American Magazine: November 2016

Mary Elizabeth “Betsy”
Kennedy, CAS/MS ’00, assisted
in the development and
enhancement of a proprietary
clinical key indicator dashboard
for the pediatric intensive care
unit at Children’s National
Medical Center in Washington,
DC. A study based on the
dashboard appears in the
September 2015 issue of the Joint
Commission Journal on Quality
and Patient Safety.
Ken Biberaj, SPA/BA ’02, and
wife Valerie welcomed son Grant
on July 28, 2016. Grant joins big
brother Hudson.
Deborah Horwitz, CAS/BA ’04,
launched PreparedPA.com, a prephysician
assistant student advice
and support services site.
Alisa Jorgine Otten, Kogod/
BSBA ’04, and Lucas Tyler Otten
welcomed their second child,
Grace Jorgine, on July 25, 2016.
Luisa Reyes, SIS/BS ’06, Kogod/
MA ’11, was this year named
to Alexandria’s 40 Under 40
by the Alexandria Chamber of
Commerce.
Adam Cordover, WCL/JD ’07,
SIS/MA ’08, has been contracted
by the American Bar Association
to coauthor a book on building a
successful collaborative family
law practice.
Monique Earl, SPA/MPA ’07,
was named Los Angeles
Department of Transportation
assistant general manager.
Jessica Kean, SPA/BA ’07,
a mother of two and child
advocate, is running for the Iowa
State House to represent District
58, which includes Jackson,
Jones, and Dubuque Counties
in eastern Iowa.
BRITTANY STEWART, SIS/BA ’11,
KOGOD/MS ’15 + LILLIE ROSEN,
SIS/BA ’09, SIS/MA ’10
Lillie Rosen and Brittany Stewart have what the doctor ordered: AN APPLE A DAY—or a pear,
or a tomato. The two are colleagues at the food-focused nonprofit DC Greens, whose FRUIT AND
VEGETABLE PRESCRIPTION PROGRAM provides fresh, local produce to patients with
diet-related illnesses. “It’s an actual physical prescription,” Rosen says. Participants bring the Rx to the
“FARMACY” at their local farmers’ market and receive $10 of produce a week for each member of
their family. HUNDREDS OF RECIPIENTS HAVE LOST WEIGHT, but more importantly,
they’ve started coming back for regular checkups. As Rosen, the group’s food access director, puts
it, “they’re getting a literal carrot to come and see their health care provider.” Stewart, the volunteer
coordinator, recruits locals to run the Produce Plus program, which also provides farmers’ market
vouchers to people in need. It’s an ENTHUSIASTIC CORPS OF VOLUNTEERS. “Most want
to get involved in food access and food sustainability issues, and don’t really know how to,” she says.
Produce Plus was created to keep farmers’ markets accessible to everyone in the surrounding
community, and there are 50 PARTICIPATING MARKETS ACROSS ALL EIGHT
WARDS. Stewart also cultivates volunteers for K Street Farm, a three-quarter-acre plot at the
intersection of K Street and New Jersey Avenue. The farm provides job training, and produces
vegetables, fruits, eggs, and honey to supplement the food raised and sold at schools across the city.
The school garden markets are “A BAKE SALE, BUT WITH FRESH PRODUCE, and the
kids run the markets themselves,” she says. The two colleagues hope these and other DC Greens
initiatives will reduce some of the disparities in the nation’s capital. “I grew up in the DC area and just
wanted to have an IMPACT IN THE CITY I LIVED IN,” says Rosen. Stewart sees food as the
natural place to connect: “we all have to eat.”
AMERICAN.EDU/ALUMNI 39