“Job” Class Notes
Adam Ambrogi (Col ’98)
Adam Ambrogi (Col ’98 CM) recently took the job as Senior Director for Voting and Elections with the League of Women Voters. Ambrogi joins the League’s growing team and will expand the organization’s impact on voting rights and election administration.
“I am thrilled to have Adam join the League at a pivotal moment in our country when voting rights are under attack,” said Virginia Kase Solomón, CEO of the League of Women Voters. “Adam brings to the League a wealth of experience in voting and elections advocacy as well as philanthropy and strategy. We’re excited to have him join us as we continue our fight to expand voting rights for all Americans.”
Prior to joining the League, Ambrogi served for several years as Director of the Elections and Voting Program at the Democracy Fund. In that role, he led efforts in grantmaking, strategy, research and advocacy to improve the quality of elections and voting. Ambrogi has previous experience at the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and on Capitol Hill as Chief Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, addressing a wide range of issues related to rules of the Senate, election law and policy.
“I am excited to join the League of Women Voters in this new role as we expand our presence in the local, state and federal space,” said Ambrogi. “The potential to create impact with LWV’s ability to combine grassroots and organizing relationships of over 800 Leagues with national insight and strategy can be transformational to protect and promote the vote. I can’t wait to help build that vision, look for new areas of growth and expand our partnerships throughout the country.”
David Meredith (Com ’03)
David Meredith (Com ’03) has been appointed chief executive officer and board director of Boomi, the intelligent connectivity and automation leader that instantly connects everyone to everything with its cloud-native, unified, open, and intelligent platform that serves more than 18,000 customers globally.
Leading technology investors Francisco Partners and TPG spun Boomi out of Dell for $4 billion – one of largest software growth-equity deals ever. Boomi pioneered the intelligent use of data and has been named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant for eight consecutive years.
Meredith has nearly 30 years of experience serving in senior executive leadership and board director roles across both multi-billion-dollar public companies as well as PE-backed technology-focused firms.
Meredith ranked Top 50 in the largest company category by Comparably for Best CEO (2020) and Best CEO for Diversity (2021) and earned a CEO rating of A+, measured across 60,000+ companies. He received a distinguished Globee® Award in the Visionary category as part of The 9th Annual 2021 CEO World Awards. In 2016, The Uptime Institute recognized David’s contributions to the industry by presenting him with their Change Leader Award. Georgia Trend Magazine named him a “Top 40 under 40 – Best and Brightest Leader” in 2008.
Kevin Ryan (Law ’96)
Kevin Ryan (Law ’96) in October marked one year as CFO at digital-first homeownership company Better. Helping grow Better has been one of the most exciting challenges of his life and he is excited to be a part of the team as Better seeks to transform the real estate industry, and make homeownership easier and cheaper for everyone.
Allyson Gold (Col ’06)
Allyson E. Gold (Col ’06 CM) joined the faculty of Wake Forest University School of Law as Associate Dean of Experiential Learning and director of the university’s new Medical-Legal Partnership Clinic.
GAYLA KRAETSCH HARTSOUGH (Educ ’78, Grad ’78)
Gayla Kraetsch Hartsough (Educ ’78, Grad ’78 CM) just completed her year as Executive Director for the first-ever independent redistricting commission for the most populous county in the United States, which comprises 10 million people. The role of the Los Angeles County Citizens Redistricting Commission (LA County CRC) was to establish the boundary lines for the County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors following the federal decennial census. As an independent commission, the LA County CRC’s approved map is the final map and cannot be redrawn by the Board of Supervisors.
Hartsough and her team confronted many challenges in setting up a new independent commission, compounded by census data delays, the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in hybrid and virtual meetings, and increased public awareness of the importance of the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. For example, between November 1, 2021, and December 12, 2021, more than 3,200 individuals attended or watched on YouTube the 14 meetings and public hearings held. 4,200 members of the public made oral presentations or submitted written comments during that same period. The LA County CRC’s approach can serve as a model for other local and state jurisdictions in the coming years.
