Certificate in Community-Engaged Leadership
Maia Kunzman ’18
Majors: Development Sociology, Environmental and Sustainability Sciences (Policy and Governance concentration)
Minors: Climate Change, Inequality Studies, Law and Society
I’m passionate about … environmental displacement.
Engagement experience: Certificate in Community-Engaged Leadership; Cornell Rotaract Club; Tompkins Workforce NY Summer Program Assistant; community-engaged learning courses HORT 2240: Urban Ecosystems and DSOC 4700: Senior Capstone Course; and more.
As an Engaged Ambassador, I … collaborate with others to develop and facilitate capstone dialogue sessions, as well as various workshops related to the Certificate in Community-Engaged Leadership and other student engagement opportunities. In doing so, I seek to broaden dialogue opportunities for members of both the Cornell and greater Ithaca communities and to strengthen the amazing community-engagement efforts of others by connecting them to vital resources, including funding opportunities, institutional development possibilities and, most importantly, other people!
I got involved because… I loved participating in the Certificate capstone in spring 2017. It helped me to build a framework for critical reflection of my own community-engagement activities and provided me with a space to engage in dialogue with peers regarding the social justice challenges of today. Thus, I wanted to encourage and support other students in their own journeys through community engagement.
My friends would say I’m … compassionate, sarcastic and headstrong.
Best Cornell memory (so far!): Meeting wonderful people, participating in the Cornell in Washington program and discovering/exploring new interests
Fun fact: My favorite animal is a firefly/lightning bug.
Future plans: Attend law school or a policy-oriented master’s program, become fluent in French (and hopefully other languages after that), explore the world and contribute to the development of international legal protections for environmentally displaced people.
Certificate in Community-Engaged Leadership
Build on your interests and apply your experiences (from courses to extracurricular activities) to this program to develop the skills you need to be a community-engaged leader.