Consistent with every classroom discussion, athletic event, All School Day, and just about any other Westridge activity I undertook as a student, my participation on the Westridge Alumnae Board is the classic Westridge experience: engaging, lively, inclusive, and teeming with ambitious and fun ideas from engaged and enthusiastic classmates and friends.

The Westridge Alumnae Board consists of 18 alumnae spanning across class years 1966 to 2012. We meet on a monthly basis to plan and host alumnae events and we are a strong presence on campus as well, interfacing directly with the school leadership team and the office of alumnae affairs. Now that I am halfway through my third year on the Alumnae Board, I reflect with amazement on how Westridge has welcomed me back with open arms. In my first two years on the Alumnae Board, I helped organize the inaugural Zoomathon online fundraising event and Alumnae Affinity Ambassadors Program, interviewed the very first Asian American alumna to ever attend Westridge for "Surgere" magazine, spoke with students from the Chinese Students Affinity Group, and visited Upper School lessons taught in classrooms this past spring, witnessing the resilience of our excellent faculty and staff after multiple semesters of remote learning. 

As Chair of the Alumnae Board this year, I continue, with the ingenuity and energy of my fantastic Alumnae Board classmates, to reconnect alumnae of all generations back to Westridge, particularly at this exciting inflection point in our school's history. In the fall, the Alumnae Board coordinated an intimate gathering to welcome new Head of School Andrea Kassar. As an all-girls school alumna herself, Andrea seamlessly integrated herself as a staunch supporter of the Alumnae Board's philanthropy efforts, particularly in our unwavering commitment to ensure a Westridge education is accessible to any young girl, no matter her circumstances. With Andrea's help as our Zoomathon Q&A guest of honor, this year's Zoomathon fundraiser raised over $10,000 in alumnae donations, an amount that was doubled by a generous matching gift from Valerie Rubio Lemmon '92, chair of the Board of Trustees. I have also been able to plan and participate in fun social events through the Westridge Alumnae Board Committees. In the summer, the Young Alumnae Committee, in conjunction with several other L.A. independent schools, co-hosted a Mix 'N Mingle event in Santa Monica that had a whopping 30 Westridge young alumnae attend.

As 2022 comes to a close, I eagerly look forward to next year, as we continue to plan exciting new alumnae engagement events (look out for an Alumnae Affinity Gathering during Alumnae Weekend hosted by the DEIJ Committee!). I also welcome any and all alumnae to come back to Westridge, either by attending Alumnae Weekend, joining an Alumnae Board Committee, or sharing a Class Note about yourself. There is no shortage of ways to stay involved and no better time than the present to come back to Westridge.

Surgere! 

Jessica Yang '10
2022-2023 Alumnae Board Chair