January 2020 | #IAMSHAKER Alumni Spotlight: Michael Bowen and Sarah Brandon Bowen

Michael Bowen (SHHS '05) and Sarah Brandon Bowen (SHHS '07) know a thing or two about building sustainable relationships. Take theirs, for example. The couple first met at Shaker Heights High School in 2003 when Mr. Bowen was a junior and Ms. Brandon was a freshman. The two became good friends and maintained that friendship off and on, occasionally reconnecting socially and exchanging text messages, but in 2013, they decided that their relationship was more than platonic. The couple married in 2018 and just last year purchased their first home together in the Mercer neighborhood. 

Today, this young Shaker Heights couple is working on building another relationship that they hope is equally long-term and fulfilling. Last year, Mr. Bowen and Ms. Brandon Bowen became involved with the Shaker Schools Foundation, and they hope that other young alums — who live both in Cleveland and beyond — will follow their lead. 

Read more about Mr. Bowen and Ms. Brandon Bowen in this month’s #IAMSHAKER Alumni Spotlight. 

How did the two of you first meet?
Mr. Bowen: We were at a freshman orientation for the Student Group on Race Relations [SGORR]. I was a junior in SGORR and she was a freshman. We just hit it off and ended up having lunch together in the cafeteria. We never dated and were just really good friends, but then after high school and college, we kept reconnecting, so we finally decided in 2013 that we should be together. 
Ms. Brandon Bowen: It’s funny, we always say that on paper, we appear to be opposites, right down to our skin color. But understanding those differences, while knowing that we have had this shared experience of growing up in the same community — that’s what makes us so good together.

What are some of your best memories as a student at Shaker Heights High School? 
Ms. Brandon Bowen: I played field hockey and I was a Raiderette. I was also on the staff at The Shakerite. All those groups gave me a sense of community in so many different ways because I had friends who were across several grades and social groups. 
Mr. Bowen: I was a SGORR Core Leader and MAC Scholars and I played football and lacrosse. [Retired MAC Scholars co-founder and academic advisor] Mary Lynne McGovern changed my life: she picked me out of a group of students and spent a lot of time nurturing me. She kept me on the right path and exposed me to people, places and careers that I didn’t even know existed. Between Ms. McGovern and my mom [former Shaker Heights Vice Mayor Lynn Ruffner], they made sure I stayed on the straight and narrow. 

These days, since you’re not students anymore, how do you spend your daytime hours? 
Mr. Bowen: I’m an associate in the Government Relations and Legislation and Litigation practice groups at the law firm Calfee, Halter & Griswold. 
Ms. Brandon Bowen: I’m a Realtor in the Shaker Heights office of Howard Hanna. 

Now that you’re adults living in Shaker, do you see the community through a different lens? 
Mr. Bowen: Generally, it’s the same, but it’s like the players have changed because we don’t really know that many people who live here anymore. A lot of the parents of friends we had either moved away or downsized. Still, it feels the same. Living here now gives us an opportunity to see Shaker as a new generation of Shaker residents. 

How did you get involved with the Shaker Schools Foundation?
Mr. Bowen: [Shaker Heights Board of Education member] Ayesha Bell Hardaway recommended that I reach out to the Foundation, so I did. And then [Shaker Schools Foundation Executive Director] Holly Coughlin had the idea of getting Sarah involved in the planning side of A Night for the Red & White. 

Have either of you been to A Night for the Red & White? 
Ms. Brandon Bowen: Actually, no, we haven’t! But we’re really looking forward to going this year. It’s exciting to be co-chairing the event, especially since the four co-chairs all bring a different perspective to it: one has young kids in the schools, another is the parent of high school students, another has graduates and I’m an alum without children. So, it’s really been a great experience working together. It’s great that both Mike and I have been independently tied to Shaker and together, now we’re tied to Shaker. 

How do you feel you can best help the Shaker Schools Foundation?
Ms. Brandon Bowen: I think there’s a misconception that to be involved in the schools that you have to have kids in the schools. But there are so many ways that people can get involved, especially as a young professional or a young alum. We all have the opportunity to change the narrative about what giving back to Shaker means. And that’s a good thing.