List of 34 items.

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  Jacquelyn Rembis '08 - The Innocence Project

  Ms. Rembis works as a criminal defense attorney at the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office.  Her passion is to ensure justice for all the individuals who find themselves fighting for their freedom against criminal prosecution and to be at the forefront of putting an end to wrongful convictions.
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  After graduating with her Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School in 2016, Ms. Rembis began her legal career as a Fellow for Loyola’s Project for the Innocent (LPI).  LPI, a member of the Innocence Network, specifically works to investigate claims of wrongful convictions and exonerate individuals who have spent decades in prison for crimes they did not commit.  During Ms. Rembis’ time at LPI, she has worked on hundreds of cases and has helped to exonerate three individuals, one of whom spent 32 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.
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  Elisabeth Leoni '08 - Google

  Elisabeth is on the Corporate Communications team at Google, where she is the Managing Editor of The Keyword, the external hub of all of Google's official news and announcements. 
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  Elisabeth studied political communications at the George Washington University in Washington DC, and her first job out of college was at the Glover Park Group, a strategic communications firm in DC. 

   
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  "ENERGY" by Jonathan Scott: Miles to Go

  Miles to Go is an organization that works to educate students and parents about the dangers of drug use in an interesting and interactive way. Energy is a lecture that focusses on harmful and dangerous stimulant drugs that people use in the hope of having more energy.
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  Jonathan Scott is a professional speaker and educator working to enlighten people on the subject of substance abuse. Jonathan is a recovering drug addict. Jonathan focuses on comprehensive drug facts, the social and political environment surrounding drugs (legal and illegal), and the chemistry of drugs, alcohol, tobacco and their effects on the body.
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  Collen Osborne ‘09 - Career in Human Rights

  Originally from Los Angeles, Colleen graduated from Louisville in 2009 and then went on to Grinnell College in Iowa. She graduated from Grinnell with Honors and a BA in Political Science in May 2013.
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  After graduating from Grinnell she moved to New York City to help launch the new Center for Business and Human Rights at NYU Stern Business School, working alongside the former US Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights. Recently, she came back from a 9 months fellowship, teaching human rights and sex education at an all-girls Catholic high school in Lesotho, Southern Africa. She is now looking to pursue a career in human rights, international relations and women's security. 
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  Executive Director, Diana Pinto - LAMP

  Over 20 years ago South Central LAMP was the vision of eight communities of Catholic sisters who believed that a single act of kindness can change a person’s life. They saw beyond first impressions and saw a community, not riddled with problems but filled with opportunities; a community not stagnate, but zealous.
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  Today, South Los Angeles is moving forward as a community to create a better life for its families and SC LAMP is part of that movement.
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  Jackie Maw Tolliver - Media

  Originally from New Zealand, Jackie Maw Tolliver is an award winning screenwriter and producer based in Los Angeles. Having written, directed and produced two films in San Diego and Brooklyn, she now writes original television content and has seven of her own projects in development.
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  During the past 2 years she has published the first of five children's books, won 6 industry writing contests and in March 2015 was advised that one of her short films has been immortalized in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She is a former founding astronaut with Virgin Galactic, a former race car driver and doting mother to two miniature dachshunds, Boots Riley and Brooklyn Babycakes.
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  SENIOR INSPECTOR LESLIE GERSON '66 - FROM TEACHER TO DIPLOMAT

  “Do something you’re not comfortable with…it helps you to grow”. This was the theme of the guest speaker for the Law & Social Justice Focus Program on Tuesday October 13th, 2015. Leslie Gerson, class of ’66, is the Senior Inspector at the U.S. Department of State.
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  She travels the world inspecting the operations at our embassies and then prepares reports on waste, fraud, mismanagement and leadership. She joined the Foreign Service in 1975, traveled the world, with spates of work in Washington D.C. as well, as a consul (visas, passports, dead and arrested Americans, etc.) and as a multilateral diplomat (UN, refugee policy, human rights, etc.).

