Middle to Upper School students were engaged in deep conversations around campus with more than 30 St. Margaret’s alumni during the 5th Annual Alumni Career Forum.

The morning kicked off with Middle School students listening to a “hearts and minds” themed presentation from two speakers Georgina Lean, Class of 2009, and Dr. Todd Newman, Class of 1991. Both alumni offered a peek into how they balance their professional aspirations with volunteerism. Ms. Lean, who is pursuing her PhD in neuroscience at the University of California, Irvine, is also a trained volunteer firefighter for the San Juan Capistrano Fire Department. Dr. Newman is an anesthesiologist and critical care physician at Hoag Hospital. In his spare time he volunteers for Heartfelt Projects, Troopsdirect.org and various facets at St. Margaret’s from the football team doctor to president of the Alumni Association.

New this year, seniors received a special invitation to a lunch with alumni speakers, giving additional time to network and an opportunity to explore Independent Senior Project possibilities with prospective alumni providers.

Click here for a photo gallery.

Following lunch, Upper School students, faculty and staff welcomed Keynote Speaker Ryan Ozonian, Class of 2005, CEO and Cofounder of Cyber Dust. Through a one-on-one interview with Associated Student Body President David Larsen, Mr. Ozonian shared his work ethic of how to preserver through tough times, his experiences working with Cyber Dust Cofounder and billionaire Mark Cuban, and the qualities he has taken from his education at St. Margaret’s.

Joining Mr. Ozonian in the experiential day were alumni spanning from the Classes of 1986-2013 who returned to their alma mater to provide current students a glimpse into their professional lives and the journey that brought them to this point. The 30 speakers comprising the bulk of programming held two 30-minute sessions with grade 11 and 12 students with offerings from women in business to culinary arts. This year, students had the option to take part in two workshops. One focused on Linked In – an online career networking platform – and how to create a profile and utilize the tool to tap into the St. Margaret’s alumni Linked In group. The second workshop took real student business ideas and matched them up with alumni entrepreneurs who offered advice and insight.

​"It's helpful to see how the students who have taken the same courses and used the same classrooms and sat in the same seats took what they learned here and applied it to the larger world. When you think about something like becoming a doctor, it seems like there are a million insurmountable steps between sitting in your high school biology class and the day you will finally practice medicine. But sitting in the medical panel and watching Dr. Newman trace his steps from when he was in the same place I was to when he was finally practicing medicine, it certainly provides a sense of clarity and helps make those goals more attainable. As frightening as it may be to think about being a college student and then an adult in the job market, it is not nearly as far away as many of us might like to imagine and events like the St. Margaret’s Alumni Career Forum help prepare us for that reality," said Colby Rogers, grade 11.

New format changes this year allowed the grade 9 and 10 students to hear from four different alumni speakers with various backgrounds from a PhD researcher to young alumni in college to a CEO and entrepreneur.

“The importance of providing synergistic programming bringing both current students and alumni together to explore future career possibilities is priceless,” said Assistant Director of Advancement for Alumni Relations Jillian Gray. “The Tartan Alumni Association has created an effective and meaningful program drawing these constituencies together allowing for open dialogue and real-world learning. It is the springboard for a future interactions and platform development that will take place in and out of the classroom.”

See a full list below of the 2016 alumni speakers:

Chris Allen ’89 - Manager of Global Learning and Development, Panasonic Avionics.

Umar Bajwa ’05 – Founder, Ala3eeb

Ryan Baker ’03 - Senior Financial Analyst and Field Agent, Mosier and Company, Inc.

Alyson Barker ’99 - Vice President, General Counsel, Lucky Brand

Kurt Belcher ’97 – CEO, STAJets

Brooke (Ziccardi) Bowman ’96 – Principal, Ziccardi Designs

Scott DeYoung ’08 – Director, Faris Lee Investments

Ryan Dunlop ’03 - National Accounts Manager, Danone Waters of America

Jordan Dzierwa ’06 – Owner, Skydog Jewelry

William Findiesen ’10 - Financial Analyst and Accountant, Team Playbooks

Tara Freese ’05 - Community Development Manager, Shea Homes

Brooke (Birtcher) Gustafson ’03 - Vice President Development Operations, Goodman Birtcher North America

Paul Janczyk ’04 - Senior Associate, Edwards Lifesciences

Georgina Lean ’09 - currently a Ph.D. candidate in Neuroscience at UC Irvine

Chase McClure ’13 – Internet Sales Representative, HGB Auto Co

Connor McClure ’10 - Marketing Director, Betty’s Mexican Food

David Milburn ’05 - Business Strategist, The Young Trust and MDM International

Alex Miyawaki ’05 is Director of Audience Strategy, Entertainment at Maker Studios

Todd Newman ’91 - a Staff Anesthesiologist, Newport Harbor Anesthesia Consultants

Ryan Ozonian ’05 - Co-Founder and CEO, Cyber Dust

Justin Phan ’04 – CEO, PlayMyAd

Megan (Canright) Rabinowitz ’99 - Director of Scientific Operations, Forensic
Analytical Consulting Services

Mark Risner ’86 – Owner, The Law Office of Mark T. Risner

Winston Robinson ’13 - Assistant Manager, Lacrosse Unlimited

Spencer Scott ’05 - Deputy Public Defender, County of San Diego

Novelle Shakeel ’06 - President and CEO, Parisian Management Inc.

Alex Slavin ’02 - Associate at O’Melveny & Myers LLP

Max Sutro ’08 - Client Marketing Associate at Athletes First

Taylor (Chase) Wagniere ’06 - an Associate in the area of complex litigation at Blecher Collins & Pepperman

Jennifer Wolfe ’91, MFT - Behavior Support Team Supervisor at StarView
Community Services

Andrew Wood ’03 - an Associate at Baker and Hostetler LLP