A time to return to campus to celebrate Westridge ties and lifelong
friendships with classmates and fellow alumnae
Thank you for joining us for Alumnae Weekend on March 10-11!
More than 140 Westridge alumnae returned to campus to celebrate Alumnae Weekend 2023!
Together, we celebrated the 50th reunion class of 1973; honored 2023 Mary Lowther Ranney Distinguished Alumna Award Recipient Thembisa Mshaka '88 and 2022 Distinguished Young Alumna Award Recipient Sarah Beshir '10; and hosted our first-ever alumnae affinity gathering.
Click here to view our photo album from the weekend.
Honoring Distinguished Westridge Alumnae
Each year Distinguished Alumnae are nominated by fellow alumnae to be honored at Alumnae Weekend. The first recipients were chosen in 1988 and were two members of the Westridge student body from its founding in 1913. Today, two alumnae are selected—the Mary Lowther Ranney Distinguished Alumna Award Recipient and the Distinguished Young Alumna Award Recipient. These alumnae embody the spirit of the Westridge motto Surgere Tentamus, have made meaningful impact in their community and notable strides in their chosen fields, and are an inspiration to the Westridge community. Learn more about these awards here.
2023 Mary Lowther Ranney Distinguished
Alumna Award Recipient
Thembisa Mshaka ’88
Thembisa Mshaka ’88 is an award-winning multi-hyphenate, with experience as a creative executive, author, producer, filmmaker, voice actor, activist, and entertainment branding specialist. An LA native and founder of Mshaka Media, Thembisa’s career includes tenures at BET Networks and Sony Music. Her creative work has supported artists including Beyoncé and her voiceover talent has been tapped for the WNBA and Women of Team USA for NBC’s Peacock. In 2021, she was part of the inaugural Black Muslim TV Screenwriters cohort from the Hollywood Bureau, Muslim Public Affairs Council, and The Blackhouse Foundation. She sits on the advisory boards of the Universal Hip Hop Museum and the nonprofit GiveLyrics.
2023 Distinguished Young Alumna Award Recipient
Sarah Beshir ’10
Sarah Beshir '10 is a systems engineer at a Top 5 aerospace
company, where she leads teams creating satellite system architecture models. She has developed command products and software tools and worked for the test and launch of satellites. In 2020, Sarah founded the social & racial justice working group at her company’s campus to drive awareness and solutions for racial justice by improving employee recruitment, retention, education, and communication. She supports the national nonprofit Eritrean Muslims Council as treasurer, and student STEM conferences in various roles. Sarah holds a bachelor’s in political science and environmental studies from the University of Southern California, and a master’s in systems engineering from Johns Hopkins University. She also holds a certificate in model-based systems engineering from Caltech and was a polymathic fellow at USC.
Nominate the next Distinguished Alumna Award recipients!