Volunteer Spotlights

Name: Sarah Tralins

Graduation Year: 2014

What volunteer activities are you involved in with Tufts?: Tufts Admissions Network, Tufts Alumni Council, Professional Development Fund, Class Volunteer, Class Reunion Committee. 

What made you decide to become a volunteer?: I believe that volunteering builds community and is a way to show up for others. I decided to volunteer as a Tufts Admissions Network interviewer whe nmy niece started applying to colleges and I saw how helpful the alumni from other universities were in her journey. There are so many opportunities to make a positive impact on a Tufts student or alumni - whether that's giving to a club you participated in as a student or offering a call to current students to talk about their professional goals via The Herd. It's been fun to see how we all come together to uplift other Jumbos.

What is your favorite part of volunteering at Tufts?: My favorite part is seeing the impact. For example, the grants awarded through the Professional Development helps close the opportunity gap by providing alumni equitable access to resources to pursue their professional dreams. Grants have funded certifications in cloud computing technologies for someone transitioning into IT, conference entry to present on new research in an evolving field, and classes to learn to become a phlebotomist.

What is one piece of advice you'd give to a new Tufts grad?: Use your insight and remember that you're not alone. Lean on your community - including Tufts alumni - on your journey.

What artist do you have on repeat?: Khruangbin and Fred again

What was your go-to spot as a Tufts student?: Brown and Brew

Uphill or downhill, and why?: Downhill, because I spent most of my time there waves white flag

Name: Elizabeth Amador

Graduation Year: 1991

What volunteer activities are you involved in with Tufts?: Tufts Alumni Council: member since 2018, current President, past Vice President on the Executive Committee, and past member of the Nominating Committee. Leader/Organizer of the One Tufts Miami event. International Board of Advisors Ex Officio. President's Council. Latin American Association of Tufts University. Past Chair of the NYC Regional Chapter.

What made you decide to become a volunteer?: After my kids got a little older, I found I had more time to volunteer. I felt the need to reconnect with Tufts.

What is your favorite part of volunteering with Tufts?: The best part of Tufts and volunteering are the people. My closest friends are from my days as an undergraduate at Tufts.

What is one piece of advice you’d give to a new Tufts grad?: Explore the world, try things you have never tried. When you're young it's important because you never know what will turn out to be your passions. Do not be afraid to take risks.

What artist do you have on repeat?: I have many! My daughter recently turned me on to Laufey. So, she's on repeat now.

What was your go to spot as a Tufts student?: MacPhie Pub...it was what today would be Dewick cafeteria. But, at the time, after lunch especially on Fridays, friends would hang out there.

Uphill or downhill?: Downhill...it's where I lived Freshman and Sophomore years, and the campus center is there.

Name: Dan Kaplan

Graduation Year: 1996

What volunteer activities are you involved in with Tufts?: Foster Children's Party Committee. We plan and host a back-to-school summer picnic and a December holiday party for over 150 foster children from the surrounding communities. 

What made yo decide to become a volunteer?: I enjoy giving back to the community and like to stay engaged with Tufts. 

What is your favorite part of volunteering with Tufts?: Seeing the changes to the campus year-to-year and the enthusiasm of the students who volunteer with us at events. 

What is one piece of advice you'd give to a new Tufts grad?: Be inquisitive and never stop learning. 

What book is on your nightstand?: The Paris Library

Name: E Scott Reed

Graduation Year: 1979

What Volunteer Activities are you involved in?: Foster Children Holiday Party and Summer Picnic.

What made you decide to become a volunteer?: I wanted to give back. 

What is your favorite part of volunteering with Tufts?: Tufts support made it easy. 

What is one piece of advice you'd give to a new Tufts grad?: Volunteer for something. Just do it. 

What is your go to podcast?: Wall Street Journal

What book is on your nightstand?: No Easy Day

Yvonne and Rhonda founded Tufts Alumni Western MA and created Tufts at Tanglewood. Since then, they have been chairing the event for 19 years. 

Yvonne Halpern Baevsky, J84, A15P, D19P, DG22P

I have been a volunteer for Tufts since serving on my 5th class reunion, and have since served on every reunion committee with a most dedicated Class of 1984. 

My mom always says that if you volunteer, you'll meet the cream of the crop. This is true! And you'll feel good about giving back to the school that prepared you for the world. Keep in touch with your Tufts friends and faculty!