   

  Former teacher, she was dared to take the Foreign Services exam and low and behold…joined the Foreign Services, and completely changed directions. She felt it was her calling. She knew it was the right thing for her because she loved it! In her talk, Leslie touched on the various areas of interest of students in the Law & Social Justice program: Law, Social Work, Psychology, Politics, and International Relations. Leslie emphasized the importance of building personal relationships with people to “get the job done”! She feels that the most valuable skills students should acquire in high school are communication skills, intellectual curiosity and flexibility. 

  
  Leslie has held positions in many countries as a representitive of the U.S. government, including Port au Prince, Haiti: Consular Officer; State Department: FSI; Instructor, Consular Training Program; San Salvador, El Salvador: Consul General; State Department: Staff Secretariat: Senior Watch Officer (SWO) during the Panama invasion; Geneva, Switzerland: Deputy Chief of Mission; State Department: Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Human Rights and Labor (DRL); State Department: Office of the Inspector General: Consular Inspector; 
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  Tony Magee, STEM Education and Aerojet Rocketdyne

  Tony is the top-selling author of the book "Can't Shove a Great Life into a Small Dream!" A Rocket Scientist for nearly 19 years for the US Space Shuttle Program, now works as Stem Education Outreach Direcctor for Aeorjet Rocketdyne as well as capital investing. 
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  A BIG DREAM can be hard to come by... Child of a single mother, raised in a Los Angeles Watts housing project, a typical poor Black kid, headed for a suffocating life marked by violence and poverty and then… the first African-American to earn a Master's Degree of Materials Science and Engineering from Lehigh University
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  Captain Maureen Ryan of the Los Angeles Police Department Topanga Division

  Captain Ryan, who holds both a Bachelors and Masters in Education, highlighted that while she may currently be at the top of her field, the path and journey she traveled to reach her current position was not always an easy one.
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  Originally a teacher, she was asked (and asked) by a friend to think about the law enforcement career path. She decided to dive into the unknown and pursue this idea. She later became the first woman in the Valley Traffic Division, and eventually a Level III Captain and the mother of twins. 
  
  Capt. Ryan stated that the journey, while at times rough, always has a way of working itself out. “If you believe you can; YOU CAN." She stated that while “sometimes you may have a goal for yourself; everything will reveal itself when the time is right.”
  
  

  Working in a male-dominated field, as Capt. Ryan reminds us, is not always easy. “You will be tested and sometimes unfairly judged because you have accomplished goals and received promotions that only those of the opposite gender have received, but you must not back down.” 
  
  Capt. Ryan stated that part of being a pioneer in your field is standing up to unfair acts, jumping out of your comfort zone and trying to not let prejudiced minds interfere with your success. However, with these struggles come the sense of knowing you have carved a path for other women to follow you, and that is by far one of the greatest rewards. 

   

   

   

   
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  MBA Patricia Maloney ‘76, on the Business Side of Engineering and STEM

  From ARCO to Mobil Oil to the Aerospace Coorporation, Patricia Maloney has held a variety of position directing the business, economic and marketing side of science and technology worldwide. She shared her experiences with Louisville students.
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  Patricia is a '76 graduate of Louisville.  After attending the University of Maryland, Munich, Germany for one year, she graduated from CSUNorthridge with a BS in Chemistry in 1980.  Following graduation she worked at ARCO Solar for three years, pursuing the development of non-silicon solar cells.  She then attended the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College for her MBA studies.  
  
  The next fifteen years she worked for Mobil Oil Corporation in a variety of capacities:  Supply and Logistics, including Worldwide Trading Coordinator and Crude Oil Operations Mgr during the first Gulf War, Strategic Planning, Wholesale Marketing and Project Finance.
  
  She has been at the Aerospace Corporation, which operates a Federally Funded Research and Development Corporation supporting the US government in National Security Space since 2001.  Her various positions have included the Director of the Economics and Marketing Analysis Center, Principal Engineer for the Ground Division at the National Reconnaissance Office, and Associate Principal Director for the National Polar-Orbiting and Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS), a tri-agency, NOAA/NASA/USAF program office. 
  
