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Marian Miner Cook
Athenaeum

A distinctive
feature of social and
cultural life at CMC

 

Photo of Elise Noyes
Thu, February 20, 2025
Lunch Program

A Soprano's Mission: Gender Affirming Voice Training
Elise Noyes

Since 2018 Seattle Voice Lab (SVL) has been changing the conversation of what is possible when it comes to gender-affirming voice training. By bringing together a team of speech-language pathologists, voice experts, and singers from all walks of life, SVL has built a community that helps people find their true voice. Elise Noyes, soprano and an instructor at SVL, will discuss the importance of this work, share information on how it can be done, and how to support those on their own voice journeys.

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Elise Noyes, a Canadian-American soprano, is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and is heralded for her versatility in operatic, musical theatre, and choral works alike. In the spring of 2023, she competed as a semi-finalist in the Lotte Lenya Competition, in addition to keeping up an active schedule as a recitalist. She was selected as the first prize winner of the Jessie Kneisel German Lieder Competition in 2022, in addition to being chosen as a finalist for the Friends of Eastman Opera Voice Competition in 2021. Her performances include Eastman Opera Theatre’s Into the Woods as Cinderella, La Calisto as the title role, Michaela in Mercury Opera’s Carmen, and Isabel in Pirates of Penzance with Rochester Summer Opera. She has been featured with SUNY Geneseo Symphony Orchestra as the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, as well as in Ravel’s Shéhérazade with the Edmonton Youth Orchestra. Noyes works for Seattle Voice Lab, providing gender affirming voice instruction for students all across the world and has served as a lecturer at Ithaca College.

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Photo of Adam Nemer
Thu, February 20, 2025
Dinner Program

Normalizing Mental Health in the Workplace
Adam Nemer ‘92

More than 20% of Americans annually experience a clinically diagnosable mental illness that impacts their productivity, attendance and overall performance as much as any physical illness. Yet, less than half get help. From the C-suite to line supervisors, leaders don't know what to do. Their education and training were informed by the myths and stigmas of mental illness, such as the outdated mantra to “leave your emotions at the door.” However, Adam Nemer ’92, who previously served in senior level executive positions at Kaiser Permanente, believes there is something we can all do about it: make the active choice to become mental health literate, incorporate this knowledge in leadership at all levels, and normalize conversations about mental health to unlock potential and transform lives.

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Almost 26 years ago, Adam found his dad, best friend, and business partner Mort Nemer '62 dead by suicide. Unfortunately, the myths and stigmas of mental illness were so strong at that time that Nemer only had a few therapy sessions and went off into the world. After graduating from CMC with a double major in history and government, he got an MBA at the University of Washington, moved back to Portland, got married, and grew a 20-year leadership career at Kaiser Permanente—primarily as a CFO and senior operations executive—all while silently enduring severe, undiagnosed depression and anxiety.

 

His life changed when a compassionate colleague encouraged him to seek help, a simple act that revealed the profound impact leaders can have on their team’s mental well-being.  As Nemer progressed on his recovery journey, he came to the realization that many leaders, though well-meaning, don’t feel at ease approaching their colleagues when they observe them grappling with mental health challenges. They don’t know what to say. They don’t know how to help. So, he started to share his story and quickly realized that he was making a difference in other people’s lives. 

 

Nemer subsequently founded Simple Mental Health, an organization dedicated to educating leaders about the business case for mental health while inspiring them with the human case to destigmatize mental health in their teams.

 

Nemer and the Simple Mental Health team now work with organizations across the Americas and Europe spreading mental health literacy and helping leaders create stigma-free mental wellbeing cultures. 

 

Mr. Nemer’s Athenaeum presentation is co-sponsored by the Berger Institute for Individual and Social Development at CMC.

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Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum

Claremont McKenna College
385 E. Eighth Street
Claremont, CA 91711

Contact

Phone: (909) 621-8244 
Fax: (909) 621-8579 
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