Arts Alumni Class Notes: Summer-Fall 2022

Share your news! We invite all Waterloo Arts alumni to submit a class note with any personal or professional updates (in about 75 words), which we will be happy to include in a future issue of Arts & Letters.

1960s

Betty Anne Keller (BA ‘69, English) was one of a few local women that were celebrated at the 47th annual Oktoberfest Rogers Women of the Year awards, presented with the 2022 Arts and Culture Award for her five decades of work as a volunteer and municipal employee helping to build, support, and promote a strong, diverse, and viable arts community. Betty Anne is the producer of "Rock This Town", a documentary celebrating the history of KW's local rock scene.

1980s

Julie Cays (BA ‘82, Economics), former Chief Investment Officer at CAAT Pension Plan, was presented with the 2022 Changing the Face of Investing Award on June 2, 2022. Julie is currently Chair of the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation Investment Advisory Committee and a member of the University of Waterloo Pension Investment Committee. Julie retired from CAAT Pension Plan in May 2021.

1990s

Julie Kalbfleisch (BA '97, English) joined the City of Cambridge as their Director of Communications earlier this year. With over 20 years of professional experience, Julie has consistently utilized her strategic communications skills to help her organizations to the next level. Throughout her career, she has worked in a variety of positions including as the Associate Director of Communications at the University of Waterloo, Manager - Information & Communications at the Region of Waterloo, and Director - Communications & Issues Management at Wilfrid Laurier University.

2000s

Elizabeth Monier Williams (BA ‘01, English Literature, Applied Studies) Under the pen name E. M. Williams, Elizabeth recently published Chaos Calling with Amazon. This action fantasy novel is set in contemporary Canada and draws upon her experiences as a marketing executive in Toronto's startup sector, along with her years at Waterloo. For example, Dave LaRoque Montcalm, one of the novel's main characters, is also a UW alumnus with a degree in Computer Science, a successful AI company, and a complicated relationship with his co-founder.

Kelly Kipfer (BA ’02, History) is the new Chief Executive of Waterloo Public Library. Kelly has been at the city library since joining as Manager Community Engagement and Children’s Services. In addition to her BA in History from Waterloo, Kelly also holds a BEd from the University of Ottawa and an MA of Immigration and Settlement Studies from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University). Prior to WPL, Kelly worked at Catholic Cross-cultural Services as a Youth HOST Manager and as a Language and Skills Development Manager.

Sue Brubacher (BA ‘04, Psychology) is retiring from her position as Registrar at St. Jerome’s University in September 2022, a position she’s held from 2006 to 2009, and again since 2012. Sue has also been part of the UWaterloo team, as she was the Associate Director of Marketing & Undergraduate Recruitment from 2009 to 2010, and the Assistant Director of SAFA from 2009 to 2011. Sue is looking forward to spending time with her family, travelling, and spending time at the cottage.

Zuleika Sgro (BA ‘06, Speech Communication and Business) is excited to share “I’ve joined Knix as Chief People Officer. I’m so grateful for my experience at UWaterloo and have leveraged so many experiences and tools from my studies to my roles in HR.” Zuleika previously worked at Saje Natural Wellness for seven years, working her way up from Director of People to VP of People to VP of Retail.

Adam Garetson (BA ’07, Philosophy) was recently appointed to General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer of WonderFi Technologies Inc. (TSX: WNDR) where he will oversee all material legal matters and lead strategic transactions and partnerships to advance WonderFi’s success as a global leader in the cryptocurrency and digital asset space.

Doug Spooner (BA ’08, Political Science & Business, MA ’09, Political Science) was recently promoted to Director, Stations Planning & Implementation at Metrolinx, where he has been working the last six years in roles including: Director, Bus Business, Strategy and Transformation – Operations, Director, Service Planning, among others. Doug previous worked with the Invictus Games Toronto 2017, and the Toronto 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games managing transportation projects and partnerships.