  She is currently the Principal Director for Joint Operational Programs for Aerospace at the Goddard Space Flight Center in MD, supporting remote sensing and environmental monitoring and weather programs. She is a lector and Chair of the Finance Council for her parish in Reston, VA,, St John Neumann, and on the Board of Directors for InTrust and the Washington Theological Union.  
  
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  Dr. Kathy Magliato, MD, MBA, FACS - Cardiothoracic Surgeon

  Dr. Magliato is one of the few female cardiothoracic surgeons in the world. She is currently the Director of Women’s Cardiac Services at Saint John’s Medical Center in Santa Monica, California, where she is developing a Women’s Heart Center to address the cardiac needs of female patients.
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  In July, she assumed the position of President of the Greater Los Angeles County American Heart Association Board of Directors and is the first woman to ever hold this title. Dr. Magliato’s areas of expertise include congestive heart failure, heart transplantation, lung transplantation, heart disease in women and artificial heart technology. Dr. Magliato is the recipient of many national and regional awards including the Women’s Leadership Exchange Compass Award, Exceptional Woman of the Year Award in Boston and, in 2006, was initiated into the American College of Surgeons. She has also been highlighted by the media as an expert in heart disease and has been seen on ABC, CBS, NBC, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic Explorer, The Doctors, as well as being featured on WebMD and Fox News. She has also been featured in SHAPE magazine and COSMOPOLITAN. Her memoir, Heart Matters, was recently published by Random House and received a 4 (out of 4) star rating in People Magazine and a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly. It has now been released in its paperback version, Heart Matters.
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  Sarah Allen, Blazing Cloud

  Imagine a world without streaming video. Sarah Allen led the team, as the sole female programmer, that developed Flash video, which enables so much of video content to stream on the Internet.
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  Currently, Sarah is in Washington, DC , recently being appointed as one of a few select Presidential Innovation Fellows. While on hiatus from her company Blazing Cloud, Sarah will help develop the Smithsonian Institution’s program to provide public access to its massive collections in science, history, art, and culture.

• Letters to Harriet Tubman from The Music Center

  It is 1902, where Harriet Tubman, now 80 years old, reminisces about the heroic adventures of her life through songs and stories of slavery, civil war, and the struggle for freedom.
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  From Hardship to Hope: Ghana's Thomas Awiapo

  Thomas Awiapo has a truly inspiring story of survival and success. Orphaned before the age of ten, Thomas survived bleak poverty and hunger in his small Africa village.
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  His search for food led him to school at 12, and he eventually won scholarships to attend college and later earn a Master’s degree in the United States. Today he works for Catholic Relief Services training community leaders throughout Ghana. His story of initiative and his joyful presence has brought inspiration to thousands of people in the US. Thomas’ village received help from Catholic Relief Services (CRS) through Operation Rice Bowl, the program that connects prayer, fasting, and almsgiving with education about poverty and hunger around the world.
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  Jessica Mariglio, Alliance for Climate Education

  After college, Jessica received the William M. Bristol Fellowship and traveled around the world studying spoken word poetry, storytelling and hip-hop as tool for youth community building.
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  Fr. Chris Ponnet, Pax Christi

  Father Chris Ponnet is a Catholic Pastor of St. Camillus serving as chaplain at LAC/USC Medical Center and Southern California Regional Coordinator for Pax Christi USA.
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  Fr. Chris is part of the Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace working against the violence of wars and the violence of the Death Penalty. He works with inmates and has testified in a death penalty case.
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  Dr. Anita Sengupta: Women, Mars, and STEM

  Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Entry, Descent and Landing Engineer Anita Sangupta is a rocket scientist who works at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and specializes in designing systems to land on Mars, Venus, and return to Earth. 
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  She also teaches Astronautics and the Space Environment at the University of Southern California’s Astronautical Engineering Department.

