Homecoming: Erb Returns 2024
The alarm buzzed at 6 AM. As I slowly woke into consciousness, it dawned on me that the events of the day before were not a dream. It was real ,and things were going to be changing. I wrote “We Ride at Dawn” on the random thoughts notebook I share with my husband, gave my three teens/tweens a pep talk and a hug, and headed for the airport. It was November 6, 2025.
On my stopover in Chicago, a young man was strumming a beautiful rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” behind me as I watched Vice President Harris’ concession speech on my phone. Thanking him for the jolt of joy, I stepped onto my flight bound for Michigan.
I was making the pilgrimage back to Ann Arbor for my first Erb Returns since graduating in 2001. I figured that either way the U.S. elections went, it would be right to be in the Erb community — to build, fortify, or both. I had no idea when I made that decision exactly how important this choice would be.
Melissa Vernon ’02 and Meghan Chapple ’02 both did a stellar job of persuasion, drawing me back to Erb. I admire their wisdom and contributions in supporting and shaping the Erb community over the years. However, since I was only aware of a handful of other alumni attending and, after all, the most distant graduate on the list, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The faculty were different. The staff were all new to me, though I was eager to meet my fellow Carmen (Quinonez) in person. I walked into SEAS (SRNE for us elder alumni), and the sign boldly proclaimed, “All Are Welcome Here.” As I entered the morning session, I found a seat saved for me among my old friends and classmates, and aside from a few more laugh lines and grey hairs, it was as if I had seen them yesterday and not 20+ years ago. If felt like a welcome home.
Within minutes, my reasons for being there became clear. I had engaged Kara Davidson ’13 and Stephanie Judd ’13 during the pandemic to help me convert my leadership team strategy retreats into engaging virtual sessions rooted in storytelling. As Stephanie and Kara facilitated meaningful dialogue and sharing that morning, I reflected on the impromptu dinner the night before that I was welcomed into by Allison Shapiro ’12, whom I had only connected with via Zoom earlier in the year through the Erb alumni group. The table of Erb women who were in various stages of entrepreneurship shared food as we listened, ideated, supported, and encouraged each other on both work and life topics as old friends do. Yet many of us had just met moments before.
I glanced around the Erb Returns room the next morning, and I recognized all those women engaged in similar genuine dialogue at each table. That ad hoc group of women has continued the conversation on a WhatsApp chat ever since. We’ve even launched an empowering book club!
Throughout that first session, as the Erb staff and faculty spoke with us about the Institute updates, current research, and student activities, I found myself leaning in. Charlene Zietsma’s work on women’s entrepreneurship and affordable housing, Andy Hoffman’s paradigm-shifting approaches to business education, Sara Soderstrom’s research that intertwines organizational structures with sustainability and equitable outcomes, and Melissa Zaksek’s leadership championing alumni and student connectivity, were all compelling narratives for the future I continue to work to advance.
Throughout the rest of the weekend, I realized that, although I may have graduated decades ago, I still had much to learn from each person in the room. Carlotta Pham’s ’22 engaging facilitation on day two wove the community together. The networking throughout the weekend was soul-filling, a stark contrast to today’s socially engineered online algorithms. The TED-style talks sparked genuine conversations and clear calls to action. And – oh my word – the undergraduate Erb students were beyond inspiring!
If I could describe Erb Returns last November, I would call it a homecoming. Homecoming has been part of my vernacular for so long, and yet only recently have I considered the meaning of the word. Coming home, in an ideal sense, means returning to a place where you feel seen, safe, and supported by those who love and understand you.
Before Erb, Ann Arbor was my home for high school and for many generations of Wolverines before me. However, I left the gathering last fall with a deeper understanding; I had planted my own roots within the Erb community and found that my roots are stronger and deeper than ever.
Erb is a foundation in my professional network. Decades on, I continue to collaborate with so many who were unable to return, like Chuck Hornbrook ’98, whom I met at Dominick’s during Go Blue weekend and still meet with today in San Francisco on energy, circular economy, and the wild world of California politics. Sangeeta (Labhsetwar) Ranade ’01 and I’ve collaborated at numerous companies, continually seeking to build cleaner and more resilient energy systems. Then there’s my thesis partner, Matt Johnson ’01, who has been successful at leading change in the world of distributed energy, which is amazingly the exact field we wrote about. Speaking of family, Matt is married to (my former roommate) Ag-tech innovator Erber Megan DeYoung ’02. I even met my husband through another Erb alum, Rob Frederick ’00, who’s never shied away from bringing sustainability and communications to hard-to-tackle sectors.
As I write this now, it is abundantly clear to me that a new world order is calling for this community to stand up and stand together, bringing the solutions we know can calm the chaos. Back in the San Francisco Bay Area, I learned that there are nearly 100 Erb alumni in the area. Imagine how we can gather with purpose…as the oldie but goodie goes “act local, think global”! By the looks of it, we may well need to ride at dawn, or dusk, or daily!
As for me, I will gladly ride at dawn back to campus in 2026 for the 30th reunion of this powerful institute of thinkers and doers, decked out in maize and blue! We are a community of humans seeking to use the power of business and policy to create a better world. Most importantly, we haven’t failed humanity in the process. The lesson I learned last fall is that the Erb community is a home, a shelter, and a buoying force that we could all use a jolt more of in this world.