"Camp Kesem instilled in me the belief that I can succeed. It opened my eyes to see that I can truly make a positive difference in someone else's life." ~Counselor
Learn more about our student leaders...
Alumni
Welcome to the homepage of the
The Alumni Association is dedicated to connecting alumni across the country in lifelong support of the Camp Kesem organization.
Registering for the Alumni Association
Join the Camp Kesem Alumni Association (CKAA) – a powerful way to stay involved with Camp Kesem after graduation: Keep connected with other CK Alumni and help Camp Kesem grow!
Membership benefits are FREE your first year after graduation: CKAA quarterly newsletter, invitations to Kesem Kasual alumni events, and networking with other CKAA members. While membership is free, we welcome any donations you may be able to make. All donations will be used toward building the capacity of the Alumni Association and our student leadership programs.
Be sure to provide contact information that is valid after graduation – ex: permanent email vs school email address.
Alumni Association Registration Form
Leadership
The Alumni Association is currently led by two volunteer co-chairs and a team of eight coordinators:
Amanda Rosen, Co-Chair Amanda "Shoot" Rosen graduated from Duke University in May 2009 with a major in Psychology, a minor in Education, and a North Carolina Social Studies Teaching Certification. After college, Amanda continued coursework in history to earn dual certification in New Jersey to teach high school Social Studies and Psychology. Amanda's involvement in Camp Kesem began in a Duke house course taught by students called "The Psychology of Fun." Amanda joined Camp Kesem and took a special interest in the High Adventure Program (HAP) for teens. As a sophomore, Amanda took on the role of programming for HAP and later wrote a manual for setting up HAP programs at other universities. Amanda is a second-year teacher at Morris Knolls High School in New Jersey and is currently teaching AP psychology and United States History.
Bethany Slentz, Co-Chair Bethany “Peach” Slentz graduated with Highest Honors from UC Berkeley in May 2008 with a degree in Anthropology (Medical). After college, Bethany worked as Director of Operations for Future Leaders For Peace, a non-profit organization dedicated to building leadership skills for at-risk, middle school youth. In 2009, Bethany was accepted into Advantage Sales and Marketing’s fast track sales training program- Accelerated Career Excellence in Sales (ACES)- in Southern California. Bethany has worked with Camp Kesem- Berkeley since 2006 as a founding member, Public and Family Relations Coordinator, Unit Leader, and an Advisory Board Member. She has had the wonderful privilege to also volunteer as Camp Advisor for Camp Kesem- Emory and Teen Program Advisor for Camp Kesem- Berkeley. Currently, Bethany works for Advantage Sales and Marketing as an Associate Business Development Manager.
Theresa Poulos, Public Relations/Alumni Support and Networking Theresa “Shortcake” Poulos joined Teach For America in South Louisiana upon graduating from Duke in 2007. After teaching ninth grade math for two years, she spent a year taking pre-med prerequisite classes at LSU while concurrently working as an emergency room scribe. Theresa is currently living in San Diego, working in education, and applying to medical school. She first became involved with Camp Kesem- North Carolina as a summer coordinator in 2005, and then served as co-chair for the 2005-2006 school year. She was a CKNC camp director in 2006. Remembering Shortcake’s Dance Party (an elective at camp) always brings a smile to her face!
Caroline Huang, Fundraising Caroline “Congo” Huang graduated from MIT in June 2010 with a major in Brain and Cognitive Sciences and minors in Psychology and Political Science. As an undergraduate, she worked as a Massachusetts-certified EMT, interned in the late Sen. Kennedy’s office, conducted neuroscience research on reading and dyslexia, and served as sports editor for the MIT student newspaper. Her favorite activity has always been Camp Kesem, though – she founded the MIT branch as a freshman in 2006, served as an MIT co-chair for three years and a senior advisor for one, interned with Nationals twice, co-chaired the National Student Advisory Board for two terms, and now volunteers as the Alumni Association’s grant writing coordinator. In October, Caroline will begin reading for her doctorate in Public Health at the University of Oxford, having won a Rhodes scholarship due in large part to her involvement with Camp Kesem.