• David Calavitta – Youth Minister

  David Calavitta is a parish youth minister, an artist and a graphic designer. 
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  David’s youthful spirit and sense of humor resonate well with his audiences as he shares, from a male perspective, a reminder to young women to value their minds, souls and bodies as precious gifts from God. David’s presentation, “God’s Loving Call,” describes his own journey and search for the love of his life.
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  Nicole Clark: Cover Girl Culture

  Nicole Clark is a former elite model who presents workshops and assemblies for girls on body image, self-esteem, and media literacy.
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  Her goal is to create a Clever Girl Culture instead of a Cover Girl Culture - by opening girls’ eyes to the manipulation of the media so they can break free of its spell. Her message is taken seriously by young girls who are enamored with the fashion/modeling industry.
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  Fr. Ken Deasy: Somalia? Kenya? Haiti?

  Father Ken Deasy is a dynamic and personable native Californian Catholic priest known throughout the Los Angeles area as an open, energetic, humorous, compassionate, athletic, all-inclusive guy...
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  ...who, at the same time, loves to serve and bring an experience of joy to the inner city of Los Angeles bringing people of different faiths, lifestyles, cultures and ages into a harmonious union. Speaking to the young Catholic church, he believe in “kids helping kids”; i.e., teaching children to be aware of how other children in over 91 countries are dying and need their help.
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  Michelle Mehta, J.D. Earth Month Assembly: WATER

  Michelle Mehta is a staff attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. 
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  Ms. Mehta works in the Water Program in NRDC’s Los Angeles office, which aims to secure safe and sufficient water for humans and ecosystems in the face of existing and emerging threats through the full spectrum of advocacy approaches: major impact litigation; legislation, and policy analysis.
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  Father Greg Boyle, S.J., founder and CEO of Homeboy Industries

  Rev. Boyle has been an advocate for at-risk and gang-involved youth in Los Angeles and around the world for more than 25 years. 
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  Homeboy Industries is a nonprofit organization that assists at-risk youth to become contributing members of their communities. It is the largest gang intervention program in the country. In 1992, as a response to the civil unrest in L.A., Rev. Boyle launched the first business, Homeboy Bakery, with a mission to create an environment that provides training, work experience, and the opportunity for rival gang members to work side-by-side. The Bakery’s success created a foundation to establish Homeboy Industries in 2001. Today, Homeboy Industries’ nonprofit economic development enterprises includes Homeboy Bakery, Homeboy Silkscreen, Homeboy/Homegirl Merchandise, and Homegirl Café.
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  Sr. Helen Prejean C.S.J., author of "Dead Man Walking"

  Sister Helen began her prison ministry in 1981 when she dedicated her life to the poor of New Orleans. 
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  In doing so, her eyes were opened to the Louisiana execution process. Sister Helen turned her experiences into a book that t was also nominated for a 1993 Pulitzer Prize. Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States was number one on the New York Times Best Seller List for 31 weeks. It also was an international best seller and has been translated into ten different languages.
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  Crossroads: Sr. Terry Dodge, SSL

  Sr. Terry Dodge is a Sister of St. Louis. She is the executive director of Crossroads, Inc. which provides transitional housing, education, career and counseling services and support to women released from prison. 
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  Many of these women live with tremendous guilt and heavy hearts, but as Sister Terry says, as a community, we owe them some mercy to help get them back on their feet. And, as she points out, we certainly owe it to ourselves to make sure they don’t end up back on the streets or behind bars, given that is the one scenario in which everyone loses. And losing souls is not what Sister Terry is about. “The work I do is not extraordinary. If it seems extraordinary, it is because not enough of us are doing it.”
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  Wildlife Expert Jeff Lee

  The Explorers Club sponsored our Earth Month assembly. 
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  Our featured guest was Jeff Lee, an animal trainer from Steve Martin’s Working Wildlife, who brought with him a number of endangered animals from around the world: a binturong (bearcat), a porcupine from South America, a ferret, a capuchin monkey, and a brown tailed lemur. While learning about the future of these animals we were also encouraged to look at our own habitats and see how we can improve the lives for whom we share it.
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  Dr. Susan Love, Breast Cancer Researcher and Physician

