access to social media outlets, information about work-family issues trending on the web, and articles contributed by students and selected faculty.
Our students continue to be at the forefront of our goals. We are once again offering internships this summer, in addition to the new Berger Institute Research Grant, created to help fund student-led projects. Also, we currently employ eight research assistants who are working closely with either one of our Faculty Affiliates or me. McKenzie Javorka ’14 attended this year’s Western Psychological Association conference with me, and her poster on how monolingual and bilingual children develop and use language differently won an award! Being a Berger research assistant allows our students to acquire valuable work experience while forging important relationships with mentors who are guiding them in the world of research.
This spring, as part of our involvement with WLA, we co-hosted the 5th annual Women & Leadership Workshop, where students took in valuable advice from Executive Coach (and former Berger Board Member) Michelle Bauman ’89, and were also able to network with alumni panelists – all leaders in their respective fields of consulting, education, media, science, and more. In April, we also hosted the keynote speaker (with CMC’s Lowe Institute) at this year’s Southern California Conference in Applied Microeconomics (SoCCAM). In addition, Berger board member Carl Patten ’92 and I contributed to this year’s alumni weekend with a talk about the work-family balance for the “silver tsunami” generation – it’s been a busy semester!
Finally, our interdisciplinary Speaker Series this year featured ground-breaking leaders in law (Gloria Allred), sports (Kathy DeBoer, Director of the American Volleyball Coaches Association), media (producer Sarah Johnson) and the arts (playwright Eve Ensler), among others. These guests not only explored the various facets of work and family dynamics, they also made us think about the important impacts we can have in our particular fields, and so were well attended by students and members of the wider community.
I am pleased and proud at the progress we are making at the Berger Institute. Thank you very much for your continued support and encouragement!
Tomoe Kanaya
Director, Berger Institute for Work, Family and Children