William “Bill” Vanneman ’31 Outstanding Class Leader Award!
Congratulations to our 2025 Vanneman Award winners, Nancy Jenkins Krablin '69 and Larry Krablin '69! Find more information on the Krablins and their service to the class of '69 here.
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CACO Board and committees
The Cornell Association of Class Officers (CACO) Board represents the most experienced and engaged volunteer class leaders who serve Cornell. Overall, the board supports more than 1,400 volunteers, spanning 75 years of Cornell classes. Each class is partnered with a CACO liaison, in an effort to better serve and support all class officers. Therefore, each liaison provides peer-to-peer sharing of best practices and resources to increase class engagement.
CACO initiatives focus on five areas, each with a committee led by an executive board member. Committees identify new methods of alumni engagement through class. In addition, committees evaluate current programming. To best do so, committees partner closely with Alumni Affairs staff.
The areas of focus are:
Furthermore, CACO recognizes exemplary volunteer leaders who have demonstrated outstanding service to their class and Cornell.
Executive Committee
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Kamillah Knight ’13, MPA ’15, MBA ’22, President
Anna Brecher ’21,Vice President, Class Officer Training
Lisa Bushlow ’91, Secretary/Treasurer
Fred Cohen ’81, Vice President, Finance & Treasury
Yvette Lapompe ’10, Vice President, Diversity & Inclusion
Stacey Silberzweig ’87, Vice President, Communications
Dillon Sumanthiran ’20, Vice President, Students & Young Alumni
Julie Vultaggio ’02, Immediate Past President & Nominations Chair
Other Members
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Ex-Officio Member, AVP, Alumni Affairs: Michelle Vaeth '98
CACO Committees
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Class Officer Training Committee
Class Officer Training focuses on onboarding, trainings, development of best practices, and officer recognition.
Anna Brecher ’21, Vice President
Claire Ackerman '01, Committee Member
Nate Houghton ’11, Director-at-Large
Charles Wu ’91, Director-at-Large
Lauren Coffey, Staff -
Communications Committee
Communications creates key messaging to inform class leaders about initiatives impacting Cornell alumni and classes, primarily through bi-monthly CACO newsletter.
Stacey Silberzweig ’87, Vice President, Communications
Alan Cody ’69, Director-at-Large
Betty Eng ’92, Director-at-Large
Mike Rapolas Jr. ’94, Director-at-Large
Sara Cantwell, Staff -
Alliance Committee
Alliance collaborates with identity-based affinity groups.
Yvette Lapompe ’10, Vice President
Frank Dawson ’72, Director-at-Large
Betty Eng ’92, Director-at-Large
Kate Freyer MILR ’24, Staff -
Finance & Treasury Committee
Finance & Treasury oversees the CACO budget and supports initiatives related to class treasuries.
Fred Cohen ’81,, Vice President, Finance & Treasury
Cara Kagan ’77, Director-at-Large
Kate Nadolny ’06, Director-at-Large
Mary Kahn ’79, Director-at-Large
Lisa Bushlow ’91, Secretary/Treasurer -
Students & Young Alumni Committee
Students & Young Alumni develops programming that fosters relevant connections among student leaders and alumni class volunteers, while providing support and resources to young alumni class leaders as they build their communities and engage classmates.
Dillon Sumanthiran ’20, Vice President
Karen Mitchell ’90, Director-at-Large
Athean Myat ’23 , Director-at-Large
Ralph Wilhelm ’67, Director-at-Large
Nicole Svonavec, Staff
CACO Liaisons
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The CACO Board is made up of current or former class officers who are uniquely positioned to foster peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, given their shared experiences of serving in volunteer roles for their own classes. Each class is partnered with a CACO liaison.
The goals of the liaison role include:
• Peer-to-peer sharing of best practices and ideas
• Mentoring and intergenerational learning
• Serving as a sounding board for challenges a class officer may be facing
• Directing class officers toward helpful resourcesWe are all Cornellians with the shared experiences of serving our alma mater through class engagement. We hope these relationships between classes and their CACO liaison are rewarding and strengthen the ties between all 75 classes and the CACO Board that serves this constituency.
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Your staff contact in Alumni Affairs serves as your primary contact for all class business, including Reunion planning, dues and membership, class communications, class events and initiatives, and succession planning every 5 years.