Rebecca Wong, Alumni Support and Networking Rebecca "Noodle" Wong graduated from Duke University in 2009 with a B.A. in Public Policy and a minor in Chinese. Since 2006, Rebecca has served in several positions including Camp Kesem North Carolina's summer intern, financial coordinator, co-chair and student representative on the advisory board, and also CKAA's co-chair. Rebecca currently works as an early education consultant at ICF International, supporting both technical assistance and research to improve early childhood education. She is also pursuing her Masters in Public Policy at Georgetown University with a focus on early education policy and program evaluation. She resides in Washington, DC.
Justin de la Torre, Fundraising Justin “Rufio” de la Torre has been involved with Camp Kesem at Stanford University for two years, first as an Arts & Crafts and hip hop dance program counselor and a member of Green Unit, and then last year as the Blue Unit Co-Leader. He is currently a member of the fundraising committee of the Camp Kesem Alumni Association and is in charge of Corporate Sponsorship. He recently graduated from Stanford with a Bachelor of Arts with Departmental Honors in Urban Studies, and is currently working with TAYO Literary Magazine as its Chief Financial Officer. He hopes to have a successful career in education and social entrepreneurship, and currently resides in Los Angeles.
Michelle Silver, Campus Support Michelle Silver graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Human Biology from Stanford University in 2007 and then received an ScM in Epidemiology from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2009. At Stanford, she spent 3 years as a counselor and coordinator for Camp Kesem. Unable to part with camp after graduation, Michelle has since served as a Camp Advisor at 4 other universities. She currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland where she works in research on the human papillomavirus and cervical cancer in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
Elayna Ng, Fundraising/Campus Support Elayna “ Shaq” Ng graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a degree in Human Biology and Economics. Currently, Elayna works at BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc as a quality control analyst. She has been involved with Camp Kesem since January 2006 at UCSD. She served as a fundraising coordinator and an administration and camp programming coordinator at UCSD. Since graduating, Elayne has participated in the Camp Kesem Alumni Association, last year as a fundraising coordinator and this year as both a fundraising and campus support coordinator. This past June, Elayna served as the camp advisor for UC Davis’s chapter of Camp Kesem and enjoyed every minute of it!
Diane Nguyen, Fundraising/Campus Support Diane “Betty Spaghetti” Nguyen has been involved with Camp Kesem for the past 6 years as a counselor, coordinator, camp advisor and alumni coordinator. In college, Betty Spaghetti organized the Komedy for Kesem Event, which rose over $7,000. Currently, she is a senior analyst at a litigation consulting firm and resides in Southern California.
Angel Robinson, Alumni Support and Networking Angel “Cyclone” Robinson is a recent graduate from UC San Diego. During her undergraduate years, she was involved in Camp Kesem as a counselor, a member of the West Regional Student Advisory Board, and a co-chair. This year, she will be serving as an Alumni Support and Networking chair to continue to connect alumni to this meaningful cause. This past summer, Angel conducted research in a bioinformatics lab. This coming month, she was selected in a very competitive process to serve Americorps as an Altamed Healthcorps member. She will be doing non-profit work for the next year to pilot a program to educate teens about sexual health throughout Orange County. Beyond that, she hopes to be admitted to medical school where she can pursue her dream to become an ophthalmologist.
Jessica Yu graduated from Stanford University in 2008 with a degree in Human Biology, specializing in Adolescent Health and Development. As an undergrad, Camp Kesem was her extracurricular passion - she spent four years with the organization in many important positions. She is now Research Coordinator for the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine, where she manages multi-site research projects focusing on childhood and adolescent disorders. Jessica resides in Mountain View, CA.
We Want Your Input!
If you would like to suggest or volunteer for a project, please send us an email with your thoughts! We are especially appreciative of input at this early stage, as you will be able to play a key role in shaping the Alumni Association. You can contact us at:
alumniassociation@campkesem.org