S P I R I T . M I N D . B O D Y . C O R D E C H O 1 3 to nominate Donna for the Christus Super Omnia Distinguished Alumna award. As a student, Donna was a role model to others, and exhibited a quiet depth of spirit, humor and kindness. Donna has devoted her professional career to building up organizations and helping them to live their values and mission. With an undergraduate degree fromOberlin College and an MBA fromMedaille, Donna has led human resources efforts for Girl Scouts of Western New York and for Niagara University prior to accepting her current position as Senior Vice President of People and Culture at Heritage Christian Services. Beyond her professional work, Donna’s mission has been to build up the community of faith and bring healing to a Church wounded by racism and injustice. She is an active and vibrant Coordinator of Christian Initiation at St. Martin de Porres Parish in Buffalo. She has brought her expertise to other dioceses around the country as a teacher and speaker on Christian Initiation at the Diocese of Syracuse, the Archdiocese of Atlanta, the North American Forum on the Catechumenate, and the Diocese of Rochester where she was a keynote speaker at a conference on building racial justice and community. Donna’s professional and volunteer work is deeply centered on seeing the value in each individual. She is a living example of faith-inaction and her actions serve to inspire those around her, just as they inspired her classmates. Erin Bagwell ’05 Erin Bagwell ‘05 has never been afraid of big ideas. She boldly moved to New York City to work as a graphic designer after college. Once there, she found that the corporate world was not a good fit and began envisioning a life that would satisfy her creatively and intellectually. She was called to tell stories through film. As the founder of Feminist Wednesday, a feminist storytelling platform powered by guest writers, Erin knew that sharing the journey of women entrepreneurs would be both compelling to audiences and inspiring to young women. In order to begin the project, she first had to fund it. She did so by boldly launching a Kickstarter campaign which raised more than $100,000. Erin’s first film, Dream, Girl, premiered at the White House under the Obama administration. Not long after, she brought the film home to Buffalo to be shown at SHA, once for an audience of alumnae and friends and the next day for the full student body. Generously, Erin spent time with our students, answering questions and sharing her behindthe-scenes experiences. Just as her schedule was packed with extracurricular activities while she was a student, Erin had many initiatives underway while she was screening the film nationwide. The experience of having her first daughter, Ginny, led to her second documentary film, Year One. The film chronicles the complex emotions associated with becoming a mother and has been a lifeline to women as they adjust to parenthood. Throughout the production of her films, managing her blog and curating Feminist Wednesday, Erin has been an advocate for women. Her brave depiction of women overcoming challenges to find success shines the bright light of encouragement in the world.
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