CEO of PEN America, Author of Dare to Speak

By Carly Hillman AB '15

It was towards the end of my phone interview with Suzanne Nossel AB '91, JD '96 when I started to laugh at one of my own questions. I had jotted it down before we spoke, a standard interview line: “Who have you modeled your career after?” But now, after hearing in detail about the stepping-stones of her wide-ranging career, it was clear the question did not apply. Nossel’s path was unique, and she mapped it herself. 

Here’s a summary of the route: She’s worked as a mediator of political violence in South Africa’s townships, a law clerk on the DC circuit, a consultant at McKinsey, Deputy to Richard Holbrooke while he was UN Ambassador, a Vice President at Bertelsmann, an Executive at Dow Jones, the COO of Human Rights Watch, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations at the State Department, the Executive Director of Amnesty International, and finally, now, as the CEO of PEN America and author of the upcoming book Dare to Speak. Rather than climbing the proverbial career ladder, Suzanne Nossel has been scaling a career mountain.

Composer, Conductor, Pianist, & Writer

By Simi Shah AB '19

Matthew Aucoin AB '12 has long been regarded a wunderkind in the world of classical music and opera. He has donned many hats as conductor, pianist, and writer, but first and foremost comes his role as composer.

The overture in the opera of Aucoin’s life sings to the tune of Bolivian street musicians and Beethoven’s 9th symphony. A precocious 9-year-old, he recalls feeling “dumbstruck,” upon hearing the latter for the first time. Within two years, he had composed symphonies, chamber works, and an entire opera based on a children’s book.

The child of a journalist, technical writer, and all-around bibliophiles, Aucoin’s passion for music was welcomed and celebrated in his youth. By the time middle and high school came around, Aucoin dedicated every waking moment to music.

By D. Dona Le

Before college, Eagle Rock native Megan Goldstein AB ‘05 “was determined to go to New York City. I really wanted to go to Columbia, and if Columbia didn’t work out, I was going to New York University. Then when I got into Harvard, I thought, ‘Whoa. Yeah. Okay.’”

Today, Goldstein still lives in Northeast Los Angeles and is currently Vice President of Synch Licensing at BMG, a position that perfectly marries her training as a musician and her love of film and television.

“I am a musician and I’ve always felt like a musician, but it's not that I wanted to be a clarinetist in a symphony,” Goldstein says. “I just always thought of myself as a musician. I made music every day and practiced every day—that was the fabric of my life.”

Ordinarily, we feature an alum profile in this section of the monthly Highlights, but this month, we're using this section to bring you some messages of solidarity from Harvardwood leaders and members!

(Producer, Entertainment One; Former President of Motion Picture Production, Management 360)

By Joel Kwartler AB '18

“Ben, Snakes on a Plane. That’s what you should be aiming for,” a colleague advised Ben Forkner AB '01 early on in his Hollywood career. The script had just generated a large sale, Forkner had just finished pitching an Atlantic story to a crickets-quiet Management 360 room, and the colleague was just trying to help give him direction. Luckily, Forkner, now a producer at Entertainment One and a past president of Management 360, learned to instead focus on the quality of the stories he champions rather than the money they might make. It’s a choice that has helped him build an enduring career in entertainment.

Co-Writers, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

By Stephanie Ferrarie AB '18

The partnership of Micah Fitzerman-Blue ‘06 and Noah Harpster, the writers and executive producers behind the Fred Rogers movie A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, began thirteen years ago with Jon Krakauer’s book, Under the Banner of Heaven. Each spoke to their respective college friends (Noah attended UC Santa Barbara) about the book, and those friends, who were dating, set them up on a “creative blind date.” At that initial coffee meeting, Micah and Noah quickly started throwing ideas around, and for the next two years, they continued to grow their friendship and write together while pursuing their own projects. Then they “made it official” and have been working together exclusively ever since, notably on Amazon’s Transparent and feature film Maleficent 2. 

Author, Loveboat, Taipei

By Joel Kwartler AB '18

Author Abigail Hing Wen AB ’99 is not Catholic, but the one time she observed Lent she gave up Fantasy books, just to see what it was like. She missed them. She came right back.

When it comes to storytelling, Wen knows that she’s “pretty obsessed.” It shows: on top of her thriving full-time tech law career, her debut novel, Loveboat, Taipei, comes out on January 7th.

Wen did not expect to end up a writer. At Harvard, she started as a chemistry concentrator before switching to government. Yet it was obvious, even in college, she loved stories: one time her roommate interrupted her raving about Harry Potter to admit, “I don’t love it as much as you do.” It was the first time someone had reflected her devotion to fantasy back to her. “I realized, okay, I guess I am really obsessed.”

At Harvardwood's 20th Anniversary Celebration earlier this year, we were fortunate to be joined by Diallo Riddle AB '97, Dan Mintz AB '02, and Alison Rich AB '09, all of whom gave HILARIOUS comedic performances. Alison has kindly shared the (excerpted) text from her performance as a humor piece. Enjoy!

SVP of Programming & Development, Oprah Winfrey Network

By Emily Oliveira AB '18

Jill Dickerson AB '91 is the SVP of Programming and Development at OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. Since joining the network in 2009, she has overseen programs including but certainly not limited to Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s and For Peete’s Sake. She began her industry career as a story editor on MTV’s The Real World: Hawaii and later worked as consulting producer and head writer on subsequent seasons of the show. Her producing career spans reality programming on TLC, VH-1, and ABC’s The Bachelorette, among others.

VP of Scripted Programming, History

By Stephanie Ferrarie AB '18

A native of upstate New York, Adam Fratto AB ‘90 grew up immersed in theater and culture. His parents, professors of women’s studies and political science, taught at the local college in Geneva, New York. In high school, Fratto acted, though he holds that he wasn’t very good, despite its huge impact on his life. He reminisces back to his kindergarten days, when he would watch movies and direct his classmates in reenacting the films in class.

So it was only natural that Fratto's childhood interests drew him toward theater at Harvard, where he was a board member of the Harvard-Radcliffe Drama Club and directed six shows over his career. His directorial debut was a stripped-down adaptation of the musical March of the Falsettos staged in the Loeb Experimental Theater.