The Low Down

     Minah Kim '17SEAS                        Erin Vaughn '19CC                    Rebecca Murray '18SEAS                 Colette McCullagh '17SEAS

In this episode of The Future Is..., we hear from some young Columbians—a group of students (and some now young alumni) who together lead the Columbia chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE).

Minah Kim '17SEAS, Colette McCullagh '17SEAS, Rebecca Murray '18SEAS, and Erin Vaughn '18CC talk about their work on campus, what engineers watch on Netflix, and the head start they have on mentorship.

The secret to their success? Even their free time is useful: these girls' idea of a fun time is taking free classes on iTunes U!

SWE is an international organization with professional and collegiate chapters around the world. The student chapter at Columbia provides professional development opportunities, serves as a support group for women engineers on campus, and conducts community outreach to introduce local high school and middle students to engineering. Learn more about SWE on their website and Facebook page.

A'Lelia Bundles' story is one of timing and changing tides. Bundles, a 1976 Journalism School alumna, comes from a long line of successful, well-known women, including one of the first African American self-made millionaires and a Harlem Renaissance darling. But rather than go into the family business, Bundles took her own path—in 1960, she discovered her calling as a writer at the ripe old age of eight, during an era of big changes. 

For our first episode in the The Future Is... mini-series, we're honored to feature Bundles, a University Trustee, veteran journalist, and author. 

She spent over 30 years as a producer and executive for NBC News and ABC News. She's currently writing her fifth book, The Joy Goddess of Harlem: A’Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance, which will be released in the next couple of years. The biography that Bundles wrote about her great-great-grandmother, On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker, was recently optioned for a television series featuring Oscar award-winner, Octavia Spencer, in the lead role.  

In addition to writing, Bundles is active as the chairman of the board of the National Archives Foundation and the president of her family's historical archives. She serves on the advisory boards of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study's Schlesinger Library at Harvard and the March on Washington Film Festival. 

Bundles has delivered keynote addresses and served as master of ceremonies at dozens of events, book festivals, and conferences at Harvard, London City Hall, the National Archives, and more, and on all the major television and radio networks, including ABC, NBC, CBS, BBC, PBS, and NPR.

For more information about Bundles' career and writing, visit http://www.aleliabundles.com.