Dallas Alumni Meet the Challenge: Karen Simon and the $25,000 Match
For Karen Simon, a SAS 1979 alum and ISE Trustee, giving to Semester at Sea through the years since her voyage has been tied to her desire to continually show her passion for this organization and its lifelong impacts. In April 2024, Karen challenged a group of SAS alumni attending a gathering in Dallas to meet a specific goal: $25,000 in donations for the SAS Annual Fund – which Karen then graciously matched. “For so many, the Semester at Sea program has made a significant impact on their lives,” Karen said. “We all love this program, and it is important to have events like this to help everyone understand that SAS really continues to need our support.”
For Karen, understanding how to successfully support major programs and initiatives comes rather naturally: as a Retired Vice Chairman in Investment Banking from JPMorgan, she rose to several leadership positions over her 36-year tenure and now serves on the boards of three public corporations. She also has vast experience engaging vast alumni networks: as a Co-chair of the Thunderbird School of Global Management Global Alumni network and member of the Executive Advisory Council for the Bush Institute, Karen knows how to help alumni and donor communities come together and support the organizations they believe in.
At the Dallas event held at Museum Tower, more than 40 attendees – with alumni from 1965 to 2022 – received a comprehensive program update from President/CEO Scott Marshall and enjoyed catching up with one another. A donor dinner, hosted by Karen, followed the larger event. Once Karen’s generous $25,000 match was introduced, the Dallas alumni event attendees certainly stepped up, meeting the goal (and then some)!
In the end, $53,806 was raised for the SAS Annual Fund. The program’s Annual Fund is, in many ways, the “lifeblood” of Semester at Sea: funds directed here go to the areas of our organization that are highest in need. Often, this means funds from the Annual Fund go towards shipboard improvements or logistics. It can mean scholarship funds for students who might not otherwise be able to join a voyage. The fund can also contribute to the needs of field classes, aiding the encounters that help us bring experiential learning to life while in port for our students. Sometimes, when the unexpected occurs, the Annual Fund helps us make important changes to itineraries that make sure we are always able to put the safety of our voyagers first. The SAS Annual Fund has helped us with everything from variable ship fuel prices, unforeseen weather conditions that impact the voyage, and more widespread, global events that require us to change course. In many ways, the SAS Annual Fund serves as our “rainy day fund,” covering anything unexpected when it does occur, and helping us build even better experiences for our students and voyagers whenever and wherever we can.
“As is the case with any program of this size, Semester at Sea will continue to face challenges. We have the solutions to face these challenges: we just need the support to get there,” Karen said. “People want to help, and we just have to continue to help them understand the current needs and challenge them to step up.” Certainly, the Semester at Sea community in Dallas understood the assignment: and we are so grateful for their – and Karen’s – many contributions!
Are you interested in holding an event to help gather alumni and raise funds for Semester at Sea? Please let us know! Email us at alumni@semesteratsea.org
