Spring 2019 Commencement
Ceremony
Congratulations to all of our graduates! Trinity celebrated a joyous Commencement on Saturday May 18, 2019, on the front lawn on Trinity’s campus. More than 240 diplomas were awarded and more than 3,500 guests cheered for the graduates!
Watch the Keynote by Sharon Brady Raimo, ’69, ’94!
Sharon Brady Raimo ’69, ’94, CEO of St. Coletta of Greater Washington (Center), was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters and gave an inspiring Commencement speech about the challenges and joys of strengthening and expanding a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving children and adults with intellectual disabilities and supporting their families.
Sharon Brady Raimo introduction by Dr. Peggy O’Brien
President Pat McGuire ’74 Remarks
Sr. Pat O’Brien SND Remarks
2019 Commencement Highlight Reel
2019 Commencement Photo Montage
Commencement Honoree
Sharon Brady Raimo ’69, ’94
This year’s Commencement speaker is one of Trinity’s own distinguished graduates celebrating her 50th Reunion year.
Sharon Brady Raimo ’69 ’94 has been the CEO of St. Coletta School of Greater Washington, a school for special needs children and adults. Ms. Raimo is known throughout the Washington region as a passionate advocate for the students and families of St. Coletta’s, and for the leadership she exerted across the years to build the institution. St. Coletta started in 1969 in Arlington, Virginia. When Ms. Raimo took the helm in 1993, she moved the school to a new location in Alexandria. Ten years later, she moved the school again to the District of Columbia and into a brand new building that she developed with the famous architect Michael Graves. St. Coletta also has a location for adult students in Rockville, and also operates a gift shop, Coletta Collections, that sells the crafts made by students.
In honoring Ms. Raimo we are also honoring the Class of 1969, a group of Trinity Women who have exerted extraordinary leadership in their personal and professional lives, and also on behalf of Trinity. To mark the occasion of their 50th anniversary, this class chose a truly remarkable project — to raise money to help current Trinity students to graduate on time! “’69 to the Finish Line” is the name of their fund drive, and to encourage their classmates to give, they also created a video (donated through the services of a class member who is a professional producer) to tell the story of Trinity students today — see https://vimeo.com/294166923
As of today, the Class of 1969 has raised more than $350,000 for “Finish Line” micro grants, and that number will continue to grow as we head into Reunion in the first week of June. The grants will be available starting in the 2019-2020 school year according to guidelines we will announce in the fall. I hope you will agree that this commitment of the Class of 1969 to today’s Trinity students is truly worthy of our gratitude and recognition!
Winter 2019 Commencement
Congratulations to our newest Trinity graduates! More than 200 Trinity diplomas were awarded at Winter Graduation on Friday, January 4, 2019. Nicole Lynn Lewis, founder and CEO of Generation Hope, received an honorary degree, and gave inspiring remarks as the keynote speaker.
Nicole Lynn Lewis
President McGuire has announced that our Winter Commencement speaker and honoree will be Nicole Lynn Lewis, founder and CEO of Generation Hope. Generation Hope is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing scholarships mentoring and a range of support services to young parents who are enrolled in college. Trinity is a proud partner of Generation Hope, and we currently enroll 8 GenHope scholars. Here’s more about Nicole:
Nicole Lynn Lewis serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Generation Hope, an organization which she founded in March 2010. As CEO, Nicole oversees all aspects of Generation Hope’s operations. Nicole founded Generation Hope because after completing college as a teen mother despite tremendous obstacles, she wanted to help other teen parents earn their college degrees and achieve stable and successful futures. She named the organization Generation Hope because in her own words, “Hope is the number one, necessary, secret ingredient to anyone’s success.”
Prior to founding the organization, Nicole worked for five years with other nonprofit organizations dedicated to youth and/or poverty, providing expertise in the areas of strategic planning, fundraising, and marketing/public relations. Before her nonprofit work, Nicole was a communications and public relations professional for two years with companies in the Washington DC area, such as GEICO. She is also a nationally known author and speaker on topics such as teen pregnancy and parenting, youth development, goal achievement, and self empowerment.
A 2014 CNN Hero, Nicole holds a Master’s degree in Social Policy and Communication from George Mason University and a Bachelor’s degree in English from the College of William & Mary. She has been honored by several organizations, including Women in Government Relations and Zonta. Nicole was named the 2013 Distinguished Alumna by George Mason University’s School of Public Policy for her innovative work with youth through the founding of Generation Hope and was elected to the William & Mary Alumni Association Board of Directors in that same year. Also in 2013, Nicole was selected and inducted into the the National Leadership Honor Society, Omicron Delta Kappa. In 2014, Nicole was named a “Champion of Change” in honor of American Graduate Day by PBS. She is also a two-time TEDx speaker and in 2017 was named a top Minority Business Leader by the Washington Business Journal and top “40 Under 40” by Washingtonian Magazine.
In 2018, Nicole was named one of the top 50 overall exemplar alumni of George Mason University and the grand prize winner of the national Roslyn S. Jaffe Award, which honors every day heroes who are making a difference in the lives of women and children.
Winter Graduation is on Friday, January 4, 2019 at 5:00pm in the Trinity Center for Women and Girls in Sport. Congratulations to all students who are graduating!