The Football Letter Podcast Special: OJ McDuffie / New York City Chapter

Jasmine Forsberg '21 is an emerging star of Broadway...and she's a Penn Stater!

Forsberg is currently performing in the hit Broadway musical "Six" after touring the country for over a year in the First National Tour. Last summer, Jasmine made her Broadway debut in the all-Filipino cast of "Here Lies Love."

In addition to her successes on stage, Jasmine starred in the 2021 Hallmark movie "One December Night," which featured her singing her own original music.

A talented songwriter, Jasmine's music is also featured in "Results Will Vary," a 45-minute musical sketch comedy show that prepares incoming students for life at Penn State and is performed during each New Student Orientation program at Penn State University Park.

Connect with Jasmine on her website or Instagram. 
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Timestamps for our conversation with Jasmine: 

0:00 — Intro

2:00 — Becoming a Penn Stater

7:00 — Developing a passion for stage acting 

9:50 — Jasmine's career journey 

14:15 — Being a part of the first all-Filipino cast on Broadway

18:45 — Playing Jane Seymour in "Six"

27:45 — Starring in a Hallmark movie 

32:00 — How Jasmine has left a legacy at Penn State

36:30 — Lessons learned in the Penn State Musical Theatre program

39:15 — Lightning Round Q&A

44:15 — Outro  

From early days with the Daily Collegian to time spent with the Centre Daily Times and the Associated Press, photographer Pat Little '77 has chronicled life at Penn State for fifty years.

Some of Pat's most famous photos include a lion cub...sitting atop the famous Nittany Lion shrine, President Bill Clinton eating Berkey Creamery ice cream, and the return of the team busses to State College after Penn State football's 1983 Sugar Bowl victory over Georgia.

He takes us through the stories behind these iconic photos and more on this episode of The People of Penn State Podcast.

You can see Pat's tremendous work on his Facebook page.  Also be sure to check out the Penn Stater magazine's feature on Pat from the March/2024 issue.

Timestamps for our conversation with Pat:

0:00 — Intro

1:07 — Growing up in State College and becoming a Penn Stater

3:05 — Joining the Daily Collegian

7:55 — Pat's book "Penn State Then and Now," which chronicles Penn State's history in images

18:27 — The story behind Pat's photo of a lion cub sitting on top of the Nittany Lion Shrine

20:04 — Capturing a famous photo of Bill Clinton at Berkey Creamery

25:10 — Meeting Neil Armstrong

28:37 — Joe Paterno stories

32:45 — Pat's journey as an artist

38:05 — Being featured in the Penn Stater magazine

43:00 — Lightning Round Q&A

45:03 — Outro
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Learn more about the Penn State Alumni Association: alumni.psu.edu.
Follow the Penn State Alumni Association on:
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X (Twitter)
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Alumni Association Paul Clifford '20g is joined by journalist Erin Strout '97 for an engaging conversation on her career — including covering health, fitness, and Olympic sports — mental health awareness for female athletes, the state of media coverage on higher education, and more.

Erin's work has appeared in the Washington Post, ESPN-W, Self, Women's Health, Outside, Runner’s World, and more.

Her upcoming book, "The Price She Pays: The Hidden Mental Health Crisis in Women's Sports — From the Schoolyard to the Stadium,"  co-authored with Tiffany Brown, Ph.D., and Katie Steele, LMFT, will be published in June 2024.

Watch the video version of this podcast on our YouTube page.

Connect with Erin on her website, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn.

Timestamps for our conversation with Erin: 

0:00 — Intro

2:20 — Becoming a Penn Stater

4:17 — Ad Read (The Football Letter)

5:27 — Erin's career path

11:35 — Media coverage of higher education

18:05 — Experiences covering the Olympics and Olympic athletes

21:20 — Mental health awareness for female athletes

35:41 — Contributing as a writer for the Penn Stater  magazine

38:07 — Lightning Round Q&A

42:07 — Outro
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Learn more about the Penn State Alumni Association: alumni.psu.edu.
Follow the Penn State Alumni Association on:
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X (Twitter)
Instagram
LinkedIn

Anessa Fike, otherwise known as the "Queen of Fractional HR," is the CEO and Founder of Fike+Co, a multi-million-dollar consulting firm that specializes in interim or fractional people, human resources, and talent executive leadership with companies that are experiencing growth, scale, transition, or transformation.