I was elected to the Tufts Alumni Council and have served on its Executive Committee. I have co-chaired the Tufts Alumni Weekend/Homecoming Committee and especially enjoyed the Light on the Hill Ceremony and greeting alumni at the 55 and Over Luncheon. I encourage all alumni to meet our most senior alumni and hear their stories! Connect with Tufts Jumbos wherever you live!

Rhonda Goldberg, J82

I am a founding member of Tufts Alumni Western MA and Tufts at Tanglewood. Together with Yvonne, we have brought speakers from Tufts campus to Western MA including Tufts President Larry Bacow, the Dean of Admissions, the Dean of Arts and Sciences, and the Dean of the Medical School. These sell-out events have even brought Sol Gittleman to the National Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA. 

I began to volunteer for Tufts about 20 years ago, shortly after leaving the Boston area and moving to Western Massachusetts. I have returned to campus to attend a majority of my reunions and to participate in volunteer symposiums run by the Office of Alumni Engagement. My favorite part of volunteering for Tufts is meeting fellow alumni and giving back to the school for which I hold many great memories. I encourage fellow alumni to become involved on whatever level they feel comfortable. 

Janice Savin Williams, J79, an equity owner and managing director of the financial services firm Siebert Williams Shank & Co., LLC, has brought an irrepressible enthusiasm for the university’s progress to the Board of Trustees and the Campaign Cabinet Executive Committee. As a member of the Athletics Board of Advisors, she also has been a champion of sweeping improvements across Tufts Athletics, including the Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center and more recently, the Strength & Conditioning Coaching Development Program.

How did Tufts influence you as a young adult?

When I arrived on campus, I was ready to conquer the world! In retrospect, I see that I was just beginning to explore different elements of life. I was lucky I spent that developmental phase of my young adulthood at Tufts, learning, engaging, and enjoying the journey. Without a doubt, I had a well-rounded education that put me on the path to success. Most importantly, I have lifelong friends, memories, and a tremendous number of lessons learned that continue to propel and motivate me.

What do you want to achieve as a member of the Tufts Board of Advisors for Athletics?

Both my children were student-athletes starting in junior high school. This was part of our grand plan to keep them busy. They both became elite middle-distance runners, and I witnessed how, with lots of support, they respected their coaches and teammates, watched their diet, and recognized what was required to successfully manage their academic and social lives. In short, I think that the focus and dedicated lifestyle a student-
athlete brings to Tufts not only strengthens the athletics program but also boosts the energy of the entire student body. My goal is to continue to assist in improving upon the existing foundation by supporting the teams and staff and cultivating an engaging spirit within the student body, professors, and alumni.

What motivated you to help create a new Strength & Conditioning Coaching Development Program?

I recognize that top athletic performance is about finding a balance between performance and recovery and knowing what you need to do to avoid injury. So, strength and conditioning practices are a vital part of any athletics program. They are also invaluable as young adults want to maintain fitness as they age. With this investment, we expand what we currently offer students and, at the same time, bring on board professionals who support our diversity and inclusion priorities or who have backgrounds in diversity and inclusion. We will provide a pathway for them to further their careers in the field of intercollegiate athletics strength and conditioning coaching.

As we bring the Brighter World campaign into the home stretch, how would you motivate fellow alumni to join you in advancing athletics?

Motivation is all about engagement. But how do we create that engaged community around athletics? We can share our story. I love to tell alumni, particularly those who have happy memories of competing for Tufts, how we have become an athletics powerhouse! Tufts was recognized this year as having the best Division III athletics program in the country; that is an amazing testament to our students, coaches, and to everyone who has supported them over the years. Building pride and support for athletics amounts to weaving it into the fabric and future of the university. It provides the backdrop for an inspirational college experience, and that is always a sound investment.

Growing up in a one-bedroom flat in a triple-decker with his parents and three sisters in Somerville’s Teele Square, Peter Delli Colli, A69, D73, never could have imagined he would have a lifelong relationship with the university down the street. “When I was in a baby carriage, my mother would take me on walks around the campus,” he joyfully recounts. Later, Peter attended Tufts on a full scholarship with room and board. “I had a bedroom for the first time in my life when I lived in Carmichael Hall during my freshman year.” Describing his time as an undergraduate biology major, and later as a graduate student at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine (TUSDM), he enthuses, “I was lucky because I had so much fun. I just loved the educational experience. I took engineering courses, as well as classes at the Museum School. I would have been a student forever, if I could.” Looking back, Peter reflects on how Tufts broadened his vision of the world. “Growing up in a loving family, with great home-cooked food, I felt well off. I had never been outside of Massachusetts. Tufts opened my eyes to a whole new world.”

