The Candidates

The following alumnae/i are up for election to the Alumnae Association Executive Board.

Update: The entire slate of candidates were elected by members of the Alumnae Association in June of 2021.

Voting will take place at the 2021 Annual Meeting, date and location to be announced. Terms are for three years, unless otherwise noted.

Susan Beckert Bock ’90, Representative, Clubs
Nancy Gellman ’67, Secretary/Treasurer
Elizabeth Held ’12, Representative, Alumnae/i Communications
Aheli Purkayastha ’09, Vice President

Thank you to our outgoing Alumnae Association Executive Board Members Susan Flinn ’86, Representative, Clubs; Courtney Gray ’92, Representative, Alumnae/i Communications; Allison Levy M.A. ’97, Ph.D. ’00, Representative, Graduate Schools of Arts & Sciences; Kaaren Sorensen ’85, Secretary/Treasurer; Saskia K. Subramanian ’88, M.A. ’89, President; and Natalie Watson ’99, Vice President.

Susan Beckert Bock ’90 is a partner in the private client group at Stoel Rives LLP in Portland, Oregon, where she counsels high-networth individuals and exempt organizations in the administration of estates and trusts, estate, gift, generation skipping, and charitable tax planning. Bock has served as president of the Portland Alumnae/i Club since 2017 and previously served as class notes co-editor for the Class of 1990. She also serves on the board of the Oregon Recovery High School Initiative and Harmony Academy, the first high school for students in recovery from substance use disorder in Oregon. She also enjoys yoga and weekly calls with her ��Ӱֱ�� posse.

Nancy Gellman ’67 is one of the founders of Conrad O’Brien P.C., a law firm in Philadelphia specializing in trial and appellate practice. She serves as the firm’s vice chair. In addition to her litigation practice, she has taught trial advocacy at bar association and law school programs and appellate advocacy at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Gellman is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and is active in professional and community organizations. She received her J.D. from Yale Law School. She has been a volunteer for ��Ӱֱ�� in various capacities over the years.

Elizabeth Held ’12 is a senior director at Subject Matter, a creative advocacy firm in Washington, D.C., where she provides communication guidance to companies, nonprofits, and industry associations. She is also a freelance writer with bylines in Slate and USA Today, among other publications. She has volunteered for the College since graduating, serving as a class notes co-editor, D.C. Club newsletter editor, and an admissions interviewer.

Aheli Purkayastha ’09 is the director of product management of Purkay Labs, a leading portable environmental monitoring company. She focuses on developing energy-efficiency strategies for mission-critical facilities, including data centers, hospitals, and labs. With her team, she has launched six products used by Fortune 500/Tier 4 companies across the world. Prior to joining Purkay Labs, Purkayastha worked with the United Nations Security Council and Oxfam International. She holds an A.B. from ��Ӱֱ�� in political science and history of art and an M.Sc. from the University of Edinburgh in international political theory. In her free time, she volunteers as a team leader for the IRSsponsored VITA program for low-income families in New York City and is a founding member of the Women in Mission Critical Organization, focused on recruiting women into STEM fields. When not traveling, she enjoys chasing cheese boards and cozying up with a good mystery novel. Purkayastha is a former co-chair of ��Ӱֱ��’s Graduates of the Last Decades (GOLD) Committee, a 2009 Reunion Committee member, and a representative for the Alumnae Admissions Representative Network.