Reflections from Southern Vermont Emerging Leader Nicole Awwad
“I grew up coming to Brattleboro in all seasons with my family”
Brattleboro resident Nicole Awwad, Career Foundations teacher at Windham Regional Career Center, grew up coming to Brattleboro. Her grandparents (originally from Lebanon) had a house in the area, and her family would visit for skiing in the winter, and for the Alpine Slide in the summer.
“Even after leaving to live abroad for 4 years, I decided to come back to Brattleboro”
“In the end, I couldn’t stay away!” Nicole says. “I moved here in 2010 to attend the School for International Training (SIT) in Brattleboro to do my MA in Sustainable Development, and then stayed to do a double MA at Marlboro Grad School in Social Justice Education. Even after leaving to live abroad for 4 years, I decided to come back to Brattleboro.”
Putting her international experience to use supporting New American students
Nicole lined up a job at the career center and moved back to Brattleboro in 2021. Last year, she was recognized with a Southern Vermont Emerging Leaders award. Her nominator shared, “It’s clear that Nicole cares deeply about her students and their outcomes, both in class and after they graduate. She also supports her New American students, speaking Dari and Pashto, and is an incredible resource in helping this population of students get the most out of their education.”
Finding an exciting career path … and also a lot of hidden waterfalls
“I love living in Brattleboro, love the people here, have loved teaching here, and my students are just wonderful,” Nicole says. “I am close to my sister in CT, but closer to the woods and waterfalls along Route 30 (which I frequent!) and love the summer here more than anything. I hope to be able to afford a home here soon, and am excited about my new job building the Career Foundations program at Windham Regional Career Center.”
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About the Southern Vermont Emerging Leaders
Brattleboro resident Nicole Awwad has been named a 2024 Southern Vermont Emerging Leader, along with 23 other young adults from across the Bennington and Windham regions.
Awardees were nominated based on their work as community leaders and volunteers, and for their professional accomplishments and commitment to serving the region, and were presented with awards in May at the Southern Vermont Economy Summit in Dover.
Each year since 2018, the Southern Vermont Young Professionals (a program of Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation) and the Shires Young Professionals have sought to highlight and honor young adults in their roles as leaders and change-makers in the Southern Vermont economy and community through the Emerging Leaders awards. Over 100 local leaders have been given an Emerging Leaders award since the beginning of the program, and 35 of those have subsequently been recognized statewide through Vermont Business Magazine’s Rising Stars awards as well.
Read more about the other awardees at www.sovermontzone.com/emerging-leaders.