New School Alumni Recognized as Changemakers in the World by Prestigious Groups
Every year, New School alumni are recognized for the bold impact they are making on the world in a range of industries. Their work and achievements have recently been celebrated by a range of publications, including TIME, Washingtonian, Metropolis, and Forbes.
Isabella Weber, MA Economics â15 and PhD Economics â19: 2023 TIME 100 Next
Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts
TIMEâs 100 Next recognizes rising leaders in health, climate change activism, business, sports, the arts, and other areas who are rethinking accepted notions and generating new ideas. In her profile of Weber, Elizabeth Warren praises her for âchallenging the conventional wisdom that giant companies donât price-gougeâ and demonstrating how corporate profits have become a key driver of inflation.
Kate Bahn, PhD Economics â15: Washingtonianâs 500 Most Influential People of 2023
Research Director, WorkRise at the Urban Institute
Washingtonianâs 500 recognizes experts and advocates outside of the government who are playing a key part in policy debates in Washington. Bahn, who recently served as a panelist for the 2023 Schwartz Lecture at The New School, was honored in the Business and Labor category for leading an âEcon 101â briefing for Capitol Hill staff last year explaining how the labor market is affected when markets are uncompetitive. Her briefing became the basis of a congressional hearing on economic disparities in growth.
Jordan E. Cooper, BFA Dramatic Arts â18: 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30âHollywood & Entertainment
Playwright
From Forbes: âWhen his daring Tony-nominated play “Ain’t No Mo'” opened last year, Cooper was riding high as the youngest Black American playwright in Broadway history. But it closed after just 28 performances due to poor ticket sales–despite celebrities like Will Smith, Tyler Perry and Shonda Rhimes buying out entire performances of the show to try to save it. “I don’t want to make the art that people want today,” Cooper says of his biting comedy about a creative end to racism. “I want to make the art that they need tomorrow.” Now he’s finding his groove in Hollywood. After a chance 2018 meeting with comedian Ms. Pat (whose real name is Patricia Williams), the two teamed up to create a sitcom based on her life, “The Ms. Pat Show.” When network executives believed Cooper was too young to helm the series, Ms. Pat advised him to write the pilot and submit it without his name on it. The move paid off: Cooper landed the showrunner gig, and Ms. Pat earned BET one of its first major Emmy nominations for outstanding directing in 2022 and 2023. Next up? A role in “Uppercut,” a boxing movie starring Ving Rhames.â
Devon Blackwell, BA Journalism + Design â21: 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30âMedia
Associate Producer, The New Yorker
From Forbes: âDevon Blackwell is a filmmaker, director and producer at The New Yorker. âNina & Irena,â a documentary in which she worked as the lead producer, qualified for the 96th Academy Awards. And her work as a lead producer on âYou’ll be Happierâ resulted in nearly 8 million views across the brand’s social media platforms, becoming the publication’s highest-performing video. In 2023, âGoodbye, Morganza,â her directorial debut which she also edited, received a Special Jury Mention in the Short Documentary category at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Dillon St. Bernard, BA Journalism + Design â22: 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30âMedia
Founder, Team DSB
From Forbes: âDillon St. Bernard is the founder of Team DSB, a social impact-focused creative agency that offers clients creative direction, communications strategy and project management. The agency projects $450,000 in revenue in 2023. Team DSB has launched projects such as the Webby Award-winning series âYoung People Address the Nation,â made in partnership with March For Our Lives and NAACP Youth & College. Since its founding in 2021, Team DSB has worked with more than 30 nonprofit organizations like People Over Plastic, Sustain the Culture and March On For Voting Rights.
Ji Won Choi, BFA Fashion Design â17: 2023 Forbes 30 Under 30âArt & Style
Founder, Ji Won Choi
From Forbes: âInfluenced by her childhood as a Korean immigrant growing up in Oklahoma, Ji Won Choi’s namesake clothing brand celebrates the merging of cultures and prioritizes sustainability, with pieces made responsibly in Italy from eco-conscious materials. Her clothes have been found on BeyoncĂ© and the Kardashians, in the V&A’s permanent collection and in sell-out collaborations with Adidas.â
Lamin Leroy Gibba, BFA Dramatic Arts â18: 2023 Forbes 30 Under 30 EuropeâEntertainment
Actor
From Forbes: âActor Lamin Leroy Gibba’s award-winning 2022 short film âDogfriend,â which he co-produced, wrote and starred in, received critical acclaim and was screened globally at festivals like the Tribeca Film Festival. Gibba was part of the âAct Outâ manifesto published in a leading German newspaper where 185 actors came out as members of the LGBTQ+ community, demanding more visibility and inclusion in German film, television and theater. The writer and actor’s forthcoming TV series âBlack Fruitâ will air on German channel ARD.
Josie Craven, BA Culture and Media â16: 2023 Forbes 30 Under 30âHollywood & Entertainment
Director of Development, Hello Sunshine
From Forbes: âJosie Craven is a director of development for film and TV at Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, where she’s in progress on thirteen scripted projects. Her current projects include adaptations of Reese’s Book Club picks âDaisy Jones and the Sixâ starring Riley Keough and Sam Claflin (Amazon), âThe Last Thing He Told Meâ starring Jennifer Garner (Apple TV+), âFrom Scratchâ starring Zoe Saldana (Netflix) and the holiday romantic comedy âSomething From Tiffanyâsâ starring Zoey Deutch (Amazon).
Young Kim, BFA Interior Design â23: 2023 Metropolis Future100
Interior Designer
The 2023 Metropolis Future100 celebrates the top 50 interior design and 50 architecture graduates of the class of 2023, nominated by their instructors and mentors. Kim was nominated by Carly Cannell, assistant professor of interior design at Parsons School of Design. Cannell praised Kim as an innovator, stating, âYoungâs multi-valent and sensitive design approach is rooted in exploration and inspired by fashion; the relationship between construction, aesthetics and the body. Centered on storytelling through materiality, space and form, Youngâs approach to interior design is exemplified through his rich visualization skills, resulting in a narrative that is innovative and provocative.â