Peter’s close relationship with Tufts has never wavered. He has been an active volunteer for the Tufts Dental Alumni Association, holding various positions on its Executive Board, including that of president. He has also served on the Executive Committee of the M Club, the dental school’s leadership giving society, and has been co-chair of numerous reunion committees for his TUSDM class.

For the past five years, Peter has been a member of the Brighter World Dental Campaign Committee and, as a member of the Charles Tufts Society, he has also been serving as the school’s representative on the University Gift Planning Leadership Council. Peter says he enjoys talking to other alumni about new programs; telling them how they can get involved; and encouraging them to give back to Tufts. He strongly believes that “the most important factor when inducing people to do something is simply to ask them to do it, and tell them ways they can.” When discussing planned giving with TUSDM alumni, Peter tells them about the joy he has experienced in “paying it forward” to subsequent generations of students. “Tufts was such a wonderful experience for me. I received a scholarship that changed my life. All of my contributions to Tufts have been for scholarships—helping students not have to worry so much about money. I want other alumni to find the same happiness in helping others that I have.”

Peter describes volunteering as being “part of the fabric of my life.” In addition to his work for Tufts, he has served on the boards of numerous charitable and civic organizations, and has been the chair of the town of Natick’s Board of Health for more than 30 years. He approaches his hobbies with the same gusto that he brings to his volunteer work. “All my friends know that I’m a car nut. I have too many cars, motorcycles, and boats. I’ve had four Volkswagen camper vans. My license plate reads, ‘FLOSS,’ and my patients refer to my old camper vans as 'Flossmobiles.'”

An inveterate optimist, Peter sums up his philosophy on life: “I’m a firm believer that we should be doing things that bring us joy, bring others joy, and without infringing on others on this earth. That’s what life is all about.”

When Leslie Puth enrolled in Fletcher’s Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD) program in 2009, she already had a long list of academic, professional, and personal accomplishments under her belt, including a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley; an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business; a successful career in currency trading and sales; leadership positions with various community organizations and nonprofit boards; and an active family consisting of her husband David, A79, three children, and a dog. Years of living in Brooklyn—before the borough experienced significant gentrification—had instilled in Leslie a deep desire to help impoverished communities. She became interested in the role that microfinance can play in addressing poverty and was attracted to Fletcher, where she could study development economics.

Leslie recalls how she loved being part of the Fletcher community, where she learned from not only the incredible faculty, but also her fellow students, who shared valuable insights that were informed by their diverse backgrounds. “I think everybody should go to Fletcher,” she says. “No matter what field you go into, the experience is so helpful in building your understanding of the complex roots of problems, the interconnectedness of issues, and the need to hear from many different viewpoints.”

After earning her MALD degree, Leslie joined Accion, a global microfinance nonprofit. She was invited to join Fletcher’s Board of Advisors and remarks that this opportunity heightened her awareness of the extent to which scholarship assistance is vital to bringing in the kinds of students Fletcher wants to attract. “When I have read about—or met—students who have benefitted from scholarship support, I’ve seen that the funding is lifechanging for them. I’m very committed to raising money for this purpose. I’m really hoping we can get more people who feel the same way and who are willing and able to support these efforts.”

Leslie also serves as co-chair of the Fletcher Campaign Committee, alongside Brad Meslin, F82, FG84, A21P. Prior to the pandemic, plans were underway for her to host an event for Fletcher alumni, featuring Fletcher faculty, at her home in Manhattan. “These kinds of gatherings are ideal for helping people feel closer to the school; for fostering relationships that ultimately serve the school well; and for giving professors the opportunity to hear directly from alumni,” Leslie explains. When the pandemic forced her to rethink the event format, she pivoted to a salon-style event on Zoom featuring Dean Rachel Kyte and a faculty member, with the size limited to just six to eight participants in order to achieve an intimate environment in which everyone could actively engage with the speakers and each other. The first event, held in early 2021, was so successful that three more followed during the course of the year.

Reflecting on the volunteer work that both she and David have undertaken, Leslie exclaims, “Our experiences have been so rewarding. We’re the first to say that we feel privileged to be able to do this kind of work. You meet fantastic people and you learn so much from these opportunities.”