  Renowned Researcher and Physician spoke at Louisville High School about her latest findings in her efforts to understand the causes of breast cancer and to develop a cure for this disease. 
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  The Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation is recruiting ONE MILLION WOMEN to partner with scientists who are conducting the research that will move us beyond a cure and teach us how to end breast cancer once and for all. Learn more or sign up at: www.armyofwomen.org.
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  Producer Gary Straub, Documentary Filmmaker

  Gary Straub shared his career and vision with Louisville students. His message: "Putting the power of film at the service of the poor."
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  Linda Biehl on Restorative Justice

  Linda Biehl is the co-founder and director of the Amy Biehl Foundation in the U.S. and the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust in South Africa. 
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  Linda’s relationship to South Africa and the genesis of these Foundations is grounded in the life and death of her daughter Amy.
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  Film: "Race to Nowhere"

  View trailer: Race to Nowhere
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  A concerned mother turned filmmaker aims her camera at the high-stakes, high-pressure culture that has invaded our schools and our children’s lives, creating unhealthy, disengaged, unprepared and stressed-out youth. Race to Nowhere is a call to mobilize families, educators, and policy makers to challenge current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of America to become healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens.
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  Leila Conners Petersen: The Co-Director, Writer and Producer of The 11th Hour

  Leila Conners Petersen founded Tree Media Group in August of 1996. With a background in international politics, Leila set out to build a production company that creates media to support and sustain civil society. 
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  Most recently Leila directed, wrote and produced a feature-length documentary, The 11th Hour, with Leonardo DiCaprio and 54 leading thinkers and scientists about the state of the world and the state of the human condition. Leila spoke with Louisville students on issues of sustainability and the environment, and answered many questions thoughtfully and thoroughly.
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  From Louisville to Malawi: Dr. Monica Eneriz Wiemer '96

  Women’s Health Week brought a passionate young alumna back to Louisville, Dr. Mónica Eneriz Wiemer ’96. 
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  She made the year-long call to action come alive for Louisville students as she spoke of her work in the children’s ward of St. Gabriel’s Hospital in rural Malawi. As an undergraduate, and then as a medical student at Stanford University, she focused on addressing the health needs of minority and under-served children and families. Her interest in the health needs of new immigrants led her to participate in international electives in Guatemala and Malawi to better understand the factors that impact children's health globally. She will return to Malawi to assist at St. Gabriel’s Hospital once again by delivering supplies and completing a needs-assessment for an ongoing partnership with Stanford University Medical School.
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  Freedom Writer Maria Reyes

  Freedom Writer Maria Reyes gave a gripping account of her journey from the gangs of East Los Angeles to newfound hope at Wilson High School with her classmates in Ms. Gruwell’s English class for at-risk students. 
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  Since she graduated from California State University, Long Beach, she calls students to find a way to reach out to troubled youth and show them that “there is another way to live your life.” Afterwards, many students waited patiently to speak with her and have their Freedom Writers book signed by Ms. Reyes, who greeted each with her lovely smile and a genuine hug.
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  Jim Newton, Editor of Editorial & Opinion Pages, Los Angeles Times

  A native of California, Jim Newton has spent much of his life writing about the state, especially its politics, government and legal affairs. 
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  He joined The Times in 1989 and covered federal law enforcement and the Los Angeles Police Department from 1992 through 1997, a period that included the 1992 riots, the federal trial of the LAPD officers who beat Rodney King, and the murder trial of O.J. Simpson. Newton was recently named editorial page editor of the Los Angeles Times, with responsibility for the newspaper's editorial, Op-Ed, letters and Sunday Opinion sections.
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  Sudan survivor and author Benjamin Ajak Speaks at Louisville High School

  Benjamin Ajak was five years old when his village in Southern Sudan was attacked by troops from his own government. 
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  To escape slavery, death or induction into the northern army, he fled naked and alone into the night. Walking by day and sleeping in trees at night, it was several days before he found his cousins, Benson, seven years old, and Lino, five. Together the three young boys joined the exodus of thousands of others and fled a thousand miles across Africa’s largest country. They became known to the world as The Lost Boys.