Hartsough will now refocus her energies on her firm, KH Consulting Group, which she established 35 years ago.
For more information on the LA County CRC, go to:
Website: https://redistricting.lacounty.gov/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/LACountyRedistricting/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RedistrictingLACounty
Laura Blasi (Educ ’02)
Laura Blasi (Educ ’02) joined the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in December as a Program Officer focused on evaluation in the National Research Council Executive Office in Washington, D.C. More about the Academies is available online: https://www.nationalacademies.org
Justin Lollman (Law ’14)
Justin Lollman (Law ’14) has been named a shareholder at GableGotwals, a full-service law firm with more than 100 attorneys and more than 60 professionals with offices in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Okla. Justin has a diverse civil litigation practice, focusing on appeals, complex commercial litigation, employment law, governmental liability, and civil rights defense. Justin regularly practices before state and federal courts across Oklahoma and throughout the country. Having clerked for federal judges at both the trial and appellate levels, Justin is well-versed in federal practice and procedure and draws on that experience to counsel clients at all phases of the litigation process, from the pleadings up through appeal.
Kyrsta Scully (Com ’90)
Kyrsta Small Scully (COM ’90 CM) has been named controller of the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group in Yountville, California, which runs the French Laundry, Bouchon, Ad Hoc and other fine restaurants in multiple locations across the country. She supervises accounting and financial matters for all the restaurants and related companies. After a 25-year career in food and beverage at luxury hotels, she turned to the accounting side and earned her California CPA license in 2020 and her CMA in 2017.
Sean Scully (Col ’89)
Sean Scully (COL, ’89 CM) has been named Western National Editor for States Newsroom, a national nonprofit focusing on news coverage of state government. In this position, he coordinates coverage and assists editors in seven western states. Previously, he was editor and director of news content for the Napa Valley Register in California. He and his family will continue to live in the Napa Valley, where they have been for a decade.
Yvener Petit (Com ’09)
Yvener J. Petit (Com ’09) joined Live Nation as a Director of Strategic Initiatives and Operations this fall. In his role, he partners with key stakeholders across the Concerts, Ticketmaster, and Media and Sponsorship divisions to outline and implement key company strategies. In addition, Yvener has recently been elected to serve as an Executive Committee and Board Member of Communities In Schools of Los Angeles—a non-profit that focuses on providing one-on-one case management for nearly 1,000 at-risk Los Angeles Unified School District students, helping them stay in school and achieve in life.
Matthew Kelley (Col ’00)
Matthew Kelley (Col ’00 CM) has established a Hereford-Angus beef cattle operation on his farm in Madison, Virginia. The cows join his wife, three children, and career in fulfilling his lifelong goals in pursuit of happiness.
Ann McMillan (Col ’81)
Ann McMillan (Col ’81) has been named president of Caplin & Drysdale, a law firm with offices in New York and Washington, D.C providing a full range of tax, tax controversy, and related legal services to companies, organizations, and individuals throughout the United States and around the world.
Ms. McMillan is a member of the firm’s bankruptcy group and long-time member of the board of directors.
Ms. McMillan joined Caplin & Drysdale in 1991 after serving as corporate counsel for a California corporation. She works with Caplin & Drysdale’s bankruptcy group representing claimants’ committees in mass tort bankruptcies. Ms. McMillan also advises approximately 30 trust advisory committees for the trusts that are formed at the conclusion of the bankruptcies. Additionally, she counsels both for-profit and nonprofit entities on corporate governance issues and contractual matters.
Simrat Jassal (Col ’21 CM)
Simrat Jassal (COL ’21 CM) is the president and founder of Premed Peers, a nonprofit that is providing free and affordable MCAT tutoring to students across the nation. Premed Peers has reached over 2000 students across the nation and provided them with mentorship and support during the medical admissions process. The nonprofit also provides students with essay, resume, and private tutoring help. Simrat will continue the efforts for Premed Peers and is hoping to give back to the Charlottesville community. You can get involved with the program here: https://www.premedpeers.org/get-involved
Premed Peers is a national nonprofit that provides free and affordable tutoring to premedical students across the nation. We are a group of undergraduate and medical students across the country who have all struggled, yet succeeded, on the MCAT and want to give back to other fellow pre-meds. We offer a low-cost prep course called MCAT101. The courses are lecture-style that cover high (and low) yield topics on the MCAT and run for approximately 1 hour. We believe that medical educational barriers should not deter students from pursuing medicine.