A 2007 Penn State graduate, Anessa has led more than a dozen startups and organizations as Chief People Officer and has worked with more than 110 organizations globally including NPR, Niche, and Uber.

Her work has led her to become an industry leader on all things people and talent, and she has also won multiple human resources awards, including Most Inclusive HR Influencer.

Watch the video version of this podcast on our YouTube page.

Connect with Anessa on LinkedIn and Instagram! Be on the lookout for her upcoming book, "The Revolution of Work."

Timestamps for our conversation with Anessa: 

0:00 — Intro

2:14 — Becoming a Penn Stater

5:50 — Anessa's career journey in human resources

10:57 — What it means to be a human resources influencer

14:35 — Working with NASA

16:14 — A people first mindset in the workplace

21:15 — Her upcoming book "The Revolution of Work"

28:35 — AD Read (LionPerks)

30:05 — Lightning Round Q&A

32:45 — Outro
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Learn more about the Penn State Alumni Association: alumni.psu.edu.
Follow the Penn State Alumni Association on:
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X (Twitter)
Instagram
LinkedIn

We have a Lady Lions basketball legend on today's episode of The People of Penn State, as we're joined by Lisa Lambert '89!

Lisa's successes as a student at Penn State — and as a team captain for the Lady Lions in the late 1980s — have helped propel her to become one of the most successful venture capitalists in the country.

Professionally, Lisa is the Chief Investment Officer, Private Markets for the George Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Founder/CEO of UPWARD, a global network of executive women. In a career spent investing in innovative startups at Intel, founding and leading National Grid’s innovation and investment operations, and founding a UPWARd to help advance women and minorities to top corporate leadership positions, Lisa has always been most in her element when disrupting the tech world’s status quo.

Watch the video version of this podcast on YouTube.

Timestamps for our conversation with Lisa:
0:00 — Intro

1:50 — Choosing Penn State

2:50 — Memories of being a student-athlete

4:30 — Initial career goals

6:15 — The mission of UPWARD

11:55 — Experiences playing for the Lady Lions

14:40 — Striving for equality and diversity in leadership positions

18:29 — Being teammates with fellow Lady Lions legend, Susan Robinson

24:55 — Lightning Round Q&A

33:19 — Outro
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Learn more about the Penn State Alumni Association: alumni.psu.edu.
Follow the Penn State Alumni Association on:
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X (Twitter)
Instagram
LinkedIn

Today on The People of Penn State, we chat with professional soccer player Sam Coffey! Sam is a midfielder for the Portland Thorns of the National Women's Soccer League and the United States Women's National Team.

Sam is a two-time NWSL Best XI honoree and recently scored her first goal for the United States in a friendly against China.

She takes us through her time in Happy Valley, competing with and against some of her childhood heroes in the NWSL, a love for writing, and the day to day life of pro soccer player. Sam also dives into her debut USWNT goal, staying positive after not making the World Cup roster, focusing on the mental health aspects of being an athlete, and the drive to continuously improve.

Follow Sam on Instagram: @sscofff.

Alumni Association members can read Sam's column from the Sept/Oct edition of the Penn Stater magazine online.
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Learn more about the Penn State Alumni Association: alumni.psu.edu.
Follow the Penn State Alumni Association on:
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Instagram
LinkedIn

Every day's commute to work is a "pinch me moment" for alumna Antonella Crescimbeni '17.

Her office is the "World's Most Famous Arena," Madison Square Garden, home of the NBA's New York Knicks and NHL's New York Rangers, the latter of which Antonella works for as a Video Shooter/Editor.  With the Rangers, she is responsible for all aspects of the creative process including videography, photography, editing, and producing social videos, long-form features, event presentation, and marketing platforms.

On our 50th episode of The People of Penn State Podcast, Antonella joined the program to discuss her role with the Rangers, what it's like working at MSG (she's a lifelong Knicks fan), and how she honed her photography skills with The Daily Collegian, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and VOX Media.

