Johanna Ames ʼ98 joined the Women’s Leadership Council (WLC) in the fall of 2024, seeking a new volunteer opportunity as she anticipated her time on the Alumni Council coming to an end. Ames was attracted to the mission of the WLC and saw it as a way to connect with alumnae with similar experiences. Soon after she joined the WLC, she was selected to serve as the Vice Chair of the Alumni Council, expanding her connections through her involvement in both groups.
One of the most meaningful connections Ames has to Colgate is the friendship she maintains with her three roommates from East Hall — Meghan Arcuri-Moran ʼ98, Maria Reininger ʼ98, and Meredith Boericke ʼ98. She recently established the J3M Endowed Scholarship to honor that friendship, which now spans three decades. “Perhaps this scholarship will open up doors or create opportunity for someone else to forge that same type of life-changing, tight-knit relationship,” she said.
Ames has volunteered for Colgate ever since she was a student. She has served on the class gift committee every year since senior year. She was chair of the alumni admissions in North Carolina while she was in graduate school at the University of North Carolina and then for central New York when she moved back after receiving her masters degree. She began to serve on the Alumni Council in 2019.
As an undergraduate, Ames majored in geography and women’s studies, played the French horn in the orchestra, and was an admissions tour guide. She was inspired by classes taught by Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies Emerita Ellen Kraly, Professor of Religion Georgia Frank, and the late Robert L. Hathaway, Harrington and Shirley Drake Professor of the Humanities and professor of Romance languages and literatures emeritus. “They challenge you and you love them so much that you want to do your best work,” she said.
Ames said Colgate prepared her well for the world after graduation. “The writing skills, analytical skills, and the ability to communicate effectively served me well in graduate school and navigating different pathways in the business world,” she said. She owned and operated her fourth-generation family business, Ames Linen Service, until May of 2023, when she sold it to a private equity-owned firm. Over the winter, Ames was on campus for SophoMORE Connections, helping students learn about future business opportunities.
At the heart of all she does is a desire to give back to a place where her closest friendships were formed. “Colgate gave us so much, and we have been successful because of it. Now it is our turn to foster that experience for someone else.”
