Who will be the next alumna
to join the distinguished list? |
|
Since 1978 the Laurel School Alumnae Association has honored women who dreamed big dreams, dared to follow those dreams and in doing so broke barriers, became mentors, assumed leadership roles in their field or community and connected to the larger world.
These are the remarkable women role models on whom the Alumnae Association has bestowed its highest honor as Distinguished Alumna of the year.
The recipient, an alumna who has celebrated her 20th reunion, is honored at Alumnae Weekend each May. And, beginning in 2008, we also honor young alumnae in their 20th reunion year or younger with the Young Alumna of Distinction Award. |
The 2013 Distinguished Alumna
Sandy Buchanan ’74, Executive Director, Ohio Citizen Action
For 20 years, Sandy Buchanan has led the state’s largest environmental organization, which was founded in 1975. Sandy began work with the organization in 1977 as a student intern, and directed environmental and legislative work for the organiza-tion before becoming executive director in 1993. She coordinated successful local and statewide campaigns to pass toxic chemical right-to-know laws in the 1980s and helped craft the federal right-to-know law passed by Congress in 1986.
She has testified before the US Senate and worked with community organizations across Ohio to win pollution prevention campaigns. This May she will become the executive director of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, whose mission is to accelerate the U.S.’s transition to a clean, diverse, sustainable and profitable energy economy and to reduce the nation’s dependence on coal and other non-renewable energy resources.
The 2013 Young Alumna of Distinction
Emily Johnson Jackle ’98, Organic Farmer
Emily Johnson Jackle is part of a national movement that encourages sustainability and reduces energy consumption, through eating locally grown organic food. An urban gardening class after college sparked a love of growing things and she discovered that organic farming was an ideal way for her to combine her commitment to service with her love of the outdoors. At several internships with organic farms from Montana to Illinois to Hawaii, she also learned about community supported agriculture (CSA), in which individuals and families purchase a “share” of local farm in return for fresh produce throughout the growing season. Today, she and her husband, Ben, own and operate the 34-acre Mile Creek Farm in New Lebanon, Ohio. |
