CU People: Lisa Herndon
Who She Is
Assistant director of development, Double Discovery Center and a program alumna.
Years at Columbia
2½ years
What She Does
Herndon researches grant opportunities and encourages supporters to donate to the Columbia program, which just celebrated its 50th anniversary, that helps lowincome high school students graduate and enter college. Her job also entails assisting with volunteer recruitment, planning events, as well as photographing and writing for its website, social media and for the Double Discovery archives.
Road to Columbia
Herndon grew up in East Harlem. An only child, she attended Catholic schools through St. Jean Baptiste High School. “I wore school uniforms from first to 12th grade,” Herndon said. “Grammar school was green plaid,” she said. Her mother attended night school part-time, and Herndon would hear her mother typing papers at night. “She was my best role model,” said Herndon. “She would say, ‘You live in New York and have a library card; there is no reason for you not to be educated.’”
After her high school guidance counselor brought Double Discovery to the attention of her mother, Herndon participated in the program between 1984 and 1987. She said that the best part was the friendships that she made during her time in the program. She said, “My DDC friends are lifelong ones. We’ve been each other’s support systems through life’s ups and downs.”
After high school, Herndon enrolled at the University of Virginia, where she had a Pell Grant, a student loan and a work-study job to help pay her way. In her final year, she also worked as a residential adviser to upperclassmen, which covered her housing expenses. After graduating in 1991, she became a publicist at the Terrie Williams Agency, a media relations and branding company in New York City. Herndon subsequently worked as a freelance production assistant at Oxygen Media and produced promotional commercials for Fox News before joining Columbia in 2012.
Best Part of the Job
“I interview students and alumni and share their stories.” She added, “I learn firsthand the deep impact Double Discovery has made on its graduates and how it helped their lives.”
Most Memorable Moment
While working on the 50th anniversary dinner cruise, two alumni told her that they had been roommates in the program when it started in 1965 and became friends, only to realize that they were cousins. Their two branches of their family tree had longed ceased communication: “Hatfields and McCoys,” one jokingly told her. The families were reunited and the two continued their friendship. Herndon said, “Hollywood could not produce a movie like this.” Another memorable moment for Herndon was looking through the Double Discovery archives and finding a picture of herself at age 16: “Bangs and ponytail,” she said. “The experience let me better appreciate how I am part of this history, too.”
In Her Spare Time
Herndon credits Double Discovery with her first learning about Columbia Journalism School. She was then living in Furnald Hall and wandered next door. “I think I got as far as the lobby of the building.” Herndon is now enrolled part-time in the school, where she and her classmate Muzhgan Rasul (JRN’14) filmed, produced and edited a documentary film. “We did everything but star in it,” she said. Titled A Map of My Heart, it tells the story of a 25-year-old American Muslim torn between her traditional Bengali parents and her American boyfriend. Herndon said the film has affected her work, capturing the stories of Double Discovery alumni. “It helped me to ask better questions.” Her spare time also involves a more physical endeavor. “I am fulfilling a New Year’s resolution from 2013. I am going to go to the gym, not just belong to one.”
—By Gary Shapiro