Alumnae give college hopefuls a glimpse behind-the-scenes in their careers

Summer at Barnard is a time for students who are interested in everything — from STEM to the arts to business — to learn more about campus by participating in the plethora of pre-college programs offered. This year, at the Athena Center for Leadership’s Athena Summer Innovation Institute (ASII) dozens of high school student leaders got the rare opportunity to interact with and learn directly from successful entrepreneurial alumnae. 

“As a member of the Athena Leadership Council, and the executive director of the Harnisch Foundation, I’m thrilled with the overlapping priorities of developing women’s leadership capabilities and supporting my alma mater,” said Jenny Raymond ’93. 

Raymond is not alone. Though she, Gabrielle Ferrara ’12 of Ferrara Manufacturing, and Alicia ’13 and Isabella Serrani ’16 of T.W.I.N. are busy running businesses, they are dedicated to giving back to the College that has given them so much as students and alumnae.

Leading with Laughter

Today, Jenny Raymond ’93 is the executive director of the Harnisch Foundation where she led the development of its Funny Girls program, which teaches third to eighth grade girls leadership skills through improv to close the confidence gap. Decades earlier, as a student at Barnard, she was already a pioneer. 

The political economy and oboe performance major was a member of the inaugural class of students who enrolled in The Juilliard School’s Joint Program with the College when it launched. Studying across disciplines was a bit of a precursor to the “yes, and” improv philosophy on life that Raymond eventually settled into.

What is the meaning of “yes, and” as it relates to improv comedy?

“[For improv to work well, you] must acknowledge a contribution and add on to it for the scene to thrive,” she explained. 

It’s a concept that she teaches young people to apply to life, too. 

Learning how to contribute is important for building confidence, Raymond believes, which is why she has returned to ASII four different times since 2022 to share her wisdom with pre-college students. In this way, Raymond is giving back and paying it forward.

  “[At Barnard], as a Columbia women’s lacrosse team player, I learned how to honor my priorities and time management,” she said. “I was at Juilliard and at Columbia’s SIPA, and worked hard to gain expertise on all fronts, which took a lot of discipline and commitment. Leadership is about being accountable to myself and others.”

When the pre-college students met Raymond’s Funny Girls team on July 28 and August 4, they participated in several hours of workshops that introduced them to improv, while also focusing on collaboration, resiliency, empathy, and creativity. 

“We hope the students gain confidence from being present and drawing upon their own life experiences and playfulness to respond and participate,” said Raymond. “Using the methodology of improv allows students to try on these leadership skills and practice with very low stakes. We have seen that when students are given ‘permission’ to be in the moment, [they are joyful and relieved] to show who they are.”

Mentorships and Clothing that are Made in America 

The career trajectory for Gabrielle Ferrara ’12 — from political science major and Athena Leadership Scholar to chief operating officer and managing partner of Ferrara Manufacturing — began at Barnard. She remembered meeting an HR recruiter from AOL at a Barnard career fair who offered her an internship in the company’s advertising department, which led to a full time job and subsequent employment opportunities in technology, advertising, and marketing. Yet it wasn’t long after Ferrara graduated when she returned to campus to share her experiences as a young leader in the workforce.

“I came back to Athena to be a resource to students,” said Ferrara. “To inspire them to know that there’s a lot of different paths and ways that you can discover yourself and what you’re interested in.” 

Today, she leads her family-owned and operated business that specializes in American-made, tailored clothing for high-profile clients like Ralph Lauren, the U.S. Olympics Team, and the U.S. military, for whom Ferrara Manufacturing has been the prime contractor for five years. 

“I love what I do,” Ferrara said. “It’s so important to have the capability in our country to be able to make things.”

Ferrara was excited to once again host dozens of aspiring entrepreneurs at her factory this summer, where she shared what she learned from seeing women leaders at Barnard, regardless of their phase in life.

“I loved being exposed to female leaders in New York City, hearing the real life stories of what my future could look like, and who I could get inspired by,” she said. “I got connected to a lot of female leaders through the Athena Center, so I couldn’t help but to stay involved after I graduated.”

The lesson she learned as a student on campus is what she imparted to this year’s ASII participants: Keep going, keep learning, and keep moving.

The Nonlinear Path to Starting a Clothing Company

Alicia Serrani ‘13 and Isabella Serrani ‘16 are twins who took diverging paths after starting college at Barnard eventually led them to the same place: starting their own clothing company. 

“We both resonated with Barnard. We’re very different people. I mean, we are twins, and it seems like when you’re twins, I think a lot of people think that you’re going to be very similar to one another,” said Alicia. “But what’s interesting is that, through happenstance, and even by coming through these different avenues, we ended up accumulating skills on our own that ended up taking us through to where we landed with T.W.I.N.” 

The sisters named their company T.W.I.N., which stands for “That’s What I Need.” 

“We are gender, size and ability inclusive,” said Isabella. “There are no mannequins that are gendered in the store, so anyone can imagine themselves in any of the clothes.”

The co-founder sisters’ roles in the company are as different as they are ­­­— Alicia serves as CEO, while Isabella is a designer — and their work reflects the different journeys they took in their careers to get to this point.  

Alicia majored in political science and philosophy while at Barnard, and was active on the rowing team. Isabella studied art history and English literature. Alicia worked in finance for several years, served as the COO of multiple tech companies and also went to law school. Isabella, who had to take a short break while at Barnard, worked for a designer, in digital marketing for small companies and large corporations, including in the plus size clothing industry which resonated with her deeply.

“It was at the time at which the body positivity movement was really coming alive,” Isabella said. “To be a curvy woman, and really navigating myself and my identity, to be able to do this in a place that was celebrating bodies of all sizes, was magnificent.” 

Their message to high schoolers taking part in ASII programming will resonate with Barnard alumnae at different points in their careers as well: the path to success is rarely straightforward. 

“Throughout both mine and Isabella’s time at Barnard, we had alums, whether it was through formal programming or elsewhere, that gave back to us,” said Alicia. “The value of that has just exponentially, you know, manifested in our careers, the friends we made all of those things like that is the community that we came from through Barnard and will always be a part of, and that we are really happy to [give] back to.”