Bloom Where You’re Planted

During March 3’s All-School Meeting (ASM), Marlborough marked the start of International Women’s Month by welcoming two distinguished alumnae to speak: 2026 Woman of the Year Julie Saliba Clauer ’92 and 20Y Award winner Yu-Shing Ni ’16. Alumnae Leadership Board members, and this year’s International Women’s Day Co-Chairs, Suzanne Koudsi ’91 and Liesel Reinisch ’91 introduced this meaningful conversation by sharing the global theme for International Women’s Day 2026. Ms. Koudsi shared, “Give to Gain: When people, organizations, and communities give generously, opportunities and support for women increase. Giving is not a subtraction; it's intentional multiplication. When women thrive, we all rise.” 

“At Marlborough, we see ‘intentional multiplication’ in action every day,” Ms. Reinisch added. “As alumnae, what endures isn’t just the academic preparation, but the friendships, values, and lifelong community we build. It’s in this community we learn first hand that by supporting one another’s growth, we elevate all of our lives.” With this intentional framing in place, Ms. Koudsi and Ms. Reinisch turned the ASM over to Alicia M. ’26 and Mia M. ’27 to moderate the discussion. Both students are completing Honors Research projects on topics related to the work of each of the award recipients. 

Mia introduced Ms. Clauer, an accomplished marketing executive and nationally respected patient advocate. Ms. Clauer has transformed a deeply personal journey—living for eight years with metastatic colon cancer—into a platform for leadership, education, and community impact. The Woman of the Year is nominated and selected by her peers, and the award recognizes an alumna who inspires the greater alumnae community, has contributed positively to the quality of life around them, and embodies the spirit of Marlborough while working to change the world for the better. Ms. Clauer’s advocacy, generosity, courage, and kindness made her a clear choice for this year’s award. 

Alicia shared insights into Ms. Ni’s experience. Ms. Ni is a first-generation Taiwanese/Chinese-American farmer and community organizer from Los Angeles who has worked on Indigenous land and food sovereignty in Northern Thailand. She was the 2024-2025 Henry Luce Scholar and is now pursuing a doctorate degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture. Similar to Woman of the Year, the 20Y Award recipient is also nominated and selected by her peers. This award honors a young alumna who exemplifies the core values of Marlborough through their personal and professional endeavors. 

After Mia and Alicia offered official introductions of the distinguished guests, they asked Ms. Clauer and Ms. Ni to share more about their individual journeys to their current work and advocacy within their communities. Ms. Clauer vulnerably shared the way in which her colon cancer diagnosis changed her life. 

“You watch the road ahead of you in life, then it comes back and suddenly ends right in front of you when you get this news,” Ms. Clauer described. “You see your world shrink. But what I have realized is that my life has never been more expansive, more impactful, or more amazing than it's been these last eight years.”

She has spent recent years as a patient advocate, speaking as a patient with firsthand experience and getting involved with patient communities—diving into her diagnosis, learning about policies, about other patients’ struggles and barriers, and being a champion and advocate for those living with colon cancer. 

Though she never imagined this work would be part of her path, she expressed how the unexpected change provided an opportunity: “It doesn't matter where you are or what you're doing, opportunities exist everywhere. The idea of ‘bloom where you're planted’ is so true. Wherever you land, wherever you are, whatever situation arises, you really can live up to the International Women's Day theme: Give to Gain.”

Ms. Ni shared how her curious nature as a Marlborough student led to her openness in post-college years, allowing her to find a place in farming and marginalized community advocacy. “Taking different classes and exploring different activities—all of these experiences kind of just showed me that if I'm open to learning, I can get so much out of anything." This openness led her to discover a passion for helping marginalized communities, whether through growing and farming foods for communities in need, to preserving mother tongue in Indigenous communities in Thailand, to her involvement with the National Young Farmers Coalition. 

Despite not having a charted path in mind, Ms. Ni has found herself making a meaningful impact in communities across the US, Thailand, and Taiwan through her work. “Not knowing exactly what I wanted to do after graduating high school led me to some really incredible places, awesome opportunities, meeting beautiful people and building community all around the world,” she shared with students. “I learned to trust that my intuition is okay and trust that even if I'm not on a very specific path, that there will be some kind of path for me.”

Their stories embodied this year’s International Women’s Day theme in action. By giving generously, whether through patient advocacy or community farming, Ms. Clauer and Ms. Ni demonstrate how women who thrive help those around them thrive, too. For Marlborough students, their message was clear. Finding your passion is not about following a pre-defined map, but about having the courage to ‘bloom where you are planted’ and the openness to trust that the work you are called to do may find you in unexpected places where you can truly make a difference.