NHS Grad Earns Fulbright Grant

Rachel Stern, a Newtown resident and a 2007 graduate of Bates College, was awarded a 2011 Fulbright Grant for graduate study at the International MBA program of Instituto de Empresa (IE) in Madrid, Spain. Recognized as one of the world’s top business schools, IE Business School features students from more than 80 countries. The school is recognized for leadership in areas of social responsibility, sustainable development, protection of the environment, and diversity management.

Ms Stern, a 2003 Newtown High School graduate, was recommended for the award by a faculty committee at Bates. After selection by the US Fulbright Program as a finalist and securing admission to IE, she was awarded the grant by Fulbright Espana (The Committee for Cultural, Educational and Scientific Exchange between the United States of America and Spain) and the IE Foundation. The grant provides full tuition, travel, and a living stipend. The Fulbright awards are competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange. Participants are selected based on academic merit and leadership potential and help contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

Sponsored by the US Department of State, the Fulbright program gives students the opportunity to study overseas as part of the organization’s goal to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries. After graduation from college, Ms Stern worked in economic research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. In addition to working with bank economists to understand and mitigate the 2008 financial crisis, she made time to pursue local ventures in Boston in line with her passion for sustainability. She actively developed a bankwide Environmental Impact Committee. This model is now being replicated throughout the Federal Reserve System.

In 2009, she traveled alone to the Indian state of Karela to observe first-hand how people of this region have mastered sustainability. They have uniquely high literacy rates and life expectancies despite living on less than five dollars a day. She is currently working at Industrial Economics, a consulting firm that provides applied economic analysis in environmental services.

Ms Stern is looking forward to IE’s international MBA, which ranks first in the world for integrating social and environmental stewardship issues into the curriculum. After learning and practicing new business skills in Spain, Ms Stern plans to take her toolbox to West Africa or other locations in the developing world. The Fulbright grant will allow her to pursue her passions to contribute to sustainable development.