2010s

Lehlé Baldé (BA ‘13, Speech Communication) was recently recognized as one of Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 in the Media Category. She is currently the editor for the BusinessDay Weekender, where she started as a Digital Associate in 2017. Lehlé is a global citizen actively contributing to Agendas 2030 and 2063. Among her many accolades: Leila was an International Monetary Fund Youth Fellow and an Acumen Academy Fellow; the recipient of the Future Award Africa for intrapreneurship, a Lords Achiever honouree for media; named top 50 women in media in Africa by the Media Awards and top 50 women in development by Donors Africa.

Amanda Cloutier (BA '14, French - Teaching Specialization) was the recipient of the 2021 OTIP Teaching Award in the Beginning Teacher category. In 2020, Amanda created a French as a Second Language (FSL) Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) Book Club to bring together FSL teachers to diversify classroom texts and combat the lack of diversity represented in French classroom texts. The group, now called FSLDisrupt is now an international community for FSL teachers to learn from one another and share the resources they are using in their classrooms. Amanda is currently a teacher at the Peel District School Board. During her time at UW, she was highly involved, being an Arts Peer Mentor, part of Cercle Français, and an Orientation Week FOC.

David Isern (MA ‘11, Global Governance) is moving to New York, New York, where he recently accepted the position of Associate at Linklaters LLP. David is a corporate lawyer specializing in mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and finance, and risk management. David earned both a bachelor's and a master's degree at UWaterloo, then went on to receive his Bachelor of Law from Queen Mary University of London and Master of Laws from University of Toronto.

Alexandra King (BA ‘10, Speech Communication and Human Resources Management) has joined Keurig Dr Pepper Canada as Senior Brand Manager, leaving Molson Coors Beverage company after eight years. At Molson Coors, Alex had just on back the Montreal Canadian partnership for Molson Export in time for the 2021 playoff season and launched a new strategy and campaign for Molson Ultra. With 10 years in the CPG and Alcohol Industries, Alex’s expertise extends to brand management, innovation, and channel strategy. She has managed iconic Canadian and North American brands, launched global brands, and built brands from infancy.

Jessica Kuepfer (BA ‘12, English Literature), Director of Communications – Strategic and Operational at Home Hardware Stores, was recognized as one of 2022’s Women on the Rise in Retail by the Women in Retail Leadership Circle (WIRLC) earlier this year. Jessica also received the Top 40 under 40 in Public Relations, and the PR Professional of the Year: Corporate in 2018. Jessica is an active volunteer in the community, volunteering for a number of non-profits. Jessica also got married this past May.

Galen Naidoo Harris (BA ‘19, English Rhetoric, Media and Professional Writing) has joined Wilfrid Laurier University as their Government and Community Relations Officer after three-and-a-half years working with Member of Parliament and Olympian Adam van Koeverden.

Ivanna Ramnath (BA ‘12, English Rhetoric and Professional Writing and Business) has recently been promoted to Supervisor, Product Marketing at Mary Kay Global, where she previously held roles in: Web Merchandising Lead and Senior Product Marketing Specialist. Ivanna's previous professional roles included: Research Assistant, Technical Writing Consultant, Copywriter and Communications Coordinator, and has worked for the University of Waterloo, Indigo, and Microsoft.

Simran Sidhu (BA '19, Legal Studies and Business) After graduating from UWaterloo, Simran was fortunate to find a home in the start-up ecosystem, focusing on HR, People, and Recruitment. Simran will now be leading the People & Talent function at Magical - founded by two other Waterloo alumni! Simran values inclusion and is determined to set up her employees for success, by building an inclusive environment, and by hiring world-class talent. Previously, Simran has led and grown the campus program at Clearco, and has built the Talent Acquisition function at HelloFresh Canada.

Kenny Yip (BA ‘15, Legal Studies and Human Resources Management) joined Sixty Degree Capital in February 2022 as Recruitment Consultant. Previously, Kenny was Recruiter in the Early Talent Acquisition Team at RBC Capital Markets, where he supported various businesses in fully cycle recruitment for Summer, Co-op and New Grad programs. Kenny launched his career at HR in financial service as an Associate in the RBC Career Launch Program in 2017.