I spent the first three years after graduation working for a micro-finance bank in La Paz, Bolivia. While there, I had the pleasure of working with Cecilia Campero ’91 and enjoying get-togethers with fellow Macalester graduates Nicola Bedoya ’93, Fabiola, Ximena ’92 and Maria Crespo ’95 and many others. When I returned to Minnesota, I married Joe Dolan and eventually bought a house across the street from where I grew up in South Minneapolis. I started working at the Neighborhood Development Center (NDC) in 1998 as a loan officer and business advisor. While at NDC, I have worked with small businesses in the inner cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The more visible projects that I have worked on include the Mercado Central on Bloomington and Lake and the newly opened Midtown Global Market in the old Sears building at Chicago and Lake. Joe and I have two children, Eleanor (5) and John (2).

My Mac Memories:

• I loved playing in the African Music Ensemble all four years at Macalester.
• Going salsa dancing Wed. nights at Amelias.
• Spending a lot of time on 4th Turk my first year.
• Borrowing a lot of clothes from many friends — especially my first year at Macalester after 12 years in uniform at Catholic schools!

When I graduated from Mac, I moved back to the D.C. area not sure what I was going to do next. I ended up at The Nature Conservancy as a conference planner and then fundraiser for the next eight years. In 1996, I met my husband, David Batitto, and in November 1999 we were married. Katharine Hill ’94 was one of my bridesmaids. I finally left the Conservancy and spent two years as a major gifts officer at Greenpeace. It was quite a change of organizations, but in a lot of ways was like being back at Macalester — for one, many of my colleagues at Greenpeace were not big on wearing shoes in the office.

In December 2003, David and I had our first child, Will. I became a very part-time fundraiser and very full-time mom. In November 2005, our daughter Kate was born. Our house is busy and a bit loud, but we are having a great time.

My Mac Memories:

• First year on 3rd Turck
• My very short-lived show on WMCN with Jeff Tancil ’93
• Wallace and Doty RA staffs
• Luaus at the Fun Island
• Anthropology of Religion with Anne Meigs and US Since 1945 with Norm Rosenberg