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ALUMNI NEWS

’06 MPP ALUM LEWIS IS A 2023 ‘WASHINGTONIAN OF THE YEAR’ N icole Lynn Lewis , a 2006 master of public policy graduate, was named a Washingtonian of the Year for 2023.

ODKM LOOKS TOWARD 30TH ANNIVERSARY, ADDS NEW ALUMNUS FACULTY MEMBER

The award, one of 10 presented by the magazine to community leaders in various fields, recognizes her work as the founder of Generation Hope, a Washington-based nonprofit that assists young families in the region to accomplish their academic goals. Some 450 families have received Generation Hope financial assistance and mentoring since its founding in 2010. Studies show that one in five undergraduate college students is a parent, which makes them 10 times less likely to complete a degree program. Meanwhile, fewer than 2 percent of teen mothers who have a baby before age 18 earn a college degree before they turn 30. Lewis herself was among them: She was an unwed, pregnant teen trying to finish her senior year of high school and then attend college. She credits her MPP degree with helping her achieve success in the nonprofit world. “My two years in the [Schar School] program really opened me up to looking at the issues that I was most passionate about through a policy lens, and understanding the role that legislation plays in shaping the lives of all of us—but especially of marginalized people who are under-resourced in our communities,” she said. “It was really helpful in looking critically at policy and understanding that the intention of a policy is one thing, but what’s really important is how it plays out in the lives of the people it’s purporting to serve.” —Buzz McClain

T he Schar School’s Organization Development and Knowledge Management (ODKM) master’s program is preparing to celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2025, when it welcomes its 30th cohort to the program. To mark the milestone, the program is launching an ambitious #30in30 campaign, aiming to recruit 30 students for Cohort 30. (The average cohort is 20.) After three decades of developing leaders in a variety of for-profit and nonprofit industries, “we are focusing a lot of energy on recruitment while celebrating 30 years of this program that has turned out so many influential changemakers over the years,” said program director Tojo Thatchenkery. New core faculty member Stacey Guenther is up for the

As it happened, George Mason was beginning a new academic department called Program on Social Organizational Learning (PSOL), with a tenure-track position for researching and teaching hermeneutics. “Within an hour I had sent my application,” he said. It wasn’t long after that Thatchenkery was pitching a master’s program in organization learning (OL), which would be the first such program anywhere, he said. After much internal maneuvering around various disciplines and hard-earned approval by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), the PSOL degree program launched in fall 1996 with its first 23 students, cohort number one. The program was rebranded ODKM in fall 2009 and continues to teach mid-career students leadership, creative problem solving, and analytical skills invaluable to their organization, work, and lives. —Schar School Staff

challenge. She joins after serving as an adjunct faculty member of the program and is herself a 2004 alumna of ODKM, cohort number seven. “ODKM is near and dear to my heart. It was deeply transformative for me, and my life changed radically after I entered the program,” Guenther said. In addition to teaching in the program, Guenther will spearhead ODKM’s #30in30 campaign, which will involve a social media push, the development of an advisory board, alumni relations efforts, and relationship-building with local and regional organizations. “I’m looking forward to telling the ODKM story,” she said. “It is the only program of its kind in the immediate region, and there is no better academic program for leaders and helping professionals in the area.” ODKM was founded by Thatchenkery as he was completing his PhD dissertation at Case Western University in April 1993. “I was looking for a job in a business school, but what I was working on—postmodernism and hermeneutics—wasn’t particularly attractive to them,” he said with a laugh.

My two years in the [Schar School] program really opened me up to looking at the issues that I was most passionate about through a policy lens, and understanding the role that legislation plays in shaping the lives of all of us—but especially of marginalized people who are under-resourced in our communities.

STACEY GUENTHER

DO YOUR PART FOR MASON NOW Last year, George Mason University launched Mason Now: Power the Possible , a $1 billion comprehensive campaign to support student success, research, innovation, community, and stewardship. For more information, visit gmu.edu/masonnow .

“ ODKM is near and dear to my heart. It was deeply transformative for me, and my life changed radically after I entered the program.”

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