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CFL: Lunch & Lead with Ali Jaffe ‘10
A room full of students, faculty, and staff—including a retired faculty member—at St. Luke’s Center for Leadership’s Lunch & Lead were mesmerized as Ali Jaffe ‘10 shared the story of how she became a producer for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. When she left St. Luke’s School, where she had a significant impact as the editor of The Sentinel, the school newspaper, she was set on becoming a journalist. Some exciting internships and articles published in publications such as Rolling Stone Magazine and The New York Times encouraged her along that path, before a call to invite her to apply for a position at Colbert caused her to change course. After working her way through several promotions at Colbert, Ali now finds herself talking weekly with celebrities to help them prepare for their interviews.
After her presentation, students had many questions and were interested in anecdotes about the show’s guests. They listened with anticipation as she shared funny stories. While Ali still has an enormous interest in print media and continues to write freelance articles, she has developed a great appreciation for the journalistic opportunities with video.
Ali’s biggest piece of advice for the students? “You’re never too important to do any job that’s needed.” It was her hard work and willingness to pitch in, whether it was vacuuming the Green Room in anticipation of a guest or making sure everything was set up perfectly for a scene, that helped her earn her promotions.
St. Luke’s School is a secular (non-religious), private school in New Canaan, CT for grades 5 through 12 serving over 35 towns in Connecticut and New York. Our exceptional academics and diverse co-educational community foster students’ intellectual and ethical development and prepare them for top colleges. St. Luke’s Center for Leadership builds the commitment to serve and the confidence to lead.