A.J. Frey (Col ’08)
A.J. Frey (Col ’08 CM) has joined the Washington, DC, office of international law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher as a partner in the Investment Funds practice. A.J. joins Gibson from Greenspring Associates, a diversified venture capital platform with over $13B in Assets Under Management, where he served as General Counsel. His practice focuses on the formation and operation of private investment funds across a variety of fund strategies, including private equity, growth equity, venture capital and real asset funds. A.J. resides in Washington, DC with his wife, Brenna, and their two boys, Felix and Max.
Shane Rau (Res ’08)
Dr. Shane Rau (Res ’08) works for Array Behavioral Care, a nationwide telepsychiatry company, as Vice President and Associate Medical Director for the Scheduled Care and AtHome Care lines of business. In this role, he provides telepsychiatry services to adults in multiple states and supervises 60 clinicians providing similar services. He also directs quality management projects for these lines of business to establish systems of data analysis to ensure Array’s clinicians are improving lives. He is proud of Array and his position within it and attributes a good deal of his leadership ability, clinical skills and clinical knowledge to his time as a resident in Psychiatry at UVA Health System, and, in particular, the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences! He and his life, Melinda, live in Williamsburg.
Emily Barksdale (Batten ’21)
Emily Barksdale (Batten ’21) started in October as an analyst in the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Planning and Budget. She is working with other Batten and UVA alumni and has relocated to Richmond.
Patrice Lewis (Col ’03)
Patrice L. Lewis (Col ’03 CM) has joined the Richmond office of law firm Gentry Locke. Lewis works with the firm’s government and regulatory affairs practice and Gentry Locke Consulting, using research and strategy to help clients achieve their legal and policy goals.
She formerly served as a senior advisor for SIR, Inc. a strategic marketing and communications firm; as an outreach representative for United States Senator Mark R. Warner; and as the legislative assistant to former Virginia Delegate Onzlee Ware.
Sam Heath (Grad ’14)
Sam Heath (Grad ’14) has been appointed manager of the Equal Justice USA Evangelical Network, a platform for faith leaders across the political spectrum who seek to transform the justice system by promoting responses to violence that are rooted in the values of racial equity, redemption and healing.
Heath, an educator by profession, is an elder at Trinity Presbytery Church in Charlottesville where he has been the coordinator of major educational conferences, including Race: Unity in Diversity, which came in the wake of the so-called Unite the Right Rally in 2017. He also founded and co-chairs a Multiethnicity Ministry Team tasked with helping move Trinity to be an increasingly multi-ethnic organization in both its color and culture.
Equal Justice USA is a national organization working to transform the justice system by promoting responses to violence that break cycles of trauma. Our Evangelical Network unites Evangelicals under a bold vision of justice transformation, so that violence is rare and every community is safe and healthy.
Wilson Craig (Col ’16)
Wilson Craig (Col ’16) has launched Waterbird Spirits. The company creates a variety of canned cocktails with real distilled spirits that are now sold in 22 states and will be available in an additional 18 states this year.
The Waterbird name pays homage to historic Water Street in Charlottesville, the location of the company headquarters.
A third manufacturing facility is coming online this year, in addition to the Waterbird Headquarters in Charlottesville and a production facility in Lakeland, Florida.
For more information, go to www.waterbirdspirits.com.
Laura Griffin (Col ’00)
Laura Griffin (Col ’00) has been appointed Chief Deputy Clerk of Operations for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, effective October 18, 2021. Laura previously served as the Clerk of Court (senior court administrator) for the Chesterfield and Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Courts. She will work at the Spottswood W. Robinson III and Robert R. Merhige, Jr., Federal Courthouse in Richmond.
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