Just a few weeks after this year’s Dance Marathon came to a close, Northwestern’s largest philanthropy announced its co-chairs for next year. SESP junior Josh Parish and Weinberg junior Anna Radoff will lead the executive board of DM 2014, which will mark the organization’s 40th anniversary.
“Both of them served on my executive board,” said Matt Larsen, one of this year’s co-chairs, who interviewed Parish and Radoff. “They are two of the most dedicated and passionate people, and they work very, very well together.”
Five people applied for the position, said Larsen, a Weinberg senior.
Larsen said the pair has good ideas for planning next year’s anniversary and the DM experience to go along with them.
Radoff and Parish have been involved in DM for three years. They both danced freshman year before they took on more leadership roles.
Radoff served on dancer relations her sophomore year and most recently co-chaired the special events committee. As a sophomore, Parish was a philanthropy co-chair for the DG/ZBT team, which raised $113,969.27 in 2012 toward the Andrew McDonough B+ (Be Positive) Foundation and the Evanston Community Foundation. This year, he co-chaired the corporate relations committee.
“DM has given me so much, and it was an opportunity for me to give back to the organization that has done so much for me and for Northwestern,” Radoff said of her decision to apply for co-chair. “There were a number of applicants who were incredibly qualified. I’m so humble to be in this position.”
Parish said he had no doubts about applying for the position after dancing for 30 hours this year.
“DM has been absolutely my favorite part of campus and the thing that made me originally fall in love with Northwestern itself,” Parish said.
Radoff said “there is no one I would rather do this with” than Parish. The two have been friends since freshman year, she said.
Parish said he and Radoff had similar reasons for applying for the position, including their passion for the organization.
“This is the first time I’ve really been put in a position where I can try to inspire people to do their best work,” Parish said. “I’ve always been a part of incredible organizations I can talk forever about, but this is a leadership role where I can work with so many types of people.”
The two are already reviewing beneficiary proposals and will soon roll out applications for their executive board, Radoff said.
Larsen said the most important piece of advice for his successors is to remember the bigger picture when the job becomes too stressful.
“When work is piling up, just remember that you’re doing it for the beneficiary,” Larsen said. “Reminding yourself why you’re doing it in the first place will put a smile on your face, especially when you’re in the office for double-digit hours.”
