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.
Second-year students, save the date for the evening of Friday, November 7 and all-day Saturday, November 8, 2025. Located on the Grinnell College campus.
More information on the 2025 Second-Year Spotlight Conference, including an agenda overview and registration information is below.
For questions and accommodations contact Donna Miller at millerdo@grinnell.edu.
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.
Day 1: Friday, November 7
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
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)
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.
