:
- Science, Engineering & Sustainability: Featuring Mary Beth Stevenson ’00, Alex Reich ’11, Steve MacFarlane ’82, Jada Fife ’24, Patrick Hall ’06, and Maury Noonan ’07
- Business & Finance: Featuring Maggie Bian ’09, Suha Gillani ’16, Grisel Hernandez ’17, David Kurzman ’96, Natz Soberanes ’13, and Scott Shepherd ’82
- Education +: Featuring David Calvert ’75, Anton Jones ’02, Mairéad O’Grady ’10, Ben Vaughn ’15, Atavia Whitfield ’06, Jeremy Youde ’99
- Government, Law & Policy: Featuring Edmund Atkins ’66, Jenne Beinart ’06, Bob Eckardt ’73, Kate Goddard ’91, Jay Dick ’93, and Ken Shofield ’71
- Mentoring Circles: Technology & Data – Pre-Med – Arts, Media & Communications
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM: Professional Development Fair (HSSC)
- Meet with Alumni Professionals
- Connect with the Center for Careers, Life, and Service (CLS)
- Talk with Development & Alumni Relations (DAR)
5:45 PM – 6:00 PM: Dinner Check-In (Harris Center)
6:00 PM – 7:30 PM: Etiquette Dinner: Dining with Confidence (Harris Center, meal provided)
Second-Year Spotlight 2025 Alumni Keynote Speaker: Sasha Aslanian ’90
Sasha Aslanian ’90 is a Supervising Producer in Podcast Programming at ABC News based in New York City. Her most recent narrative podcasts include Vanished: What Happened to Vanessa, Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy, Radioactive: The Karen Silkwood Mystery, and The King Road Killings. Before joining ABC, Sasha spent thirty years reporting and producing news, investigations, and documentaries for American Public Media/Minnesota Public Radio. Her work has been recognized with awards named for famous men: Peabody, duPont, Murrow, Cronkite. An English and French double major at Grinnell, Sasha had a completely undistinguished career as a features writer for the S & B and a news reader on KDIC. She’s married to Leif Larsen ’88 and is the mother of two daughters, including Liv Larsen ’26. See Sasha’s “Going Forth” podcast episode.
