Bryn Mawr College hosted its International Forum in London last month, with a theme of change as President Wendy Cadge ushers in a new era of leadership for the college. It was originally planned to be held in March of 2020, but was cancelled due to the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
A virtual International Forum was held in 2021. The Forum involved panels, workshops, networking, and excursions around the London area, where the college has a large and well-established alumnae/i community. One of the many workshops that alumnae/i engaged in was a workshop by the Career and Civic Engagement Center about the principles and practices of Designing Your Life. This program, originally out of the Stanford University Design Lab, is spearheaded at Bryn Mawr by Jennifer Beale, the Assistant Director of the Center, Dayna Levy, the Director of Career and Professional Development, and Katie Krimmel, the Dean of the Career & Civic Engagement Center, Christina Burton, Senior Associate Director of Alumnae/I in Career Services, and Ellie Esmond, Director of Civic Engagement. Current students Daniella Jacob and Francesca Marrapodi, who have served as student Teaching Assistants for the once a semester PE class, were also in attendance at the International Forum.
In 2022, Jennifer Beale and Dana Levy completed online training in order to begin implementing Designing Your Life at Bryn Mawr. Now, about 8 people in the Center have also undergone the training, according to Beale. Designing Your Life, which is detailed in the book of the same name by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, applies design philosophies and strategies to help people think about, imagine, and create their best lives.
ennifer Beale, who also has a Life Design Coach certification, told the Bi-Co News “That is the philosophy: to not get stuck in perfectionism,” and that the program “embraces a bias towards action, even if it’s messy.” Life Design is a very creative practice that is “playful, and with joy, and inclusive,” according to Beale. The Career and Civic Engagement Center often uses tools such as Play-Doh and fidget toys in order to help people think and design their lives.
Bryn Mawr students, like Jacob and Marrapodi, have helped develop the Designing Your Life program at Bryn Mawr since its inception. The two participated in the pilot class, which Marrapodi says helped her realize that she wanted to change her major. After the pilot class, as the Center was expanding programming, Jacob and Marrapodi became Teaching Assistants for the class, eventually attending the International Forum to help with the workshop. Both Marrapodi and Beale emphasized how impactful it was to see alumnae/i from different generations, careers, and life paths interacting with each other and collaborating in the workshop.
The workshop, which involved participants creating three different lives for themselves, was “a great barrier breaker” for the seven generations of alumnae/i present from seventeen different countries, said Beale. It was also the first time that the Designing Your Life team at Bryn Mawr had presented away from campus, and Beale said that she was “excited at the diversity and power” of the alumnae/i. Despite the age range and being physically removed from Bryn Mawr’s campus, Beale said that “it felt like the same community” and that “Bryn Mawr [alums] are amazing thinkers.” Marrapodi added that the workshop was impactful for her, as a current student because “we don’t always realize how well Bryn Mawr prepares us.”
The International Forum also hosted many different panels and workshops over the three days it was held, presented by a multitude of different alumnae/i and members of the college community. According to Sara Wallace, Director of International Advancement, plans are being made for a virtual Forum in 2026 and another in-person in 2027. Additional information about the International Forum can be found here. Those interested can learn more about Designing Your Life here or at the Bryn Mawr Career and Civic Engagement Center.
