Rising Star/ Young Alumni Awards 2006
2006 Recipients
Joy Braunstein, Class of 1998
Joy Braunstein holds a master's degree in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School. After finishing that degree, she was accepted as a Presidential Management Intern, working with the U.S. Department of Interior as an Environmental Protection Specialist in the Appalachian Region of the Office of Surface Mining, which regulates the coal mining industry for the east.
As a result of her Ph.D. work at the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, focusing on International Environmental Policy, she was awarded a David L. Boren Graduate Fellowship. The fellowship funded study and travel in Israel for two summers, during which time Joy learned Hebrew and studied links between water conservation and tensions on transnational borders in arid regions.
She has published a number of papers on transboundary water management. Joy has also consulted with government and non-profit agencies, most recently working with a team to design and assess a set of options for regional water and sewer management in Southwestern Pennsylvania. She has also spent time in non-profit management, serving as Development Director for the Aleph Institute, a religious humanitarian non-profit that provides services to prisoners and their families.
Joy has just begun working in what she hopes will be an exciting and fulfilling career in philanthropy, and has accepted a position as the Senior Manager of Planning and Fund Distribution for the United Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh. She hopes to finish her Ph.D. within a year.
Annie J. Fernández, Class of 2004
Annie Fernández graduated from JSC Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Liberal Studies. Since 2004, she has been the Public Relations Coordinator for the Community College of Vermont. Annie received her associate's degree from the Community College of Vermont in 2002, with honors including Phi Theta Kappa New Century Scholar, graduation speaker for the class of 2002, and a CCV President's Scholarship. During her time as a CCV student, Annie worked as a contributing writer for a weekly newspaper and was active in a variety of community service work.
She says, "I absolutely love working for CCV. Having been a student there, I know first hand the crucial role it plays in higher ed in Vermont, as does the EDP. Had it not been for the two, I would not have been able to earn my B.A. and secure a solid, meaningful position like the one I have. It is profoundly meaningful to me that my work supports an institution that transforms the lives of so many. That is a source of great inspiration and motivation."
Annie is originally from Miami, Florida, and has lived in Vermont for 13 years.