The Bentley Buzz

Getting involved in your community can happen in any number of ways. From volunteering your time at a local non-profit to supporting small businesses, there is no shortage of ways to get engaged. But for two Bentley staff members, taking a role in local town politics has given them the chance to make changes in their communities, especially in the face of the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For Natalie Schlegel, director of international education in the Cronin Office of International Education, the call to run for local office came as she kept tabs on when her town’s library would begin reopening and offering more services as the state’s phased reopening moved forward. “We’re so focused on our schools reopening, but I see libraries as being just as important,” said Natalie. “I began tuning into the library trustees’ monthly public access meetings and started paying attention to what steps were being taken to safely reopening the library for the community.”

Thanks to the new accessibility brought about by the shift to virtual town meetings, Natalie became increasingly aware of the challenges the library faced and began brainstorming her own ways to address them. “I realized that every year, two library trustee seats come up for re-election,” added Natalie. “In past years, there were never any challengers. I thought I could help, so I decided to run.”

Once the decision was made to run for library trustee in her town, Natalie quickly began collecting signatures to get on the ballot and created a campaign plan to challenge for a seat on the library’s board of trustees. Though she didn’t ever think she’d run for a public office, the choice to help her town’s library was an easy one. “I’ve been a lover of libraries for a long time,” explained Natalie. “I spent a lot of time in them as a kid, and this year specifically being home and in my community so much more made the choice an easy one.”

After several weeks campaigning and outlining her plans for prioritizing a safe reopening of library services and establishing a sound budget, Natalie was elected to Sudbury’s Goodnow Library Board of Trustees last month and begins her term in June. For Natalie, the fit to help better the library for her town will be a natural one. “I’m a lifelong learner and that’s why I love being in an environment where learning happens,” said Natalie. “That’s also why I work at Bentley. My work with the library planning has really energized my work at Bentley. It doesn’t feel like work when it’s something you care about and it helps your community. I care about my community, so I feel like I needed to step up to help.”

Similar to Natalie’s new calling, Associate Director of Marketing Copywriting Sean Kerrigan has been impacting his community since 2017 by serving on the Town of Clinton’s Select Board, where he helps oversee the management of the town’s fire, police and public works departments and focuses on economic development (among many other important tasks).

When he first ran for selectman in 2017, Sean was familiar with the role of the select board after covering the governing body as a local newspaper reporter. Additionally, Sean was no stranger to Clinton—his family first settled there a century ago, and he was born in the town and raised in neighboring Lancaster. He moved back to Clinton to raise a family in 2013 and has been active in the community ever since.

Working as a public official ran in Sean’s family, too. His sister previously served on her town’s school committee, and his brother was a selectman in Lancaster starting at a young age and later served as the CEO of the Democratic National Convention and president of the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Committee.

As a selectman, Sean has worked hard to revitalize Clinton’s downtown area and bring new businesses and opportunities to the community. “We have a downtown that you can’t build these days,” said Sean. “It’s a multi-use mill area that I love. If we can get some people here that can see the potential that I do, we’ll be able to do big things.”

Economic development for Clinton has been at the center of Sean’s agenda as a member of the select board—which he currently chairs—since he was re-elected to a second term last June. While significant investments have led to projects for new streetlights, sidewalks and trees downtown, the pandemic has taken a toll on local industry. “COVID has made it really hard,” added Sean. “Businesses are hurting right now, and we need to come up with a plan to help jumpstart their recovery while unveiling changes downtown.” 

As he continues to work hard for his town, like Natalie, he hopes to serve as an example that if you want to get involved and make a difference, you can run for local office. “I’m passionate about democracy,” echoed Natalie. “But democracy doesn’t work without our participation.”

Please join the Buzz in congratulating Natalie on her successful campaign and Sean on his re-election!

*There's another fun Bentley connection to this story. Kelly Milligan, senior associate director in Creative Services, lent her creative talents to both Sean and Natalie by designing both of their campaign signs. Check out the Buzz's previous story on Kelly's talents here.  

Are you engaged in your community in a unique way? We want to feature you! 

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Last month, the Bentley Staff Advisory Council announced a new way to recognize a staff member's excellent performance while reinforcing Bentley’s Core Values with the introduction of the GEM Awards. Did you know that Bentley has a set of Positive Culture Principles guided by these Core Values? The principles aim to create a culture where all community members are empowered, engaged and thriving in their work and studies. They are: 

Gratitude- Expressions of gratitude and recognition are a regular part of normal business. 
Best Self- Where people bring their best selves to work every day.
General Reciprocity- An environment where it is safe to ask for help, both personally and professionally.
Fundamental State of Leadership- We manage situations with the result in mind, while being true to self, open to growth, and sensitive to others.

Know a staff member who regularly displays these principles or our Core Values? Recognize them with a GEM Award today! 

Recognize a Gem

This term, several faculty members were promoted or awarded tenure within their departments for their contributions to academics at Bentley. Join the Buzz in congratulating these faculty members! 

• Andy Aylesworth, Marketing — promotion to professor
• Iris Berdrow, Management — promotion to professor
• Winston Buckley, Mathematical Sciences — promotion to professor
• Laura Jackson Young, Economics — tenure and promotion to associate professor
• Jeff Livingston, Economics — promotion to professor
• Laurel Steinfield, Marketing — tenure and promotion to associate professor