During her time at Penn State, Antonella had the opportunity to cover events such as the Republican and Democratic National Conventions in 2016, Inauguration, the Big Ten Championship game, Rose Bowl Game, the 2016 Paralympics in Rio, and more.  She was also awarded the prestigious Bunton-Waller Fellowship full-tuition scholarship.

Antonella graduated in 2017 with degrees in journalism from the Bellisario College of Communications and fine art photography from the College of Arts & Architecture.

You can follow Antonella's work by visiting her website antonellacphotography.com, or by connecting with her on Instagram, X, and LinkedIn.

Watch the video version of this podcast on our YouTube page.
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Learn more about the Penn State Alumni Association: alumni.psu.edu.
Follow the Penn State Alumni Association on:
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Instagram
LinkedIn

We're feeling peachy! With Penn State Football heading to Atlanta to take on Ole Miss in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, we're bringing you a special postseason episode of The Football Letter Podcast!

On the program, we're joined by 83rd President of the Penn State Alumni Association Anand Ganjam, Penn State Athletics Chief of Staff and former men's basketball captain Nick Colella, and Penn State Football letterman Garrett Taylor. 

First (0:55), we spoke to Anand about: 

• Connecting with alumni in Atlanta. 
• The importance of our volunteer service projects at bowl games. 
• The impact and value of the Penn State Alumni Association. 
• His first six months as president. 
• Looking ahead to 2024. 

Next (20:33), we were joined by Nick to discuss:

• His role as Chief of Staff.
• Working with James Franklin and other Penn State coaches. 
• The buzz that alumni and fans bring on the road.
• His love for Penn State and wanting to stay connected to the University even after his playing days were over. 

Then (32:44), Garrett stopped by to talk about: 

• Choosing Penn State as a recruit. 
• Working is way into a starting role and being voted a team captain. 
• Memories of the 2019 Cotton Bowl. 
• Being honored with the team's Ridge Riley Award, which recognizes the student-athlete who best demonstrates sportsmanship, leadership and friendship.
• Spending time with our Florida Gulf Coast Chapter.

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Learn more about the Penn State Alumni Association: alumni.psu.edu.
Follow the Penn State Alumni Association on:
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Since his time growing up in the Finger Lakes in New York, alumnus Brian Kappel (1998 - Visual Arts) has long had a passion for Penn State. This second generation Nittany Lion took a very different path which provided a one of a kind experience in Happy Valley and paved the way for a successful career in art and design.

The now Portland-based designer and visual artist has completed work for the College Football Playoff, Nike, Jordan Brand, and a mural for the Paterno Library Starbucks. He also now owns his own design company, "Space Monkey Designs."

In our conversation with Brian we talked about his strong family ties to Penn State, many involvements as a student, a love sports, working with Nike and the Jordan Brand, creative inspiration, and his artistic creation for the Paterno Library Starbucks.

Watch the video version of this podcast on our YouTube page. 

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Connect with Brian:
Instagram
LinkedIn
Website

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Learn more about the Penn State Alumni Association: alumni.psu.edu.
Follow the Penn State Alumni Association on:
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X (Twitter)
Instagram
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Welcome to this week's episode of The Football Letter Podcast as we close out the regular season with another great episode.

 First (0:56), we talk with Director of the Penn State All-Sports Museum, Lew Lazarow, about the museum's new photomosaic mural honoring Franco Harris, Franco's legacy at Penn State, the mission of the museum, its other featured exhibits, and more.

Follow the All-Sports Museum on Facebook and X.
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Then (20:50) , we're joined by Jeremy O'Mard, President of our African-American Alumni Organization of D.C. Alumni Interest Group.

Jeremy provided an overview of the African-American Alumni Organizations (AAAOs), how the D.C. AAAO brings Penn Staters together for football watch parties, playing a role in strengthening the alumni network, his passion for giving back, and other marquee events/activities hosted by the AAAOs.

Learn more about our African-American Alumni Organizations.
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Learn more about the Penn State Alumni Association: alumni.psu.edu.
Follow the Penn State Alumni Association on:
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Instagram
LinkedIn