Thembisa S. Mshaka ’92
Distinguished Achievement Award

As a freshwoman at Mills, anything seemed possible,” Thembisa Mshaka said as she accepted the Distinguished Achievement Award at the Saturday luncheon during Reunion. “For the first time, my schedule, my life, my future were all up to me.”

Mshaka’s unstoppable talent and drive have helped her make the most of that future, and she is now a top name in entertainment marketing. She won a PromaxBDA Gold Award as writer and talent director with Academy Award–winner Jamie Foxx for the 2009 BET Awards; her leadership helped win an Emmy for Rap-It-Up, an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign; and, while working with Sony Music, she created the global advertising campaign for Lauryn Hill’s solo album, which has sold some eight million copies.

Behind all her success, however, Mshaka remains dedicated to ethical leadership and bettering her community—lessons made plain from her time at Mills and, in particular, her role in student government during the 1992 Strike. “It was [at Mills] that I learned a thing or two about leveraging power, and about the power of integrity when others place their trust in me,” she said.

Lynda Campfield, ’00, MA ’02
Outstanding Volunteer Award

For as long as she can remember, volunteering has been a way of life for Lynda Campfield. “Long before Mills would teach me, ‘Remember who you are and what you represent,’ my parents taught me that if you have something to give, then you must give,” said Campfield. From being a teacher’s assistant at vacation Bible school to welcoming families to the Air Force base in Anchorage, Alaska, when she was a child, Campfield found both fun and satisfaction in helping others.

As a resumer at Mills, she continued to volunteer, serving as a student caller for the AAMC phonathon and with Habitat for Humanity in Oakland. Campfield is now an English teacher at San Leandro High School, where she is an active member and volunteer with her local teachers’ union, and her dedication to Mills remains unwavering. Elected to the AAMC Board of Governors in 2006, she has served as vice president and on nearly every committee—few AAMC events happen without her involvement. “It has been my pleasure and sheer joy to volunteer my time at Mills College,” Campfield said. “I especially enjoy volunteering at this event, Reunion. One road, many destinations, and once a year they all lead back here.”

Michelle Balovich ’03
Recent Graduate Award

“When my mother drove me through the Mills gates, I knew right away that I would be going to college here. The campus environment exuded an aura of tradition, femininity, freedom, safety, and inclusiveness,” Michelle Balovich said. Many alumnae volunteers furthered Balovich’s confidence and knowledge—she learned Mills traditions from Jane Cudlip King ’42 and Leah Hardcastle MacNeil, MA ’51, and received investment advice from Harriet Fong Chan ’98. “When I was around these women from the AAMC, I felt like I could fully be myself, be included in the fabric of this community, and that I had made the right decision to attend Mills.”

Balovich, who works at Wells Fargo and is pursuing an MBA, joined the AAMC’s Alumnae Student Relations Committee in her sophomore year and became a member of the AAMC Board of Governors just two years after graduating. A staunch supporter of life-long learning, she became the first chair of the Educational Outreach Committee in 2008 and, in that role, has been responsible for sponsoring more than 30 events that further social connections and intellectual enrichment for alumnae.