Leadership Change

After serving for three years as vice president of finance for the San Diego State University Alumni Association, Elsa Romero (’97) is now the organization’s leader.

At the June Alumni Association Board of Directors meeting, Romero was handed the president’s gavel in a symbolic exchange by the board’s immediate past president, Tim Young (’91).

The Arizona native is both a mom to her 12-year-old son, Antonio, and a partner at accounting firm AKT CPAs and Business Consultants. She graduated from SDSU with a degree in accounting.

"I'm excited,” Romero said in her first interview as alumni president. “I think it’s going to be fun.”

A great experience

With the Alumni Association adopting a new model for alumni engagement this year, Romero and other board members will be working to expand the organization’s lifetime member base beyond 7,500 and promoting the alumni donation message of “every Aztec, any amount, every year.”

But the new president would also like to explore possibilities of helping Aztec alumni enhance their careers.

“The thing that's near and dear to my heart is to engage more in what SDSU Career Services has to offer,” she said. “I think it's a great program for our graduating students and I’d like to see if it could be modified to assist alumni.”

Romero remembers having a job lined up several months before she graduated. “I got out of school and went right into work in public accounting and stayed in public accounting ever since,” she said.

She characterized her SDSU education as “a great experience,” crediting professors like Robert Capettini and Will Snyder with helping her succeed.

“They were great professors,” she recalled. “I would visit them off hours after class and talk to them about what I was struggling with and they always encouraged me by saying, ‘You can do it.’ And I did.”

Getting involved

Her student experience is just one of the reasons Romero stayed connected to SDSU and why she remains involved with the university.

"I love SDSU,” she said. “This institution has contributed so much to the community and has a great and growing reputation.

“I think that's why it's important to give back to the university, to be a lifetime member and to get involved.”

Also getting involved is a new group of directors voted onto the board. They include Kelly Batten ('98), Chiloh Baty ('08), Ileana Ovalle Engel ('94), Jason Farran ('00), Allyson Frasure ('97, '99, '03), Brian Hayek ('09), Channelle McNutt ('13) and Chris Parks ('92).

The board bid farewell to termed-out members Barbara Powels Bowen (’05), Ernest Dronenburg, Jr. (’66), Joe Farrage (’89), Katie Rogow (’90), Deanna Shoop (’97), Peggy Stephenson ('84) and Kirk Walwick (’81).