People
Harris Forbes ’19 serves as associate producer and postproduction supervisor for America in Black. Produced by CBS News in partnership with BET News, the show airs monthly and covers a range of stories about Black America, from profiles of prominent movers and shakers to deep dives into the Black maternal health crisis and the fight to teach Black history in schools.
Inspired by her son, Isidoro, who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, Annah Abetti Korpi is working to make school playgrounds inclusive for children with disabilities. Korpi began a campaign that raised nearly $365,000 to finance a playground renovation at her son’s school, Alexander Elementary School, in Albany, Ohio.
Tributes to Steve Albini ’85, who died in May, laud the curt and candid punk rocker for his musical production chops. But Zeki Hirsch ’24, one of the last people to interview the musician, remembers Albini’s softer side — as a cook, a cat lover and a brilliant satirist.
Genesis Garcia honors her ancestors by crafting decorative sugar skulls for Día de los Muertos. After selling around 60 skulls on Facebook Marketplace in 2020, she decided to grow her hobby into a small business called Chicago Calaveras.
Fresh off a 10-show European tour to Paris, London and Florence, Italy, singer Stella Cole shared the story of her viral rise and how Northwestern helped launch her career. Cole, who double majored in theater and international studies and now lives in New York City, will release her debut album in August.
Growing up, Cristina Henríquez ’99 would regularly visit Panama, her father’s home country, on family trips. Those experiences inform her latest novel, The Great Divide, which follows three characters whose lives intersect during the construction of the Panama Canal.
Stage adaptations of books, movies and even music albums are nothing new. But this spring Christina Rosales ’11 brought an unusual production to Northwestern’s Wirtz Center Chicago: a stage adaptation of a video game.
A week after filmmaker Gail Gilbert ’81, ’18 MFA brought home her new lab puppy, he suddenly lost the ability to walk. Upon discovering that four other puppies from the litter were similarly affected, Gilbert documented their rehabilitation process in the new documentary, Puppy Love.
As dean of career programs and continuing education and director of apprenticeship partnerships at Olive-Harvey College, Cheryl Freeman-Smith ’92 creates opportunities for students from low-income communities to gain the specialized skills required for the modern economy.
Erica Bethe Levin ’05 founded Globowl, a company that creates baby and toddler food featuring flavors from around the world. Diversifying babies’ palates early on can help stave off picky eating and mitigate food allergies down the road, she says.
